Preview

Philosophy or Work: Analysis of Candide

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
580 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Philosophy or Work: Analysis of Candide
Candide is a satire written by the French author, Voltaire. The story can be considered a direct representation of Voltaire’s own life and philosophies. It was written during the age of reason, where great thinkers pondered the meanings of life itself. As a great thinker himself, Voltaire questioned the papacy and the regent through satire such as Candide. One theory in which he explored was whether work was preferable over the life of a philosopher.
Martin is an old scholar; he has lost all hope due to being a questioner of faith. Martin after expressing his theories “had nothing left to hope for” (p.91), but Candide still had faith left. Candide, is naïve and stuck in his ways so when martin brings the idea up that “man was created by forces of evil and not by the forces of good’ (p.92), Candide reacts with disbelief. Martin continues to wear his ideas upon him and eventually brings Candide to accept the notion to “ let us set to work and stop proving things, for that is the only way to make life bearable” (p.93).
They then proceed to garden and since they are always working there is no time to discuss good and evil. Candide’s garden eliminates the suffering of him and his friends, but does Voltaire support this view? Their previous experiences allow the reader to understand that there is still suffering going on in the outside world. This is called escapism, a common method of obtain peaceful but empty retreat. Voltaire was one who challenged the politics and religion of his times, and as a man who was exiled from his own motherland of France, sent to the bastille, and had most of his writings banned may have agreed that escapism is the best way to stay out of harm. But is it best for the betterment of the world? In Voltaire’s view, moral questions must be met head on.
“Our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity” (p.92). In the times of great thinking people were able to have free time or boredom and in turn would

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered where the irregular comedy from "Saturday Night Live" and other humorous shows have come from? Well, Voltaire's Candide is the origin. The events that take place in the novel would not qualify as humorous in reality, but the author uses certain effects to make it that way. The incongruity of humor shown in Monty Python and the Holy Grail is also derived from Candide in tone, expectation, and place.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    MWDS Candide

    • 4829 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Biographical information about the author: Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was born in 1694 in Paris, France. Though his father wanted him to become a lawyer, Voltaire long held a great passion for writing, and rather than going to law school, spent his time extensively composing poetry, essays, and historical studies. His widespread recognition as an author was established with the publication of the play “Oedipus”, a variation on the original Greek tragedy, in 1718. In 1726, after a fight with a French nobleman, Voltaire was exiled to England. There, he was exposed to a vast array of new philosophical ideas, specifically the concept of a constitutional monarchy and support for the freedoms of speech and religion, as well as the works of Shakespeare and Isaac Newton. He later returned to France, moving into a new home, Chateau de Cirey, with his wife, Emilie du Chatelet. The relationship between the two was highly intellectual, as they were both deeply intrigued by history, philosophy, and Newtonian physics. Greatly influenced by his earlier stay in England, Voltaire began to develop some of the ideas for which he is best known during this time, including his support for the separation of church and state and criticisms of both religious intolerance and certain religious practices. In 1736, Voltaire came in contact with Frederick the Great of Prussia, one of his admirers, and worked alongside him for several years in Prussia, until being exiled after a political dispute in 1752. Returning to France, Voltaire tied together his various experiences with philosophy, religion, and politics in writing his magnum opus, “Candide”, published in 1759. Having undergone a lengthy exile, Voltaire did not return to his city of origin, Paris, until 1778, shortly before his death. Voltaire’s diverse and highly…

    • 4829 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candide Review

    • 10414 Words
    • 42 Pages

    those who say everything is well are uttering mere stupidities; they should say everything is for the best. Candide lives in the castle of the baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia. Candide is the illegitimate son of the baron’s sister. His mother refused to marry his father because his father’s family tree could only be traced through “seventy-one quarterings.” The castle’s tutor, Pangloss, teaches “metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology” and believes that this world is the “best of all possible worlds.” Candide listens to Pangloss with great attention and faith. Miss Cunégonde, the baron’s daughter, spies Pangloss and a maid, Paquette, engaged in a lesson in “experimental physics.” Seized with the desire for knowledge, she hurries to find Candide. They flirt and steal a kiss behind a screen. The baron catches them and banishes Candide.…

    • 10414 Words
    • 42 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Francois-Marie Arouet goes by the pen name of Voltaire. He is a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher whose works have become famous because of his wit. He is an advocate for freedom of religion, expression, and also fought for the separation of church and state. One of Voltaire’s most famous works is a satire called Candide. The novel starts out when the two main characters Candide and Cunegonde fall in love. When Cunegonde’s father finds out, he banishes Candide. This propels Candide on a dangerous and exciting journey. Through Candide’s global journey, Voltaire critiques European society mainly through their religious…

