A230A- Week 5
CHAPTER 6: VOLTAIRE’S CANDIDE
Utopian versus Dystopian
 Utopia means good or perfect place that is no where to be
found. The word appeared in the English scholar
Thomas More’s text but the concept was old. Utopian
Literature showed perfect imaginary environments based
upon ideals (such as toleration, the equal education of
the sexes, and the absence of money and private
property).
 'Dystopian‘ is a the opposite of utopia. Authors showed
that worlds in which human ideals of a perfect society
were shown are ridiculous, or at least impracticable.
They showed that man is naturally corrupt and that the
world is full of mistakes and evil things. Eg. Jonathan
Swift’s Gulliver's Travels
Dystopian
 Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case
scenario, make a criticism about society, powerful
institutions, fixed beliefs.
 In Greek, it is the bad place to live ; an unfavorable
society
 Week 5 Candide
Chapter 6: Voltaire’s Candide
 The names of the characters.
 A philosophical Tale
 An Indirect Satire
 Four narrators
The main Narrator = Dr Ralph and then, three women
characters
 Theme of travel: travels across the world to many real
places located on the map.
 The doctrine / creed/concept of optimism
 The concept of Fate or Free will.
 Candide / candour not cant
Names used in Candide pp.xxxvi-xxxvii in
Candide
 Voltaire plays on names to serve comedy and satire in the
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tale.
CANDIDE in Latin : White pure, beautiful and honest
and Frank
Pangloss in Greek: stands for all tongue (all talk)
Cunegonde: Latin and French is a reference to wife of
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, who took a vow of chastity.
Cacambo refers to mud and filth.
Paquette: a common name for servants
Pococurante: in Italian one who cares about little. He
is the rich man who gets bored easily despite his riches.
Travel motif in Candide
 Several kinds of travel: All based on real places and
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can be located on the map. The characters all start at
Westphalia in Germany
Candide itineraries: include Holland, Lisbon, South
America, Paris, Venice, Turkey, Eldorado, …
Cunegonde itineraries: Lisbon, south America,
Turkey ….
Cacamboe, Candide servant, journeys
The intellectual journey of Pangloss, Candide’s
teacher
Travel Motif- Places
 Places referred to and their significance: V relied on
travelers accounts in describing these places
- Westphalia is based on the real region in Germany
- Eldorado is an imaginary place but routes to and
from there are real.
- Constantinople is the capital of Turkey at that time.
It represent the Muslim belief in fate
Candide is similar to Rasselas
 Rasselas (1759) written by Samuel Johnson show a
pampered young aristocrat from Happy valley in
Ethiopia who travels exploring the world with his
sister and the philosopher Imlac and find only
misery and pain.
 Although V was a rebel and a sceptic and Johnson
was not, they both discuss the same issue from
opposing points of views.
Activity 3 page 177 in block – Example of
indirect satire
 Compare the title with what you learn from chapter 1?
The title suggests that the story’s origin is the German
text about Dr. Ralph which Voltaire has made up. The
purpose is to distance Candide from himself.
 Using “Once upon time” as the first words suggests the
beginning of a fairy tale so we can accept all the
exaggerations since they are not true.
 The absurd names “Monsieur the Baron von Thunderten-tronckh” and the ironic tone used to show that
Candide was an illegitimate son of the Baron’s sister and
“ a kindly and honest gentleman of the neighbourhood”
show that the audience understand that the
narrator's comments are not to be taken as true.
(Example of satire)
Satire
 Voltaire therefore makes extensive use of literary irony:
“the use of a naive hero or unreliable narrator, whose
view of the world differs widely from the true
circumstances recognized by the author or readers”.
this makes the readers know more than the characters.
This technique makes the reader cleverer than the
characters. He feels flattered.
 Much of the humor in Candide is derived from
the ironic distance between the unreliable fictional
narrator's words, Dr Ralph, and Voltaire's satirical
attack on his society.
 The eighteenth century was the greatest period of
satire.
Optimism
 It is a philosophical concept that argued that the
world follows a cause and effect pattern and that the
evil in this world is partial and aims at a greater
good. It shows that evil/ bad actions are done by
humans so they are the faults of humans.
 Optimism believed that good comes out of all evil
and that all is well that ends well.
 It argues that good will prevail because it is part of
human’s nature.
