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Candide: February Voltaire
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While Candide is without a doubt a farcical, humorous, and far-fetched tale, a seriousness lies beneath its satirical veneer. Candide is the story of an innocent young man embarking on a series of adventures during which he discovers much evil in the world. Throughout his journey Candide believes in and adheres to the philosophy of his teacher, Pangloss, that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." This philosophy was prevalent during Voltaire's day, and Candide is Voltaire's scathing response to what he saw as an absurd belief that for its followers, the Optimists, was an easy way to rationalize evil and suffering. Candide was composed mainly as an attack on Gottfried Leibniz, the main proponent of Optimism. Candide was ... written in opposition to Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, which espouses that "partial evil" is for the "greater good."
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Candide is the most widely read of Voltaire's many works,[78] and it is considered one of the greatest achievements of Western literature for its artistic and literary excellence.[79] However, Candide is not necessarily considered a true "classic". According to Bottiglia, "The physical size of Candide, as well as Voltaire's attitude toward his fiction, precludes the achievement of artistic dimension through plenitude, autonomous '3D' vitality, emotional resonance, or poetic exaltation. Candide, then, cannot in quantity of quality, measure up to the supreme classics." Bottiglia instead calls it a miniature classic, though others are more forgiving of its size.[80] As the only work of Voltaire's which has stood the test of time,[81] Candide is listed in The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. It has been named as one of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and one of the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written. It is included in the Encyclopædia Britannica collection Great Books of the Western World.[1]
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Why is Candide driven away from the Baron's castle? What is his fault? What is Voltaire satirizing through the issue of Candide's lack of nobility? Why is Cunégonde so attractive to Candide at the beginning of the novel? Are there biblical allusions in the description of Candide's actions and his expulsion from the castle? What might this mean for the rest of the story?
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Candide recounts [T]he fantastically improbable travels, adventures, and misfortunes of the young Candide, his beloved Cunégonde, and his devoutly optimistic tutor, Pangloss. Endowed at the start with good fortune and every prospect for happiness and success, the characters ... encounter every conceivable misfortune. Voltaire’s philosophical tale, in part an ironic attack on the optimistic thinking of such figures as G. W. Leibniz and Alexander Pope, has proved enormously influential over the years. In a general introduction to this volume, historian Johnson Kent Wright places Candide in the contexts of Voltaire’s life and work and the Age of Enlightenment.
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Candide is played by Philip Quast, of the South Australian Theatre Company. His love, Cunegonde, is played by American Susan Van Cott, a blonde as pretty as a pastoral. At his professional best is John Ewing. He is equally effective as a dignified Voltaire, the lecherous Governor of Cartagena, the philosopher Pangloss and the Sultan of Constantinople.
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Candide is rooted in historical events of the time, including the Seven Years' War, the execution of Admiral Byng in 1747, and the war between England and France for Canadian territory. Furthering this time of political unrest was the beginning of the Enlightenment period during which an educated elite called the Philosophes – including Voltaire and other well-known figures such as Denis Diderot – began questioning European beliefs and institutions and speaking out against intolerance and injustice. While extremely popular with the Parisian public, his contemporaries, and even royalty, Voltaire himself was subjected to injustices (particularly his imprisonment in the Bastille for writing a satire about the Regent of France) that are believed to have influenced his writing of Candide.
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