Examples Of Satire In Candide

Satire, or Misinterpretation

Satire, one of writing's most incomprehensible genres. On the outside, Satire may seem to be just an overly dramatic story. However, on the inside, Satire is a profound form of social commentary that stresses societal issues through over exaggeration. One of the genre's most famous literary works is Candide by Voltaire. Many people may interpret the novel as a tale about the misadventures of a boy named Candide attempting to be with his true love, Madame Cunégonde. Yet, a closer analysis of the book indicates that the author attempts to convey his perspective on life through the novel. Since Voltaire lived at a time of religious turmoil and monarchs, such as the enlightenment and King Frederick the Great, it is

no surprise that Voltaire would cover the topics of religion, royalty and philosophy in his work ( Voltaire vii). Throughout the novel Candide, Voltaire uses satire to impart his opinions on religion, nobility, and philosophy accumulated through his lifetime.
Voltaire was very skeptical about religion, mocking the strange ways in which people would worship deities.

Although skeptical about religious rituals, Voltaire believed in Deism, the belief that a powerful being created the universe, but let everything else run its course. Deism during Voltaire's time period defied the status quo. Differing itself from a religion, Deism has no religious rituals and is a philosophy based on observations and rational thought ("Voltaire-Biography"). The author blatantly outlines his stance on religion in the novel. Here, the main character Candide just escaped the grasps of the wretched Bulgars and is seeking refuge, "...seeing the man who doubted that the pope was the Anti-christ, poured out on his head a chamber pot full of... 'Merciful Heaven! To what excess ladies will carry the zeal of religion"' (Voltaire 10). Since Candide does not agree with the orator's belief that the Pope is the Antichrist, the orator's wife decided to dump a bucket of waste on Candide's head. In this situation, the author employs satire by over exaggerating the intolerance religious officials have for people who do not agree with their religious beliefs. Although not as disgusting as dumping waste on people's head, the author does imply that some religious groups will do terrible deeds to get rid of anybody who disagrees with their belief. Furthermore, Voltaire disapproves religion by questioning hierarchal rankings in these organizations. In this part of the

novel, Candide as well as his indentured servant, Cacambo finally reach the promise land, El Dorado- an ideal country in which nobody is impoverished and everyone gets along with one another, "Candide was curious to meet some priests"...."we are all priests here. The king and the heads of all the households gather to sign solemn hymns..."(58). In this excerpt, Voltaire is using satire to emphasize the absurdity of having a hierarchy in a religion. Besides addressing religion in Candide, Voltaire also addresses nobility.
Through his life leading up to writing the book, Voltaire has had multiple scandalous encounters with nobility.

Such affairs include Voltaire being exiled to Sully-Sur-Loire after he published a satirical poem criticizing the prince regent' daughter, the duchesse De Berry, for her gluttony and vice. Soon after Voltaire came back from being exiled, he was locked up in the Bastille, this time for making harsher criticisms towards the duchesse, comparing her sins to that of Oedipus (Davidson 15). As such, it would be to no surprise if Voltaire acts hostile towards the nobility in his novel. Here, the rhetor is setting up the scene for the novel, "The baroness, whose weight of some three hundred and fifty pounds had made her a figure of considerable importance, carried out the honors of the household..." (Voltaire 4). At the end of this statement, Voltaire intentionally makes a pun about the baroness' size. A person of a considerable figure figuratively means someone who is highly respectable; however, in this case, the author intends readers to take the same statement in a literal sense, indicating that the baroness is morbidly obese rather than respectable. He also attacks the nobility by stating how they all eat heartily while the rest of the population struggles to put food on their table. The author further mocks the nobility, implying that they are too prideful to think rationally. In chapter 29, Candide has just reunited with the love of his life, Cunégonde, "'I will

never be reproached with having consented to such infamy. My sister's children could never enter the ranks of the German nobility"' (113). Voltaire attempts to point out how crude, selfish, and arrogant the nobility is by satirizing the instance in which Cunégonde's brother would not yield to Cunégonde and Candide's marriage just because he has "seventy-one heraldic quarterings of noble lineage..."(3) whereas Cunégonde has "seventy-two heraldic quarterings of noble lineage..."(47). The heraldic quarterings refer to the number of ties one has to other powerful families. These ties are obtained through marriage and generally make the nobility very prideful as they can brag about how purebred they are. Thus, Voltaire is satirizing these heraldic quarterings by exaggerating the number of noble ties Candide and Cunégonde have. Besides pointing out the flaws in the nobility, Voltaire also tries to impart some of his own philosophy in the novel.
Since Voltaire wrote this book at a relatively old age of sixty five years old, he is able to impart some of his personal philosophy he has developed from years of observation and experience (xi). Needless to say, Voltaire's outlook on life is rather pessimistic as dictated throughout the novel. One of Voltaire's views of the world incorporates the idea that people are happier when they are surrounded by people worse off than they are. Voltaire emphasizes this idea when Candide and Cacambo are at the promise land. Frustrated by how they will be equal with everyone else if they stay in El Dorado, Candide decides to head back to reality, "' If we stay here, we will only be like the others. Yet if we return to our world with just twelve sheep laden with El Dorado pebbles, we will be wealthier than all the kings put together"' (61). The author indicates that even if people find the promise land, they will eventually hate the world due to their competitive nature. That competitive strive is the idea that people are happier when surrounded by other people in far worse predicaments than they are, and this is satirized by the foolish thought of Candide being richer than kings just by owning sheep. Another philosophical anecdote that Voltaire includes in the novel is that ignorance is bliss. Shortly after coming back from the promise land, El Dorado, Candide and Cacambo stumble across a slave, missing an arm and leg after being tortured by his master in the sugar mills. Here, Candide indicates how his views on the world have changed after meeting the mutilated slave, "' O Pangloss!... You had not supposed that such an abomination was possible...I finally must renounce your Optimism!"' (64). Here, Voltaire effectively uses satire by heightening the extent to which the man was tortured. The message that the author is conveying to the audience through this scene is that people would generally be happier not knowing certain aspects of life, that ignorance is bliss.
Overall, Voltaire effectively employs satire in his novel in order to spread his ideologies to the readers. Satire is a useful tool for conveying messages in that it emphasizes the problems of a particular individual, group, or society. Rather than spread his message to readers in a dull and monotonous tone, Voltaire engrains his observations into his readers through satire and comic relief. In essence, Voltaire uses satire to convey his pessimistic outlook on religion, nobility, and philosophy, in hopes that society will take his opinions into consideration