The 18th century Age of Enlightenment was an impactful period for Europe because not only was it a time of dynamic change from traditional ways of thinking to new reasoning, but many insightful scholars and philosophers rose with perceptive views on society. One of the most influential people from this era was a man infamous for his critical jabs against the Catholic Church and disapproving remarks about human nature under the pen name of Voltaire. A classic work of his called Candide, which was published after many historical events, expresses the tale of a young boy who is consistently being torn between optimism and the tragic realities of the true world around him. Voltaire incorporates a mixture of indirect satirical slanders with the
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Both mens’ beliefs followed the positive thoughts that the world is indeed perfect and every bad event that occurs is all in good favor to something better coming out of it. Candide further backs up Pangloss’s teachings when he explains optimism to his philosophy-ridden servant, Cacambo, and says, “…it is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst” (Voltaire 77). As Candide continues on his journey, many horrific incidents along the way cause his initial impression of optimism to gradually fade, although he tries his hardest to maintain the belief. The earthquake and fire that the characters found themselves caught in the midst of towards the beginning of their expedition was based off the actual Lisbon tragedy in 1755 which ultimately had an immense impact on Voltaire himself. Because of this event demolishing his optimistic beliefs, Voltaire took away some of Candide’s hope in a happy world as well which is shown when he asks himself, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?” (Voltaire 29). As time goes on, it becomes evident that Candide grows some negativity towards Pangloss’s teachings as a whole but reestablishes his faith by twisting them into a whole different meaning which suits Voltaire’s beliefs, “All events are linked …show more content…
Two prime philosophes that “butt heads” during the time were none other than Voltaire and Genevan thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose opinions were completely opposite to those of Voltaire. Rousseau believed that all humans were naturally good at heart but became corrupted with society and law, which was rivaling to Voltaire’s thought that reason and an education could steer a human away from being a savage. An Anabaptist named James who meets Candide in the beginning somewhat backed up Rousseau’s claims when tells that, “Mankind must in some things have deviated from their original innocence; for they were not born wolves…” (Voltaire 23). Even though James was one of the passengers who died in the later shipwreck, he served as kind of the opposing force against Voltaire’s beliefs that were being mixed into Candide. Voltaire’s hatred for Rousseau was so strong that he took to ridiculing his views on good nature by crudely comparing animals to being not far from humans and humans not being far from animals genetically and behaviorally. When Candide and his followers come across the wailing cries of an unknown origin and then realize it’s two monkeys and two unclothed women, many degrading remarks are made towards the persona of the group. Cacambo states the monkeys, “…are one-quarter
Both mens’ beliefs followed the positive thoughts that the world is indeed perfect and every bad event that occurs is all in good favor to something better coming out of it. Candide further backs up Pangloss’s teachings when he explains optimism to his philosophy-ridden servant, Cacambo, and says, “…it is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst” (Voltaire 77). As Candide continues on his journey, many horrific incidents along the way cause his initial impression of optimism to gradually fade, although he tries his hardest to maintain the belief. The earthquake and fire that the characters found themselves caught in the midst of towards the beginning of their expedition was based off the actual Lisbon tragedy in 1755 which ultimately had an immense impact on Voltaire himself. Because of this event demolishing his optimistic beliefs, Voltaire took away some of Candide’s hope in a happy world as well which is shown when he asks himself, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?” (Voltaire 29). As time goes on, it becomes evident that Candide grows some negativity towards Pangloss’s teachings as a whole but reestablishes his faith by twisting them into a whole different meaning which suits Voltaire’s beliefs, “All events are linked …show more content…
Two prime philosophes that “butt heads” during the time were none other than Voltaire and Genevan thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose opinions were completely opposite to those of Voltaire. Rousseau believed that all humans were naturally good at heart but became corrupted with society and law, which was rivaling to Voltaire’s thought that reason and an education could steer a human away from being a savage. An Anabaptist named James who meets Candide in the beginning somewhat backed up Rousseau’s claims when tells that, “Mankind must in some things have deviated from their original innocence; for they were not born wolves…” (Voltaire 23). Even though James was one of the passengers who died in the later shipwreck, he served as kind of the opposing force against Voltaire’s beliefs that were being mixed into Candide. Voltaire’s hatred for Rousseau was so strong that he took to ridiculing his views on good nature by crudely comparing animals to being not far from humans and humans not being far from animals genetically and behaviorally. When Candide and his followers come across the wailing cries of an unknown origin and then realize it’s two monkeys and two unclothed women, many degrading remarks are made towards the persona of the group. Cacambo states the monkeys, “…are one-quarter