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Voltaire's Candide

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Voltaire's Candide
Ali Haydu
Candide Analysis Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was destined to have a long and prosperous literary career. His influence was so great during the eighteenth century, that some historians call it the century of Voltaire. His usage of irony, satire, theme, and allegory has shaped the literary world, and many historians have studied the style of Voltaire’s writing. Voltaire was one of the most well-known Philosophes and author of the eighteenth century. His works, like Candide, have influenced toleration, justice, politics and equality in modern times.
“On the twenty-first day of November, 1694, in the city of Paris, a fifth child was born to M. Francois Arouet. The child was named Francois-Marie” (Redman 1). Francois-Marie had a pen-name when he wrote books; it was Voltaire. Voltaire had a variety of jobs in the literary field (Redman 572). “During his own age, he was noted as a political satirist, playwright, and poet. Voltaire has been remembered most for his incisive short stories, which convey complex philosophical ideas” (Sturm). He was truly a jack of all trades, in the literary world. He received very little formal education before the age of nine. When he was older he was sent to the Jesuit College of Louis-le-Grand, where he received a formal education (Gaasch). The college was operated by Jesuits, or Roman Catholic Priests (Cummings). “Voltaire depicts religious men as hypocrites who don’t live up to the religion they profess to believe” (Candide: Theme Analysis). “Voltaire makes the church out to be one of the most corrupt, violence-ridden institutions on the planet” (Candide: Theme Analysis). The symbol of the church is referred to throughout Voltaire’s writing. However, Voltaire never gave credit to anyone for being his “inspiration” for writing. Voltaire crusaded against corruption, censorship and religious intolerance all his life. These, among other things, may be interpreted as inspirations (Redman 58). In 1726,

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