Enlightenment poem “Candide” translated into Romanticism
Voltaire’s “Candide or Optimism” was written in the enlightenment era. Voltaire’s story is published in The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Voltaire’s character Pangloss is a philosophy who taught about the all-powerful God, who created the world. Pangloss indicated the world must belong to God, for he was the only divine creator. Pangolss was also a mentor to Candide, who was the main character in the novel. Candide had a good heart, but felt very hopeless in life. Pangloss took Candide under his wings teaching him the “best of all possible worlds.” The enlightenment movement is closely seen in Voltaire’s writing style on page 378. Pangolss had an optimistic viewpoint, and belief that the world was good. Pangloss believed that a powerful God had created the world. Pangloss also believed that if people believed something was evil and wrong, it was mainly because they did not have a close relationship with God. The interpretation of the passage continues below on page 378 transforming from its original form of Enlightenment writing style to a piece literary work that represents Romantic content and style. The changing style of writing transforms, from the beliefs of natural law to humankind of freedom.
On page 378, “The Baron’s son seem in every way worthy of his father.” The tutor Pangloss was the oracle of the household and little Candide listened to his lectures with all the good faith of his age and character. Pangloss gave instruction in mataphysico-theolgico-comoloonigology. He proved admirably that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause and that this best of all possible worlds "It is demonstra...
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..., and science. Romantics felt that a scientific worldview was absolutely cold and sterile. The Romanticism felt that science and human law would rob people of their humanity. Both of these movements shatter the establishment norms and authority. Both of these movements encouraged society to take a different perspective. An example is in Candide’s lust and idealistic crush, and Voltaire repeatedly refers Cunegonde as the very lovely Cunégonde. Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German. She is described as very beautiful” (Voltaire. 5) Voltaire throws a undercuts at Candide’s romantic ideals by having him continue to worship Cunégonde even after she faithlessly marries her husband. Voltaire shows in this passage that Romantics shows emotions and intuition are important sources of society.
Works Cited
Voltaire, Francois-Marie Arouet. "Candide, or Optimism
Autobiographer, essayist, playwright, poet, satirist, Enlightenment writer and philosopher – these are just a few of the hats worn by French born François-Marie Arouet, more famously known by the adopted pen name Voltaire. Beyond his written work Voltaire was an outspoken advocate for the freedom of religion, expression, and the separation of church and state. He used his versatile literary work as a tool to criticize the Catholic Church and overall intolerant French society. Voltaire’s cynical writing reached its highest potential in his rapid-fire satire Candide, or Optimism. In the novella, Voltaire told the story of Candide – a young man on a quest for happiness and spiritual fulfillment who encountered tragic setbacks that eventually led to bitter disillusionment. The purpose of Candide was to mock philosophers of the
In Candide, a series of unfortunate events befall the main character—Candide—to demonstrate the absurdity of his mentor’s philosophy that he lives in the best possible world. The main tenet of Pangloss’ philosophy is that even from acts that appear evil, or sub-optimal, there is a positive aspect that produces the best of all possible results. In other words, there is no such thing as a sub-optimal outcome or a bad occurrence. Candide demonstrates the absurdity of this mindset when Pangloss contracts syphilis, and when Candide’s benefactor drowns and an earthquake erupts in Lisbon, concluding with Pangloss trying his best to justify both events through the lens of his philosophy.
Voltaire is correct in Candide, where he argues that life on earth is hell in many ways. Voltaire accurately describes how selfish people often are and how they inflict misery on others as a result. Voltaire also describes accurately common forms of cruelty in society. Although he may be mistaken that all wars are equally senseless and avoidable, Voltaire is correct in showing that war inevitably produces atrocities, which makes for hell on earth.
Candide is well known for its critique of optimism by Voltaire. The title character, along with his companions, bears many hardships throughout the novel and philosophizes about the nature and necessity of good in the world. Whether there is truly any good in the world is debated between the characters, particularly between the very discouraged Martin and Candide, who carries with him the optimistic words of Dr. Pangloss, a believer in the good nature of the world. While the characters debate why man must carry such burdens, Voltaire shows us that it is dealing with the bad that makes us human. While discussing Cunegonde Martin says to Candide, "I wish" that she may one day make you happy. But I very much doubt she will. ‘You are a bit hard,’ said Candide. ‘That’s because I’ve lived,’ said Martin.
These points may be amply demonstrated through an analysis of Candide itself and also through the views of important critics. To best appreciate this novel, however, some background concerning its origins and its relationship to the author's preoccupations should be mentioned.
Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German lord. She is described as “extremely beautiful” (Voltaire. 5) and is repeatedly referred to as “the fair Cunegonde.” (39). She is the typical damsel-in-distress: a woman who is completely reliant on male protection and often fainting at the sight of anything the least bit distressing. She is a vapid beauty and completely obsequious to whomever she happens to belong to at the time. However, Voltaire does not blame her foolish naiveté on her femininity. Candide himself is terribly innocent and is unable to make decisions without the advice of a third party. In a way, Cunegonde accepts her situation in life better than Candide does. She knows that as a woman in the eighteenth century she has few options if she wishes to survive and she is not above using her beauty to her advantage. She never questions or philosophizes like many of the male characters. Her acceptance of the sexual slavery she finds herself in belies an understanding of the limited options women had at the time.
In chapter 5 of Candide, the Enlightenment and the birth of tolerance were on full display. In Candide, the Enlightenment thinkers’ view of the optimum world is challenged through the shipwreck and the satiric explanations of the Lisbon Bay and Lisbon Earthquake. Voltaire continues to use ironically tragic events to test Pangloss’s optimistic philosophy, which attempts to explain evil. The use of grotesque and naive behavior between individuals in this chapter makes the reader question Pangloss’s irrational thinking with the cause and effects of the events.
