Some Stuff in the Book

In Voltair's Candide, chapter after chapter, I keep finding the characters of women to be very similar. They almost all at one point were very pretty, if not beautiful, and all seem to have the same fate. This fate of course is being used by men over and over again. Either by the means of rape, or the women choose it as a way of living.

Why does the author constantly keep coming back to this, or presenting this to us in the book. Is it to maybe show that men always just want women for one particular reason? Or is it to show that back then, that was the only importance of women?

Also, there seems to be alot of death or killing in the book, or at least Candide keeps losing the people he is fond of. For example, Pangloss, Cunegonde, Cacambo. etc. etc.

Candide also keeps getting cheated in everything that happens to him. The wealth he accumlates is sure to soon run out, for everyone seems to find out that he is filthy rich, and then take advantage of his naïve way of thinking.

Candide's companion, Martin, seems to be the complete opposite of his former, yet still beloved, idol, Pangloss. Martin is set that everything in the world is completely terrible, and awful. He is a compelte pessimist. Pocurante and Martin seem to get along quite well, seeming as they both have the same view on life, everything is pretty much useless, disgusting, annoying, or etc. Nothing can please Pocurante.

Another theme that is often presented in Candide, is loss. It seems that when anybody ever gets something good, they either loose it, or something very bad happens to them, that cancels out the good. For example, the six kings that Candide dines with, or the fact that Candide keeps losing comfortable homes, and Cunegonde, and other people he loves.