by Voltaire
Table of Contents
FROM THE PAGES OF CANDIDE
Title Page
Copyright Page
VOLTAIRE
THE WORLD OF VOLTAIRE AND CANDIDE
Introduction
I - How Candide was brought up in a magnificent castle; and how he was driven ...
II - What happened to Candide among the Bulgarians
III - How Candide escaped from the Bulgarians, and what happened to him afterwards
IV - How Candide found his old Master Pangloss again, and what happened to them
V - A Tempest, a Shipwreck, an Earthquake, and what else happened to Dr. ...
VI - How the Portuguese made a superb auto-da-fé to prevent any future ...
VII - How the Old Woman took care of Candide, and how he found the Object of ...
VIII - The History of Cunégonde
IX - What happened to Cunégonde, Candide, the Grand Inquisitor, and the Jew
X - In what distress Candide, Cunégonde, and the Old Woman arrived at Cadiz; ...
XI - The History of the Old Woman
XII - The Adventures of the Old Woman (continued)
XIII - How Candide was obliged to leave the fair Cunégonde and the Old Woman
XIV - How Candide and Cacambo were received by the Jesuits in Paraguay
XV - How Candide killed the Brother of his dear Cunégonde
XVI - What happened to our two Travellers with two Girls, two Monkeys, and the ...
XVII - Candide and his Valet arrive in the Country of El Dorado. What they saw there
XVIII - What they saw in the Country of El Dorado
XIX - What happened to them at Surinam, and how Candide got to know Martin
XX - What happened to Candide and Martin at sea
XXI - Candide and Martin draw near to the coast of France. They reason with ...
XXII - What happened to Candide and Martin in France
XXIII - Candide and Martin touch upon the English Coast; what they see there
XXIV - About Pacquette and Friar Giroflée
XXV - Candide and Martin pay a visit to Signor Pococuranté, a noble Venetian
XXVI - Candide and Martin sup with six strangers; and who they were
XXVII - Candide’s Voyage to Constantinople
XXVIII - What happened to Candide, Cunégonde, Pangloss, Martin, etc.
XXIX - In what manner Candide found Miss Cunégonde and the Old Woman again
XXX - Conclusion
ENDNOTES
INSPIRED BY CANDIDE
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS
FOR FURTHER READING
FROM THE PAGES OF CANDIDE
In this best of all possible worlds the baron’s castle was the most
magnificent of all castles, and my lady the best of all possible
baronesses. (page 12)
Candide was struck with amazement and really could not conceive
how he came to be a hero. (page 15)
“If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?”
(page 29)
“A modest woman may be once violated, but her virtue is greatly
strengthened as a result.” (page 33)
“In the different countries in which it has been my fate to wander,
and the many inns where I have been a servant, I have observed a
prodigious number of people who held their existence in abhorrence,
and yet I never knew more than twelve who voluntarily put an
end to their misery.” (page 50)
“Never while I live shall I lose the remembrance of that horrible day
on which I saw my father and brother barbarously butchered before
my eyes, and my sister ravished.” (page 59)
“In this country it is necessary, now and then, to put one admiral to
death in order to inspire the others to fight.” (page 100)
“Our labour keeps us from three great evils—boredom, vice, and
want.” (page 129)
“We must cultivate our garden.” (page 130)
DR. PANGLOSS SURVEYS THE WORLD.
Published by Barnes & Noble Books
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Candide was first published in French in 1759.
Henry Morley’s translation was first published in 1922.
Published in 2003 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction,
Notes, Biography, Chronology, Inspired By, Comments & Questions,
and For Further Reading.
Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading
Copyright © 2003 by Gita May.
Note on Voltaire, The World of Voltaire and Candide,
Inspired by Candide, and Comments & Questions
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Candide
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eISBN : 97-8-141-14318-9
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10
VOLTAIRE
François-Marie Arouet (pen name “Voltaire”) was born in Paris on November 21, 1694, into a middle-class family. His formal education took place at the Jesuit College Louis-le-Grand, where he studied Latin and Greek literature and drama. Despite his father’s wish that he pursue a career in the law, he chose to devote himself to writing. After completing his education, François began moving in radical political circles and became infamous in Paris as a brilliant and sarcastic wit. For allegedly penning two libelous poems about the French regent, the duke of Orleans, he was imprisoned in the Bastille; during an eleven-month detention he completed his first dramatic tragedy, Oedipe, which was a critical success, and around this same time adopted the pen name “Voltaire. ”
When threatened with imprisonment for a second time, Voltaire instead chose exile to England, where he lived for two and a half years. He carefully studied English society and was particularly impressed by the constitutional monarchy and the religious freedom the English enjoyed, which he praised in Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733). When this work was published in French the following year as Lettres philosophiques, it was interpreted as critical of the French government and caused a great stir. Voltaire left Paris and spent the next fifteen years at the estate of his mistress, Madame du Châtelet. During this time, he published Elements de la philosophie de Newton (Elements of Newton’s Philosophy; 1738), was appointed the royal historiographer of France, and was elected to the prestigious French Academy. During the early 1750s he was associated with the court of Frederick the Great in Prussia; while there he published the historical work Le siècle de Louis XIV (The Age of Louis XIV; 1751).
