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Voltaire Response To Candide

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In Response to Candide by Voltaire
In Voltaire’s “Candide,” the story of a young man named Candide begins with a brief description of the main characters: Candide, Cunegonde, and Pangloss. Pangloss was a tutor in the castle Candide grew up in and proved that there was no effect without a cause. Cunegonde was seventeen years old and desirable by Candide. Candide was an honest young man with exceptional manners. The story features some unfortunate events for Candide after being kicked out of the castle he grew up in. Voltaire writes very vivid descriptions of the events that happens throughout the story. He also wrote this story from an experience in the mid-1700s that surprised him, and also adds some things that he personally has been through. The story of Candide is eye-opening as with the graphic descriptions, believing there is a reason for everything, and the moral of the story.
Voltaire’s extremely graphic descriptions of the events that happens throughout the story are shocking. One of the first instances was when Candide escaped from the Bulgarians after being chained, whipped, and drilled to become a member of the Bulgarian army. He hides during the war but after it is over he flees to …show more content…

“Noses were made to support spectacles, hence we have spectacles. Legs…were made to be breeched, and so we have breeches. Stones were made to be shaped and to build castles wit; thus My Lord has a fine castle” (356). Even though everyone knows that noses were not made to support eyeglasses, it is still a good way to support this theory. This statement by Pangloss still holds true and there is an endless list of things that could go along with this theory. For example, beds were made to sleep in, pots were made to cook with, and chairs were made to sit in. Although each of these items could be used for something else, they each hold some form of

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The protagonist of Voltaire’s satirical piece, Candide, is notorious for his naivety and innocence seen throughout the course of his travels. As he experiences both, the good and the evil, he undergoes changes as a dynamic character. Candide’s gullibility in the beginning of the story is evident when he is coerced into the Bulgarian army and faces a tough decision: whether to be striked thirty-six times by the regiment or to be killed with poisonous lead. His initial response is that “human will is free” and that he shall choose neither one or the other (Voltaire 5). It is worth remembering that the idea of “free will” derived from Master Pangloss’ teachings, who indoctrinated his beliefs into Candide.

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Voltaire’s “Candide” was published in 1759. Candide experiences numerous undertakings. Some of them are clever, some are pitiful, and some are shocking. His eyes open to reality. He sees that everything does not happen generally advantageous as the rationalists and metaphysician Pangloss had let him know in the Baron's manor.

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Candide's carelessness can also come from his love for Cunegonde, his lover. The reader may assume that Candide’s love for Cunegonde blinds his judgement and results irresponsible and inattentive behavior. “When a man is in love, is jealous, and has been flogged by the Inquisition, he becomes lost to all reflection” (Voltaire pg 22). What Voltaire was trying to say was that a man is not himself when he is in love or is jealous. All Candide wants is to return to his lover so he would do anything to see her again.

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In Candide, Voltaire discusses Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman and the exploitation the women faces during the 18th century. They were raped and was sexually exploited regardless of being from a well to do family or from a royal home. These female characters have very little importance in Candide. With the way Voltaire characterized Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman, Voltaire draws our attention to gender roles and the incompetence of women in the 1800s. These women were all natural survivors in my view.

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Darrius Jackson Professor Origill Western Civilization 11/19/2014 Voltaire's wrote Candide to show his view on how society and class, religion, warfare, and the idea of progress. Voltaire was a deist and he believed in religious equality, he wrote Candide to attack all aspects of its social structure by satirizing religion, society and social order by showing his hypocrisy. Voltaire was a prominent figure during the enlightenment era. Although he was not a typical enlightenment writer at his time because he wrote about issues including social freedom, religious inequality and civil liberty that other philosophers did not at the time. Voltaire's outspoken opinions made him very unpopular and landed him in jail but that did not stop him from

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Voltaire’s Candide takes us through the life and development of Candide, the protagonist. Throughout his adventures, he witnesses many travesties and sufferings. Like many Enlightenment philosophers, Pangloss, Candide’s tutor, is an optimist; this philosophy was adopted by many to help mask the horrors of the eightieth century. Pangloss teaches Candide that everything happens for a reason. Voltaire uses satire, irony and extreme exaggerations to poke fun at many aspects; such as optimism, religion, corruption, and social structures within Europe.

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Voltaire is well known for his suggestive satirical work, especially his masterpiece Candide. Candide is a timeless piece still relevant today, that was written to warn the public about the consequences of radical optimism (Online-Literature 1). The main character, Candide, is a naïve and trusting young man who is banished from his home. Despite his life being filled with a series of bizarre disasters, Candide holds fast to his optimism – which serves as an example to readers. Voltaire emphasizes the dangers of radical optimism by incorporating tone, themes and utilizing satire in Candide.

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In Candide Voltaire discusses the exploitation of the female race in the eighteenth century through the women in the novel. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman suffer through rape and sexual exploitation regardless of wealth or political connections. These characters possess very little complexity or importance in Candide. With his characterization of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman Voltaire satirizes gender roles and highlights the impotence of women in the 1800s. Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German lord.

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Moreover, situations these forces create, and how they are beyond and within the control of Candide. Leading to Candide’s final beliefs, and how they illustrate the follies of optimistic determinism. At the beginning of Voltaire epic Candide is a naive scholar. He strongly adheres to the beliefs laid out for him by his mentor Pangloss.

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One key facet of living in the world today is the ability for people to have free will over their own lives. In Voltaire’s story “Candide,” it is clear to observe that although Candide is free to form his own decisions, he allows himself to be strongly determined by his surroundings as well as everyone who he encounters. This story proposes that Candide is trying to find a balance between submitting completely to the speculations and actions of others while also taking control of his life through blind faith. Throughout the story, Candide encounters frequent hardships along his voyage to prosperity. These obstacles include, but are not limited to becoming a bulwark, being beaten and forced to watch his beloved Pangloss having been hanged, leaving such an amazing place as Eldorado, being lied to and tricked out of diamonds by the abb`e, killing Cunegonde’s two lovers, almost being boiled alive for killing the monkey lovers, and being persuaded to be promiscuous on Cunegonde.

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Women in the 18th century often did not have a say in life decisions. They were subjected to the whims of the men around them. In the classic novel, Candide, by Voltaire, the main love interest, Cunegonde, is the victim of this time period. When she is reunited with Candide, she decides to tell him her “story” after he was booted out of the house by her father. Cunegonde essentially divulges that men were imposing their thoughts on her without care for her feelings.

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Through the protagonist Candide one can deduce Voltaire’s negative outlook on human nature. He believes every word that Pangloss says, in the same way that people of the day believed everything that the Church would say. At the beginning of the text he blindly worships Optimism and by the end of it he worships the Turk’s philosophy of labour. “I also know… that we must cultivate our garden” (Voltaire 99). However it does appear that Candide has gained more knowledge and wisdom and has therefore made a more informed decision.

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John Locke was an English philosopher and doctor of medicine who lived between the years 1632 and 1704. He is seen as one of the pioneers of Enlightenment. This movement was a consequence of the French Revolution and theirideals included “freedom and equality for all, founded, ostensibly, upon principles of human reason” (Bristow, 2010). Locke was an essential person in the development and field of psychology due to his inquiry as to “the human understanding”(Connolly, 2016). He contributed greatly to the modern emphasis on the self and personal identity, consciousness or self-awareness and free-will.

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