The theory/cult/concept of optimism
 Optimism was a philosophical issue in 18th century
which was supported by :
1) The scientific view that all happenings follow a
cause /effect pattern which nothing can influence or
divert.
2) The Roman Catholic Inquisition which saw that
people are responsible for much of the wrong in this
world.
Pangloss's journey: from theory to fact
 Voltaire's philosophical views - expressed in
literary works like Candide. Candide is named after
his adventurous naïve hero but it is its
subtitle, 'Optimism' that announces its theme.
 The character of Candide's tutor Pangloss is the
spokesman on behalf of 'Optimism', and all of the
main characters in the course of their journeys test
to the very limits Pangloss's creed. ((The character
of Pangloss was Voltaire's exaggerated comic
creation.))
'Optimism' had distinct intellectual sources
Lord Shaftesbury’s Characteristics of
Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. (1711)
who believed that humans are good by
nature and that benevolence doesn't
contradict self interest .
1)
2) Pope’s Essay on Man
3) Gottfried Leibniz concept
Leibniz’s concept
 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz argued that since the
creator was both omniscient (all knowing) and
omnipotent (all powerful) and since he wished that
his creatures should be happy, it followed that the
world he made was one that secured the most
possible content / satisfaction.
 Leibniz did not deny that nasty/bad things
happened, nor that people suffered, but human
beings had limited knowledge and what appeared to
them as setbacks/bad could very well be part of the
grand universal plan. Only God, with his serene
overview, saw how things are.
Optimism
Leibniz versus Voltaire
Leibniz’s concept was the answer to 'The Problem of
Evil' and 'The Problem of Pain‘ but Voltaire disagreed
with Leibniz.
 Both pain and evil seem contradictory in a world
supposedly overseen by a compassionate
God. In Candide, Voltaire repeatedly points this out.
 Leibniz approach argued that since God is perfect by
definition, it follows that he can do no wrong.
 Voltaire's approach is based on his observations of the
world: he saw injustice, murder, rape and slavery
around him and wondered about how could people be
optimistic but he leaves the readers draw their own
conclusions about whether or not man is good by
nature; whether one should be optimistic or not, ….
Voltaire’s Doubt in Optimism
 This was caused by the Lisbon earthquake which
caused the death of over100,000 and destroyed
most of the city’s infrastructure. The outbreak of war
when Frederick of Prussia invaded Saxony which
lasted for 7 years made Voltaire doubt the optimism
concept.
 Activity 4 p 182 in block and chapter 5 in Candide
Contrast Voltaire views on Optimism with Pope’s.?
Pope’s?
 Chapter 5 of Candide attacks the cosmic complacency, the fake
security and thin optimism, expressed in Pope's Essay on Man: “
One truth is clear, Whatever IS, IS RIGHT” . He uses ridicule, a
technique at which Voltaire is particularly skilled in.
 AN example
of how Voltaire exposes the limitations
of Pangloss's philosophy of optimism (and by
extension Pope's and Leibniz's) is during the dinner
after the earthquake, when he declares: 'This is all for
the best ... For if there is a volcano beneath Lisbon,
then it cannot be anywhere else; for it is impossible for
things to be elsewhere than where they are. For all is
well' (p. 14). In the context of the destruction caused by the
earthquake, Pangloss's optimism sounds inadequate.
Another example of V’s attack on Optimism
 When Pangloss restrains Candide from rescuing the
pious Anabaptist arguing that it is his fate to drown
and there must be a universal reason. Voltaire is
criticizing “optimism”.
Summary of the contrast
 Pope and Leibniz : Whatever happens even if it is
partial evil must be accepted as part of the divine
plan. ‫يجب أن يكون مقبوال الشر الجزئي كجزء من الخطة اإللهية‬
 Voltaire thinks that the amount of suffering that
humans endure in the world does not make sense.
However, he leaves the reader to decide for himself
whether humans/ the world is evil or good (utopian
or dystopian) ‫فولتير يعتقد أن كمية المعاناة التي يتحملها البشر في‬
‫ وقال انه يترك للقارئ أن يقرر لنفسه ما إذا كان‬،‫ ومع ذلك‬.‫العالم ال معنى له‬
)‫ العالم هو الشر أو الخير (المدينة الفاضلة أو بائس‬/ ‫البشر‬
Voltaire’s Candour = Frankness
 Voltaire's attack on the ideas of Leibniz and Pope is not
limited to matters of content: his very style of writing is
an attack on their self-deluding optimism.
