Voltaire- “Candide”
The Man
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Pen Name
Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778)
Middle-Class
Jesuit education (Christian male religious
order of the Catholic Church)
• “Jesuits are known for their work in education (founding schools,
colleges, universities and seminaries), intellectual research, and
cultural pursuits, and for their missionary efforts. Jesuits also give
retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes and promote social
justice…”
The Controversy
• Wanted to gain attention of Parisian “high
society”
• Exiled at age 22 for satirical, anti-aristocratic
writing
• Political prisoner at the Bastille (the state
prison)
• 1718, exiled to suburbs of Paris, adopted pen
name VOLTAIRE.
• Further imprisonment/exile.
Leader
• Became a leader in the “great Enlightenment
battle” against prejudice & blind acceptance.
• Devoted life to the critique of
traditional/received authority.
• Moto: “Ecasez l’infame!” (Crush Infamy!) [The
phrase Voltaire said that the infamy he meant was superstition, but many have
interpreted it as referring to clericalism or organized religion.]
• Welcomed in London; he met Locke, Pope,
and Swift there.
More on Voltaire
• Upon return to France from England, he lived
with the philosopher Madame du Chatelet.
• Spent 15 years living in a “menage a trois” with
her & her husband.
• Fell back into favor with high society.
• Left France after Chatelet’s death, but returned in
1759, continuing to spread revolutionary ideas.
• In 1778, returned to Paris again to see the
opening of his last play and met Ben Franklin; he
was celebrated at the end of his life.
Remembered
• His remains are enshrined at the Pantheon in
a secular temple dedicated to “Great Men”.
Philosophy
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Deist
Pro-religious freedom
Anti-tyrannical government
“Fortune’s Wheel” analogy: Ups & Downs
“Candide” reflects all of the above.
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“Candide” or “Optimism”
Written 1759
Voltaire was 65, famous
REASON & FREEDOM
Is a critique of the philosophy of G.W. von
Leibnez, a German theorist who argued that God
had created “the best of all possible worlds” and
Alexander Pope, who declared that “whatever is
right is right.”
• Best seller; most widely taught work of French
Literature.
• Inspired other works; example: Bertein’s operetta
Satire
• “Candide” is satire.
• Attacks widespread idealist system of
philosophical OPTIMISM.
• One of Voltaire’s biggest criticisms was that this
philosophy justified human suffering as a
“necessary” part of “cosmic order.”
• Story is a parody of a romance, the genre
featuring “amazing adventures, disguises,
enslavements, escapes, miraculous reunions, etc.
• Exposes the irrationality of this genre.
More on the Story
• Stresses EXPERIENCE as the ultimate means to
truth.
• Personal Experience + Judgment = Knowledge.
• Challenged received wisdom & authority.
• Represents this Enlightenment shift in
thinking.
• The story is also a Philosophical Tale: An
intellectual critique of society told through
allegory and light fiction. Voltaire was an
originator of this kind of work.
Bildungsroman
• BILDUNGSROMAN, from the German, “formation novel.” This is a
“genre that focuses on psychological and moral growth of the
protagonist from youth to adulthood.”
• Tracks the CHANGES in the protagonist.
• Has formal, topical, and thematic features:“A Bildungsroman tells
about the growing up or coming of age of a sensitive person who is
looking for answers and experience. The genre evolved from
folklore tales of a dunce or youngest son going out in the world to
seek his fortune. Usually in the beginning of the story there is an
emotional loss which makes the protagonist leave on his journey. In
a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity, and the protagonist achieves
it gradually and with difficulty. The genre often features a main
conflict between the main character and society. Typically, the
values of society are gradually accepted by the protagonist and he
is ultimately accepted into society – the protagonist's mistakes and
disappointments are over. In some works, the protagonist is able to
reach out and help others after having achieved maturity.”
Historical Events
• The Seven Years War (a world war that took place
from 1756-1763)
• 1755 Lisbon Earthquake that took place on All
Saints Day.
• These events called into questions the prevailing
philosophical notion of OPTIMISIM.
• Voltaire (and others) found it difficult to reconcile
Christian optimism with the horrors of the world.
• Sees these events as the act of a cruel or
indifferent god.
• Ideas are manifested in his character “Pangloss.”
More
• Voltaire rejected Leibniz’s theory of optimism:
“If God made the best of all possible worlds,
then surely it would be better than this!”
• Who is Candide?
• “He was quite sound in his judgment, and he
had the most straightforward of minds. It is
for this reason… that he was called Candide.”
• While living a sheltered life, he is
indoctrinated with optimism by his mentor
Pangloss.
Motif
• The GARDEN is the most prominent motif in
the story; there are 3 main gardens:
• 1. The Baron’s Castle (from which he and
Cunegonde are evicted, much like Adam and
Eve)– “the forbidden kiss.”
• 2. Eldorado (symbolic of a “false Eden”).
• 3. The garden Candide makes at the end of
the story (symbolic of paradise).
• In the end, Voltaire rejects optimism, instead
advocating: “We must cultivate our garden.”
Characters
• Archetypal (ideal, model example):
• Candide (the drifter, the low social class
rogue)
• Cundegonde (the love/sex interest)
• Pangloss (the intellectual mentor)
• Martin (the cynical scholar)
• Cacambo (the practical, skillful valet)
• There are SO many characters in the story.
Who was your favorite? Why?
Other Motifs
• Resurrection: Cunegonde/Pangloss/the Baron
• Each resurrected figure represents a “harmful
aspect of human nature”: shallowness &
fickleness, folly, and arrogance. Maybe his
message is that these traits NEVER DIE. ?
• Rape & Sexual Exploitation: Graphic;
nonchalant reaction. Shows the vulnerability
of women and hypocrisy of society.
• Political & Religious Oppression
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THEMES
1. The folly of optimism.
2. Uselessness of philosophical speculation.
3. Hypocrisy of religion.
Corrupting power of money.
*Discuss each.
• “It is demonstrable that 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. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for
spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles.”
Quotes
• "The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." --Voltaire, Sept discours en vers sur l'homme
• "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an
absurd one." --- Voltaire , letter (to Frederick the
Great, 1767)
• "I detest what you write, but I would give my life to
make it possible for you to continue to write." --Voltaire , letter (1770) [This seems to be the closest
thing Voltaire ever actually said to the statement
often attributed to him: "I disapprove of what you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say
it." Those words were used by S.G. Tallentyre in The
Friends of Voltaire (1906) to paraphrase Voltaire's
reaction to the condemnation of Helvetius's De
l'esprit ( On the Mind ).]
More Quotes
• "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." --Voltaire, "Epitre a l'auteur du livre des trois imposteurs"
"Marriage is the only adventure open to the timid." --- Voltaire ,
Pensees d'un Philosophe
• "All is for the best in the best of possible worlds." --- Voltaire ,
Candide
• "That is well said," replied Candide, "but we must cultivate
our garden." --- Voltaire , Candide
• "There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times."
--- Voltaire , letter (1761)
• "Common sense is not so common." --- Voltaire , Philosophical
Dictionary
• "Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and
need." --- Voltaire , Candide