VOLTAIRE’S “CANDIDE: OR, THE

OPTIMIST”

-Amber Fystro

Josh Litkenhus

Berkley Stilwell

Nathaniel Leighner

BIOGRAPHYHe is known for the fight against injustice and criticized

wastefulness of war, the intolerance of organized religion,

and the indifference to the poor.

He studied law, but became a writer.

He was brutally beaten by nobleman.

Influenced by Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and

Newton. They emphasized influence in experimental

method in science.

His essays focused on how people actually lived and

worked.

He wrote in every literary genre.

CANDIDE, SUMMARYThe main character’s name is Candide. He is a young,

simple-minded, honest, and gentle boy that lived in

Westphalia.

He comes from a well respected lineage/household.

Candide likes the baroness, which turns out to

backfire on him. They kiss, and the Baron walks by and

catches them. Candide is then kicked out of the castle.

He wanders to the next town over where his is

spotted by two Prussian soldiers. They ask him his

height and invite him to dinner.

He went through training for the Prussian military and

progressed so fast that he was looked at as a prodigy.

After his training one night, Candide went on a walk where “…

four heroes, each six feet tall, fell upon him, bound him, and

dragged him back to a cell. He was asked by his judges

whether he would rather be thrashed thirty-six times by the

whole regiment or receive a dozen lead bullets at once in his

brain.” (Voltaire 469).

Candide was very philosophical and his first response was that

every man had freewill and choice, showing his optimism, but

after they made him choose he chose the thirty-six thrashings.

The King of the Bulgarians heard about

Candide’s daring response and that he was a

young philosopher that was unaware of worldly

rules and structures and let him go on mercy.

https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK1v_8tIJkI

VOLTAIRE’S SATIRE Satire: prominent in politics. It is the use of humor and irony to

expose people’s stupidity or vices.

Voltaire is recognized as one of the greatest satirical writers in

literature, along with Jonathan Swift.

Candide himself is very satirical because of his approach to the

Bulgarians. His first instinct is to choose freewill, which is not

their style. He is mocking them and their ways of punishment

and rulings.

SATIRE CONT.“…he was named Candide. Old servants in the house

suspected that he was the son of the Baron’s sister and a

decent honest gentleman of the neighborhood, whom

this young lady would never marry because he could

only prove seventy-one quartering's and the rest of his

genealogical tree was lost…The Baron was one of the

most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle

possessed a door and windows. His great hall was even

decorated with a piece of tapestry.” (Volatire 467-468).• What is the satire in this?

Identify the satire in this passage

“the next morning, the shivering Candide, penniless, dying of cold

and exhaustion, dragged himself toward the neighboring town,

which was called Wald-Berghoff-trarbk-dikorff. He halted sadly at

the door of an inn. Two men dressed in blue noticed him. ‘Comrade,’

said one, ‘There’s a well-built young man of the right height.’ they

went up to Candide and very civilly invited him to dinner ‘...are you

not five feet tall?’ ‘yes gentlemen,’ said he [Candide], bowing, ‘that

is my height’ ‘ah, sir, come to table; we will not only pay your

expenses, we will never allow a man like you to be short of money;

men were only made to help each other” (Voltaire ch. 2)

PANGLOSSPangloss is Candide’s mentor, and helps build his views on

philosophy and the world. At the center of his philosophy is

"since everything was made for a purpose, everything is

necessarily for the best purpose." (Voltaire Ch. 1) This is a

parody of the Leibniz, who was an enlightenment era

philosopher. He believed the world was perfect and even evil

was a means of a greater good. The word “Pangloss” means

“all tongue”. Pangloss is who decided that the castle was the

best possible cast…with one door and two windows, it was

most definitely not the best castle. Voltaire is using Pangloss

to show the ridiculous of such optimism, by using

exaggeration.

QUIZ!!!!What did Voltaire study?

What did he eventually become?

What Genre did Voltaire write?

What is satire?

what happened to Candide among the

Bulgarians?

Could you relate on a personal level to

Candide?

Was it worth Candide to “hook up” with

his uncles daughter to be homeless?

Do you think it was a somewhat good

thing of all the horror he saw when he

first ran off?

What type of satirical device is

Pangloss as a person? How?