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A French philosopher and writer, Voltaire, wrote the novella Candide in the late 17th Century. Candide is a dark comedy describing many atrocities and dark events throughout the life of the eternal optimist, Candide, the main character. A similar masterpiece, Tartuffe, was written in the 17th century by Moliere as a satirical display of religious hypocrisy. Tartuffe is a production of vice and virtue that involves a witty and brusque family that idolizes a single religious figure who tries to insinuate himself into their lives. The two masterpieces, Candide, and Tartuffe, display exaggerated evil and whimsical events of religious hypocrisy and fanaticism, yet Moliere and Voltaire use very different writing styles to achieve that.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the surface, Voltaire’s Candide seems to be about every stupidity, every transgression, and every immoral act conceivable to man. It is a satirical and absurd look at life and religion. It makes a mockery of organized religious institutions and leaders. The hypocrisy of the actions of these leaders makes the reader wonder if Voltaire is against every religious order and even God, or is it simply the hypocrisy he abhors. In examining this book, it is a satirical way of looking at the hypocrisy of actions while holding true that goodness outside of these institutions and inside the person is what is important and imperative. Voltaire seems to write this book as a rebuttal of the theory of Leibniz.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The phrase taught by Pangloss and repeated by his disciples(Candide and Cunégonde), “the best of all possible worlds”(Voltaire) is juxtaposed to the worst possible situations and events. The story begins in a utopian castle and the first instance of tragedy is when Candide is banished from Thunder-ten-tronckh for kissing Cunégonde. But Candide is quick to regain his belief that everything is in fact, for the best because a few men offer to dine…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Voltaire refers to her and the “lovely Cunegonde”. She is not lovely in any way. She thinks more for herself than anyone else, including Candide. She will take him through many hardships and even lead him into killing someone. Candide is madly in love with Cunegonde. She takes him through twists and turns. Candide will do anything to make Cunegonde happy. However, in the literature she ends up marrying Don Fernando. This would be like a stab in the back. Even though the old women said it would help with Candide and Cunegonde fortune. I believe that Cunegonde would just use Candide for his support and other things he had to offer.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was a satire of the prevalent philosophical optimism by Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz. Voltaire was also moved by events like The Seven Years' War, and the 1775 Lisbon earthquake. He felt like optimism was a naive and irregular way of viewing the world. Throughout Candide, he deconstructs optimism by writing its ingenuous beliefs with the true horrors of reality. He was not fond of the idea of the Church having its followers under its complete demand and insisting that everything that occurred in their lives was all in the hands of God.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To write a successful satire, an author has to incorporate ideas of parody. Parody is designed to ridicule a usually serious idea. In Candide, optimism is the idea Voltaire parodies over and over again. The main character, Candide, is put terrible predicaments and he would still be so optimistic it is absurd. An example of this is when Dr. Pangloss is innocently executed, and Candide believes that it was for the best even though he cannot explain why. This is successful form of parody because it ridicules the idea of optimism, which leads to the idea that Candide is a successful…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Candide

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout Voltaire’s Candide women are often presented as being victims and are often suffering because of acts of cruelty and violence and sexual encounters. In many senses, this does not allow them to be fully developed characters, particularly when contrasted to the males in the story. From Cunegonde to the old woman, to Pacquette the told experiences of other women in the text, the reader cannot help but to pick up on the worth of these women and how he wanted us to feel about the characters. Women presented in the novel to be either romantic interests or the unfortunate victims of violence or both. The first example that comes to mind is Cunegonde…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The Enlightenment era" was the name of a movement which embodied the power of reason and rational thought. Most enlightened thinkers attacked the nobility, the church, and the belief in petty fallacies and fears. Candide reflects the thoughts and sentiments of Voltaire who is considered to be a truly enlightened thinker. This paper will further analyze the character Candide, and Voltaire's usage of the novel to present his views on blind optimism and the double standards of religion.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candide Satire

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In one of his most famous works, Candide, Voltaire leaves no stone unturned in terms of what he satirizes. Though a great many topics are touched upon, Voltaire ultimately uses Candide to satirize the philosophy of optimism offered by the German philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. By examining Voltaire’s satire of armies, we can see that he uses the pointless atrocities and violence in Candide as a basis to discredit the German philosophy of optimism.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candide Satire

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Satire is designed to ridicule a usually serious idea. Because Voltaire was a deist he was more than comfortable deriding religion and philosophical optimism in his novella Candide. In contrast to the standard European of his day, Voltaire openly rejected the idea that a god, a creator of the universe, must exist. When he wrote Candide in the late 18th Century, Voltaire took aim at Leibniz and other Enlightenment thinkers of that time in opposing that the…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Voltaire’s novella, Candide, uses satire to discuss and criticise philosophical Optimism, the prevalent Catholic philosophy during his time period, the Enlightenment era. Voltaire himself was known to oppose this theory, and employed caricatural figures in his writing, such as the characters of Pangloss and Martin, to mock the ideas that they stand for. The old woman, as a character, is not a protagonist nor does she show up particularly frequently in the text, but she is significant to the theme of the story. In Candide, Voltaire uses the character of the old woman to contradict the Optimism/Pessimism of Pangloss/Martin and develop a theme that the best philosophy is one that accepts the evil in the world yet perseveres in spite of it.…

    • 1548 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics