Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through Candide

and one non-literary work.

PASSAGES FROM VOLTAIRE :

“Oh well, beautiful or ugly,” said Candide. “I am a man of honour, and my duty is to love
her anyways.” [...] (Chapter 27)
The Baron turned pale at the sight. Candide, the tender lover, on seeing his beautiful
Cunégonde all weather-beaten, her eyes bloodshot, her breasts sunken, her cheeks lined, her arms
red and chapped, was seized with horror; he recoiled three pieces, then advanced out of sheer
good manners. She embraced Candide and her brother; they embraced the old woman; Candied
ransom the pair of them. [...] (Chapter 29)
Cunégunde was unaware of how ugly she had become, no one having told her. She now
reminded Candide of his promises, and in so peremptory a fashion that the good Candide dared
not to refuse her. [...] (Chapter 29)
“You absolute ass,” said Candide. “I have rescued you from the galleys; I have paid for
your freedom; I have paid for your sister’s freedom. She was washing dishes here; she is ugly; I
have the goodness to make her my wife, and still you presume to oppose it! I would kill you all
over again were I give way to my anger!” [...] (Chapter 29)
At the bottom of his heart, Candide had no desire to marry Cunégonde; but the
outrageous impertinence of the Baron determined him to go through with the ceremony, and
Cunégonde was urging him on so keenly that he could not retract. [...] (Chapter 30)

NON-LITERARY TEXT :
-What is your global issue? Have you narrowed it down?
Marriage is “the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal
relationship”. Nowadays, there is a long-term decline of people getting formally married.
Researchers believe that the main reason for this is that women are finally achieving more
equality, independence, study and work opportunities every decade. Female’s main objective in
life is no longer to get successfully married as they can now focus on their own career. Once
women were just supposed to take care of their houses and educate their children. Now they can
choose their own path and decide what they want to make out of their lives. This, at least, is for
most women in the world. There are, however, girls who still do not have these opportunities like
the ones born in less developed countries. The global issue, therefore, isn't that females have
more rights but how marriage is perceived. By many it is undervalued and seen more as a burden
than a happy and strong union. People no longer want to comply with legal obligations maybe
because they do not want to risk all the consequences that would follow a divorce. Meaning that
in case they were to get separated, they would usually have to split their belongings and
economic fortunes. This could be seen as a global issue as marriage originated from a much
more positive perspective than the one it is perceived with now. It is a union that represents
security, home, love, shelter. An act of faith towards each other that demonstrates that no matter
what, through rough and slim, the couple and relationship is still going to survive. It is a pact of
love that gets formalized by the state that indicates your intentions are serious regarding all
aspects. People who do not feel like marrying are already doubting their union. Some would call
that smart, others heartless. This way it gets normalized that people could have multiple serious
relationships in a lifetime. It is one point of view to say a girl has many boyfriends, but another,
she has had many husbands. Before getting married you should have a wide range of certainty. It
is true there are unlucky marriages and each one should have the possibility to change their
companion but after a certain point, one person out of the whole lot of them should be chosen
and respected for life. Nowadays, people no longer feel like making this decision and seem to not
have the courage to comply for life with someone else. Furthermore, successful marriages
stabilize families. Those they decide to just share unmarried cohabitation and have children, do
not prove to their kids they are a certainty for each other.

-Write a brief description of your whole literary work.

Volatire criticises many aspects of his society. Some of his points are still relevant today, which
is surprising, considering the historical gap. Marriage is not spoken about that often in his text it
does however get mentioned. It is clear Candide highly respects this form of unions and it should
not be surprising as we’re talking about a time when women were considered to be inferior to
men and had many less opportunities. Their value was based on whether or not they had a
husband and love was an alternative. There were the combined marriages that just had to be
respected and Candide honores those. He has promised Cunégonde that one day he would get
married with her, and as he wants to prove he is a man that keeps his word, so he does. What
Volatire may be trying to say with this is that in this case it is quite irrational. Just because
society dictated it, now two people have to share the same bedroom for the rest of their life.
Candide had this illusory image of a perfect Cunégonde. He probably fell in love with the idea of
her, rather than the woman herself.

-Comment on the specific passages selected.

Voltaire points out how much the physical aspect of a woman matters. Candide seems to have
fallen in love with Cunégonde because of her youthful beauty. Voltaire does not focus much on
their mental connection. In fact, all the descriptions of Cunégonde focus on her external looks
and not much on her internal values. When Candide sees a Cunégonde that has aged and
therefore for him becomes less valuable, he merely marries her to keep his word and no longer
because he is in love. Voltaire might be trying to criticize how illusionary the concept of love is
as throughout the whole story no one could have questioned how fond Candide is of his young
lady. He crossed mountains, seas and rivers just to reconcile with her. It seemed as if he was
ready to do anything for her and so then, to keep his coherence, he marries her even if he no
longer feels any attraction.

-Write a brief description of your non-literary text.

The non-literary text above ridiculizes the concept of marriage to represent it as it is perceived
nowadays by the society. The message behind it seems to indicate that new generations do not
take marriage seriously and consider it to be quite useless. This union should be seen as
something very profound and serious.

-Comment on specific aspects of the non-literary text.

As this non-literary text points out, people no longer take marriage as seriously. Men just as
women are not willing to comply with one another and are willing to focus on lesser issues.
Worrying about the portion of fries is an exaggeration, but it does, however, send a realistic
message. Be it the possibility that then there might be divorce or that you will have to take your
relationship to another level, society feels it is not necessary. While in the past, especially a
woman’s future depended whether or not she managed to get married with a just husband,
nowadays luckily, females can focus more on their career and build up their own future
independently. The same goes for men, though. Many no longer now reach an age where they
feel they just must get married to maintain their status. The new generations do not establish
their value according to whether or not they are in a stable relationship. The youth now looks at
one’s studies, philosophies and personal well being. If one feels accomplished just the way
he/she is, then it’s fine. Even when one loves his/her partner, in most cases, both would agree to
just move in together and live under the same roof without having any legal obligations of
marriage. This style of life isn’t just for couples, it is also for actual families. Men (meaning
human beings in general), might decide to not only share a house but also give birth or adopt
children and still not get married.
-What is the connection between the literary and non-literary text? How do they
connect to the global issue?
These two are opposite extremes of the perception of marriage. While Volataire evaluates
marriage as being obligatory at all cost and intends it as an extremely essential and serious
passage in one’s life, the non-literary text puts it out as an unnecessary and trivial moment. So,
while Candide marries Cunégonde even if he no longer loves her or feels any attraction, the man
from the image is not willing to do the same just because of some portion of fries. It obviously
ridiculizes both sides of the argument but it does also leave the reader thoughtful about the topic.