Candide The Satire of an Age.

A detailed Summary of Candide The Satire of an Age.


Candide on the surface is a witty, gelastic story. However when inspected deeper it is a philippic writing against people of an uneducated status. Candid is an archetype of these idiocracies, for he lacks reason and has optimism that is truely irking, believing that this is the best of all possible worlds. Thus Voltaire uses a witty, bantering tale on the surface, but in depth a cruel bombast against the ignoramuses of his times.

Candide has reason only in the form of a companion upon which he relies for advice. His companion is of course Dr. Pangloss. He consistently dribbles to Dr. Pangloss about what should be done. At last to the happiness of readers Pangloss is killed by being hanged. But this means that Candide's reason is also dead! No problem he just goes finds a new companion, "Lacking him [Pangloss], let's consult the old woman" (37). He soon loses her, gains another, looses him, and then gains another. Thus we see that Candide can on


He also bombasts the philosophy that states all actions are a part of an illustrious, benevolent cosmic plan. It is Pangloss who says "it is impossible to for things to be where they are. For all is well" (30). What Pangloss is saying that a thing greater then man (God) has everything laid out, and everything "is for the best" (30). It is here that Voltaire's attack on Christianity begins. He bombasts them for believing that all the world is a stage, and that God has written the script. This idea of predestination is the antithesis of the Enlightenment period, and thus it is only natural that Voltaire, a typical Enlightenment writer, harangue these notions by means of a person who believes in this until his death- Candide.

Candide is consistently being brainwashed by reason (Pangloss) saying that we live in "the best of Yet it quite obviously that he does not. For how can there be, in the best of all worlds, war, slavery and many more abomin

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Approximate Word count = 641
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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