Having read Candide, I think my favorite part of the novel is when
Candide shoots the lovers of two women. These lovers also just happen to be
monkeys! I looked up this term and it is called "animal love," or
more commonly bestiality, defined as "relating
to recurrent intense sexual fantasies, urges, and sexual activities with
non-human animals." Apparently, "zoophiles," want to make
love to animals. This is very strange, since only a few animals have sex for
pleasure - dolphins, humans, apes, and bats to name a few. I was appalled at
the two girls actually being in love with animals, and the phenomenon
"zoophilia" is actually a real concept shocks me even more. In many
countries and certain states in the US, this is still considered legal. Read
more
at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/why-would-anyone-want-to-have-sex-with-an-animal-the-psychology-of-bestiality-10201158.html
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia
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5 comments:
The idea of bestiality is so weird to me. I feel like most people feel this way but at the same time there are multiple cases of voluntary bestiality that you hear about. Recently, I saw an article about a woman who was pimped into intercourse with a dog. The doctor adding research to this article says that in a way bestiality is rape. Since animals are unable to talk, they are unable to consent so a person having sex with them is rape. I thought this idea added an extremely new thought process to bestiality. This brings me to the situation with the monkeys. How did Candide and Cacando know that they were actually "lovers". Bestiality is one thing but I'm not sure how you could argue that your lover is an animal that cannot actually communicate.
Voltaire was definitely being satirical when he made those two monkeys the lovers of the two women. Voltaire is commenting on the bestial side of humans. In the text of the novella, he writes that all humans are 1/4 animal. Since the two ladies are suppose to be savages they have reverted more to the bestial side of humanity. While the audience is disgusted by this, Voltaire is making a point that this is apart of their selves too.
Now I'm just spit ballin' here, but I think Voltaire put in the animal lovers to make a point. Throughout the entire novella, Voltaire has sex, sex, and more sex. Sex between teachers and students, sex between cousisns, sex between priests, forced sex, etc. There is evidence of rape, pedophilia, and incest, all commenting on mankind's corrupt sexual habits. Voltaire is commenting on the bestial need for sex that people have. Humans, one of a few species of animals who have sex for pleasure have gotten out of hand in Voltaire's mind. His satirical inclusion of the apes, is a shot at all of mankind and their need for sex. He makes the girls have an overreaction to the death of the apes, furthering his satirical argument that humans need to have sex and their obsession has gone overboard.
Every time I think of bestiality, I think of all the jokes made about the movie Beauty and the Beast and how people call that Disney promoting bestiality - so if Disney says its ok, I think it's totally fine. (btw i dont think it is and i dont think disney is promoting it)
But on one hand, I agree with Antonio that Voltaire is putting that in as satire or to make a point, but I think the point is less about how women are sexed crazed and more about cultural differences between countries and exaggerating the actions of the "savages" and the way that the Europeans thought about the indigenous people. They thought of them as barbarians and savages because they acted differently and had different customs - such as cannibalism- which honestly should be something that's a little hard to swallow. Even so, a lot of Europeans were disgusted by them and killed many of them- but Voltaire is trying to point out that even though they're different, they're human too.
But- back to Disney movies, I think on the literal level this is a beauty and the beast situation, but on the figurative level this is a Pocahontas situation minus the dramatic forbidden love from two different worlds and more like - hey you're cute ill eat you for dinner.
I thought Candide introduced a couple of practices we're not exactly used to/wouldn't consider normal. Bestiality is definitely one of them. This concept really grosses me out... But the whirling dervishes and the auto da fe's are some other examples. The concept of the whirling dervish seems so weird to me. I don't exactly understand how repetitively spinning around in circles helps one achieve the source of all perfection. The most extreme punishment imposed on the convicted in the auto da fe was public burning... What! Reading Candide allowed me to really consider other cultures. I'm not judging, but I don't necessarily agree with all of this.
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