Voltaire's Candide is a driving commentary on the human condition - its natural state of frailty, the result of which is compilation of brittle social, political and personal frameworks. The author, whose comment that "disbelief is the basis of wisdom" (Weber's lecture), blemishes the dominating ideal of the 18th Century - optimism, defying it in the most tragic of forms - human suffering. Voltaire's witticisms, irony and sarcasm reverse the prevailing thought of his day, that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" and on the contrary, through accounts of the ludicrous tortures and tragedies of his characters - Candide, Cunegonde, Dr. Pangloss, the old woman, Martin, the Baron (and many others), conveys the antithesis - "that all goes wrong with
The recurring theme of "trust in Providence" (p. 74) throughout the story, loudly whispers Voltaire's opposition to the Church, the priests, and religious dogmas. With undying faith in destiny and God's mercy, Candide and his company traveled throughout the world, paradoxically encountering themselves in constant, often near-death troubles. Furthermore, the rebellion against the ridicule of religious standards is evident in Candide and Baron's accounts of swimming together with a Mussulman in the river and their severe lashes punishment. "I did not know that it was a capital offense for a Christian to be found naked with a young Mussulman" (p. 134). Such pointless religious ideology is an excellent depiction of Votaire's anger with the Church's authority.
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