Voltaire's Candide

"The terrified Candide stood weltering in blood and trembling in fear and confusion. 'If this is the best of all possible worlds,' he said to himself, 'what can the rest be like? . . .'"

- Candide, 23

Jean François Marie Arouet de Voltaire himself pondered the nature of evil in the world as penned through his character Candide in the 1759 novel. Candide was a story about a man who is brought up to believe everything works out for the best, only to soon learn otherwise by encountering the atrocities of war, the inhumanity of man to man, and the bigotry and hypocrisy of organized religion. Voltaire's tale of adventure is indicative of his "reasoned outlook, his irony, and his strong convictions" (Greer 483). Contextually, a variety of events inspired Voltaire to write Candide, including hardships in his personal life, observation of extreme evil in the world, and the prevailing philosophy of optimism in Europe at the time.

Born in Paris in 1694, Voltaire lived a life of frequent exile and contempt because of the satires he loved to write. In 1716, he was exiled to Sully-sur-Loire for writing a satire upon the regent. A year later he was imprisoned in the Bastile for 11 months, again accused of writing another satire. However, after this he enjoyed much success in as a playwright, even being commissioned to write for the celebration of Louis XV's marriage. But again in 1726, he got into trouble by quarreling with the Chevalier Rohan and was exiled to because of a perceived "threat to public order" (Mason xii). A few years later, he returned to and was appointed historiographer to Louis XV, but eventually left for Berlin to work with Frederick of Prussia. Soon he grew out of favor with both Frederick and Louis XV, so Voltaire moved to Geneva and decided to help write a satire attacking the faith of Genevan pastors. Voltaire's plays were forbidden from being performed in Geneva, but in 1759 he published Candide, a fictional account inspired by the culmination of his travels and experiences in exile.

In the story, the protagonist Candide grows up in a baron's castle and is taught by the philosopher Pangloss, the eternal optimist, that "everything is necessarily for the best end" (10). However, after kissing the baron's daughter Cunégonde, Candide is expelled from the castle and forced to join the army of the Bulgars. After being beaten and witnessing many terrible battles, he escapes and is cared for by the Anabaptist Jacques. He soon discovers his teacher Pangloss from years earlier, who in spite of now being a poor beggar with syphilis is as optimistic as ever. Candide is informed that his beloved Cunégonde has been brutally killed by the Bulgar army. Together Candide, Pangloss, and Jacques travel to Lisbon where they encounter a storm and Jacques is drowned. Rather than try to rescue him, Pangloss calmly states that "the Lisbon roads had been expressly created for the Anabaptist to be drowned in them," maintaining his philosophy that everything is for the best (20). After arriving in Lisbon, Pangloss and Candide are arrested for heresy; Pangloss is hanged, Candide is beaten. An old woman takes Candide to his beloved Cunégonde, whom he had thought to be dead, but was merely raped and sold into sex slavery. They plan to marry, but Cunégonde's baron brother will not allow her to marry someone of Candide's social status, so Candide kills him. He is forced to flee with his servant Cacambo, and they wander into the legendary land of Eldorado where they observe the strange behavior of people with no need, no conflict, only generosity and love. Candide takes a fortune for himself and sends his servant to buy Cunégonde from Buenos Aires, traveling to Paris with his new pessimist companion Martin in the meantime. After losing much of his fortune to opportunists and thieves, Candide learns that his beloved has been again taken as a slave, only this time in Constantinople. He soon discovers that the optimist Pangloss and Cunégonde's baron brother are still alive, having been taken as slaves. Candide purchases everyone out of slavery, they tell each other their terrible stories, and they all settle down on a farm. They work hard, and soon forget their troubles, absorbing themselves in their gardens. They are finally happy, or at least content, and so the story ends.

