Despite these factors, their stories all have something in common. Religion. Shakespeare was a Protestant who used Catholic beliefs to create a tragedy, the Mayans used their culture and beliefs to create a story to explain how the world came to be, and Voltaire used his story Candide to mock religion. Each story connects because each author shares their opinions on how religion affects human nature. Hamlet's human nature is pain and how to deal with it, the Popol Vuh is humans who defy their creators and are the heroes, and Voltaire's touches on humans who use religion to be optimistic when times are tough.