Voltaire Exposes the Fallacy of Optimism in Candide Essay

            Candide is consistently being brainwashed by reason (Pangloss) saying that we live in "the best of all possible worlds", while it is quite obviously that he does not. For how can there be, in the best of all worlds, war, slavery and many more abominations. Half-way through the book it would appear that Candide has given up his optimism when he looked at the Negro slave. "Oh Pangloss... I'll have to give up your optimism at last" (73). But to the distress of the readers he has not given up his chafing optimism. "Since I found you [an Eldoradian sheep laden with stones], I'm sure I can find Cunegnde again" (79). Thus we see that he has quickly recovered his optimism. Voltaire is using Candide's blatant optimism to relate to the people of his time that also have the same type of optimism.

Voltaire's Candide is the story of how one man's adventures affect his philosophy on life. Candide begins his journey full of optimism that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds," but he learns that it is naïve to say that good will eventually come of any evil.

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

Candide studied under Professor Pangloss, who taught him, we live in the best of all possible worlds. In the beginning, Cunégonde seeks out to have affectionate affairs with Candide. Unfortunately, they were discovered, which caused Candide to be ejected from the castle. This could symbolize the Biblical Fall. Like Eve, Cunégonde comes across the forbidden knowledge of sex and shares it with another person.

   Leibnitz emphasized, in his Discours de Metaphysique (Discourse on Metaphysics) (1686) the role of a benevolent creator. He called the constituent components of the universe monads, and while the philosophy of monads is of little concern to readers of Candide, the conclusion which Leibnitz drew from these monads is crucial to an understanding of optimism.

After being exposed for kissing Miss Cunegund the baron banishes Candide from the castle. This event embarks Candide’s miraculous misfortunes into the real world where he is then forced to reevaluate Pangloss’s teachings. Soon after Candide’s expulsion he finds himself enlisted into the Bulgarian army where he is absurdly abused and nearly executed before escaping to Holland.

After reading Candide, the message Voltaire was trying to get across seemed fairly obvious. Based on the satire, Voltaire clearly did not agree with the extensive philosophy of optimism that the world he lived in pursued. Various characters in the novel quite evidently follow this philosophy and end up living their lives continuously enduring immense misery. Therefore, the particular world in this satire would never contribute in improving Voltaire’s world in which he lived. On the other hand, Candide is basically used to illustrate how ridiculous this world and the idea of radical optimism is. Along with this optimistic theory, Voltaire also ridicules the naivety of the people who lived in this world. Voltaire mocks this laughable world of profound optimism and naivety through two different characters and uses many examples of exactly why he did not agree with these ideas in the world in which he lived.

Michael Liska The Foolishness of Optimism 23 April 2015 Dr. Harty In one of Voltaire’s most famous works, Candide, the main character contemplates on whether the world in which he lives in is truly the best of all possible worlds. Throughout his expedition, Candide questions the world of good and evil and realizes he must decide whether his philosopher Pangloss is correct in believing that everything is for the greater good. While Candide continuously follows his love for Cunégonde, he meets people and encounters experiences that compel him to speculate his philosopher’s teachings.

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.

Candide is the illegitimate nephew of a German baron. He grows up in the baron’s castle under the tutelage of the scholar Pangloss, who teaches him that this world is “the best of all possible worlds.” Candide falls in love with the baron’s young daughter, Cunégonde. The baron catches the two kissing and expels Candide from his home. On his own for the first time, Candide is soon conscripted into the army of the Bulgars. He wanders away from camp for a brief walk, and is brutally flogged as a deserter. After witnessing a horrific battle, he manages to escape and travels to Holland.

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 does most of his satirizing through the character of Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibnitz’s philosophy and Candide’s mentor. Pangloss’ ramblings are not personal attacks on Leibnitz, but in some way represent the thoughts of a typical optimist. He is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept bad. When Candide encounters Pangloss after a long period of time, Pangloss explains how he was almost hanged, then dissected, then beaten. Candide asks the philosopher if he still believes that everything is for the best, and Pangloss replies that he still held his original views. Voltaire frequently exaggerates his point on optimism; there is nobody in reality who is positive about everything all the time, especially after so many horrible experiences. One could say that Pangloss is irrational and idiotic, and Voltaire tries to depict how inexplicable his beliefs are which do not measure up to reality.

Candide is a young man who lives in the Barony of Thunder-ten-tronckh. There, he is instructed by the philosopher Pangloss, whose doctrine is that we live in “the best of all possible worlds.” One day, the Baron's daughter Cunégonde comes across Pangloss having sex with Paquette, her mother's chambermaid. Inspired, she approaches Candide, intending to do the same. Unfortunately, the two are caught kissing. Furious, the Baron kicks Candide out of Thunder-ten-tronckh. Candide wanders from place to place, and is eventually tricked by two Bulgarian soldiers into joining their army. He performs well in military exercises, but flees like a coward in the first battle.

Before Candide can protest to the local governor, he spots a ship that happens to be after him the crime he committed when killing Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor. Candide quickly leaves the seen with a local man named Cacambo, and later finds out that Cunegonde’s brother is a commanding officer. The two begin to talk and her brother mentions to Candide that he will never marry Cunegonde. So the two end up fighting, and as a result, Candide kills Cunegonde’s brother, and like always, he flees the

To effectively analyse Candide it is important to consider its context, particularly in a philosophical setting. Knowing the entire work is a critique of the Leibnizian views on optimism aids in understanding this passage. The character of Pangloss represents opinions held by followers of Leibniz and Candide quotes his former tutor a number of times in the passage. Candide attempts to convince Cunégonde and the old woman that “the new world is the best of all possible worlds”. Voltaire uses the repetition of this statement to mock supporters of Leibniz, as by repeating it in regards to a number of horrific scenarios renders it an almost banal and inane comment. In this passage Candide truly believes that the next place they arrive