Two great events of the mid-1750s have a profound effect on Voltaire. Tens of thousands of people were killed in a great earthquake in Lisbon in 1755, and in 1756 the devastating Seven Years War began. Influen
ced in part by these events, Voltaire came to reject the philosophy of German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, which was based on the concept of a rational and well-regulated universe. In 1759 Voltaire retreated to Ferney, an estate near the France-Switzerland border, where he wrote philosophical poems, letters, and narratives, including the philosophical tale Candide (1759), in which he spoofed the idea that ours is the “best of all possible worlds.”
Voltaire was an adamant critic of religious intolerance and persecution. The memorable closing line of Candide, “Let us cultivate our garden,” has been interpreted to mean that the proper course of action for humankind is to perform practical, useful work. Voltaire died in 1778 at the age of eighty-four, leaving behind a body of work that epitomizes the Enlightenment.
THE WORLD OF VOLTAIRE AND
CANDIDE
1694 Voltaire is born François-Marie Arouet in Paris on November 21.
1704 François enrolls at the College Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit institution, where he studies classical literature and drama.
1711 After leaving Louis-le-Grand, François pursues writing as a career, despite his father’s wishes that he study law.
1714 To the dismay of his father, François meets with members and explores the ideology of the radical Society of the Temple; he writes satirical poems.
1715 King Louis XIV dies. His great grandson, Louis XV, ascends to the throne, but because he is only five years old, the duke of Orleans assumes the regency until his death in 1723. The royal court leaves the confined environment of Versailles to take up residence in the more liberal atmosphere of Paris, one of the events that marks the beginning of the Enlightenment in France.
1717- 1718 Beginning in May, François is imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months after the duke of Orleans wrongly accuses him of writing two libelous poems about the French government. In prison, he writes his first dramatic tragedy, Oedipe (his version of the Oedipus myth) and La Henriade, an epic poem about Henry IV of France.
1718 The theatrical success of Oedipe wins François a pension from the regent.
1719 Francois-Marie Arouet assumes the pen name Voltaire.
1723 The first edition of La Henriade is published. Upon the
death of the duke of Orleans, Louis XV accedes to the throne. However, France is ruled by the duke of Bourbon and Cardinal de Fleury, who revamp France’s economic policies.
1725 In September Voltaire attends Louis XV’s marriage, at which three of his plays are performed.
1726 Voltaire is sent to the Bastille for the second time for challenging the chevalier de Rohan to a duel. After two weeks, he is offered exile as an alternative and emigrates to England, where he spends the next two and a half years learning English and studying the philos ophies of philosopher John Locke and mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton. He also attends productions of the plays of William Shakespeare.
1728 The second edition of La Henriade is published.
1729 Voltaire gains the right to return to Paris.
1730 Indignant at the clergy’s refusal to properly bury the body of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, Voltaire writes a protest poem, The Death of Mademoiselle Lecouvreur. His tragedy Brutus receives accolades following its opening performance.
1731 Voltaire publishes the first of his historical works, Charles XII, a life of the Swedish monarch, which remains today a classic of biography.
1732 Voltaire’s heroic tragedy Zaire, a tale of doomed love, is a success.
1733 Voltaire begins his long affair with Madame du Châ telet. Letters Concerning the English Nation is published in English. The book, which praises the English monarchy and the country’s religious tolerance, is interpreted as critical of the French church and state.
1734 Letters Concerning the English Nation is published in French as Lettres philosophiques. It is banned in France, and Voltaire seeks refuge at Cirey in the province of Champagne , where for the next fifteen years he lives at the estate of Madame du Châtelet.
1735 Although granted the right to return to Paris, Voltaire chooses to remain at Cirey, returning to the city only
occasionally. He spends time conducting physical and chemical experiments and writing. He begins a correspondence with Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia (later Frederick the Great), with whom he will have a rocky relationship.
1738 Elements de la philosophie de Newton (Elements of Newton’s Philosophy ) is published.
1745 Through the influence of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress, Voltaire is appointed the royal historiographer of France.
1746 He is elected to the prestigious French Academy.
1747 Voltaire’s philosophical tale Zadig is published.
1749 Madame du Chatelet dies. Upon the invitation of Frederick the Great, Voltaire moves briefly to Potsdam.
1750 At Frederick’s request, Voltaire goes to Berlin to serve as philosopher-poet at the royal court. He will stay for three years.
