A Retrospective Comparison of Voltaire to Candide

Voltaire was a wise man, yet deeply pessimistic about the entire human race. At a time in history when every institution was in question -religion, philosophy, government, and education- Enlightenment thinkers recited their optimistic theories of reform to each dilemma. Meanwhile, Voltaire, who grew up in a Jesuit school, decided to pursue his literary career on the “coat tails” of his noble bosses in Paris. Here he required his reputation among his contemporaries for his satires and odes. 

In his comedic novel Candide, Voltaire’s underlying purpose was to spread his own ideas of Enlightenment, while distantly criticizing the French society. In a point in time when expressing your criticisms publicly could land you in the Bastille (a famous French prison) as Voltaire had been previously, for not so vague works, he masterfully conceals his gripes on religion, and government throughout the novelette. 

At his peak, about 1755, Voltaire philosophies led him to conclude that there would never be a perfect world, regardless of what he was leaded to believe. Expressing his pessimistic opinion through satire and wit, this influential writer used one of his many controversial writings, Candide, to indirectly express his views of Enlightenment and what he believed needed reform. 

Despite the stereotype of the Enlightenment as a movement of simplistic optimism, Voltaire was extremely negative. With his interests in the philosophical rationalism of the time, and in the study of the natural sciences, his first few works had gotten him either imprisoned or exiled. To condemn other thinkers of the era, Voltaire filled the pages with criticisms of eternal optimism and resilience.