An Analysis of Candide, and Voltaire's Controversial Convictions

The world was a tumultuous place in the 1700's. Wars were fought, corruption was rampant, and a wave of philosophers were beginning to question the social order in a barrage of thought which we now know as the Enlightenment. Most men, while picking out their own convictions from the torrent of ideas swirling about in such a world, might have quietly reflected and been satisfied. In this way, Voltaire was extraordinary: he made his own convictions, and then laid them out for the whole world to evaluate in what would become, arguably, the finest satires of all time. One of the most poignant of these is Candide, the sharply witty story of a naïve young man whose misadventures lead him from a dull life of study to one of adventure, misery, and evanescent fortune. Rejecting both the high-minded doctrines of the Enlightenment movement, and the stagnant opinions of traditional society, Voltaire's ideas represented a unique and volatile hybrid, which garnered him generous praise and plenty of time in exile. Voltaire uses Candide as a chronicle of his personal criticisms of philosophy, religion, and even the Enlightenment movement.