The Sufferings Of Young Werther And Candide: Literary Analysis

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In the two novels The Sufferings of Young Werther and Candide, the authors create characters with absolute world views for the purpose of a starker contrast when their fantasy inevitably falls apart. Candide begins with the belief that “everything is for the best” and that this is the “best of all possible worlds” (Voltaire 101). Of course, this belief is shattered when he ventures out into the world and is consequently destroyed by reality in every possible fashion. However, Candide shoulders the struggles of life, showing resistance when he decides to “cultivate our garden” (Voltaire 159). In this way, Candide resolves to “bear a life of misery with fortitude” (Goethe), the very idea that Albert, representing the Enlightenment, argues for

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