Candide And Frankenstein Comparison Essay

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Great works of literature are often imbued with the ideological, philosophical, and or religious beliefs of their authors. Voltaire’s Candide and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein serve as great examples of literary works that exhibit their author’s philosophical motivations. Victor Frankenstein embarks on a quest for the ultimate knowledge of how to create life. Similarly, Candide traverses the world as a victim of circumstance in search of his beloved Cunegonde. Although the two works explore the idea of journey and inner discovery, their themes diverge when based on the context of their author’s respective time periods. Voltaire was influenced by the ideas of the enlightenment and supported scientific knowledge and realism while ridiculing philosophical speculation and religious authority. Mary Shelley was influenced by the period of romanticism and promoted the idea that knowledge could eventually lead to self destruction. In their works, Voltaire and Shelley articulated their philosophical beliefs throughout the gradual development of their characters as they continued upon their journeys.
Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet, was an 18th century French philosopher and a writer who is associated with the intellectual movement in Europe known as the Age of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment effectively promoted the freedom of thought and action without reference to religion and traditional authority. Thinkers of the Enlightenment emphasized the importance of reason, scientific thought, skepticism, and the advancement of knowledge through the scientific method (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). In his satirical work titled Candide, Voltaire attacks the idea of optimism and philosophical speculation through the flawed teachings of a pseu...

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...ess chains of circular arguments that lead back to their beginning. Ultimately, they remove the possibility of They give no help for the future, and they take away all initiative. Whether good or bad, things must stay as they are. By contrast, the real world is one where things happen, not according to some grand design, but for reasons often malevolent or ridiculous--sometimes both at the same time, as when Pangloss is hanged by the Inquisition for his absurd logic, or even more ludicrous still, Candide is beaten into a pulp for having listened to Pangloss with an approving look on his face. when Candide was struck with a stone preceding the earthquake in Lisbon, he calls for Pangloss to bring him some oil and wine. Instead, the philosopher continues to reason about the cause and effect of the earthquake. Eventually, Candide loses consciousness and Pangloss brings

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