 ‫ أسلوبه‬:‫هجوم فولتير على أفكار اليبنتز والبابا ال يقتصر على مسائل المحتوى‬
.‫جدا من الكتابة هو هجوم على التفاؤل يخدعون أنفسهم‬
 The title of Candide is principally taken from the name
of its protagonist, but it applies equally well to its style.
This is a book that makes no effort to be civil, even
rejoices in its rudeness. Voltaire's candour is
therefore integral to his message. His target is to
present things as they are without beautifying or
decorating them.
The Female characters
 The female characters offer stories of injustice and
suffering but in a comic style.
 Giving a voice to female characters was a new
technique that allowed the marginalized to speak
and was a way to expose the hypocrisy of humans.
 .‫الشخصيات النسائية تقدم قصص الظلم والمعاناة ولكن بأسلوب كوميدي‬
 ‫إعطاء صوت لاللشخصيات النسائية كانت تقنية جديدة تسمح المهمشين على‬
.‫الكالم وكان وسيلة لفضح نفاق البشر‬
The female perspective
 Her journey show the hypocrisy of humans in their treatment to women in
an honest way. The unworldly Doctor Ralph is not the only narrator in
Candide. There are three episodes in the novel narrated by women: ‫رحلتها‬
.‫ وساذج دكتور رالف ليس الراوي الوحيد في كانديد‬.‫تظهر نفاق البشر في معاملتهم للنساء بطريقة صادقة‬
:‫هناك ثالث حلقات في الرواية رواه النسائي‬
 Chapter 8 is narrated by Candide's beloved, Cunegonde,
who retells the events of the opening chapters from her
perspective;
 Chapters 11 and 12 are narrated by the old woman,
who tells Cunegonde the story of her calamitous life;
 and the first part of Chapter 24 is narrated
by Pacquette, who contradicts Candide’s view that she is
happy by describing her decline from serving maid to
prostitute.
The female perspective
 In these episodes, told from a feminine perspective,
Voltaire gives us history from the point of view of
its victims. Voltaire is satirizing the creed of Pope and
Leibniz, in these three episodes, narrated by female
characters. Pangloss's optimism is exposed as an illusion
by the facts of female oppression in a male-dominated
society. All three women tell tales of suffering and
misadventure, which are presented comically by their
hyperbole.
 ‫ فولتير يعطينا التاريخ من وجهة نظر‬،‫ وقال من وجهة نظر أنثوية‬،‫في هذه الحلقات‬
‫ رواه‬،‫ في هذه الحلقات الثالث‬،‫ فولتير والمسيئة للعقيدة البابا وايبنتز‬.‫من ضحاياه‬
‫ يتعرض التفاؤل بانجلوس باعتبارها ضربا من الوهم من قبل‬.‫الشخصيات النسائية‬
‫ كل ثالث نساء تحكي حكايات‬.‫وقائع القمع اإلناث في مجتمع يسيطر عليه الذكور‬
.‫ والتي يتم عرض بطريقة هزلية عن طريق المبالغة بهم‬،‫من المعاناة والمغامرة‬
The most important female character
in Candide is Cunegonde :HOW
 In terms of the plot: much of Candide's journeying
is in search of Cunegonde.
 Aside from its comic effects, her name which
derives from the chaste wife of Henry II….. This is an
example of satire because Cunegonde is exploited
sexually by many characters. Her name also shows
Voltaire's play on names. Like Candide, her name
shows the quality of candour (frank, honest, and
sincere).
Her name and character also show that what we
think of as beautiful could be ugly or (indecent) and
vice versa. She changes to an ugly woman in the end.
The female perspective- Cunegonde’s story
 Ch 8 is an alternative story to Dr Ralph’s narration
in chapters 2-7. Voltaire uses her story to expose
the injustices inflicted on minorities: women,
protestants, intellectuals and Jews.
 She tells the incident of her rescue from being
raped by The Buglar solider who later on sells her
to a Jew because he grows disgusted from her.
When the Inquisitor hints that she should leave
the Jew and raise herself by becoming his girl
friend, Voltaire is criticizing Europe’s hypocrisy,
anti- Semitism and hierarchy ( the idea of the chain
of beings).
