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Candide
Frontispiece of the 1759 edition published by Sirène in Paris
This is the frontispiece of the 1759 edition published by Sirène in Paris. It reads, "Candide, or Optimism. Translated from the German of Dr. Ralph."[1]
AuthorVoltaire
Original titleCandide, ou l'Optimisme
IllustratorJean-Michel Moreau le Jeune
LanguageFrench
GenreConte philosophique; satire; picaresque novel; bildungsroman
Publisher1759: Cramer, Marc-Michel Rey, Jean Nourse, Lambert, and others
Publication date
January 1759[2][3]
Publication place France
Media typePrint

Candide, ou l'Optimisme (1759) is a French satire by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, the title of which has been translated into English as Candide: Or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: Or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: Or, Optimism (1947).[4] This novella tells the tale of a young man, Candide (from the Latin candidus[5]), who has been indoctrinated with Leibnizian Optimism but becomes disillusioned after witnessing and experiencing great hardships. With a plot similar to that of a more serious bildungsroman or picaresque novel, Candide parodies many adventure and romance clichés. Voltaire describes horrible plights of his characters in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Through the allegory of Candide, Voltaire ridicules religion and theologians, governments and armies, philosophies and philosophers; most conspicuously, he rails against Leibniz and his Optimism.[6]

Candide, Voltaire's magnum opus,[6] is a literary work which, for its biting wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, has often been mimicked by later authors and adapted for the stage (most notable is Leonard Bernstein's 1956 comic operetta).[7] For these qualities, Candide is listed as part of the Western canon and taught more than any other work of French literature.[8] As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because of the contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and academic hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté.[6]

Historical and literary background

A number of deadly historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide. Not least among these are the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; both are referred to frequently in the book and cited by analysts as the reasons for its composition.[9] Apart from events, contemporaneous stereotypes of the German personality may have been a source of inspiration for the text; they were for Simplicius Simplicissimus, the 1669 novel by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen.[10] These stereotypes, according to Voltaire biographer Alfred Owen Aldridge, include "extreme credulousness or sentimental simplicity", two of Candide's defining qualities.[10]

This 1755 copper engraving shows the ruins of Lisbon in flames and a tsunami overwhelming the ships in the harbor.

Among the literary works written before Candide, one finds many satirical and parodic precursors, but Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) is Candide's closest literary relative. This satire tells the story of "a gullible ingenue", Gulliver, who, like Candide, travels to several "remote nations" and is hardened by the many misfortunes which befall him. As evidenced by similarities between the two books, Voltaire likely drew upon Gulliver's Travels for inspiration while writing Candide.[11]

A number of other textual sources for Candide have been identified. Ira Wade, a noted expert on Voltaire and Candide, speculates that Voltaire's primary source for information on the Lisbon earthquake was the 1755 work Relation historique du Tremblement de Terre survenu à Lisbonne by Ange Goudar.[12] Candide's parody of the bildungsroman is most likely based on François Fénelon's The Adventures of Telemachus.[10] Another probable source of inspiration for Candide is Cosmopolite (1753) by Fougeret de Monbron:[13] Monbron's protagonist undergoes a disillusioning series of travels, as does Candide.[14]

Voltaire and the Lisbon Earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, tsunami and resulting fires of All Saints' Day had a strong influence on theologians of the day—and on Voltaire, who was himself disillusioned by them. The earthquake had an especially large effect on the contemporary doctrine of Optimism, a philosophical system which implies that such events should not occur. Philosophers had trouble fitting the horrors of this earthquake into the Optimist worldview.

After the earthquake, Voltaire rejected Leibnizian Optimism, believing that if this were the best possible world, it should surely be better than it is. In both Candide and Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne ("Poem on the Lisbon Disaster"), Voltaire attacks this Optimist belief.[15] He makes use of the Lisbon Earthquake in both Candide and his Poème to argue this point, sarcastically describing the catastrophe as one of the most horrible disasters "in the best of all possible worlds".[12]

Creation

File:358518.jpg
A painting of Voltaire (c. 1718) by Nicolas de Largillière

Writing

Voltaire (1694–1778), born François Marie Arouet, was by the time of the Lisbon Eartquake already a well-established author, known for his satirical wit. In 1746 he had been made a member of the Académie Français. He was a deist, a strong proponent of religious freedom, and a critic of what he saw to be tyrranical governments. Candide was part of his large, diverse body of philosophical, political and artistic works expressing these views.[16][17]

