Neoclassical Period

R.J Thompson

British Literature

Ms. Wilson

8 May 2013

Candide

“For as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end (Voltaire, 1).” This was the belief of many of those who lived during the neoclassical era. It was common to believe that the world was perfect, rational, and that there was a good reason for every occurrence. In the enlightment period thinkers wrote about opinions and their philosophical ideas. One such philosophical idea is the idea of philosophical optimism and that this world is “the best of all worlds (Voltaire, 7).” This philosophical optimism is the philosophy that is foundation for which Voltaire chose to write Candide, the story about a man who travels the world and instead of experiencing the best of all worlds, experiences many of its horrors.

Concluding Candide, Voltaire writes the famous quote “but let us cultivate our garden (Voltaire, 97).” This quote wraps up another philosophical theme to the book; the theme that the past is irrelevant and that all must focus on what we want to get from our future. In Candide, Pangloss, the oracle of the family, is a philosopher who preaches about both the ideas of philosophical optimism and the opportunities of the future. Throughout the novel, Pangloss shares his knowledge and beliefs to everyone whom he meets and even tries to teach Candide his ways of thinking. However, Candide has experienced far from the best of worlds. His life is one bad thing after another: getting kicked out of his home, separated from his love, forced into war, beaten and robbed, caught in a shipwreck, and blamed for an earthquake.

Candide tries to understand and believe Pangloss’s theories and feelings towards the world and the way that it is run. Like Candide, Pangloss has not experienced the most glorious of lives. He too has been pushed near death, that still holds to his core values of philosophical optimism. Towards the end of the book, Candide questions Pangloss on his core values:

“Well, my dear Pangloss,” said Candide to him, “when You were hanged, dissected, whipped, and tugging at the oar, did you continue to think that everything in this world happens for the best?”

“I have always abided by my first opinion,” answered Pangloss; “for, after all, I am a philosopher, and it would not become me to retract my sentiments; especially as Leibnitz could not be in the wrong: and that preestablished harmony is the finest thing in the world, as well as a plenum and the materia subtilis.” (Voltaire, 91)

Even through all of his hardships, Pangloss still holds true to his beliefs that everything in the world happens for a good reason unlike Candide, who goes through the book never believing that things will get any better. These thoughts and core beliefs of Pangloss help to embody the reasoning of many during the enlightment period in the neoclassical era. However, Candide is not a book to preach about believing in the best of all worlds. Instead it is a satire that was written by Voltaire to poke fun at the eighteenth-century philosophers who were wrapped up in the ideas that the world was a perfect place. He constructs this novel to serve as a contrast between the philosophical optimism of Pangloss and the true-life tragedies of Candide.

            Voltaire also wrote about the themes of religious and political oppression. He satirizes the church and the government aside from making fun of the eighteenth-century society. At the beginning of the book, Candide is forced into the army against his will by the government. Voltaire tells about how Candide only accepted the government’s demand after torture, showing government oppression and cruel abuse of power. The book also shows the corruption of the church simply by showing how certain classes of people (ruled by the church) were targeted in times of hard ship. The church overused their powers to rule the country, bringing about the theme of religious oppression.

            As previously stated, this piece by Voltaire fits very nicely into the neoclassical era. The neoclassical era was known for both its satire writing as well as its rational thinkers. Voltaire combines both of these into Candide by writing a satire piece mocking the rational and optimistic thinkers of his time. Overall, Candide ties together many themes while effectively conveying Voltaire’s thoughts. It will forever be an important piece from the neoclassical era that can be related to many other literary pieces, even way after Voltaire’s time.