The chain of beings
 Voltaire refers to an older idea: the ladder of the
great chain of beings which, in the Renaissance
period, was thought to support all human
hierarchies. The ladder reached down from God to
the lowliest pebble, but women and Jews were both
allotted very low rungs (positions) at the human
level.
 This V’s attack on fixed ideas and injustice
The old woman story and the Slave story
 There is a difference in tone between the old
woman’s story which is comic and the slave’s story
which is serious especially when her declares that he
is a thousands times more miserable than dogs,
monkeys and parrots. Volatire’ satire here is serious
to express his abomination (hatred of slavery). The
slave story makes Candide declare to Pangloss “I am
giving up on your optimism after all”.
Cacambo’s Journey -The best of impossible
worlds = UTOPIA
 The land of Eldorado is a utopia where gold is
common like any other rock. Its inhabitants have
their own “value” system because gold is not
important to them. They live a modest life
surrounded by gold and silver.
 Eldorado shows the contradiction that there are
plenty of better worlds but these are non existent –
legendary places.
Two other contradictions in Eldorado’s journey
 The contrast between the tourists Candide and
Cacambo and that of the contented/satisfied natives.
The old man’s house is modest ,the house made
“merely of silver and the panelling in the apartment
merely of gold”. This is irony to us but the old man
believes his house is modest because it has no décor.
This contrast alerts the reader to the issue of value.
The second contradiction
 Candide and Cacambo want to leave this unreal
place and take some of the gold with them to the
real world where they will be “richer than all the
kings put together” (p.49). They arrange for some
sheep to be loaded with gold and taken across the
mountains to sell it for a lot of money. They
compare themselves to Spanish looters (thieves)
who stole the gold of Americas. This is Voltaire’s
satire against colonization.
 Fate or Free will
Candide’s journey: governed by fate or free will?
 Voltaire wrote about the East without ever visiting it.
In his philosophical dictionary, he associates the
classical scholars and poets with a belief in fate “All
events are governed by immutable law” while the
idiots are for free will.
 Voltaire’s view is that of the idiots so his irony
extends to the authorities he cites such as Homer.
Fate or Free will?
 It is significant that Candide and his band of
travelers conclude their journeys in Turkey, a region
still dominated by the declining Ottoman Empire,
widely supposed to be despotic.
 One of the most deeply rooted perceptions present in
the eighteenth-century European mind was that fate
or destiny was a characteristic of the peoples of the
'Orient'.
Orientals’ Fatalism
 According to this interpretation, Orientals were
oppressed largely because they believed in fate, and
thus considered their subjection to be inevitable ( a
must). They believed that they cannot change their
positions because they are not allowed to defy fate.
Edward Said on Orientals’ fatalism
 The Palestinian-American critic Edward Said argues
that a belief in oriental passivity and fatalism served
in colonizing the orient by the Europeans.
 Peoples who were pessimistic were easily dominated,
by their own rulers or by outsiders. In the West, it
was supposed, men and women were more likely to
believe in freedom of choice and were therefore more
inclined to resist tyranny.
The Conclusion – (chapter 30)= The garden
 The chapter shows Candide getting married to
Cunegode and settling on his farm in Turkey with
Pangloss, Martin , Paquette, Cacambo and Brother
Girofleo . Each one working and proving himself
useful despite the money they lost and the hardships
they went through. They were together in “good
company”.
Voltaire's own idea about free will and fate –The
conclusion (chapter 30)
 The Dervish-philosopher is 'great', but mainly in the
eyes of his disciples/students. He is quite
detached/separated from the world and advises
Candide and his band to withdraw from the world
too.
The Dervish’s philosophy is to withdraw from the
world and “keep your mouth shut”. When Pangloss
discusses freedom and destiny/fate, the Dervish slams
the door in his face.
The old man’s philosophy
 The old man on the farm also keeps away from the
powerful people in the big city. His philosophy is a
retreat to his garden without thinking about fate or
free will. He is indifferent. His work in the garden
keeps away the three vices “boredom, vice and
necessity”.
 Both the dervish and the old man prefer retreat from
the world.
Pangloss and Candide
 Pangloss ignores all the contradictions he saw and
affirms his belief in optimism. Candide does not
contradict him although his final remark
“ That is well said but we must cultivate our garden”
(p.94) shows that he has become practical.
