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Corinne Vieracker
Professor Freed
Eng 262
10 December 2009
Comparison of the Absence of Order in Voltaire’s Candide and Beauvoir’s The Woman
Destroyed
Voltaire’s Candide and Simone De Beauvoir’s The Woman Destroyed depict two very
different plotlines. However, both plots display similar ideas of an absence of order, how the
characters think about the world, through their character’s beliefs. While Candide loses a sense
of order by changing his beliefs, Monique loses a sense of order by losing her husband and
herself. Thus, they each go through a set of events that change their idea of the current world
they live in. While Candide experiences this lost order from his views of the world contradict
Pangloss’s theory, Monique experiences this lost order from how her role as a mother and wife
has changed. Thus, in the two stories the idea destroyed order within a character is depicted and
the protagonists react in a similar way to build a new order that better fits their lifestyles.
Candide’s select and simplistic view of the world is what creates his sense of order and
applies the idea of everything being perfect with reason. Candide believed Pangloss’s theory that
“everything in the world is for the best.” He also believed that Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh was
the best place in the world because this is all he knew. Thus, Candide’s view of the world and
trust in Pangloss set up a sense of order for Candide to protect himself with. His trust in
Pangloss is seen throughout the story as Candide repetitively mentions his tutor Pangloss and the
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belief that everything is good with reason. This shows that Candide’s undeniable belief in
Pangloss has contributed to the order Candide has in his world. Furthermore, Candide’s belief
that Castle Thunder-ton-tronckh is the best place is demonstrated with the description “the most
beautiful and delightful of all possible mansions” (Voltaire, 21). This description demonstrates
that Candide believes Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh to be better than all other mansions because he
has not been anywhere else. Since Candide has no other ideas of the outside world, his sense of
order relies on what he already knows, Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh, to describe his ideas of the
world. Furthermore, by having Candide’s sense of order derive from what he knows, then the
order within himself would derive from his set of beliefs. Candide believed Pangloss’s theory
and that shaped his character for the story. Thus, his idea of the world, or order, relies on his
opinions and beliefs, which will change with the rest of the plotline.
Monique’s marriage helps society define her as “woman” which is just the social view of
her gender, but this definition creates the order in Monique’s life. The sense of order in The
Woman Destroyed was created with Monique’s marriage and torn apart with the disintegration
of her marriage. Monique connected her marriage with herself, and her husband, Maurice,
started to define her. She shaped her life around her husband, and that began to become her view
of the world. This is seen when she states “He loved me, that’s all. And forever, since I should
always be me” (Beauvoir, 195). This quote conveys that Maurice’s love for her was part of what
made her and shaped her current life and view of the world. The word “since” placed before “I
should always be me” shows that she is her because he loves her. This creates a sense of order
within herself that is defined by Maurice. Monique allows her husband and her daughter to
define her as “woman” and this definition creates the sense of order within her. Therefore,
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Monique’s order is created by how her husband views the world; however, this order unravels
throughout the novel.
In Candide, the order created was challenged which also challenged the ideas presented
by Voltaire. Candide progressed through a series of events that questioned his loyalty to
Pangloss’s theory and to Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh. When the old lady told her story and he
heard the stories of the other passengers, he questioned what good would come from all the
suffering. Thus, Candide questioned Pangloss, because Pangloss believed that all was good. By
questioning Pangloss, Candide questions the order he has created with his loyalty. Since
Pangloss’s theory was what Candide believed for so long, Candide was then questioning himself
and the order within him. Furthermore, Candide’s visit to Eldorado makes him realize that
Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh is not the best mansion in the world. This is seen when Candide
says, “This is a better sort of country than Westphalia” (Voltaire, 74). This directly shows that
Candide has found a place he believes to be better than Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh. By finding
a place that Candide believes better than what he previously believed to be the best, Candide’s
order stemming from his beliefs is being disrupted. Then by disrupting his beliefs Candide is
furthermore disrupting the order within him.
The order in The Woman Destroyed was disrupted which challenged society’s idea of
what a “woman” is. Monique’s order is disrupted when she discovers Maurice’s affair. The
dependency her personality had on her husband was being challenged causing Monique to
challenge the order in her own personality. This is shown when Monique compares a story of a
man who lost his shadow with her losing her image. She discusses how her relationship with
Maurice and how he defines her defines her and her life. Monique describes how she barely
looks at her own image and how her image is falling more and more into the background. This
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all shows that Monique’s order within herself is questioned with her husband’s affair and by
losing herself she begins to lose the order. By saying that she is losing her image, Monique is
saying she is losing herself and herself contains the order that the definition “woman” has
created for her. By questioning herself, Monique is disrupting her views of her life and herself
or the order that Beauvoir has already presented.
The lost order within Candide’s view of the world gives Voltaire the opportunity to
express the idea to reject reason and fate. Candide’s loss of order forces Candide to react by
moving forward with his life without focusing on Pangloss’s theory. His reaction is seen at the
end of the story when Candide says to Pangloss, “I also know that we must go and work in the
garden” (Voltaire, 143). This shows that Candide views the garden as a kind of new order that
he can create. While Candide does not directly reject Pangloss’s theory the idea is insinuated.
Just presenting the idea shows that Candide is moving on from his old beliefs and view of the
world and starting to take up a new set of beliefs and view. This all presents the idea that not
everything is due to reason and not all is good. By showing this shift in ideas through Candide,
Voltaire is able to depict a change in Candide’s view of the world from the beginning to the end,
which shows a change in the order within Candide. Furthermore, by having Candide continue
with his life, Voltaire is able to show a life absent of reason and also the possibility of change in
a character due to experience. Thus, Candide’s reaction to his lost order was to create a new
order for him to work with.
The lost order for Monique produces the idea that Monique has somehow overcome
society’s common idea of what “woman” means. Monique reacts to her disrupted order by
trying to overcome it and move on with her life. This is evident at the end of the novel when she
states, “I am afraid” after talking to her daughter (Beauvoir, 254). Meaning that she has
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recognized that she no longer needs Maurice to define her but is afraid to move on from him
because he is all she has known for so long. She has accepted that her corrupted order has
affected her negatively and wants to create a new order for her personality to fit in. This shows
that Monique even though Monique had defined herself as being a “woman” with her husband,
she has accepted the notion of creating her own life and moving on from Maurice. Monique is
taking the circumstances that have changed her life and setting up a new life or order. This way
Beauvoir was able to show the change in the meaning of the word “woman” through Monique.
Beauvoir took the word from being what society thought of as or defined “woman” to making it
about what the woman herself defined. Thus, Monique’s change in definition of herself as a
“woman” shows that she was able to transfer from her old views of the world and begin to create
a new order.
Therefore, Beauvoir and Voltaire present similar ideas of lost order and characters that
react similarly to the lost order in very different plotlines. Although, Candide and Monique
progress through very different plotlines, their reactions to all the events are quite similar. Both
characters defined themselves with their beliefs and when those beliefs were challenged they
both found a way to try and build a new order or set of beliefs. Candide believed in Pangloss’s
theory of everything having some good due to reason. And when those beliefs were challenged
from experience Candide learned to create a new order that accepted the idea that not everything
is good and not everything is reason. Monique believed she needed her husband and daughter to
define her as “woman.” And then Monique created a new order that redefined herself and took
apart the idea of society defines “woman” even if she was afraid. Thus, Candide and Monique
both created a new order with the ideas they learned or created throughout their plotlines.