Love and Women Theme Analysis

Candide's search for Cunégonde is what threads together the novel's otherwise senseless sequence of adventures. The pursuit of Cunégonde, and of other women, is also the reason for the most of the characters' misfortunes: from the Candide's expulsion from Westphalia, to Pangloss' syphilis, contracted from Paquette. Candide uses women as a symbol of insatiable human desire (or perhaps, more specifically, male desire), a force which causes pain and conflict in the world. Women in the novel are almost always a cause for conflict and violence: there is violence between men over women, as well as violence committed upon women by men. Women are also used by the novel to illustrate the futility of human desire: by the time Candide reaches Cunégonde, she has lost her youth and beauty, and he no longer desires her (though he still marries her).

The use of women as symbols and plot devices in Candide should not distract from the novel's serious consideration of the suffering and oppression of women. In a novel filled with characters who suffer great misfortunes, it is worth noting that female characters are arguably the worst off: not even Pangloss endures as much misery as the old woman in the captivity of the Moroccan pirates.