 Candide likes the old man on the farm. His life is
better than the six kings he has met. Martin’s words “
let us set to work and stop proving things… for that is
the only way to make life bearable” show that work is
preferred to philosophical ideas. .
Voltaire's philosophy
 To work or sit in your garden with or without a book.
This is not a retreat philosophy but rather a
therapeutic solace.
 He gives no answers but contrasts views and
philosophies from the East and the West and leaves
the reader to decide for himself. Should he retreat to
his garden and work or be busy thinking about the
world and trying to find a utopia. Is cultivating the
garden a passive act or a positive one?
TMA
TMA deadline
 13 Dec on LMS
 Essay of 5 paragraphs =1500-2000 words
 Include citation form sources as summary.
Paraphrase and quotes . Follow MLA style
 Use the novel as a source and include quotes form
chapter 30 (the conclusion)
 Remember to write a thesis statement and topic
sentences for your body paragraphs.
TMA
 Candide is classified as dystopian literature which is a
literary form that aims to disrupt the human convictions
and draw people to question what they take for granted.
 Define the genre and explain how Candide fits into this
paradigm and what kind of ideas are put to discussion in
the novella (Optimism, racism, religious toleration, and
women rights). In the final chapter of the novella,
Candide says “let’s cultivate our garden,’ do you think
this pronounces his intention to end his intellectual
journey and put words to action or is it a call for further
investigation, is the garden symbolic or real? Does
Candide by this closing statement provide a new sense of
optimism?
TMA
 Divide your articles into five paragraphs and discuss
each question in a separate paragraph with examples
and quotations from the novel.
 3. The word count should range from 1500-2000
words.
 4. Revise the final document before submitting your
TMA to avoid typos and grammatical mistakes.
 5. Use the MLA style of documentation.
TMA –Points to be covered
 Write about Voltaire’s life and Candide’s publication
 . Define dystopian genre
 Explain Optimism (Shaftesbury, Pope and Leibniz) +
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Pangloss
Refer to Eldorado as an example of utopia (religious
toleration, gold, no courts) and evaluate why Candide left.
Voltaire’s attack on Optimism and how he exposes racism,
he also exposes the lack of women rights and the injustice
against them. (the female perspective)
He exposes lack of religious toleration ( The Inquisition,
The Muslims in Morocco in the old woman story , the killing
of the Turkish mufti in Turkey ) are all examples
Sources to be used
 Candide, the tale itself ( Chapter 30) and the summary for
examples.
 Pages xxi-xxvii The satirist Garden” in the introduction of
Candide .
 Appendix 3 in Candide pp 109-119
 Lord Shaftesbury opinions: Cooper, A. A., Third Earl of
Shaftesbury (2001 [1711]) Characteristics of Men, Manners,
Opinions, Times (ed. D.D. UYL), 3 vol, New York, Liberty
Fund.
 An article
http://www.academia.edu/8053314/Candide_Thoughts_of
_Voltaire_on_Optimism_Phil osophy_and_The_Other_
Available om LMS
Example of using a source
Introduction pp.xxi-xxii
 Jean Sareil mentions that Candide is a satire which
does not reflect V’s opinion. V shows the world as
“inexplicable”; “that life is not worth much and that
this ‘not much’ is of the highest value” ( qtd in Wood,
xxvii).
On Voltaire’s philosophy
 Michael wood in the introduction argues that the
ironic comic style focus on not overdoing misery.
There is no need for philosophical discussion; it
brings no relief (xxvii).
 Voltaire writes in Philosophical Dictionary
“ There are no extreme pleasures or extreme
sufferings which will last a whole life: the sovereign
good and the sovereign evil are chimeras” (p.67)
Works cited
 Wood, Michael, “ Introduction”, Candide or
Optimism. UK: penguin, 2005.
 Voltaire, “Bien”, Philosophical Dictionary, Trans:
Theodore Besterman. London: 1979
 Voltaire, Candide or Optimism, Trans: Theo Cuffe.
UK: Penguin , 2005
Help for TMA
 MLA ppp is on LMS
 You can use the site www.citationmachine.com to
format your citation
 The article on Candide is on LMS
 The pages in last class HW will help you with TMA.