Candide is a dynamic character in many ways, observing life with an extreme optimism and then learning how irredeemably evil the world was; man had the potential to be good, but was much more often brutal and deceitful. Voltaire wrote Candide as a direct attack upon the philosophy of optimism prevalent at the time. Pangloss is the bearer of this philosophy, constantly reminding Candide, "There is no effect without a cause" (9). Such a mentality inevitably resulted in the optimistic attitude that everything works out for the best, which Voltaire believed led to a passiveness to life. German philosopher Gottfried Liebniz was such an optimist that stirred Voltaire to write Candide, as was the English poet Alexander Pope. Liebniz published Theodicy, which concluded that "God chose for our earth the best possible world, the one containing the greatest amount of variety and richness within the limitations imposed by necessity" (Mason 6). Out of the vast amount of possible worlds an infinite and loving God could have made, this was the best of all possible worlds. Pope even denied the existence of evil, as interpreted by Haydn Mason, declaring it "part of a universal good in which everything that is present in the world is justly so" (7). What appears to be evil can actually be part of a greater good, as expressed through Pangloss: "…private misfortunes make for public welfare" (19). Voltaire, however, saw an obvious evil in the nature of man, as demonstrated in Candide.

Candide's journeys surrounded him with constant observations of war, malice, greed, rape, and syphilis. He observed the murder of countless innocents, always due to the selfish gain or inconsideration of others. There is an episode where Candide comes across a black slave lying on the path with only one arm and one leg, lost as a result of his master's punishment. "It's at this price that you eat sugar in Europe," the slave asserts. Candide bursts out in a fit of sudden pessimistic enlightenment: "I'm through; I must give up [Pangloss'] optimism after all. . . It is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell" (63). Not only was the slave unjustly treated, but Candide learned that his master was a very religious Christian. Voltaire's frustration with humanity for its self-serving use of evil is evident; many Europeans at the time were enjoying the fruits of the new world without even mild consideration of the grave injustice that facilitated their sugar and tobacco.

Another example of evil in Candide is the brutality of war, almost certainly inspired by the ruthless conduct of the Seven Years' War. Candide's forced involvement in the Bulgar army subjected him firsthand to the atrocities of murder and rape, even the violation of his beloved Cunégonde by a Bulgar soldier. Voltaire's interaction with Frederick of Prussia exposed him firsthand to the magnificence of the Prussian army, a clear inspiration for the Bulgar army. Candide and Martin later witnessed the execution of an English admiral, killed for his failure to incite his men to kill more of the French in . Of course, in the story the execution of admirals is a regular occurrence in , done in order to encourage the other men to fight harder. Voltaire based this incident on an actual event, the execution of British Admiral John Byng in 1757. The Anabaptist Jacques probably represents Voltaire's view best: "Men…must have corrupted nature a little, for they were not born wolves, and they have become wolves. God did not give them heavy cannon or bayonets; and they have manufactured themselves bayonets and cannon to destroy each other" (19). According to Mason, "It sounds very like the picture painted by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Discours sur l'origine de l'inégalité, which Voltaire had read, appending marginal comments on his own copy." (34) The belief that men have free will makes evil a choice they enjoy, not simply a reactionary measure. Therefore, Voltaire maintained that this is not the best of all possible worlds, but rather it can be whatever man chooses to make of it. This belief combats passiveness to life, Voltaire's chief grievance against the philosophy of optimism.

Voltaire's personal interests may have also played a part in his resentment toward the military. According to Mason, "He was dismayed by the piratical methods of the British navy on the high seas, capturing French vessels in which Voltaire himself had considerable investments, especially the fleet sailing from Cadiz" (5). He is astonished at the extent to which people will harm others in order to obtain personal benefit.

A major inspiration for the writing of Candide was the catastrophic Lisbon earthquake of 1755. The earthquake was thought to have killed 100,000 people, and upon hearing of the tragedy Voltaire was overcome with grief for humanity. "He seemed momentarily overwhelmed by the number of deaths, the horror, suffering, and loss of property…" (Wade 93). Oddly enough, Pangloss is hanged and Candide beaten in order to ward off earthquakes, according to the superstition of the day. The existence of natural evil was something humanity could not combat, frustrating Voltaire even further.

Voltaire's life of exile and criticism led him to become frustrated with the intolerance of others, another inspiration for the encounters of Candide. Pangloss is hanged for his heresy; Candide is beaten for listening with approval. Candide also has a bucket of dung poured on his head because he does not believe the pope to be the anti-Christ. The pastors of Geneva drove Voltaire out for his criticism of their personal morality; he also faced beatings and imprisonment for his satires upon the regent in . In his mind their justification for intolerance was merely their own self-righteous attitudes: "For they surround themselves with systems of belief to keep the sense of evil at bay" (Mason 11). "Yet Voltaire had faith in the method of science and the power of reason. He stood courageously for freedom of expression; he admired simple honesty, moderation, humaneness, and tolerance" (Greer 483).

