Voltaire's Candide: The Transformation of Candide Essay

At the same time, Candide struggles with why the evil happens if it is indeed the best of all possible worlds: "And whatever Master Pangloss said of the matter, I have often had occasion to notice that things went badly in Westphalia"(p.551). One reason that Candide should not follow blindly whatever Pangloss says is that the beliefs are not his own. Candide needs to look within himself for the key to happiness. What makes Pangloss happy will not necessarily make Candide happy. Candide learns to search himself in the end when he discovers that the key to his own happiness is "cultivating

From a young age, Candide had been taught by Pangloss to have an optimistic philosophy, and he kept those ideas with him throughout his life. Even when the people around him feared the worst and complained about their misfortunes, Candide kept going back to the idea that “everything is linked in a chain of necessity, and arranged for the best” (9). And by no means was he left untouched by various trials: he was flogged, penniless, driven from his home, shipwrecked, robbed, and doomed to leave his loved ones. Although these misfortunes make him question the necessity of tribulation, he nonetheless hoped for the best. Part of his optimism might stem from the fact that he was young and healthy, but it’s also because he cared about the welfare of those apart from himself. For instance, when he heard that Cunegondé was dead and Pangloss hanged, he cried, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be like? …Mademoiselle Cunegonde…was it necessary for you to be disembowelled?” (16) Clearly, the reason he questioned the “rightness” of the world is because it took away the people he loved. His mourning for those who have died shows his tender innocence, but it also shows his selflessness. In fact, the reason he was so optimistic throughout the story was because of his longing for Cunegondé, his beloved, and his only wish was to be with her and keep her safe. In other words, he lived for something outside of himself, and that caused him to have hope.

The Old Woman advices Cunegonde, to marry the self-important governor. The man whom stole the jewelry, has been caught and turned them in. With marrying the governor, the Old Woman knows will provide them with protection from prosecution. However with this, you also see the Old Woman, allowing Candide to take all of the blame for the crime. This decision is another example that contradicts Panglos philosophy of the perfect world. With this you see the Old Women suggest Cunegonde make a decision using logic and not emotions feelings. You see everyone is essential for him or herself.

When propositioned by the governor Cunegonde must decide between staying faithful to her love, Candide, or being the governor’s mistress. Her companion, who is simply named the Old Woman, offers this advice. …

Voltaire’s Candide is a satirical fiction that was meant as both an insult and a criticism to the wealthy nobility and the Catholic Church. Voltaire, major voice during the Enlightenment period, had a wide spread influence from England and France to Russia. Candide was massively circulated throughout Europe. Voltaire used Candide to offer his opinion of what was wrong with society: being that the wealthy were ungrateful, selfish people and the church was a ruthless, maniacal super power.

Candide is a good-hearted, but very naïve young man from Westphalia. From the very beginning Candide had his eyes on a beautiful woman named Cunegonde who is the Baron’s daughter. Candide was chased from Westphalia after being caught stealing an innocent kiss from

Voltaire also illustrated in Candide that society as a whole places more emphasis on physical appearance than on inner beauty. Throughout much of the story, Candide is obsessed with the idea of being reunited with Cunegonde. Candide speaks of how beautiful his future bride is and of how much he really loves her. As the story concludes, Candide is reunited with Cunegonde only to find that she has become ugly. Candide has a change of heart and

Throughout the novel we follow, the main character, Candide, through his journey of reuniting with his beloved Cunegonde. The journey was very dangerous because throughout the novel, Candide was flogged, forced into an army, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, and separated from his love Cunegonde, and tortured by the Inquisition. Most of Candide’s misfortunes was mostly of robbery and abuse. Throughout the journey, Candide was able to acquire love and wealth. Though, both things were taken away from him. Cunegonde and Candide were separated frequently ever since that kiss they shared. As for the wealth, Candide kept flaunting it around and spent a lot of it unwisely. Therefore, the villainous characters in the novel were able to notice that Candide was a fool and noticed that robbing some of his wealth would be an easy task for them. Though, it was at this moment that Candide was fed up

Candide is a reflection of the philosophical values of the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s novel is a satire of the Old Regime ideologies in which he critiques the political, social, and religious ideals of his time.

Voltaire was the author of the novella Candide, also known as "Optimism". The the novella, Voltaire portrays the idea of Optimism as being illogical and absurd. In Candide, Voltaire satirizes the doctrine of Optimism, an idea that was greatly used during the Enlightenment time period by philosophers. In this narrative, Candide is a young man who goes through a series of undertakings and ventures around the the globe where he experiences evil and adversity. Throughout his journeys, Candide maintained the ideas of the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss. Candide and Pangloss believed in the idea that “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds...” (Voltaire 4). This belief is what Voltaire pointed out to be an irrational way of

     “Everything happens for the best, in this the best of all possible worlds.” This is a statement that can be found many times within Voltaire’s Candide. Voltaire rejected Lebitizian Optimism, using Candide as a means for satirizing what was wrong with the world, and showing that, in reality, this is not the best of all possible worlds.

At the beginning of the story Candide lives with Baron and his family in a beautiful castle with wonderful gardens, “le plus beau des chateaux” (Voltaire 35) which one could see as

The narrative techniques, features of language and context Voltaire used when writing Candide tells us a lot about this book and what Voltaire was trying to achieve in writing it. Candide is told by a third person narrator who is not a main character in the book and is completely outside of the storyline. The title page of Candide implies that the book was found and translated by Doctor Ralph who is our narrator. This is a fiction created by Voltaire to distance himself from the book and to help the reader to understand the satirical nature of Candide.

But still, he is optimistic about the world. Without Cunegonde, I believe, that Candide would not so readily accept Optimism. His love for her is so strong that it renders Candide naïve to the world’s horrors.

    Candide on the surface is a witty story. However when inspected deeper it is a philippic writing against people of an uneducated status. Candide is an archetype of these idiocracies, for he lacks reason and has optimism that is truly irking, believing that this is the best of all possible worlds. Thus Voltaire uses a witty, bantering tale on the surface, but in depth a cruel bombast against the ignoramuses of his times.