In this essay, therefore, I will discuss Candide and its impact on the Age of the Enlightenment. Candide quickly became a bestseller of the European book trade in the eighteenth century at least 20,000 copies of the book were sold within a month of its publication and, consequently, has become one of the key texts of the Enlightenment (Pearson 2008). © 2015 Wisehouse Classics (Ebook): 9789176371077Candide (1759), or Optimism, is a French satire written by Voltaire (1694 – 1778), a philosopher of the Enlightenment. The British poet and literary critic Martin Seymour-Smith listed Candide as one of the 100 most influential books ever written. Today, Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon it is among the most frequently taught works of French literature.

However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.Īs expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious Bildungs¬roman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, 'we must cultivate our garden', in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, 'all is for the best' in the 'best of all possible worlds.'Ĭandide is characterised by its sarcastic tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply 'optimism') by his mentor, Professor Pangloss.

'CANDIDE, OU L'OPTIMISME' is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment.

Candide and optimism