Voltaire vs Ibsen

            Lady Cunegonde in Voltaire’s Candide and Hedda Gabler by Ibsen is very simmilar in a way that they are both treated as objects by which evil sprung or by which evils are committed by men because of them.

            At the time Candide was written by Voltaire, the German philosopher and mathematician Leibniz had made famous his theory that the world is the epitome of perfection and all evils that occur are part of the betterment and evolution of an ideal society. This German philospher believed that the earth is made by God who is perfect and as such must continuously try to attain perfection. Voltaire was a strong critic of Leibniz and he chose to create Lady Cunegonde to prove that such concept as goodness and perfection is contrary to reality. In fact he created Lady Conegonde as someone who by her mere precence has forced the protagonist to committing great degrees of sins: from committing adultery to murdering two men just so he can protect the life of his mistress, Lady Cunegonde.

            To futher illustrate the point and to further emphasize that Lady Cunegonde is temptation  herself, Voltaire gave the protagonist Candide, meaning blank or spotless. Thus by mere association alone, Candide who is suppose to be pure of soul has been tainted by by Lady Cunegonde. Moreover, the concept of optimism, which have driven Candide to overcome trials, hardships and perils, in the end was ultimately realized by Candide through Lady Cunegonde as totally unrealistic and a complete fantasy.

            As if the many events of the story is not enough for Voltaire to illustrate his point, he have even made Lady Cunegonde as the object by which the hero Candide left Eldorado. Voltaire made use of this to illustrate that Lady Conegonde is such a driving force that even the lure of eutopia is not enough to make a man forget the spell she has casted upon him.

            Hedda Gabler, although similarly used as object of evil, is way far above the league of Lady Cunegonde. Since the publication of Hedda Gabler many critics have criticized the Ibsen for creating such evil character. At that time it was even banned from publication and production; which ironically added to its success. Many critics were horrified by Hedda Gabler.

            During the time it was enjoying such controversial reception, some critics have made statements about the totally unrealistic character of Hedda Gabler. Many critics agreed that Hedda lacks any motivation and by lacking any concrete motivation, Ibsen’s play had this very serious flaw.    Eventually though, Hedda Gabler as a character became the subject to literary scholarly debates. Some critics have concluded that Hedda’s main conflict is the forces behind her social self and essential self. Some argued that she was simply rebellling aginst the restrictions of the society on women. Still some argued that she is a mere victim of her class and upbringing.

            In a more recent times many critics categorized Hedda as a modern monster the ones we now see as psychotic, perverted and abnormal. Some took her character as a mirror of modern day degeneration of humanity. Without taking a cue from the critics Hedda is nothing but a very selfish woman devoid of the capability of judging what is morally right and incapable of looking beyond her desire to see the consequences of her actions.

            In both Candide and Hedda Gabler, women are portrayed as objects that bring upon the destruction of both the physical and moral essence of the man. As with the Bible, we see again women depicted as the one tempting man to commit evil ways which brings upon the misfortune in his comfortable life and the moral degradation which brings him farther away from God.

            In a physical sense, we see Candide even from the very beginning being lured by Lady Cunegonde to commit adultery. This adulterous act was also committed against the very person which extends such goodness and privilege to Candid. This very act of adultery against the very person that feed and educates him demonstrates the capability and willful manipulation and power of Lady Cunegonde on Candide. Without such interference and manipulation Candide would have lived a very comfortable life under the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh. But no, Lady Cunegonde, personifying true evil, had to destroy everything by seducing Candide with a drop of her handkerchief.

            Later we see the same power and manipulation when Candide killed two men so that Lady Cunegonde can be free from her captors. This act resulted into further degradation of the life as Candide knew it, for now he is a criminal not just a half blood banished young man.

            In a moral sense we see Candide transformed by Lady Cunegonde into committing adultery to murder. Whereas before, Candide was nothing more than an ungrateful nephew, without any sense of loyalty and propriety, now he is a murderer. Woman again is depicted here as the evil temptress or a sorcerer who casts spells upon men so that they may commit heinous acts of murder. Mere association with them alone seals a man’s fate.

            In Ibsen’s play we see the same evil role given to woman through Hedda Gabler’s casting of the Eilert Løvborg's life into ruination and eventually to his death. It can be said that Hedda Gabler was forced into such actions to protect her own financial security. But all throughout the play we see her taking pleasure from her evil plottings and actions.

            Hedda Gabler ruined the life of Eilert by destroying his manuscript. Again this is a perfect portrayal of women as evil who can and does destroy the life and dreams men build for themselves. With the destruction of the manuscript, Hedda Gabler also destroyed the life of Eilert.

            On the moral ruination, Hedda also manipulated Eilert into committing suicide. Suicide is a mortal sin and Eilert by doing so, though through sheer manipulation of Hedda, have sealed his soul’s fate by this sin.             Ibsen, like Voltaire, was not satisfied with the destuction of the life of Eilert, he also made use of woman to destroy the spiritual life of the Eilert.

            Again comparing the two female characters we can say that the women are depicted as the ultimate downfall of men both in the physical world and in the spiritual one. Women are nothing more than objects of ruination, or an inescapable plague which a man may have the misfortune of encountering. Women here are like cursed objects which for those who may have come upon will surely have the worst luck of having their lives and do sinful acts which will make them also lose their souls to hell. To further strenghten this role of women, the writers did not give any sign of resitence on the part of men. Men are passive creatures dictated or manipulated by the women. That they did not give any resistance at all showed that women are such strong force that resistence is even incomprehensible for these men.

            Thus we see women having the role of true evil. Women here are not just “evil women”, but in these two characters, women are not human at all but evil creatures. To clearly illustrate, Candide threw away his life on Eldorado and Eilert committed suicide with a mere provocation. No men on their right minds would do such things. Thus these clearly show that they are both under a great spell which can only be achieved by evil creatures like Cerce. Of course this is not to say that these are fantasies. On the contrary, Candide and Hedda Gabler are as close to reality as all the other realistic novels. The mere depiction of women are nothing more than a  literary elevation of women as creatures of seduction and temptation to do evil. We see the same depiction in Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth. Though they are stretch of the role of women they are realistic; and in some cases probably true.