It is unknown exactly when Voltaire wrote Candide,[18] but scholars estimate that it was primarily composed in late 1758 and begun as early as 1757:[19] Voltaire is believed to have written a portion of it while at his house in Ferney and also while visiting Charles-Théodore, the Elector-Palatinate at Schwetzingen, for three weeks in the summer of 1758. Despite solid evidence for these claims, a popular legend persists that Voltaire wrote Candide in the span of three days. This idea is probably based on a misreading of the 1885 work La Vie intime de Voltaire aux Délices et à Ferney by Lucien Perey (real name: Clara Adèle Luce Herpin) and Gaston Maugras.[20][21] In fact, the evidence indicates strongly that Voltaire did not rush nor improvise Candide, but worked on it for a significant period of time, even a whole year. Candide is mature and well-developed, not impromptu, as the choppy plot and the aforementioned myth suggest.[22]

Candide underwent one major revision after its initial publication, in addition to some minor ones. In 1761, a version of Candide was published which included, along with many small tweaks, a major addition by Voltaire to the twenty-second chapter, a section that had been thought weak by the Duke of Vallière.[23] The English title of this edition was Candide, or Optimism. Translated from the German of Dr. Ralph. With the additions found in the Doctor's pocket when he died at Minden, in the Year of Grace 1759.[24] The last edition of Candide authorized by Voltaire was the one included in Cramer's 1775 compilation, l'éditions encadrées, meaning "supervised editions".[25][26]

Publication:1759

Voltaire published Candide simultaneously in five countries no later than 15 January 1759, though the exact date is uncertain.[3][27] Furthermore, seventeen versions of Candide from 1759 are known today, and there has been great controversy over which is the earliest.[3] More publications occurred in other languages: Candide was translated once into Italian and thrice into English that same year.[2]

The complicated science of calculating the relative publication dates of all of the versions of Candide is described at length in Wade's article "The First Edition of Candide: A Problem of Identification". The publication process was extremely secretive, likely the "most clandestine work of the century", because of its obviously illicit and irreverent content.[28] The greatest number of copies of Candide were published concurrently in Geneva by Cramer, in Amsterdam by Marc-Michel Rey, in London by Jean Nourse, and in Paris by Lambert.[28]

Manuscripts

1803 illustration of Candide shooting the two monkeys who are chasing their lovers

There is only one extant manuscript of Candide that was written before the work's 1759 publication. In 1956, Wade discovered this, since named the La Vallière Manuscript, which is believed to have been sent, chapter by chapter, by Voltaire himself to the Duke and Duchess La Vallière in the autumn of 1758.[3] The manuscript was sold to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in the late 1700s, where it remained undiscovered for almost 200 years.[29] The La Vallière Manuscript, the most original and authentic of all surviving copies of Candide, was likely dictated by Voltaire to his secretary, Wagnière, then edited directly.[30][31]

In addition to this manuscript, there is believed to have been another, one copied by Wagnière for the Elector Charles-Théodore, who hosted Voltaire during the summer of 1758. The existence of this copy was first postulated by Norman L. Torrey in 1929.[32][31]

Illustrations

Voltaire strongly opposed the inclusion of illustrations in his works, as he stated in a 1778 letter to Charles Joseph Panckoucke:

"Je crois que des Estampes seraient fort inutiles. Ces colifichets n’ont jamais été admis dans les éditions de Cicéron, de Virgile et d’Horace."

"I believe that these illustrations will prove quite useless. These baubles have never been allowed in the works of Cicero, Virgil and Horace."[33]

Despite this protest, two sets of illustrations for Candide were produced by French artist Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune. The first version was done, at Moreau's own expense, in 1787 and included in Kehl's publication of that year, Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire.[34] Four images were drawn by Moreau for this edition; these were engraved by Pierre-Charles Baquoy.[35] The second version, in 1803, consisted of seven drawings by Moreau; these were transposed by multiple engravers.[36] Twentieth-century modern artist Paul Klee relates it was while reading Candide that he discovered his own artistic style. Klee illustrated the work, and his drawings were published in a 1920 version edited by Kurt Wolff.[37]

Synopsis

Candide contains thirty chapters which may be grouped together by two main schemes. Some readers divide the book into two parts separated by the tale of the protagonist's hiatus in El Dorado: the first part constituting the rising action, and the last being the resolution. This view is supported by the strong theme of travel and quest, reminiscent of adventure and picaresque novels.[38] As noted by Ervin Beck (professor emeritus of English), and Elizabeth Cooney Leister, (author of Voltaire's Candide: Barron's Book Notes), the thirty chapters may also be grouped into three parts, each comprising ten chapters and defined by its setting: I–X are in Europe, XI–XX are in the Americas, and XXI–XXX are in Europe and the Ottoman Empire.[39][40] This is the scheme used below because it is easier to reference (having more divisions). The version of Candide summarised below includes Voltaire's additions of 1761 (see also: Writing).

