Voltaire Essay

On November 24, 1694, Voltaire was born François-Marie Arouet to an upper middle-class family in Paris, France. Throughout his life, Voltaire wrote numerous philosophical works including poems, plays, and books. Next to Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau and others, Voltaire is known as one of the greatest French Enlightenment writers. His works, and the works of other Enlightenment writers, influenced both the French and the American revolutions.

Voltaire was the youngest of five siblings, and had very high expectations. His father wanted him to be a notary after college, but he wanted to be a writer. After being caught pretending to be a notary, his father sent him to study law. There he got a job as a secretary, and continued writing. Voltaire also developed a tense relation with the authorities of the time. Through his critical views on religious intolerance and the governmental practices in general, cost him several imprisonments and exiles. In one of such imprisonments, at the Bastille, he wrote his first play entitled Œdipe. Also, during his imprisonment, he received his pet name “Voltaire”.

Voltaire's writings challenged the common idea at the time. He challenged ideas that dealt with political, military, and diplomatic events. He emphasized in the cultural history, the arts, the sciences, and customs. Voltaire is known to be the first thinker to try to write a history of the world based on cultural, political and economic facts, rejecting any kind of theological framework. Voltaire’s writings about church and government caused quarrel among the people. Voltaire’s words attacked the church and the state with equal fervor, and earned him widespread repute. During his lifetime, sharp writings attacking church or government was of...

... middle of paper ...

... Cunégonde with him. Cunégonde is known throughout the entire play to be young and beautiful. After war many people used her as a mistress, but once Candide found out that the Grand Inquisitor was using her, he killed him. Cunegonde’s brother is also one to be recognized in this play for hypocrisy. . In South America, he became a Jesuit priest. However, later in the play he revealed that he had homosexual inclinations.

In this play, Voltaire portrayed many religious leaders as negative and ruthless. He revealed to the readers another aspect of his view on religion, by showing different sides of characters. Jacques was an Anabaptist who nursed Candide and Pangloss in the play. He unfortunately died saving a sailor who happened to be a murderer. Voltaire wanted his readers to see that the world is not perfect because the good men in the play die in a pointless way.