How Does Voltaire Satirize Candide

Candide is a famous French satire written by French philosopher, Voltaire. In this satire, Voltaire humorously ridicules Leibniz’s belief of optimism, the violence the military employ during war and the hypocrisy of religion. This essay aims to describe some of the techniques that Voltaire uses to satirize Leibniz through the character of Pangloss, the military through the Bulgarian War, and religious figures through the hypocrisy of the Grand Inquisitor and the Friar, showing how the humor is achieved in the description of the characters.

One of the ‘important’ figures Voltaire satirizes would be Leibniz and his theory of philosophical optimism. According to Leibniz, we live in “the best of all possible worlds” and Voltaire ridicules this in his novel by introducing the character of Pangloss who also believed that “things cannot be otherwise than they are: for all being created for an end, all is necessarily for the best end.” (Chapter 1, p1) Throughout this novel, no matter the misfortunes Pangloss encounters, he would defend optimism by claiming, “all is for the best” then continue to justify the possible reasons for such an occurrence. One prominent example would be when Pangloss had unfortunately contracted syphilis from Paquetta, yet he reasoned that “it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus had not caught in an island in America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had neither chocolate nor cochineal.” (Chapter 4, p8) The foolishness and incessant belief of Pangloss' optimism is thoroughly displayed here as Voltaire uses the technique of irony ...

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...ous figures in Candide seem to almost all be corrupted and deceitful with the exception of a few like Jacques, and the characters in Candide seem to be accustomed to such occurrences, displaying little shock at their ‘unholy’ behavior. Such a manner of portraying these characters further enunciates Voltaire’s view on various religious people.

In conclusion, through techniques such as irony, exaggeration, parody and understatement, Voltaire effectively satirizes Leibniz, the military and religious figures, mocking Leibniz’s philosophy of optimism, disapproving the brutality of the military and criticizing the hypocrisy of religious figures. Humor was achieved through the irony and exaggeration he cleverly wove into his novel, making it much easier for the readers to swallow despite the novel being highly critical of his modern society, addressing many serious issues.