Voltaire Essay, Research Paper

Candide by Voltaire

In Candide, Voltaire uses many writing techniques which can also be found in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Moliere. The use of the various styles and conventions shows that, despite the passage of centuries and the language differences, certain writing techniques will always be effective.

One common literary technique is the author’s use of one or more of his characters as his ‘voice’ to speak out the authors views on a certain subject. For instance, in Moliere’s Tartuffe, the author uses the character of Cleante to speak out against religious hypocrites (page 1419, lines 99-102):

Nothing that I more cherish and admire

Than honest zeal and true religious fire.

So there is nothing that I find more base

Than specious piety’s dishonest face.

In Candide, Voltaire makes use of several characters to voice his opinion mocking philosophical optimism. On page 1594, Candide is asking a gentleman about whether everything is for the best in the physical world as well as the moral universe. The man replies:

…I believe nothing of the sort. I find that everything goes wrong in our world; that nobody knows his place in society or his duty, what he’s doing or what he ought to be doing, and that outside of mealtimes…the rest of the day is spent in useless quarrels…-it’s one unending warfare.

By having this character take on such a pessimistic tone, he directly contradicts the obviously over-optimistic tone of Candide. In the conclusion (page 1617) an old turk instructs Candide in the futility of needless philosophizing by saying that “…the work keeps us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty.” In each of these examples, the character chosen by the author comes across as a reasonable and respectable person, making the author’s point of view seem just as reasonable and respectable.

Another technique Voltaire uses in Candide is that of taking actual people and events and weaving into his work of fiction. He often does this to mock or ridicule his political and literary adversaries, as shown in the conversation between the abbe’ and the Parisian supper guests (page 1593). The abbe’ mentions two critics who in Voltaires time have criticized his work. The critics are referred to as boring and impudent by the supper guests. In much the same manner Alighieri, in The Divine Comedy, has placed many of his enemies in various circles of Hell. In one instance (page 797), Dante himself pushes one of his political enemies back down into the swampy waters of the river Styx. In Gargantua and Pantagruel, Rabelais mentions a series of text books which are a part of the sort of educational curriculum that he is satirizing. He ridicules their use in that it takes Gargantua so long to learn simple tasks such as memorizing the alphabet. In each of these cases, the authors are able to speak out against people or practices in a way less confrontational than public speaking, as well as state their opinion in a form where they cannot be immediately contradicted.

Voltarie has occasion to use the comedic style of exaggeration in Candide, such as the Baron’s sister refusing to marry Candide’s father because he can only prove seventy-one quarterings of his family tree. Later, Candide is sentenced to receive a flogging for having deserted the Bulgar army. He must make thirty-six passes through the gauntlet of two thousand troops. More outlandish examples of exaggeration can be found in Gargantua and Pantagruel, such as the size of Gargantua’s mare (as big as six elephants) or the weight of his dumbbells (each one is eight hundred and five tons). Beside being entertaining to read, these exaggerations serve to point out the ridiculousness of an ideal by showing it in a preposterous light.

The format in which Candide is written closely resembles that of Cervante’s Don Quixote. In both books, the authors have chosen to name each chapter in a descriptive style; the name of the chapter tends to be a brief description of the action that is to take place within it. Compare chapter three of Don Quixote, “Of the amusing manner in (2) which Don Quixote had himself dubbed a knight.” with chapter three of Candide, “How Candide Escaped from the Bulgars, and What Became of Him”. Alighieri uses this method in The Divine Comedy as well, although on a much less descriptive level. Each of the cantos in his Divine Comedy has short three or four word descriptions of what happens in the canto. Many chapters in Candide end with some sort of lead-in to the next chapter, giving the book a certain feel similar to today’s television serials. This method is used in Don Quixote (chapter 8), but in a much more dramatic fashion. Just as Don Quixote is about to go into battle with the Biscayan, the action is abruptly halted by the narrator who describes how the ‘original’ author had not finished the story, but that a ’second’ author had picked up where the first left off and the action continues in the next chapter. While Cervantes may have been poking fun at this method by useing it in such an exaggerated manner, both he and Voltaire use it effectively to keep the reader’s attention and make him want to read on to find out what happens next.

In Candide, the story is written such that the main character and usually one or more companions have set out on a great journey filled with adventures. It is in this journey that Candide’s outlook on life is challenged; he is forced to become less optimistic about this world being the best of all possible worlds. Similarly, in The Divine Comedy, Dante goes on a journey as well; through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven with his guide Virgil. Through his travels he is shown the error of other men’s ways, serving to remind him of his own sins and to put him back on the right path in life. In Don Quixote, the would-be knight-errant sets out with his sidekick Sancho Panza on an adventure too; determined to right wrongs and save damsels in distress. Through the harsh realities of life he eventually comes out of his insanity and sees that his way of life in his modern world is outdated and obsolete. In placing their characters in these adventures the authors demonstrate that, through experience with real-world situations, these men (3) trying to live by some outdated or far-fetched ideal soon learn the error in their reasoning and adapt themselves to the author’s way of thinking.

From these examples it can be seen how Voltaire, a writer from the Enlightenment period, uses methods from writers centuries before him to effectively communicate his point to his contemporary readers. The times and issues may be quite different, but the writing style works just as well for him as it did all the way back to the twelfth century.