Candide
By: Sandrine Tobasco, Chloe
SnyderHill, and Tessa Parrayray
(Sandrine Duboscq, Chloe Snyder, and Tessa Parrish)
Humerous Utterance
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“Pacquette had continued to practice her
profession but without a shadow of profit
to herself.”(pg.141)
This is a humorous utterance because it is
funny to the reader, who understands
what Pacquette does, but not to the
character because it means the loss of her
livelihood.
Cosmic Irony
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Candide is constantly getting into trouble
or finding himself in the midst different
horrors. Cosmic irony is illustrated by his
measly lot in life, starting when he is
kicked out of Thunder -ten-tronckh, and
close to the end when he finds himself
miserable as he works on his farm with his
companions. It seems as if a higher power
must be working against Candide.
Travesty
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One day Cunegunde was walking near the house in
a little coppice, called “the park”, when she saw Dr.
Pangloss behind some bushes giving a lesson in
experimental physics to her mother's waiting-woman,
a pretty little brunette who seemed eminently
teachable.” (21)
Travesty is illustrated here by the subject of physics
being used as a metaphor for coitus. This is treating
a subject such as the sciences in an undignified way.
Unstable Irony
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Dr. Pangloss exemplifies unstable irony by
constantly clinging to his idea that
everything is for the best, even while he is
about to be hanged after the earthquake.
He even keeps defending his views while
debating with Martin, who seems to make
much more sense to the reader.
Parody
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Parody is seen on page 20, where,
through Pangloss, Voltaire seems to make
fun of Leibniz's ideas. For example,
Pangloss shares Leibniz's views, but he
makes them sound even more ridiculous:
"Our noses were made to carry
spectacles, so we have spectacles. Legs
were clearly intended for breeches, and
we wear them" (20).
Menippean/Varronian Satire
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The entire story of Candide is an example
of Menippean/Varronian satire, an informal
satire that may use different forms of
prose. In Candide, Voltaire uses dialogue
and events to prove his points about
philosophy, often having his characters
directly debate about their philosophies in
life, or proving and disproving those
philosophies using surrounding events.
Romantic Irony
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Romantic irony can be seen on page 44,
when Voltaire describes a scene in which
Candide and Cunegonde have sat down
to relax and enjoy each others' company.
Then at the beginning of chapter 9, Don
Issachar immediately interrupts, thus
destroying the mood and the illusion of
warmth, especially when Candide
accidentally kills him.
Aphorism
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Aphorism is displayed by Martin while he
and Candide are in France: "'I am more
than ever convinced that man is evil', said
Martin" (108). This is an aphorism
because Martin is diminishing the serious
truth that men have at least some evil in
them and that this can be seen in many
ways.
Tendency Wit
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At the end of Candide, the great Dr.
Pangloss stays stubborn and sticks to his
first philosophy that states that everything
is for the best. On page 144, Pangloss
once more speaks about how the chain of
terrible events that occurred in Candide's
life had to have happened to bring the
group to their best of all possible worlds.
Black Humor
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An example of black humor is in chapters
27 and 28,in which Voltaire made light of
the somewhat dark scene of Pangloss
being executed. Pangloss survived the
hanging, however, and woke up to a
surgery being performed on his very alive
body. The way Pangloss just seems to
brush this off is funny to the audience.