A great philosopher Liebnitz once said that this is the best possible of all worlds. Voltaire disagrees. In Voltaire's Candide, the impartial narrator travels to distant lands and experiences a range of extremes. After having spent a great deal of time away from his homeland, and having seen more than most people see in a lifetime, the narrator is forced to conclude that this may not be the best possible world because of the reality of evil. Voltaire relates this point very effectively through his mastery of language and the choices he makes, both gramatically and content-related.
Pangloss is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept bad. He is also somewhat naive and believes that he could make the world a better place by spreading his theories on optimism. When Candide had met up with Pangloss after a long period of time, Pangloss said that he was almost hanged, then dissected, then beaten. Candide asked the philosopher if he still thought that everything was for the better, and Pangloss replied that he still held his original views. No matter how little Pangloss believed in the fact that somehow everything would turn out well, he still maintained his original views.
To get his point across in Candide, Voltaire created the character Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibniz's philosophy. Voltaire shows this early in the novel by stating, "He proved admirably that there is no effect without a cause and that, in this best of all possible worlds....(16)" Pangloss goes on to say that everything had its purpose and things were made for the best. For example, the nose was created for the purpose of wearing spectacles (Voltaire 16). Because of his "great knowledge," Candide, at this point a very naive and impressionable youth, regards Pangloss as the greatest philosopher in the world, a reverence that will soon be contradicted by contact with reality (Frautschi 75).
Voltaire did not believe in the power of reason to overcome contemporary social conditions.In Candide, Voltaire uses Pangloss and his ramblings to represent an often humorous characterization of the "typical" optimist. Of Pangloss, Voltaire writes, "He proved admirably that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause and that in the best of all possible worlds the Baron’s castle was the best of all castles and his wife the best of all possible Baronesses." (522) The attack on the claim that this is "the best of all possible worlds" permeates the entire novel. Throughout the story, satirical references to this theme contrast with natural catastrophes and human wrongdoing. When reunited with the diseased and dying Pangloss, who had contracted syphilis, Candide asks if the Devil is at fault.
During the age of Enlightenment, the philosophes believed that reason could be used to explain everything. The philosophes believed that people could make the world a better place to live in. Voltaire is against such optimism. Ian Bell Says "The 'optimist' argument then, was complex and sophisticated, but like all ironists Voltaire chose to simplify it to the extent that it seemed complacent and absurd, and he went on to cast doubt on our chances of ever securing 'eternal happiness'"(1-2). According to Voltaire true happiness can only be experienced in an unreal world. The multitudes of disasters that Candide endures after leaving Eldorado culminate in his eventual abandonment of optimism. Candide loses four of his sheep laden with priceless jewels due to natural causes, and then sees his two remaining sheep stolen, and the local magistrate indifferent to the theft. "Certainly, [says Candide,] if everything goes well, it is in Eldorado and not in the rest of the world" (42). Candide goes a step further, "Oh Pangloss, cried Candide, you have no notion of these abominations! I'm through, I must give up your optimism after all. What's optimism? said Cacambo. Alas, said Candide, it is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell" (40). Candide's enthusiastic view of life is contrasted with, and challenged by suffering that he endures throughout the book. Hence, Voltaire uses the book to satirize the foolishness of optimism.
Throughout the story of Candide, the author Voltaire uses many of the characters to portray important things in life. The two characters that Voltaire used the most were Candide and Pangloss. Voltaire used these two characters to represent a particular idea or folly that he had about the world. In the story Candide, Voltaire is always portraying his own ideas by using the characters to illustrate his own ideas. Candide and Pangloss represent the main idea of the story, which is Voltaire’s folly of optimism. Even though they both represent the main idea of the story Candide and Pangloss have many similarities and differences.
Two major themes that are shown throughout the book is Optimism and Disillusion and Hypocrisy of Religion . Voltaire included Optimism and Disillusion as a theme to prove that everything is not for the best and that when bad things happen, they are not for the greater good of this world. In Candide, Pangloss and his student Candide believed in the philosophy that “all is for the best in this world”. Several times throughout the book whenever a terrible event occurred they would say that it was for the best. In chapter 4, Pangloss attempts to explain that him contracting syphilis was for the greater
The story of Candide, “Eldorado” and what the meaning is, has been one of debate as to what Voltaire was interpreting in the story by some authors. The scene of Eldorado is the visual philosophy of Voltaire’s thoughts of what an ideal society would be. It is a land of richness and where there is a state of being equal in status, rights, belief, and opportunity; it is free of greed, claiming titles or importance, religious strife or contention, and there is no suffering (Mason 55). Eldorado also brings the reader’s attention in its scene to show the bad fortune of realities of cultures beyond its land. If this land is the ideal society one would wonder why did Candide and Cacambo who had traveled different countries and experience many test and trails would want to leave. Voltaire visual scene in Eldorado and the characters makes the readers think that being too optimistic can cause a misrepresentation of what reality really is. The method and visual thoughts of Voltaire’s have some authors and critics expressing their opinion on religion, science, governments, utopia, and wealth; that the land of Eldorado is one that is too good to be true, and come off as unreal. Eldorado is the vision of Voltaire’s utopia where the land is desirable amongst the inhabitants and consists of what the readers are to believe the perfect society. The land is clearly the best of the worlds that Candide traveled which is a reflection of Pangloss when he said, “in this the best of all possible worlds” (Voltaire’s 101).