Chapters I–X

The tale of Candide begins in the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia, home to the Baron's daughter, Lady Cunégonde; bastard nephew Candide; a tutor, Pangloss; a chambermaid, Paquette; and the rest of the Baron's family. The protagonist, Candide, is drawn romantically to Cunégonde. He is a child of "the most unaffected simplicity", whose face is "the index of his mind".[10]

Dr. Pangloss, professor of "métaphysico-théologo-cosmolonigologie" and self-proclaimed Optimist, may have been based on Louisa Dorothea von Meiningen, duchess of Saxe-Gotha, a Leibnizian with whom Voltaire corresponded regularly.[41] The name "Pangloss" is derived from the Greek words πᾶν (all) and γλῶσσα (tongue), implying the emptiness of this character's statements.[42] Pangloss teaches his pupils that they live in the "best of all possible worlds" ("ce meilleur des mondes possibles") and that "all is for the best" ("tout est au mieux"). Candide believes him, for he thinks himself lucky.

All is well, until Cunégonde accidentally sees Pangloss sexually engaged with Paquette in some bushes. Encouraged by this show of affection, Cunégonde drops her handkerchief next to Candide which entices him to kiss her. For this infraction, Candide is evicted from the castle, at which point he is captured by Bulgar recruiters and coerced into military service. For attempted desertion, Candide is flogged and nearly executed, before being forced to engage in a large battle between the Bulgars and the Abares. Candide successfully escapes the army and makes his way to Holland where he is given aid by Jacques, an Anabaptist, who strengthens Candide's faith in Optimism. Soon after, Candide finds his master Pangloss, now a beggar with syphilis.

Pangloss reveals he was infected with this disease by Paquette and shocks Candide by relating how Castle Thunder-ten-Tronckh was destroyed by Bulgars; Cunégonde and her whole family were killed. Pangloss is cured of his illness by Jacques, losing one eye and one ear in the process, then the three sail to Lisbon. However, just at the end of their journey, they are overtaken by a vicious storm which destroys the boat. The only survivors are Pangloss, Candide, and a "brutish sailor"[43] (Fr. matelot furieux). Shortly after these three set foot in Lisbon, the city is hit by an earthquake, tsunami and fire which kill tens of thousands.

In the wake of the destruction, Candide and Pangloss are arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition for their uncommon philosophy, and set to be punished in an "auto-da-fé," a ceremony designed to eliminate heretics, appease God and prevent another disaster. Candide is flogged and sees Pangloss hanged, but another earthquake follows. Candide is then approached by an "old woman"[44] (Fr. la vieille) who asks him to follow her.

The old woman takes Candide to a house where Lady Cunégonde waits, alive, to relate her story: after Bulgars raided the baron's castle, killed her family, and attacked her, Cunégonde was rescued by a captain who, in turn, sold her to a Jewish merchant and banker, Don Issachar. When Candide finds Cunégonde, her ownership is shared by this Don Issachar and a Grand Inquisitor, each possessing the girl on alternate days of the week. Having heard this story, Candide kills both the Jew and the Inquisitor, then escapes with Cunégonde and the old woman to Cadiz.[45]

1787 illustration of Candide and Cacambo meeting a maimed slave of the sugar mill near Surinam

Chapters X–XX

The trio embarks for the port at Buenos Aires. While on the boat, the old woman claims that compared to her, the other two know nothing of suffering, and when Cunégonde replies by detailing the list of horrors she has had to endure, the old woman begins her own story of how she came to be a servant of the Don Issachar.[45] In Buenos Aires, Govenor Don Fernando de Ibaraa, y Figueora, y Mascarenes, y Lampurdos, y Suza, asks to marry Cunégonde. Just then, an alcaide arrives in Buenos Ares pursuing Candide for killing the Grand Inquisitor.

Candide escapes to Paraguay by following the advice of his practical manservant, heretofore unmentioned, named Cacambo (from the Spanish word "caca"[46]). At a border post on the way, Cacambo and Candide speak to the commandant, who turns out to be Cunégonde's brother (who is not named). This brother explains how he was saved by Jesuits and came to be there.[45] The character of this brother is likely based on Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, with whom Voltaire corresponded.[47]

When Candide proclaims he intends to marry Cunégonde, the brother is enraged and strikes Candide with the flat of his sword. Candide kills his attacker, steals his robe and flees with Cacambo. In their flight, Candide and Cacambo come across two naked women being chased and bitten by a pair of monkeys. Candide, seeking to protect the women, shoots and kills the monkeys, but is informed by Cacambo that the monkeys and women were probably lovers.