1751 While at the German court, Voltaire publishes the historical work Le siècle de Louis XIV (The Age of Louis XIV), which advocates for social and moral progress.
1752 Voltaire publishes Micromégas, a fantastic travelogue that reflects Newton’s cosmology and Locke’s empiricism, and attempts to fuse science and moral philosophy.
1753 Voltaire leaves Berlin after an argument with Frederick (the two will later reconcile and resume a correspondence ). Unable to return to France, Voltaire stays in various towns on the border until December 1754, when he moves to Geneva.
1755 Voltaire purchases a villa, Les Délices, outside Geneva, and makes it his home. After a devastating earthquake kills tens of thousands in Lisbon, Voltaire rejects the concept of a rational and well-regulated universe, as advocated by the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
1756 The Seven Years War begins and will last until 1763. It is fought in Europe, with North America, and India, by France, Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and eventually Spain one side, and Prussia, Great Britain, and
Hanover on the other. This complex war is based on colonial rivalry between France and England, and a struggle for power in Germany between Austria and Prussia. Along with the Lisbon earthquake, it deeply affects Voltaire’s outlook. Voltaire publishes Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon), in which he signals his rejection of Leibniz’s approach.
1757 After its seventh volume is published, the Encyclopédie—co-edited by Denis Diderot to provide a survey of human knowledge from the standpoint of the Enlightenment (Voltaire was a contributor)—is banned in France.
1759 Voltaire buys an estate, Ferney, near the France- Switzerland border. It will become the intellectual capital of western Europe, and Voltaire will spend his last years there writing narratives, plays, and personal letters . The most notable of the narratives, published this year, is the philosophical tale Candide—an attack on the evils of religious fanaticism, war, colonialism, and slavery.
1764 The Dictionnaire philosophique—a compendium of Voltaire’s thoughts on a variety of subjects—is published.
1774 Louis XV dies, and Louis XVI takes the throne.
1778 Voltaire returns to Paris, where he is welcomed by the public. On May 30 he dies there at age eighty-four. His body initially is buried on the grounds of an abbey in Champagne.
1791 Voltaire’s remains are brought back to Paris and buried in the Pantheon.
1787-1799 The philosophy of the thinkers of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire—expressed in the motto “Liberty, Fraternity, Equality”—inspires the French Revolution. The subsequent reign of Napoleon Bonaparte preserves many of the freedoms won during the Revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. The Civil Code, also known as the Napoleonic Code, is established; it remains as the basis for the system of civil law in modern France.
INTRODUCTION
Voltaire would probably have been both pleasantly surprised as well as bemused by the exceptional and enduring popularity of Candide,
which he viewed as one of his minor works, unworthy to vie with his tragedies, historical essays, and epic and philosophical poems, on which he staked his posthumous reputation.
On November 21, 1694, on the left bank of the Seine, in the heart of Paris, a sickly infant named François-Marie Arouet was born and not expected to live. Contrary to this inauspicious beginning, he would fool everyone (something he later excelled at doing) and take his final leave of life only in his eighty-fourth year. By then he had become the most illustrious author of his age under his chosen pen name of Voltaire; this name he adorned with the article de, a common practice among writers of bourgeois origin with aristocratic aspirations, before and even after the French Revolution, as Beaumarchais and Balzac could attest.
The father of young Arouet, François Arouet, was an ambitious and highly respected lawyer whose ancestors had been merchant drapers and who in 1683 had married Marie-Marguerite d’Aumard (also spelled Daumard), a member of the minor provincial mobility. Unlike Rousseau or Diderot, Voltaire evidenced no sentimental attachment to his family and little curiosity about his roots, childhood, and early formative years. If he took little interest in his ancestry, it was probably because he deemed it of no special historical or cultural significance. As for his immediate family members, he barely knew his mother, who died when he was ten, and he never seemed to have felt a nostalgic urge to romanticize her; and he did not get along with his strict, quick-tempered father, who in turn would strongly disapprove of his son’s iconoclastic writings and highly controversial reputation. Voltaire was the least introspective of authors and still adhered to the classical notion that public self-revelation is not only in bad taste, it smacks of the obscene; in Pascal’s words, “the self is hateful.” There furthermore was a secretive facet to his complex nature, and he had his own reasons for not dwelling on or divulging details of his private life and family relationships.
At the age of ten young Arouet was placed at the renowned Jesuit College Louis-le-Grand, in the Latin Quarter, where he received a solid education in the classics, where his knowledgeable and supportive masters nurtured his precocious interest and talent in drama and poetry, and where he formed lifelong friendships with some of his classmates.