Superficial Love

     There's something that I must admit to all of you. I, Luna Yamashita, am a hopeless romantic. I am in love with love stories like Wuthering Height, Gone with the Wind, and all of Nicholas Spark books. I don't know what my life would be like without chick flicks like The Notebook, Titanic, etc. If two people are in love, I will always, most definitely, one hundred percent support them

…with the exception of Candide and Cunegonde.

     The problem with Candide and Cunegonde is that, first of all, their love is extremely shallow. I mean admit it, how many of you started crying or felt even a tiny bit of sadness every time Candide and Cunegonde got separated? Unless one had some dust in his eye while reading that scene or was thinking about something completely different, no one did. Why? Because we don't care. Candide and Cunegonde's supposed love for each other is so fake and has no depth whatsoever. I know I shouldn't treat Candide as a love story because it isn't a love story, but regardless, it's pretty obvious that Candide and Cunegonde's love for each other is nothing but absurd. To begin with, I can't seem to figure out if Cunegonde even has feelings for Candide…

     First of all, when the Baron "drove Candide from the house with powerful kicks on the backside," Cunegonde didn't even help him. Yes, she was unconscious, but after she woke up, couldn't she at least try to convince her brother to change his mind? (page 21)

     On top of that, Cunegonde causes nothing but trouble to Candide. This is a fact that no one can deny. First, because of Cunegonde, he got kicked out of the Thunder-ten-tronckh house. This is what started all of Candide's horrible events. In other words, romance is what causes Candide's hardships. The only message I get from here is "love is painful."

     It's also this oh-so-powerful love that causes Candide into committing numerous murders. First, he kills the Inquisitor and the Jew in Lisbon to free Cunegonde. Later, he attempted to murder her brother in South America so that he could marry her.

     Most importantly, Candide left Eldorado because of her. The first time he was in a place where the "all is for the best" philosophy worked, the first place where everything seemed to be perfect, the first place where nothing bad happened to Candide -- and he threw it all just to be with Cunegonde (who, I might mention, was about to marry the governor of Buenos Ayres then).

      The absurd lengths to which Candide sacrifices for his "love" are mocked by the fact that once Candide does reunite with Cunegonde, he ironically isn’t attracted to her anymore. His reaction in seeing her was actually pretty funny. He "drew back in aghast" at the sight of her…he doesn't even consider her as a woman, even worse, a human being (page 137). He sees her as an object. "The first objects which met [his] gaze were Cunegonde and the old woman" (page 137). [But then again, the readers never saw Cunegonde as a human being either; she's more of a puppet who has no thoughts or personality.] Why is Candide not attracted to her anymore? The answer is simple. Cunegonde is no longer the pretty girl that she used to be. I can't recall how many times the book mentioned her ugliness in the last couple of chapters. I mean that's basically what their love was all about…appearances. Now that Cunegonde no longer is the "buxom girl of seventeen with a fresh, rosy complexion," Candide does not love her (page 19). Of course, I'm pretty sure she was just aging. After all, who can stay that pretty after experiencing dreadful experiences one after the other and not even have the luxury to buy anti-aging cream? This just shows the readers that Candide mostly loved Cunegonde for her beauty and nothing else.

      As for Cunegonde, I have no idea if she even cares for Candide. Of course, there's the fact that she can't do anything to prove her love for him because she's a woman. There's a lot of discrimination in this novel and women seemed to not have much say in anything. They are merely used by the men (mostly for sexual purposes). Thus, it's not like Cunegonde could have done much. Yet, there is no denying in that she ditched and left Candide for the governor of Buenos Ayres. To be honest, I would have too. The governor of Buenos Ayres is so much more powerful and he's rich…after all that I experienced, I would want to be with somebody that would cause me less trouble. However, that's ONLY considering the fact that I don't love Candide and just think he's an idiot. Cunegonde is supposedly in love with him, but she still left him for the governor of Buenos Ayres. Doesn't that pretty much say she cares more about herself and money than Candide? If she really was devoted to Candide as Candide to her, then she wouldn't even have to hesitate or think or ask the old woman for her opinion when the governor proposed to her.

     Nonetheless, Candide still marries her. Now this, I really admire of Candide. He stayed true to his words and kept his longstanding promise. I feel like that makes Candide a moral and proper man.

     At the end, I could not help but think that Voltaire is simply satirizing Candide's love for Cunegonde.