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

John Locke (1632-1704), Adam Smith and Francois-Marie Arouet (1694-1778) were major historical Enlightenment thinkers. Francis-Marie Arouet writing under the pen name Voltaire championed individual freedom and attacked institutions sponsoring intolerant or oppressive politics.

Biographical information about the author: Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was born in 1694 in Paris, France. Though his father wanted him to become a lawyer, Voltaire long held a great passion for writing, and rather than going to law school, spent his time extensively composing poetry, essays, and historical studies. His widespread recognition as an author was established with the publication of the play “Oedipus”, a variation on the original Greek tragedy, in 1718. In 1726, after a fight with a French nobleman, Voltaire was exiled to England. There, he was exposed to a

Francois-Marie Arouet better known as Voltaire, was born in Paris on the twenty-first of November, 1694. Voltaire was a french enlightenment philosopher, historian and writer, who was most famous for his advocacy of freedom of religion and most importantly his influence on freedom of speech. Voltaire continuously wrote many letters on his beliefs, explaining the reasoning behind them. Voltaire being French had always had admired the english for being so open about their thoughts, beliefs, and culture. Later in his life he left school and immediately wanted to become a famous writer. His father had other plans, he encouraged Voltaire to become a lawyer, but Voltaire went against his wishes. Voltaire, pretending to work in Paris spent the majority

Francois-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name “Voltaire”, once said “Nothing is more dangerous than ignorance and intolerance armed with power”. This quote criticizes the government and the Catholic Church - two institutions known for their lack of tolerance, respect, and value of the common person’s life. Voltaire was a French author, historian, and philosopher who was active during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century. It was a time characterized by the discussion of four new values: Humanitarianism, ending suffering; Progress, furthering society; Rationality, using logic and reason to improve the world; and Freedom of Thought, challenging traditional authority, blind obedience, and superstition. Voltaire is known for

Candide Wealth and great materialistic possession brings happiness and success to most people’s lives. Although wealth does not always bring happiness, El Dorado was one society where all it’s inhabitants lived lives full of success and happiness. In Candide, wealth proved to guarantee a person a step forward in life and some sense of freedom. Sometimes when one lives in an environment consisting of total equality, one may prefer to leave and go to a different place where they would be considered superior and everyone else inferior to them. The people of El Dorado were so wealthy that they abused the things that they possessed that others would cherish. The children proved this when they were playing at quoits covered with tattered

Marie, his mother, had gained the family access to Louis XIV court through her realtives. Because of Voltaire’s priviledged lineage he was able to study under the Abbe de Chateaneuf, at the Louis-le-Grand Jesuit College in Paris. Voltaire spoke very highly of his Abbe in later years. After ten years at school, he was sent to study law in Paris under his fathers orders.

On page 70, he says, “I admit that there's no comparison between this country and the castle where I was born; but it's still true that Lady Cunegonde isn't here". This shows that Candide misses Lady Cunegonde very much and wanted to be with her. In this case, Lady Cunegonde is Candide's goal. Later on, the story proved this by showing us that Candide’s only hope is to find Cunegonde and live with her. When they got out of the Eldorado and lost most of their sheep, Candide said to Cacambo, "Now you see, my friend, how perishable are the riches of this world.

A driving force of many of the main characters are to ‘redeem’ a bit of the happiness of their old lives. Candide, in chapter one, lived in one of the ‘finest of all castles’ with one of the ‘most powerful’ lords (Voltaire, 1-2). The old woman was the beautiful daughter of a Pope and a princess, and Cunegonde enjoyed all of the luxuries of a daughter of a powerful Baron. Their falls from grace represent wrongs that they are attempting to right throughout the course of the novel. Candide believes that he can redeem his life by rejoining Cunegonde, and even sacrifices the comfortable El Dorado

Enlightenment thinkers wanted tangible, concrete evidence to back their arguments. Pangloss based his arguments on nothing. Voltaire portrays him as naïve, scorning him for not experiencing and studying the world before he becomes firmly planted in his ideas. Even after Pangloss experiences the evil ways of the world, he refuses to change his philosophy. Pangloss would rather preach something attractive to the ear rather than reality. Candide’s servant Cacambo also speaks of false optimism as he tries to console Candide over the loss of Cunegonde. He says that women are never at a loss and that God takes care of them. However, Cunegonde and the Old Woman both experienced brutality and suffering many times over in their lifetime. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and treated like a possession throughout the novel. She and the Old Woman were left vulnerable to molestation and treated like objects. The only hint of optimism in Voltaire’s novel is when Cacambo and Candide stumble upon the country of Eldorado. However, this optimism is quickly distinguished when the two men foolishly trade such a perfect society for jewels, gold, power, and influence. Eldorado is a country in which there is no organized religion, no courts or prisons, no poverty, and complete equality. Even the king is treated as a normal citizen. Candide overlooks the fact that this is a perfect society because of the ideals they practice, and believes that the riches are the most

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

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

The Age of Enlightenment was a philosophical and an intellectual movement that took place in Europe during the 18th century. From the 1600’s to the 1800’s, philosophers opened a path for independent thought and there were many advances in the scientific, political, economic, and mathematical realms. Many ideas were transpiring and people began to “mature,” becoming less dependent on others. This time is known for four major components: the idea of freedom of thought, rationality, progress and humanitarianism. Philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Voltaire were all major minds that contributed to the Age of Enlightenment. Voltaire, the author of Candide, wrote about the positives and negatives impacting a person’s life. The plot of the novel revolves around Candide’s journey to find Cunegonde, the supposed love-of-his-life. Throughout the novel, characters face highs and lows, such as becoming rich, being scammed, and forced into exile. Using Candide’s life and the lives and philosophies of minor characters, Voltaire satirizes aspects of the Age of Enlightenment, especially the idea of rationality.

The directing force of the journey in this novel is Candide’s love for Cunégonde. He goes to irrational lengths to chase his love which includes deserting paradise of El Dorado, numerous murders, and barely avoiding imprisonment and death sentence, mocked by the realism that once he can get married to Cunégonde, he is no longer fascinated to her.

François-Marie Arouet, or most commonly known as Voltaire was born November 21, 1699, in Paris, France. He was a French philosopher, historian and writer of the Age of Enlightenment. He valued the right to have your own thoughts as well as the ability to change religion. Even though he was a complex person, he was highly intelligent, humorous and his writing style made him one of France 's greatest writers and philosophers. He supported social reform, including freedom of religion, civil rights and free trade.

Voltaire had suffered many setbacks in life before his trip to England in spring of 1726 that had shaped his mindset, and made him skeptical to authority. He was born Francois-Marie Arouet to a French aristocratic family in 1694 during the reign of king Louis XIV. When Voltaire