Optimism In Candide, By Voltaire

During the eighteenth century, a new way of viewing the world began to take shape, one that believed life is a series of causes and effects that contribute to this world being the “best of all possible worlds” (Voltaire 4). This philosophy of optimism argued that everything happens for a reason, and there exists no other possible outcomes than the one that takes place. However, many critiqued this sanguine world view, most notably the philosopher Voltaire. In his philosophical fable, Candide, Voltaire puts his buoyant characters through outlandish misfortunes in order to critique early forms of philosophical optimism, yet his inclusion of commonplace atrocities and demolition of potential positive alternatives merely substitutes a philosophy

His belief starts out strong, after being thrown out of the Baron’s castle he maintains that “everything is indeed for the best” (Voltaire 6) and holds onto that positivity even after he is forced into the army, flogged four thousand times, and witnesses the evils of war (Voltaire 6-8). However, as things begin to worsen, this conviction beings to waver. The first time Candide expresses uncertainty of optimism is when he is told that Cunegonde is dead, because how can this be the best of all worlds if his love is brutally stolen from it? Some of his hope returns once he and Cunegonde are reunited for the first time, but as things get worse and he loses the Baron’s daughter again it grows more difficult for Candide to hold onto Pangloss’s teachings. After separating from Cunegonde, killing her brother, almost being eaten by savages, wondering the jungle for several months, and seeing the full brutality of slavery for the first time, the title character is finally ready to “[give] up on [Pangloss’s] Optimism after all,” (Voltaire 52). The entire quest seems to be a test, a way to see how horrible things must get for Candide to abandon optimism. Voltaire uses these grotesque and lethal circumstances to illuminate how ridiculous the philosophy of optimism is, to show that the world is a terrible place and not everything happens for a reason. In the end, though, Candide is still

The absurdity of the misfortunes the characters of Candide are subjected to is humorous for the reader, but the events that are based in fact and real-world issues are far more somber and depressing. They reveal a devastating truth about the world, going farther than just discrediting optimism, to the point of showing this world and society is doomed to be a dark pit of despair. Cunegonde eventually learns that her rape by the Bulgar was “the custom on such occasions” (Voltaire 19), that it was expected of soldiers to satisfy their “natural urges” (Voltaire 8) by forcing themselves onto the women they find after raiding a castle or village. Voltaire is explaining here that the events described in Candide are not just solitary acts committed by the worst people in the world but are acceptable actions in society. The burning down of cities-pillaging them and taking the survivors as slaves- is “in accordance with international law” (Voltaire 8). Its far easier to maintain faith in humanity when the villains are only those who break the law, rather than when the law allows the heroes to commit some of the vilest acts. Such is the case with war, in just one battle “the cannon [will] topple about six thousand men on either side; then the muskets [can] remove from the best of possible worlds between nine and ten