Cacambo and Candide are captured by Oreillons, the fictional inhabitants of the area. Mistaking Candide for a Jesuit by his robes, the Oreillons prepare to cook Candide and Cacambo; however, Cacambo convinces the Oreillons that Candide killed a Jesuit to procure the robe. Cacambo and Candide are released and travel for a month on foot and then down a river by canoe, living on fruits and berries.

Candide and Cacambo wander into El Dorado, a geographically isolated utopia where the streets are covered with precious stones, there exist no priests, and all of the king's jokes are funny.[48] Candide and Cacambo stay a month in El Dorado, but Candide is still in pain without Cunégonde, and expresses to the king his wish to leave. The king points out that this is a foolish idea, but generously helps them do so. The pair continue their journey, now accompanied by one hundred red pack sheep carrying provisions and incredible sums of money.

The sheep die, a few at a time, until only two animals are left. Candide and Cacambo reach Surinam, where they split up: Cacambo goes to Buenos Aires to retrieve Lady Cunégonde, and Candide travels to Venice to wait for his arrival. Candide's remaining sheep are stolen, and Candide is fined heavily by a Dutch magistrate for petulance over the theft. Candide finds a ship to take him to Bordeaux and despairingly hires a desperate companion with whom to travel.

Chapters XX–XXX

This companion, Martin, discusses Pangloss's philosophy with Candide and reveals that he himself is a Manichean scholar from Amsterdam. Martin represents a chief opponent of Leibniz, the pessimist Pierre Bayle.[49] While on the ship to France, Candide and Martin witness the destruction of the ship which carried the stolen red sheep. Fortunately, Candide is able to recover one sheep from the sinking vessel. For the remainder of the voyage, Martin and Candide argue about philosophy. After a stay in Paris, Candide and Martin flee for England and then Venice.

There, Candide and Martin meet Paquette, the chambermaid who infected Pangloss with his syphilis. She is now a prostitute, and she is spending her time with a monk, Brother Giroflée. Though both appear happy on the surface, they reveal their despair: Paquette has led a miserable existence as a sexual object, and the monk detests the religious order in which he was indoctrinated.

Candide and Martin visit the wealthy nobleman Signor Pococurante (meaning "taking little care" in Italian) in his palace. This man is surrounded by beautiful girls, wonderful paintings, books and music which greatly impress Candide. Pococurante, however, is unimpressed with it all: he finds no pleasure in anything, for he sees only faults.

Later, while Candide and Martin are eating supper, Cacambo returns to Candide whom he informs that Cunégonde is in Constantinople, and that she has been enslaved. In the twenty-seventh chapter, Candide, Martin and Cacambo are united and board a ship to Constantinople, on which Cacambo relates Cunégonde's status: she is washing dishes for a prince of Transylvania, and she has become ugly. On the way to rescue her, Candide again finds Pangloss and Lady Cunégonde's brother rowing the galley. Candide buys their freedom and further passage at steep prices.[45]

The baron and Pangloss relate their survival stories which, despite their horrors, have not shaken Pangloss's Optimism. According to the philosopher, "I still hold to my original opinions, because, after all, I'm a philosopher, and it wouldn't be proper for me to recant, since Leibniz cannot be wrong, and since preestablished harmony is the most beautiful thing in the world, along with the plenum and subtle matter."[50] The travelers arrive in Transylvania where they rejoin Cunégonde and the "old woman", the former of whom has become hideously ugly; Candide nevertheless buys their freedom and marries Cunégonde to spite her brother. Paquette and Brother Giroflée, too, are reconciled with Candide on a farm which he just bought, his only property left.

One day, the protagonists seek out a dervish known as a great philosopher of the land. Pangloss asks why Man is made to suffer so, and what they all ought to do. The dervish responds by asking why Pangloss is concerned about the existence of evil and good. Pangloss is clueless and cannot grasp the dervish's point. The dervish continues, describing human beings as mice on a ship sent by a king to Egypt; their comfort does not matter to the king. Pangloss is still oblivious, and the dervish responds by slamming his door on the group. Returning to their farm, Candide, Pangloss and Martin meet a Turk whose philosophy is to devote his life only to simple work and not concern himself to external affairs. He and his four children work a small farm to keep "free of three great evils: boredom, vice and necessity". Struck by this statement, Candide concludes that all he knows is that "we must cultivate our garden." Candide, Pangloss, Martin, Cunégonde, Paquette, the old woman and Brother Giroflée all set to work (on this "louable dessein", "commendable plan", as the narrator calls it), each to one specific task. Candide ignores Pangloss's insistence that all turned out for the best by necessity, and he is resolved only that "we must cultivate our garden".[51]

