Is Candide Optimistic Or Pessimistic?

The ending of Candide brings forth a serious debate amongst the novel’s readers of whether the ending is optimistic or pessimistic. There is no definitive answer because it is relative to the individual view on what situational opportunities are available to Candide and his companions on their farm in Turkey. By contrasting Voltaire’s work with itself using the El Dorado paradox from earlier in the novel, an important understanding of what a utopian society could look like and how Candide’s farm compares with it is seen. Digging further into literature of Western Civilization, the end of Candide is quite pessimistic when compared with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, seeing Candide will corrupt his utopia if he goes back for the others still in
Here he and his friends till the fields of their land and then eat the wonderful food prepared by Lady Cunegonde who is of course no longer attractive to demonstrate Candide’s desires becoming rational rather than succumbing to lust just as he no longer succumbs to greed. The system in which they live is reminiscent of El Dorado. No one comes in and no one leaves, the company has wealth and lives together without the toil of competing with one another. They follow Candide just as the people of El Dorado follow their king. While not on the same scale, a few within a space have created a small utopia. It is optimistic then, that people of our World, even after dreadful adventures as those of the Old Woman, people can find peace. Yet, the rest of the imperfect world continues without them. As those of El Dorado, the company has made the subconscious decision to take, no longer part, in action because it is impossible for the entirety of the world to achieve Eudaimonia (A righteous and contented indwelling spirit). This spiritual understanding prevents them from making instinctual decisions just as Candide did by leaving El Dorado with the gold he could gather. In direct contrast to Plato, it is irrational to go back for those still in the cave because there are simply too many in that cave. Once retrieved, they will ruin the world of the enlightened and