But in spite of these virtues, the pursuit of happiness can be discouraging. "The world contains evil beyond our capacity to in any way justify or explain by the light of our human understanding," Voltaire stated (Mason 10). Even when people appear to be happy, appearances can be deceiving. Martin challenges Candide to find someone who appears to be happy, and then invite them out to dinner to be sure. So he finds the happiest couple on the street and invites them to dinner, only to find that she is a prostitute in poverty and he is a monk who hates his life. In addition, sex in Candide usually revolves around control and dominance rather than love. Her life of prostitution is described by the woman as being, "exposed to every insult, every affront; reduced frequently to borrowing a skirt so as to have it pulled up by some disgusting man; robbed by one of what has been earned with another; held to ransom by officers of the law, and with nothing to look forward to except a horrible old age, a workhouse and one's body thrown on a dung heap" (89). Voltaire no doubt would have related this to the horrid prostitution and poverty in Paris. His cynicism toward love and happiness may have also increased after the 1749 death of his 15-year mistress, Madame du Chatelet.

But Voltaire does offer a glimpse at the possibility of happiness, even if it does exist in the legendary land of Eldorado. Candide and Cacambo arrive to find a fantasy world so unlike their own. The streets are paved with gold and laden with diamonds; people are generous and give them food; there is no need for prisons, courts, or doctors. Candide is amazed and asks a man what religion his city follows, only to hear back, "We do not pray to God…we have nothing to ask of him…we never stop thanking him." There are no priests because every man is a priest; the only aspect of religion is thanking God and loving the fellow man. Voltaire presents Eldorado in a very mystical light, presenting what can be done if man were perfect. His deism is an obvious influence upon his portrayal of the city, as Mason explains: "[Eldorado] represents an idealization of Voltaire's wishes for a deist society free of divisive doctrines and persecution" (55). As opposed to the aristocracy in , Eldorado thrives on hard work and self-respect, not the love of money. Eldorado may have actually been a metaphorical allusion to Pennsylvania at the time, since it was inhabited by the Quakers, a group that Voltaire admired for their tolerance, generosity, and courteousness (Mason 22).

Amidst the philosophical conversations and journeying, none of the characters manage to ever find happiness until the end of the story when they have exhausted their wealth and decide to settle down on a farm. Dignified hard work makes them happy because it takes their minds off the irresolvable philosophies and worries that trouble mankind. Mason states, "But work is therapeutic and marginally more reliable than other means of survival; a modest step forward is being taken toward sanity and against both superstitious despair and optimistic nonsense" (53). In a sense, their farm is much like the land of Eldorado: ". . . a spirit based on the rejection of useless metaphysics, to the advantage of useful work for the common good." (Mason 56)

Voltaire's Candide was a story that presented the harsh realities of a world filled with evil, selfishness, intolerance, and superstition. "Voltaire's achievement was to show that human existence as he saw it was irredeemably comic" (Mason 10). No matter how much man pursues philosophy and seeks to explain evil in the world, he will never find happiness unless he can take his mind off of it. He fights the philosophy of optimism that asserts all is well when it is not, that this is the best of all possible worlds and therefore all is as it is meant to be. Voltaire stated, ". . . optimism is a despairing doctrine, a cruel philosophy under a consoling name" (Mason 27). Hardships in his personal life, observation of extreme evil in the world, and the prevailing philosophy of optimism in Europe at the time inspired Voltaire to write Candide.

Works Cited

Greer, Thomas H., and Gavin Lewis. A Brief History of the Western World, Volume 1.

Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2002.

Mason, Haydn. Candide: Optimism Demolished. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992.

Voltaire, Jean François Marie Arouet de. Candide. New York: Halcyon House, 1936.

Wade, Ira O. Voltaire and Candide: A Study in the Fusion of History, Art, and Philosophy. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1959.