Style and themes

As Voltaire himself described it, the purpose of Candide was to "bring amusement to a small number of men of wit".[10] The author achieves this goal, according to literary analysts, by combining his sharp wit with a fun parody of the classic adventure-romance plot. As the initially naïve protagonist eventually comes to a mature conclusion – however noncommittal – the novella is bildungsroman, that is, a parody of one.[10] Candide is confronted with horrible events described in painstaking detail so often that it becomes humorous. Frances K. Barasch, literary analyst, described Voltaire's matter-of-fact narrative as treating topics such as mass death "as coolly as a weather report". The fast-paced and improbable plot – in which characters repeatedly narrowly escape death, for instance – allows for compounding tragedies to befall the same characters over and over again.[52] In the end, Candide is primarily, as described by Voltaire's biographer Ian Davidson, "short, light, rapid and humorous".[6][53]

Satire

The main method of Candide's satire is to ironically contrast great tragedy and comedy by juxtaposing them.[6] The book does not invent or exaggerate evils of the world; it only displays real ones starkly, allowing Voltaire to simplify subtle philosophies and cultural traditions, highlighting their flaws.[52] Thus Candide derides Optimism, for instance, with a deluge of horrible, historical (or at least plausible) events with no apparent redeeming qualities.[10][54]

A simple example of the satire of Candide is seen in the treatment of the historical event witnessed by Candide and Martin in Portsmouth harbour. There, the duo spy an admiral, John Byng, being executed for failing to properly engage a French fleet. The admiral is blindfolded and shot in the head on the deck of his own boat, merely "to encourage the others." This depiction of military punishment trivialises Byng's death. The dry, pithy explanation "to encourage the others" thus satirises a serious historical event in characteristicly Voltarian fashion.

Voltaire depicts the worst of the world and his pathetic hero's desperate effort to fit it into his Optimistic outlook. Much of the work is a discussion of various forms of worldy evil. Rarely does Voltaire diverge from this technique, but there is at least one notable exception: his description of El Dorado, a fantastic village in which the inhabitants are simply rational, and their society is just and reasonable. The positivity of El Dorado may be contrasted with the pessimistic attitude of the majority of the book.[10][54]

Picaresque

Another element of the satire focuses on what William F. Bottiglia, author of many published works on Candide, calls the "sentimental foibles of the age" and Voltaire's attack on them.[55] Flaws in European culture are highlighted as Candide parodies adventure and romance clichés, mimicking the style of a picaresque novel.[55] A number of archetypal characters thus have recognizable manifestations in Voltaire's work: Candide is the drifting rogue of low social class; Cunégonde is the sex interest; Pangloss is the knowledgeable mentor; Cacambo is the skillful valet.[10] The joke is that Candide is no rogue, Cunégonde becomes ugly and Pangloss is painted to be a fool: the characters of Candide are unrealistic, two-dimensional, mechanical, and even marionette-like; they are simplistic and stereotypical.[56][57]

The Garden Motif

Gardens are thought by many critics to play a critical symbolic role in Candide. The first location commonly identified as a garden is the castle of the Baron, from which Candide and Cunégonde are evicted much in the same fashion as Adam and Eve are in Genesis. Cyclically, the main characters of Candide conclude the novel in a garden of their own making, one which might represent celestial paradise. The third most prominent "garden" is El Dorado, which may be symbolically a false Eden.[58] Other possible symbolic gardens include the Jesuit pavilion, the garden of Pococurante, Cacambo's garden, and the Turk's garden.

These gardens are likely references to the Garden of Eden, but it has also been proposed (by Bottiglia, for example) that the gardens refer to the Encyclopédie, and that Candide's conclusion to cultivate his garden symbolizes Voltaire's great support for this endeavour.[59] Another possibility is that Candide's resolution suggests engaging in only such necessary occupations as feeding oneself. There was also meaning for the author personally: Voltaire himself was a gardener at his estates in Les Délices and Ferney.[60][61]

Philosophy

Optimism

Candide satirizes various philosophical and religious theories that Voltaire had previously criticized. Primary among these is Leibnizian Optimism (sometimes called "Panglossianism" after its fictional proponent), which Voltaire ridicules with the description of seemingly endless calamity.[6] In this process, Voltaire demonstrates a variety of irredeemable evils in the world, leading many critics to contend that Voltaire's treatment of evil – specifically the theological problem of its existence – is the main focus of the work.[62] Heavily referenced in the text are the Lisbon earthquake, disease, and the sinking of ships in storms. Also, war, thievery, and murder – evils of human design – are explored as extensively in Candide as environmental ills. Bottiglia notes Voltaire is "comprehensive" in his enumeration of the world's evils. He is unrelenting in attacking Optimism.[63]

Fundamental to Voltaire's attack is Candide's tutor Pangloss, a self-proclaimed follower of Leibniz and a teacher of his doctrine. Ridicule of Pangloss's theories thus ridicules Leibniz himself, and Pangloss's reasoning is silly at best. For example, Pangloss's first teachings of the narrative absurdly mix up cause and effect:

Il est démontré, disait-il, que les choses ne peuvent être autrement; car tout étant fait pour une fin, tout est nécessairement pour la meilleure fin. Remarquez bien que les nez ont été faits pour porter des lunettes; aussi avons-nous des lunettes.

