Candide
On November 21, 1694, Francois-Marie Arouet, otherwise known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. The youngest of five, son to Francois and Marie Arouet, Voltaire grew
up in a household that had come to know the pleasantries of upper class french society.
Marie, his mother, had gained the family access to Louis XIV court through her realtives. Because of Voltaire’s priviledged lineage he was able to study under the Abbe de Chateaneuf, at the Louis-le-Grand Jesuit College in Paris. Voltaire spoke very highly of his Abbe in later years. After ten years at school, he was sent to study law in Paris under his fathers orders.
Early the following year, 1715, Frances most famous absolutist monarch died and
five year old great-grandson inherited the throne. Phillippe d’Orleans was named the
regent to the underaged king. D’Orleans, considered philosophically liberal by some,
caused many problems for Voltaire, including his imprisonments in the Bastille. The first was from May 16, 1717 to April 11, 1718, the second was in 1726. After his first confinment Francois Marie Arouet adopter the name Voltaire, which later became synonymous for horatian sarcasm towards the aristocracy of France, whether it was truly
his work or not. This is how Voltaire once again found himself in the Bastille. Falsely
accused of the authorship of a politically abrasive poem, he was imprisoned. Once released Voltaire was forced to travel to England, but returned to France three years later, in 1729, and began his prolific career.
One of Voltaire’s most notable pieces is Candide, published in 1759. It is a satire of many things, especially war, religion and those who hold optimism through a life of tereble hardships. Voltaire used his life experiences to promote a change in societies view of themselves by attacking the optimism that left so many blind to the real world and what he thought to be the path to contentedness.
Between 1750 and 1753 Voltaire stayed with Frederick II of Prussia, also known
as Frederick the Great. Fredericks reign had been that of a warrior king. He had started
conflicts in Europe that led to the war of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years
War. ( ) In Candide, Voltaire first satarizes war by saying, “ men were only made to help each other.” (pg 19) This is a direct jab at Frederick and war, because the ma...
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...ing boys. When the old lady meets the eunuch, he says, I was born in naples, where they castrate two or three thousand children each year. Some of them die of it, others acquire more beautiful voices than that of any women, still others go off to rule states. In my case, the operation was a great success.
Later that same eunuch describes how,
He had been sent to the King of Morocco by a Christian power to make a treaty with that monarch whereby he would be supplied with gunpowder, cannons and ships to help him wipe out the trade of other Christian powers.
So, the church has not only castrated this man, along with thousands of others, but they have sent him to help facilitate a war, that will kill thousands of men. The church doesn’t stop at destroying the lives of the opposition, they cripple there own followers. It is obvious why Voltaire saw the church as a body of selfishness and greed. The ultimate religiously satirical passage comes, when Candide is in the land of Eldorado. He says to the old man he has met, “What! You have no manks who teach, argue, rule, plot and burn people who don’t agree with them?” The old man replies, “ We’d be mad if we did.”
The author, Voltaire, wrote in the Enlightenment period, a literary movement characterized by the rising concern of philosophy, science, and politics. Voltaire’s writing was influenced by the Enlightenment movement to create awareness of global issues. This is evident in the repeated tragedies Candide stumbles upon. Social issues, corrupt authority figures, and war are real world topics that Voltaire chooses to address in Candide. The satirical nature of Candide allows for an in-depth discussion between the characters regarding the problems they face and the problems of the people they meet, creating a perspective that the audience is forced to look through. It is also a coming of age story, not just for Candide, but for the rising awareness in global issues. Voltaire’s inclusion of the issues of his time reflect the severity of those issues. Satire is used as a reaction to a society’s hypocrisy. Candide as a satirical piece reflects what people have neglected to pay attention to. Coming into a new era of awareness and responsibility leads Candide to reflect on the live he lived in Westphalia and the people he encountered across
...reflected critically on the events of his life—even just the two examples used in this essay--, he would probably find that this is not the best of all possible worlds as it is rife with evil and suffering. With this novella, Voltaire made the point that some spend a lifetime justifying—not rationalizing—the events of the world because those same people are too busy attempting to prove one theory rather than develop others that may fit reality more. When Candide dismisses Pangloss at the end of the novella by saying, “Let us cultivate our garden,” he is rejecting Pangloss’ philosophy, turning over a new leaf, and taking charge of his own life and giving it its own meaning free of Pangloss’ influence.
However, along the way Voltaire introduces characters with distinctive worldviews and philosophies. Unique to the story of Candide is the character Pangloss, a philosopher of metaphysico-theologico-cosmolo-boobology and Candide’s teacher. In chapter one, Pangloss abruptly shares his philosophy that, “for since everything is made for an end, everything is necessarily for the best end.” The tail goes on to say, “Candide listened attentively and believed innocently.” During their journey together certain situations cause Candide to question many of Pangloss’
"All is for the best...in the best of all possible worlds." To picture greatness, perfection and brilliance all intertwined into one splendid world -- a utopia, infers visualizing absolute beauty, harmony, and a universal tolerance amongst mankind. Would not such "perfection" designate the "best of all possible worlds?" How could we possibly conceive the sinister world portrayed in Candide to be conveyed as "utopia?" Since the best of all possible worlds indicates that "all is for the best" is it not safe to derive at the conclusion that since our world is clearly not "perfect" it is therefore implied that "all" is not for the best? Who determines the "right" from the "wrong," the "beautiful" from the "hideous," the "strong" from the weak?" How does one know if they are right? How does one ever know if they chose "correctly?" How does one allow themself to be infatuated with an idea as to blindly (correctly or incorrectly) follow it and believe? When do you question yourself? Doubt and "double-guess" yourself? Such correlating topics of an ambiguous solution are sought to be explained in Candide.
