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Voltaire's "Candide"
The eighteenth century novel written by Voltaire, Candide, was one of the greatest works of arguably the most important philosopher during the Enlightenment. Using Candide for the purpose of illustration, Voltaire was able to criticize the beliefs and established views of his time without directly opposing them. He uses the characters and plot to satirize these views and also relay his own beliefs at the same time.
The Enlightenment and enlightened thought is often associated with eighteenth
century France because France is where the movement began and many of the leaders resided. The enlightened way of thinking became a revolutionary force against theCustom Essays on Voltaire's Candide
Church and its tyrannical control of people's thoughts. The Enlightenment is often described as a balanced combination of both rationalism and empiricism. In this movement, knowledge was believed to be, for the first time, gained through research/observation and by using reason as the basis for thought. In Candide, Voltaire uses the main character of Candide to portray this new idea by having him born and raised in a class oriented, monarchial society and eventually travel throughout the world escaping his former society to make observations using reason to shape his new life which makes him significantly more content. Even the name "Candide", which is similar to the word "candid" meaning sincere, to suggest that the character says what he really feels no matter what the accepted beliefs happen to be. "You could read his character in his face. He combined sound judgment with affected simplicity." (Voltaire, 1)
Candide spends much of the story in search of the Lady Cunegonde, who as the
daughter of a Baron. In this context she represents the nobility of the world andCandide's search for Lady Cunegonde is his search for the happiness of his childhood (in the the monarchial society of France). However, when "Candide does find Cunegonde, she is no longer the beautiful women he pictured; but an unattractive representation of what his life could have been. Candide,now having his new-found appreciation for enlightened thought, realizes that he would have been happier in Eldorado. Eldorado was a place where Candide had once traveled to and found a society without established beliefs or classes and consequently was universally wealthy. "Court cases in fact were unknown. (Candide) inquired whether there were any prisons and his guide answered no. What surprised and delighted him most of all was the Palace of Science, where he saw a gallery two thousand feet long filled with mathematical and scientific instruments." (Voltaire, 8) Instead of remaining there, he left to continue his search for Cunegonde and regrets this greatly.
In the novel, Voltaire uses the character of Dr. Pangloss (meaning 'everything' or 'shine') who ironically is Candide's religious tutor, as the embodiment of the Church and its established beliefs as he accompanies Candide on his journey. Pangloss continuously attempts to force the Church's views onto Candide throughout the story. One example of this is the fact that after one of the many disasters that happened to them over the course of their travels, Pangloss said "Things cannot be other than they are, for since everything is made for a purpose, it follows that everything is made for the best purpose." (Voltaire, 0) This statement was used by the Church in an attempt to discourage the working classes from revolting because it states that anything bad that may happen to them is part of God's master plan and they should learn to accept it. That line of thinking was one of the major problems that the enlightened thought was aimed at destroying. Pangloss continued to portray this message when he responded to the death and suffering as a result of the earthquake at Lisbon by saying "For all this is a manifestation of the rightness of things, since if there is a volcano at Lisbon it could not be anywhere else. For it is impossible for things not to be where they are, for everything is for the best." (Voltaire, 5). Pangloss also served to represent the stubbornness and unwillingness to change of the Church by saying, towards the end of their journey, "I still hold my original views, for I am still a philosopher. It would not be proper for me to recant,…." (Voltaire, 16)
Candide's reformation came full circle at the end of the novel when he finally discovered the way of life that gave him true happiness. He came across a poor farmer one day and, much to his surprise, discovered that the farmer was truly happy and content by working all day every day to feed himself and his family. Candide decided to try this lifestyle and successfully found happiness by spending his days gardening and working feverishly on his farm. He found that this lifestyle allotted little time to think about philosophical views and worry about what class you were in and how oppressive the Church was. On his small farm with his family there were no noblemen, kings, or rules and this allowed everyone to do as they please without having to worry about the consequences. This is an example of the society that the ancient philosophers and thinkers of the eightennth century were trying to create during the Elightenment. A society where you learned everything by doing it yourself and simply did what made sense, not what some powerful leader told you to do.
By writing the novel, Candide, Voltaire was attempting to relay the new way of thinking during the Enlightenment by using metaphorical stories that can be applied to the every day lives of the working class people of his time. While he used extreme examples and exaggerated circumstances, this helped to expose the purpose of the novel. His novel was a success and is one of the main catalysts that lead to the revolution of thought in the eighteenth century and established many of the views and beliefs that continue to govern out lives today.
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