"It is demonstrable," said he, "that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles."[64]

Following such flawed reasoning even more doggedly than Candide, Pangloss defends Optimism. Whatever their horrendous fortune, Pangloss reiterates "Tout est pour le mieux" and proceeds to "justify" the evil event's occurrence. A characteristic example of such theodicy is found in Pangloss's explanation of why it is good that syphilis exists:

...c'était une chose indispensable dans le meilleur des mondes, un ingrédient nécessaire; car si Colomb n'avait pas attrapé dans une île de l'Amérique cette maladie qui empoisonne la source de la génération, qui souvent même empêche la génération, et qui est évidemment l'opposé du grand but de la nature, nous n'aurions ni le chocolat ni la cochenille;

...it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus had not caught in an island in America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had neither chocolate nor cochineal.[65]

Candide, the impressionable and incompetent student of Pangloss, often tries to justify evil, fails, invokes his mentor and eventually despairs. It is by these failures that Candide is painfully cured (as Voltaire would see it) of his Optimism.

Interestingly, this critique of Voltaire's seems to be directed almost exclusively at Leibniz and his sect of Optimism. Candide does not ridicule Voltaire's contemporary Alexander Pope, a later Optimist of slightly different convictions. Indeed, Candide does not discuss Pope's Optimistic principle that "all is right", but Leibniz's that states, "this is the best of all possible worlds". However subtle the difference between the two, Candide is unambiguous as to which is its subject. Some critics conjecture that Voltaire meant to spare Pope this ridicule out of respect, although Voltaire's Poème may have been written for Pope. This work is similar to Candide in subject matter, but very different to it in style: the Poème embodies a more serious philosophical argument than Candide.[10]

Conclusion

The conclusion of the novella, in which Candide finally dismisses his tutor's Optimism, leaves unresolved what philosophy the protagonist is to accept in its stead. This element of Candide has been written about voluminously, perhaps above all others. The conclusion is enigmatic and its analysis is contentious.[66]

Voltaire's estate at Ferney

Voltaire develops no formal, systematic philosophy for the characters to adopt.[67] Indeed, the conclusion of the novel may be thought of not as a philosophical alternative to Optimism, but as a prescribed practical outlook (though what it prescribes is in dispute). A number of critics believe that Martin is treated sympathetically, and that his character holds Voltaire's ideal philosophy—pessimism. Others disagree, citing Voltaire's negative descriptions of Martin's principles and the conclusion of the work in which Martin plays little part.[68]

Another primary Candide debate concerns the degree to which Voltaire was advocating a pessimistic philosophy, by which Candide and his companions give up hope for a better world, as compared to a melioristic philosophy which resigns the travelers to commit themselves to improving the world through metaphorical gardening. There is debate as to whether Voltaire was prescribing passive retreat from society, or active industrious contribution to it.[69]

Inside/outside controversy

Separate from the debate about the text's conclusion is the "Inside/outside" controversy. This argument centers on the matter of whether or not Voltaire was actually prescribing anything. Roy Wolper, professor emeritus of English, argues in a revolutionary 1969 paper that Candide does not necessarily speak for its author; that the work should be viewed as a narrative independent of Voltaire's history; and that its message is entirely (or mostly) inside it. This point of view, the "inside", specifically rejects attempts to find Voltaire's "voice" in the many characters of Candide and his other works. Indeed, writers have seen Voltaire as speaking through at least Candide, Martin and the Turk. Wolper argues that Candide should be read with a minimum of speculation as to its meaning in Voltaire's personal life. His article ushered in a new era of Voltaire studies, causing many scholars to look at the novel differently.[70][71]

Critics such as Lester Crocker, Henry Stavan, and Vivienne Mylne find too many similarities between Candide's point of view and that of Voltaire to accept the "inside" view; they support the "outside" interpretation. They believe that final resolve of Candide (the character) is the same as Voltaire's, and see a strong connection between the development of the protagonist and his author.[72] Some for the opposing "outside" view also believe that the isolationist philosophy of the Old Turk closely mirrors that of Voltaire. Others see a strong parallel between Candide's gardening at the conclusion and the gardening of the author.[73] Martine Darmon Meyer argues that the "inside" view fails to see the satirical work in context, and that denying that Candide is primarily a mockery of Optimism (a matter of historical context) is a "very basic betrayal of the text".[74][75]

Reception and legacy

"De roman, Voltaire en a fait un, lequel est le résumé de toutes ses œuvres... Toute son intelligence était une machine de guerre. Et ce qui me le fait chérir, c'est le dégoût que m'inspirent les voltairiens, des gens qui rient sur les grandes choses! Est-ce qu'il riait, lui? Il grinçait..."

Flaubert, Correspondance, éd. Conard, II, 348; III, 219[76]

Though Voltaire did not openly admit to having written the controversial Candide until 1768 (until then he signed with a pseudonym: "Monsieur le docteur Ralph", or "Doctor Ralph"[77]), his authorship of the work was hardly disputed. Immediately after publication, the work and its author were denounced by both secular and religious authorities, because the book openly derides government and church alike.[78] Nevertheless, soon after its publication, its irreverent prose was being quoted. "Let us eat a Jesuit", for instance, became a popular phrase for its reference to a humourous passage in Candide.[79] By the end of February 1759, The Great Council of Geneva and the administrators of Paris had banned Candide.[3] Candide nevertheless succeeded in selling 20,000–30,000 copies by the end of the year in over twenty editions, making it a best seller. The Duke de La Vallière speculated near the end of January 1759 that Candide might have been the fastest-selling book ever.[80] In 1762, Candide was listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Catholic Church's list of prohibited books.[3]

Candide is the most widely read of Voltaire's many works,[81] and it is considered one of the great achievements of Western literature.[82] However, Candide is not necessarily considered a true "classic". According to Bottiglia, "The physical size of Candide, as well as Voltaire's attitude toward his fiction, precludes the achievement of artistic dimension through plenitude, autonomous '3D' vitality, emotional resonance, or poetic exaltation. Candide, then, cannot in quantity of quality, measure up to the supreme classics." Bottiglia instead calls it a miniature classic, though others are more forgiving of its size.[83] As the only work of Voltaire which has remained popular up to the present day,[84] Candide is listed in The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. It has been named one of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and one of the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written. It is included in the Encyclopædia Britannica collection Great Books of the Western World.[85]

Candide has had a significant influence on modern writers of black humor such as Céline, Joseph Heller, John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, and Terry Southern. Its parody and picaresque methods have become favorites of black humorists.[86] Candide also inspired artists and musicians over the centuries.

Adaptations and derivative works

Seconde partie (Part two)

In 1760, one year after Voltaire published Candide, a sequel was published with the name Candide, ou l'optimisme, seconde partie.[87] This work is attributed both to Thorel de Campigneulles, a writer unknown today, and Henri Joseph Du Laurens, who is suspected of having habitually plagiarised Voltaire.[88] The story continues in this sequel with Candide having new adventures in the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and Denmark. Part II has potential use in studies of the popular and literary receptions of Candide, but is almost certainly apocryphal.[87]

Leonard Bernstein in 1955

Bernstein's operetta

Main article: Candide (operetta)

Candide the operetta was originally conceived by playwright Lillian Hellman, as a play with incidental music. Leonard Bernstein, the American composer and conductor who wrote the music was so excited about the project that he convinced Hellman to do it as a "comic operetta".[89] Many lyricists worked on the show, including James Agee, Dorothy Parker, John Latouche, Richard Wilbur, Leonard and Felicia Bernstein, and Hellman. Hershy Kay orchestrated all the pieces except the overture, which Bernstein did himself.[90]

Candide first opened on Broadway as a musical on December 1, 1956. The premiere production was directed by Tyrone Guthrie and conducted by Samuel Krachmalnick.[90] While this production was a box office flop, the music was highly praised, and an original cast album was made. This album gradually became a cult hit, but Hellman's libretto was criticized as being too serious an adaptation of Voltaire's novel.[91] Candide would succeed seventeen years later with a new libretto by Hugh Wheeler.

Others

Candido ovvero un sogno fatto in Sicilia (1977) or simply Candido is a book by Leonardo Sciascia. It was least partly based on Voltaire's Candide, though the actual influence of Candide on Candido is, however, a hotly debated topic. A number of theories on the matter have been proposed. Proponents of one say that Candido is very similar to Candide, only with a happy ending; supporters of another claim that Voltaire provided Sciascia with only a starting point from which to work, that the two books are quite distinct.[92][93]

Nedim Gürsel wrote his 2001 novel Le voyage de Candide à Istanbul about a minor passage in Candide during which its protagonist meets Ahmed III, the deposed Turkish sultan. This chance meeting on a ship from Venice to Istanbul is the setting of Gürsel's book.[94]

In addition to the above, Candide was made into a number of minor films and theatrical adaptations throughout the 20th century. For a list of these, see Voltaire: Candide ou L'Optimisme et autres contes (1989) with preface and commentaries by Pierre Malandain.[95]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Wootton (2000), p. 1
  2. ^ a b Davidson (2005), p. 52–53
  3. ^ a b c d e f Williams (1997), p. 1–3
  4. ^ Critical Survey of Short Fiction (2001)
  5. ^ Oxford Color (2004), p. 42
  6. ^ a b c d e f Davidson (2005), p. 54
  7. ^ Leister (1985), p. 120
  8. ^ Waldinger (1987), p. ix
  9. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 88
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Aldridge (1975), p. 251–254 Cite error: The named reference "aldridge251254" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ Havens (1973), p. 844–845
  12. ^ a b Wade (1959b), p. 88, 93 Cite error: The named reference "wade1959b93" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 296
  14. ^ Broome (1960), p. 510
  15. ^ Radner & Radner (1998), p. 669–686
  16. ^ Means (2006), p. 1–3
  17. ^ Gopnik (2005)
  18. ^ Wade (1959a), p. 65
  19. ^ Torrey (1929), p. 446
  20. ^ Wade (1956), p. 3–4
  21. ^ Havens (1932), p. 225
  22. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 145, 156
  23. ^ Wade (1957), p. 96
  24. ^ Voltaire [1759] (1959)
  25. ^ Taylor (1979), p. 207
  26. ^ Williams (1997), p. 97
  27. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 182
  28. ^ a b Wade (1959a), p. 63–88
  29. ^ Rouillard (1962)
  30. ^ Wade (1957), p. 94
  31. ^ a b Wade (1956), p. 3–4
  32. ^ Torrey (1929), p. 445–447
  33. ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 780
  34. ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 756
  35. ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 757
  36. ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 769
  37. ^ Waldinger (1987), p. 23
  38. ^ Williams (1997), p. 26–27
  39. ^ Beck (1999), p. 203
  40. ^ Leister (1985), p. 32–33
  41. ^ Dawson (1986), p. 95
  42. ^ Williams (1997), p. 25
  43. ^ Smollett (2008), Ch. 4
  44. ^ Smollett (2008), Ch. 10
  45. ^ a b c d Ayer (1986), p. 143–145
  46. ^ Beck (1999), p. 203–4.
  47. ^ Walsh (2001)
  48. ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 254
  49. ^ Wootton (2000), p. xvii
  50. ^ Voltaire [1759] (1959), p. 107–108
  51. ^ Voltaire [1759] (1959), p. 113
  52. ^ a b Starobinski (1976), p. 194 Cite error: The named reference "starobinski194" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  53. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 133
  54. ^ a b Barasch (1985), p. 3 Cite error: The named reference "barasch3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  55. ^ a b Bottiglia (1968), p. 89–92 Cite error: The named reference "bottiglia8992" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  56. ^ Wade (1959b), p. 303–305
  57. ^ Waldinger (1987), p. 20
  58. ^ Readings on Candide (2001), p. 92
  59. ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 727, 731
  60. ^ Davidson (2005), p. 55
  61. ^ Scherr (1993)
  62. ^ Readings on Candide (2001), p. 121
  63. ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 720
  64. ^ Smollett (2008), Ch. 1
  65. ^ Smollett (2008), Ch. 4
  66. ^ Leister (1985), p. 29
  67. ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 723–724
  68. ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 726
  69. ^ Leister (1985), p. 26
  70. ^ Braun, Sturzer, Meyer (1988)
  71. ^ Wolper (1969), p. 265–277
  72. ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 719–720
  73. ^ Braun, Sturzer & Meyer (1988), p. 569–571
  74. ^ Braun, Sturzer & Meyer (1988), p. 574
  75. ^ Crocker (1971)
  76. ^ Voltaire [1759] (1931), p. vii
  77. ^ Wade (1959b), p. xiii
  78. ^ Ayer (1986), p. 139
  79. ^ Mason (1992), ch. 3
  80. ^ Mason (1992), p. 14
  81. ^ Ayer (1986), p. 139
  82. ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 260
  83. ^ Bottiglia (1959), p. 247
  84. ^ Mason (1992), ch. 2
  85. ^ Britannica (2008)
  86. ^ Readings on Candide (2001), p. 112–113
  87. ^ a b Astbury (2005), p. 503 Cite error: The named reference "astbury503" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  88. ^ Clark (1993), p. VIII, IX
  89. ^ Peyser (1987), p. 247
  90. ^ a b Peyser (1987), p. 248
  91. ^ Peyser (1987), p. 249–251
  92. ^ Morrison (2002), p. 59
  93. ^ Burns (2000), p. 992
  94. ^ Hitchins (2002), p. 160
  95. ^ Malandain (1989)

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