Examples Of Satire In Candide
Candide Questions
1. Describe three targets of Voltaire’s satires in Candide? Using Candide, cite one example for each.
In Candide, there are three targets: religion, optimism and the military. An example for criticism of religion is on page 10, “When a brutish sailor struck him roughly and laid him sprawling; but with the violence of the blow he himself tumbled head foremost overboard… Honest James ran to his assistance, hauled him up, and from the effort he made was precipitated into the sea in sight of the sailor, who left him to perish, without deigning to look at him”. Even though James was “good” and the sailor was evil and selfish, James was the one who died. Voltaire is targeting religion, because supposedly, a Christian should “love thy neighbor”. This is also an example of criticism of optimism. The unreasonable reasoning of …show more content…
Voltaire detested the romantic fiction of the 17th and 18th centuries and enjoyed parodying this genre. Cite two specific examples from Candide.
One example of parodying romantic fiction is on page 5, “Candide, who trembled like a philosopher, hid himself as well as he could during this heroic butchery”. Normally, during a battle, the protagonist heroically takes part in the battle, saving the day. However, in this book, very little text is devoted to describing the battle. Voltaire is against war and wants to expose how unromantic it really is.
Another example of how Voltaire makes a parody out of the romantic fiction of time is on page 82, “The tender, loving Candide, seeing his beautiful Cunegonde embrowned, with blood-shot eyes, withered neck, wrinkled cheeks, and rough, red arms, recoiled three paces, seized with horror, and then advanced out of good manners. This is ironic, because in the typical romantic story, there is a happy ending. However in Candide, the opposite happens because Voltaire wants to show that there are no happy endings in real life.
3. Why did Voltaire include James the Anabaptist in the
1. Describe three targets of Voltaire’s satires in Candide? Using Candide, cite one example for each.
In Candide, there are three targets: religion, optimism and the military. An example for criticism of religion is on page 10, “When a brutish sailor struck him roughly and laid him sprawling; but with the violence of the blow he himself tumbled head foremost overboard… Honest James ran to his assistance, hauled him up, and from the effort he made was precipitated into the sea in sight of the sailor, who left him to perish, without deigning to look at him”. Even though James was “good” and the sailor was evil and selfish, James was the one who died. Voltaire is targeting religion, because supposedly, a Christian should “love thy neighbor”. This is also an example of criticism of optimism. The unreasonable reasoning of …show more content…
Voltaire detested the romantic fiction of the 17th and 18th centuries and enjoyed parodying this genre. Cite two specific examples from Candide.
One example of parodying romantic fiction is on page 5, “Candide, who trembled like a philosopher, hid himself as well as he could during this heroic butchery”. Normally, during a battle, the protagonist heroically takes part in the battle, saving the day. However, in this book, very little text is devoted to describing the battle. Voltaire is against war and wants to expose how unromantic it really is.
Another example of how Voltaire makes a parody out of the romantic fiction of time is on page 82, “The tender, loving Candide, seeing his beautiful Cunegonde embrowned, with blood-shot eyes, withered neck, wrinkled cheeks, and rough, red arms, recoiled three paces, seized with horror, and then advanced out of good manners. This is ironic, because in the typical romantic story, there is a happy ending. However in Candide, the opposite happens because Voltaire wants to show that there are no happy endings in real life.
3. Why did Voltaire include James the Anabaptist in the