Candide Actor’s Packet

Prepared by Kelli Marino, Dramaturg

Property of Arizona Repertory Theatre

Candide Actor’s Packet Arizona Repertory Theatre

Table of Contents

Do like the Natives do – says the Old Lady – The Glossary to the Script “This World” – Historical Sources “Glitter and Be Gay” – The Age of Enlightenment

With Love and Kisses – signed The Philosophes “What a day for an Auto-da-fe!” – The Spanish Inquisition War Improves Relations – says Pangloss -Thirty Years War

-Seven Years War

Fulfilling its Natural Function – says Dr. Voltaire – The Lisbon Earthquake

Master Voltaire Events in Voltaire’s Life Philosophical Dictionary “O Miserere” – Voltaire on Organized Religion

“Bon Voyage” – Voltaire’s Exile in England The Windbag – G.W. Leibniz I’ll give you the face of God! – says Maximillian - Leibniz vs. Voltaire

Candide: A Play The Book The Musical The Songs “Oh Happy We” – the creators of Candide the Musical “The Best of All Possible Worlds” – Geography in Candide

Follow Candide’s Journey! “Make Our Garden Grow” - Utopia in Candide

Pretty Pictures Suggested Readings Micromegas by Voltaire

Prepared by Kelli Marino, Dramaturg Property of Arizona Repertory Theatre

Contact k.marino@hotmail.com if you have any questions

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DO LIKE THE NATIVES DO says the Old Lady English Words for the World Traveler

PAGE WORD DEFINITION

14 Candide From the Latin candidus which means “white”; Innocence and Sincerity 17 Paquette Name means “daisy”

17 Cunegonde

Chivalric Love and Hard-headed Realism; Voltaire notes three Cunegondes in his journals, but Cunegonde, daughter of the first count of Luxembourg during the 11th century is a vital clue. She was canonized as a saint for having proven her chastity by walking through red-hot coals

18 Advantageous Favorable

30 Pangloss From the Greek “pan” and “glossa” which together mean “all languages” In the vernacular of the time, the name means “windbag”

Metaphysics The philosophical study whose object is to determine the real nature of things—to determine the meaning, structure, and principles of whatever is insofar as it is.

30 Paragon A model of excellence or perfection

31 Syllogism 1. A deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion 2. Deductive reasoning

33 Axiom 1. A statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference 2. An established rule or principle or a self-evident truth

46 Macrocosm The great world 59 Gibbet Gallows 65 Ducats A former European usually gold coin 66 Salient Something (as a promontory) that projects outward or upward from its surroundings 66 Al fresco Taking place or located in the open air; outdoors 69 Equanimity Evenness of mind especially under stress; balance 71 Sordid Dirty, filthy, vile, wretched 72 Gilded cage To overlay with or as if with a thin covering of gold 74 Ignoble Of low birth or common origin 77 Lavalieres Pendant on a fine chain that is worn as a necklace 77 Reproach An expression of rebuke or disapproval

84 Admonishing 1. To indicate duties or obligations to 2. To give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to

84 Cruzados An old gold or silver coin of Portugal having a cross on the reverse

87 Heresy 1: adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma 2: denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church 3: an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma

87 Extirpate To destroy completely 87 Edifications To instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge

95 Our Lady of Opporto

The Madonna; Virgin Mary

104 Transgressor A violator of command or law; sinner 108 Pernicious Deadly; wicked, destructive 126 Galilean A person from the city of Galilee; home of Jesus.

126 City of Godless Goyim City of Non-Jewish People

128 Implacable Not capable of being appeased, significantly changed, or mitigated 131 Moidores Spanish gold coins

132 Franciscan Any member of a Christian religious order founded in the early 13th century by St. Francis of Assisi. The Franciscans are the largest religious order in the Roman Catholic Church.

143 Provincials A person of local or restricted interests or outlook; specifically concerning the Roman Catholic religious order

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143 Jesuits

Member of Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of religious men noted for its educational, missionary, and charitable works, once regarded by many as the principal agent of the Counter-Reformation and later a leading force in modernizing the church. The society discontinued many medieval practices, the centralized form of authority with life tenure, probation lasting many years before final vows; gradation of members; and lack of a female branch.

155 Transient Passing especially quickly into and out of existence

155 Convalescing To recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness; to be strong, be well

161 Squalls A sudden violent wind often with rain or snow; a raucous cry 162 Calumny A misrepresentation intended to harm another's reputation 163 Frigate A light boat propelled originally by oars but later by sails 178 Craggy Rough and rugged 184 Itinerant Traveling from place to place 204 Propitious Favorably disposed; benevolent; being a good omen 208 Ingots A mold in which metal is cast into a convenient shape for storage or transportation 214 Odalisque A female slave; a concubine in a harem

Latin and Spanish Words for the World Traveler PAGE WORD DEFINITION

32 Quod Erat Demonstrandum As was demonstrated 41 Amo, Amas, Amat, Amamus Latin verb conjugation of I love, you love, he/she/it loves,

we love, etc. 45 Par exemplum For example, or In Equal Pattern 65 O Miserere Agnus Dei Qui Tollis,

Tollis Peccata Mundi Ora Pro Nobis Agnus Dei Ora Pro Nobis Nobis, Amen

O show pity, lamb of God, you who remove, remove the sins of the world, pray for us, lamb of God, for us, Amen (from the Catholic Mass)

111 Fons Pietatis Fountain of Piety (possibly a Medieval title of Mary or even the Pope)

111 Davidisturris Tower of David (Jerusalem's citadel--the tower is still intact) 111 Rex Majestatis His Majesty, the King 128 Pax Vobiscum Peace be with you (also from the Catholic Mass) 132 Buenos tardes Good afternoon 135 Tus Labiosrubi dos rosas que se

abren a mi, conquistan mi corazon y solo con una cancion

136 Tus labioscrubi dreiviertel takt mon tres cher ami, oui oui, si si, ja ja ja, yes yes, da da. Je ne sais quoi.

____________ My three dear friends, yes yes (Fr.), yes yes (Sp.), yes yes yes (Ger.), yes yes (Eng.) yes yes (Rus.) I don’t know what.

138 Me muero, me saluena hernia 139 Tus labios rubi rosas que se abren a

mi, conquistan mi corazon y solo con una cancion de tuis labrios rubi! Rubi! Rui! Rubi! Me muero, me saluena hernia Me muero, me saluena hernia

189 Que lindo muchacho That handsome young man 216 Palus Maoetis

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.Sancta María, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatóribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

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“This World” – Historical Sources “History is a pack of lies we play on the dead.” - Voltaire

“Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.” - Voltaire

“Glitter and Be Gay” – The Age of Enlightenment “We only half live when we only half think.” - Voltaire

Basic Beliefs of the Enlightenment:

1. Trust in Reason a. All knowledge was attainable through human reason b. Through the use of reason, people would be able to uncover the

natural laws set down by God, the great mathematician. 2. Disbelief in original sin. 3. The infallibility of scientific laws. 4. Trust in the simple and natural methods and ways of life.

God. Reason. Nature. Man. The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in art, philosophy, and politics which radically changed political and social traditions rooted in Christianity. But while deploring the present, the Enlightenment was extremely optimistic about the future.

The ideas of the Enlightenment stemmed from the Greek philosophers who celebrated the rational and natural order of man. Determining right and wrong, and truth and morality were the basis of these beliefs that became the 17th and 18th century’s Humanism. Humanists of the Enlightenment such as Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, G.W. Leibniz, and Sir Isaac Newton believed in human reason as the way to truth.

Religion + Reason = Deism. Deists believed in one God, and that God does not interfere with human life or the laws of the universe. Enlightenment thinkers concluded that people may not be able to understand God, but they can understand natural laws.

What do Deists believe? What don’t Deists believe in?

God exists and created the universe. Religions based on books claiming to contain the word of God.

God wants human beings to behave morally. Miracles and prophecies. Human beings have souls that survive into an afterlife.

Creation according to Genesis and Original Sin.

In the afterlife, God rewards moral behavior and punishes immoral.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other religious beliefs.

**Some noted American deists are Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

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Science vs. Religion in the Enlightenment!

Enlightenment writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes believed math and science were the solution to all social problems. They had even jested that science was the key to unlocking the heart of a woman! During this time, the idea of the earth as the center of the universe was disproved by Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, and Newton discovered universal gravitation (explaining the behavior of objects on earth and in the heavens). With these new concepts, biblical authority was questioned. Was the Bible the ultimate in truth? Newton promoted a view where the natural universe is controlled by laws of nature, and in turn, enforced the disbelief in miracles and unexplained religious anomalies.

Advancement in Europe

The Eighteenth Century brought increased growth to Europe in life-span, wealth, and expectations. The public became quite literate and gained tremendous knowledge about arts, music, religion, literature, and science. Questions of the world beyond Europe arose, and writers compared their traveled places with their homes, which furthered the exploration of new ideas and places.

The Enlightenment expired as the victim of its own excesses. The more rarefied deism became, the less it offered those who sought solace or salvation. The celebration of abstract reason provoked people to begin exploring the world of sensation and emotion in the cultural movement known as Romanticism. The Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution severely tested the belief that man could govern himself. The high optimism that marked much of Enlightenment thought, however, survived as one of the movement's most enduring legacies: man is evolving toward something better.

With Love and Kisses – signed The Philosophes The ideas of the Enlightenment were spread by a group of men known collectively as the philosophes. Through their reasoning, popularization of an intellectual doctrine, individualism, a rational government, and original thinking appealed to the growing middle class. These men included John Locke, David Hume, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, G.W. Leibnitz and Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot, Condorcet, and Voltaire. “I have concluded the evident existence of God, and that my existence depends entirely on God in all the moments of my life, that I do not think that the human spirit may know anything with greater evidence and certitude.” - René Descartes

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“All things have sprung from nothing and are borne forward to infinity. Who can follow out such an astonishing career? The Author of these wonders, and He alone, can comprehend them.” - Blaise Pascal “It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy brings about man’s mind to religion: For while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.” - Sir Francis Bacon “An intelligent being, is the active principle of all things. One must have renounced all common sense to doubt it, and it is a waste of time to try to prove such self evident truth.” - Jean Jacques Rousseau

WHAT A DAY FOR AN AUTO-DA-FE!

“Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” - Voltaire

“A little evil is often necessary for obtaining a great good.” - Voltaire

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!

An Inquisition is a papal (Roman Catholic) judicial institution that combated heresy and other forms of supernatural power not related to God (i.e. alchemy and witchcraft). Inquisition comes from the Latin root inquiro, meaning to inquire into. With this definition, the inquisitors sought out to find the heretics and other offenders against the Catholic Church. Inquisitions can be traced to Roman times where they prosecuted capital crimes. The following is the procedure to an Inquisition:

• Person is suspected of heresy and is given time to confess or absolve himself.

• Confessions took place in public, known as an auto-da-fé (see below). • If one does not confess they are accused and tried before the

Inquisitor. • During the interrogation, torture may be used to gain a confession. • If one is convicted of guilt, a person is publicly sentenced either by

prayer, fasting, and confiscation of property, imprisonment, or death. The Spanish Inquisition was authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478, possibly under the force of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile to convert the Jewish and Islamic people. It began under royal authority in Sevilla and gained much power and brutality. In 1483, Pope Sixtus IV named Dominican Tomas de Torquemada as Grand Inquisitor to the Castile. He used terror, torture, and confiscation to interrogate his prisoners. Many people were burned at the stake during his tenure.

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The Spanish Inquisition spread to Italy with Greek Orthodox Christians and the Netherlands to rid the country of Protestantism where it never reached the height that it had in Spain. Between 1808 and 1834 the Inquisition was stopped and restarted multiple times. Interestingly the Spanish Inquisition continued to Peru and Mexico only to be put to an end in Europe after Mexican Independence was won in 1834.

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Auto-da-fé

Pedro Berruguete. Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fe, painted 1475. Oil on wood. Prado Museum, Madrid.

War Improves Relations – says Pangloss

Thirty Years War (1618-1648)

“The Thirty Years War brought the preceding religious conflicts to a head and by its very violence effectively removed religion from future European disputes.” (Hunt 501)

The fighting had its origins in political, religious, and ethnic divisions in the Holy Roman Empire. Ferdinand II tried to impose Roman Catholic absolutism on his territory, but Protestants in Bohemia and Austria rebelled. After five years of war, Ferdinand won. King Christian IV of Denmark then attempted to gain land in Germany in 1625 but was defeated in 1629 with the Peace of Lubeck. This marked Denmark’s loss of power in Europe, but Sweden’s Gustav II Adolf invaded Germany with his anti-Roman Catholic causes. Poland then attacked Russia and established a dictatorship under Wladyslaw (Poland’s future king). In 1634, the Russo-Polish Peace of Polyanov ended Poland’s status in Europe. Now Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists fought for dominance. Still, at the heart of the war was the fight between the Catholic Holy Roman Empire and Protestant Hapsburg. Soon a battle between the Holy Roman Empire, Spanish Hapsburgs, and France erupted. With little resources for fighting as long as this war was being waged, armed forces began pillaging and ravaging towns, devastating their resources and people. All of the powers met in Westphalia, a province of Germany where

A public ceremony during which the sentences upon those brought before the Spanish Inquisition were read and after which the sentences were executed by the secular authorities. The first auto-da-fé took place at Sevilla in 1481. The ceremonies, which became increasingly elaborate and spectacular, were normally staged in the city plaza, often in the presence of royalty. They usually comprised a lengthy procession, a solemn mass, an oath of obedience to the Inquisition, a sermon, and the reading of the sentences. Life imprisonment was the extreme penalty that the inquisitor could impose; the death penalty was imposed and carried out by the civil authorities. Generally, neither punishment nor the handing over of condemned persons to the secular power took place on the occasion of an auto-da-fé.

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the Treaty of Munster and Peace of Westphalia was signed. Spain lost its power in Europe and was defeated by the Netherlands, France became the dominant power, Sweden controlled the Baltic Sea, and states of the Holy Roman Empire were granted sovereignty. And finally the Roman Catholic Empire was abandoned. Lutheranism dominated the North, Calvinism in the Rhine River region, and Catholicism in the south. This was the first time a diplomatic congress had gathered to address these international disputes.

Seven Years War (1754, 1756-1763)

The Seven Years War brought the major powers of Europe together (including some of their colonies):

Prussia, Hanover, Great Britain (North America, the East India Company, and Ireland)

Vs. Austria, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, France

(New France and France East India Company)

Saxony, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal later joined the fight. The war came from the Austrian Hapsburgs’ fight to regain Silesia (taken from them by Frederick II of Prussia) and Great Britain and France’s fight over control in North America and India colonies.

1756: Prussia invaded Saxony 1757: Prussia advanced on Bohemia and defeated the Austrians at the

Battle of Prague but retreated a month later by defeat from Austria. France defeated a Hanoverarian Army and advanced on Prussia. Sweden then attacked Prussia. Russia attacked Prussia

1758: Britain signs a financial agreement with Prussia. Hanover army defeats French forces Prussia defeats the Russians at Zorndorf.

1759: Prussia is defeated by Austria and Russia forces. 1761: Frederick II made peace with Russia and Tsar Peter III.

Austrians driven from Silesia. This war ended France’s power in the Americas and Europe until the French Revolution. Great Britain gained control in the world with the Americas and India. Prussia maintained its stature of power and its possession of Silesia.

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Fulfilling its Natural Function – says Dr. Voltaire – The Lisbon Earthquake

“Alas! An entire population wiped out by an erupting mountain. What benign law of the universe, I wonder, could have made such a cataclysm essential in this best of all possible worlds? Can it be that some slight error has taken place somewhere?” - Candide On November 1, 1755 between 9:30 and 9:45 am, Lisbon, Portugal was heavily damaged by several earthquakes that occurred in the morning from faulting of the seafloor along the tectonic plate boundaries of the mid Atlantic. Violent shaking that lasted between three and half to six minutes demolished large public buildings and about 12,000 dwellings. The total number of persons killed in Lisbon alone was estimated to be as high as 60,000, including those who perished by drowning and in a fire that burned for about six days following the shock. The exact number of deaths is inconsistent. Other places affected by the earthquake include Finland, North Africa, Ireland, and some small effects in Barbados (in the Caribbean). The earthquake generated a tsunami that produced waves about 6 meters high at Lisbon and 20 meters high at Cádiz, Spain. The waves traveled westward to Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, a distance of 6,100 km, in 10 hours and there reached a height of 4 meters above mean sea level. Depictions of the earthquakes in art and literature continued for centuries, making the “Great Lisbon Earthquake,” as it came to be known, a seminal event in European history. Poem sur le Desatre de Lisbonne was written by Voltaire by December. The problem of evil consumed Voltaire. The earthquake “marked a turning point in Voltaire’s philosophic and moral outlook.” Leibniz stated that “since God was good, this must be the best of all possible worlds,” and “everything which exists has a sufficient reason to exist.”

But “if God was good, how could he permit such a catastrophe?” Voltaire asks in Candide. It was this optimism and unsupported reasoning that Voltaire scoffs at with his character, Dr. Pangloss. It was his goal to dispose of inhumanity toward other men and rid the world of unnecessary evil and in 1758, prior to writing Candide, Voltaire built roads, planted vineyards, and helped Ferny become a prosperous town.

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Master Voltaire “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say

it.” - Voltaire

1714: Leibniz publishes Monadologie (“Everything which exists has a sufficient reason to

exist”) 1711-1717: Voltaire rebels against his father’s desire to become a lawyer. As a result he is sent

to Holland as amanuensis to the French Ambassador. When his father hears of Voltaire’s affair with a Huguenot girl, Voltaire returns to Paris to study law. However, through his studies he strikes a friendship with Thieriot (a clerk who helped Voltaire avoid prison) and begins to write poetry assaulting public figures.

1717: The duke of Orleans bans Voltaire from Paris for a few months after some unkind writings surface. Voltaire is accused of writing a slanderous poem against the regent and in May he is sent to the Bastille where he remains for eleven months.

1715: King Louis XIV dies. