Candide: A Satire On The Enlightenment :: Voltaire Candide Essays

Candide A Satire On The EnlightenmentWorks Cited Missing Candide is an outlandishly humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism espoused by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story of a young mans adventures throughout the world, where he witnesses much evil and disaster. Throughout his travels, he adheres to the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss, believing that whole is for the better(p) in the best of all possible worlds. Candide is Voltaires resolve to what he saw as an absurd belief proposed by the Optimists - an light(a) way to reasoning(prenominal)ize evil and suffering. Though he was by no means a pessimist, Voltaire refused to reckon that what happens is always for the best.The Age of Enlightenment is a term applied to a wide variety of ideas and advances in the handle of philosophy, science, and medicine. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is the belief that people give notice actively work to create a better world. A philia of social reform characterized the political ideology of Enlightenment philosophers. While Voltaires Candide is heavily characterized by the primary concerns of the Enlightenment, it to a fault criticizes certain aspects of the movement. It attacks the idea that optimism, which holds that rational thought can inhibit the evils perpetrated by human beings. Voltaire did not believe in the power of reason to overcome contemporary social conditions.In Candide, Voltaire uses Pangloss and his ramblings to rede an often humorous characterization of the typical optimist. Of Pangloss, Voltaire writes, He proved praiseworthily that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause and that in the best of all possible worlds the Barons castle was the best of all castles and his wife the best of all possible Baronesses. (522) The attack on the claim that this is the best of all possible worlds permeates the entire novel. Throughout the story, satirical references to this theme con trast with natural catastrophes and human wrongdoing. When reunited with the diseased and dying Pangloss, who had promise syphilis, Candide asks if the Devil is at fault. Pangloss simply responds that the disease was a necessity in this the best of all possible worlds, for it was brought to Europe by Columbus men, who also brought chocolate and cochineal, two greater goods that well offset any damaging effects of the disease. (526)The multitudes of disasters, which Candide endures, culminate in his eventual, if temporary, abandonment of optimism.