Throughout the book, Voltaire critiqued Leibniz theory that we live in the “best of all possible worlds.” Pangloss was our optimist philosopher, who contended for the Leibniz theory. He argued that, “since everything was made for a purpose, everything is necessarily for the best purpose” (Voltaire, 16). After Candide was beaten, his love raped, his tutor sick with syphilis; After earthquakes, shipwrecks, slavery, being exiled, and l...
Famous politician and activist, Eleanor Roosevelt, once said, “All wars eventually act as boomerangs and the victor suffers as much as the vanquished”. This criticism can easily align with Voltaire’s own anti-war sentiment as illustrated in his famous novel, Candide. Voltaire took advantage of his literary capabilities in order to present to the world a novel that attempts to not only dismantle social norms, but also subvert humanity’s common - and corrupt - way of thinking about war. More specifically, being personally influenced by the 18th century Seven Year’s War, Voltaire turned away from any positive opinions on war and instead, developed intense opposition toward the armed conflict so prevalent within our society. With this anti-war
Similar studies were done to a different set of college students and they tended to have the same results. After giving as much detail about each memory, the students were interviewed about what they may have written done about what they had remembered. During the last part of the experiment, each of the students were debriefed and asked to guess which memory they believed was false.
In the novel Candide written by Voltaire there are several symbols throughout the story. One of those symbolic figures that seems to stand out in the story is the character Candide, a gullible and innocent boy who experiences many hardships after being vanished from the castle of the baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh. Candide seems to be a representation of people's innocence and how they tend to lose it throughout their lifetime as they witness and experience new things in the world and grow wary of the consequences that every different situation may hold. For example, Voltaire mentions in the beginning of the story that “nature had bestowed upon [Candide] the gentlest of dispositions. His countenance expressed his soul” which shows to the reader that Candide is kind and innocent at the beginning and that he has not the slightest intentions of interfering with another persons life in a negative manner (3). However, later on in the story after Candide has killed Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor, Candide justifies his murderous behavior to Cunegonde by saying that “when you are in love, and jealous, and have been flogged by the inquisition, there is no knowing what you may do” which demonstrates that the gentle and kind Candide has turned into a murderer as a result of his previous life experiences which in turn provides an excellent example of how people lose their innocence and turn to violence overtime (22).
Overall Voltaire is successful in promoting his ideas and beliefs. It is clear he wants to see a drastic change in religion, politics and morals in the pre-modern period. Throughout his novel Candide he is able to criticise society with a light hearted mockery but also with a seriousness using extreme examples to address his points and concerns. It is arguable that his ambitions were far too high at a time of hope and debate in the 18th century.
The book Candide by Voltaire is a humorous satire constructed of many themes. Through his book, Voltaire expresses his views on life by criticizing many aspects of humanity at that time. He focused in war, religion, and love, but the main target of Voltaire's satire was a certain philosophy. All of the previous topics unite to ridicule the philosophy that, as the character Pangloss said, "things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end" (1).
Candide is an outlandishly humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism espoused by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story of a young man’s adventures throughout the world, where he witnesses much evil and disaster. Throughout his travels, he adheres to the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss, believing that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." Candide is Voltaire’s answer to what he saw as an absurd belief proposed by the Optimists - an easy way to rationalize evil and suffering. Though he was by no means a pessimist, Voltaire refused to believe that what happens is always for the best.The Age of Enlightenment is a term applied to a wide variety of ideas and advances in the fields of philosophy, science, and medicine. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is the belief that people can actively work to create a better world. A spirit of social reform characterized the political ideology of Enlightenment philosophers. While Voltaire’s Candide is heavily characterized by the primary concerns of the Enlightenment, it also criticizes certain aspects of the movement. It attacks the idea that optimism, which holds that rational thought can inhibit the evils perpetrated by human beings.
In Candide, Voltaire sought to point out the fallacy of Gottfried Leibniz's theory of optimism and the hardships brought on by the resulting inaction toward the evils of the world. Voltaire's use of satire, and its techniques of exaggeration and contrast highlight the evil and brutality of war and the world in general when men are meekly accepting of their fate.
... Although he advocated religious tolerance, he believed that any one church should not have absolute power. By the time he was executed, he had already brought about the end of the power and right of the church to torture France. People in France still are not as faithful to the Catholic Church as they had been before Voltaire had introduced them to the idea of “reasoning”. The Enlightenment is held to be the source of many modern ideas, such as the primary values of freedom and reason.
Voltaire, Francois-Marie Arouet de. “Candide.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. Shoter 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2013. 100-59. Print.
Candide's misfortune begins when he is kicked out of the castle and experiences a series of horrible events. Candide is unable to see anything positive in his ordeals, contrary to Dr. Pangloss' teachings that there is a cause for all effects and that, though we might not understand it, everything is all for the good. Candide's endless trials begin when he is forced into the army simply because he is the right height, five feet five inches. In the army he is subjected to endless drills and humiliations and is almost beaten to death. Candide escapes and, after being degraded by good Christians for being an anti-Christ, meets a diseased beggar who turns out to be Dr. Pangloss. Dr. Pangloss informs him that Bulgarian soldiers attacked the castle of Westfalia and killed Cunegonde - more misery!