Voltaire's "Candide" (Blake and Kazin, 1976) contain aspects of anti-religious sentiments. Both epics are quasi-historical -- they provide a commentary on the prevailing times; both works also provide a view into Blake and Voltaire's personal opinions and leanings. Voltaire was educated by the Jesuits -- priests belonging to the society of Jesuits. Voltaire railed against the prevailing cultural and religious mores that sought to forget socio-economic conditions to satisfy some pre-ordained, religious (mis)interpretations of divine mandates. Blake, similarly, was mortified by the dualism practiced by the religious of the time. He did not like or appreciate the way in which every thing was seen from the point of black or white. If the Church deemed something unfit, the practitioner of that aspect of life came under severe remonstrations and even met the ultimate penalty of death. Both authors struggle against the fact that these rules were beneficial to those in...
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