The Life and Work of Francois-Marie Arouet, a.k.a. Voultaire

Many classic books of literature of the French Enlightenment era comes from the famous author Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as his pen name, Voltaire.The French author was born on November 21st, 1694 and died May 30th, 1778 in the city of Paris. He started school at the Jesuit College of Louis-le-Grand at the age of 10 and graduated in 1711 with a motive of being a writer. However, Voltaire’s father did not agree with his choice of study and wanted Voltaire to study law. He went back to school to study law for another two years after his graduation. Voltaire was sent to The Hague, Netherlands in order to act as a secretary to the French ambassador at the time. During his visit, he became infatuated with Catherine Olympe de Noyer. Due to his love affair, Voltaire was discharged from the Dutch country to France “disinherited, and threatened with exile to the New World.” (Stanley 67). A few years later, Voltaire was accused of writing two satiric poems against the French regime because of his reputation in writing and was imprisoned at the Bastille from 1717 to 1718. During the time spent inside the prison, Voltaire wrote the tragedy called the Oedipe. After being released, Voltaire adopted the new of De Voltaire due to the commonness of the original name. His father died in 1722 and was released from his control. Voltaire also met Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher, the same year in Brussels, Belgium. From 1726 to 1728, Voltaire was sentenced to another term in the Bastille and exiled to England due to an encounter with “his growing squadron of enemies and spearheaded Chevalier de Rohan” (Stanley 67). He met the author by the name of Jonathan Swift during his exile. Voltaire was able to re-enter France in 1729, and p...

... middle of paper ...

... disclose any wrongs so that it can be lifted. "The key targets of Voltaire's satire are totalizing perceptions of the world, whether extreme optimism or extreme pessimism, both of which offer excuses for indifference to human suffering" (Stanley 76). Voltaire aims to add the different perspectives of how people view the world and conclude that whether one believes in optimism or pessimism, their outcomes lead to human suffering. In the story, Voltaire uses the main character's travels and experiences to support the theory of human suffering. However, the reader will not be able to understand the character fully without seeing how the other characters influence him, contradicting Rousseau's philosophy of individuality. Using all of the characters' experiences, Voltaire removes the optimistic and pessimistic views and replaces it with a vision of an uncertain future.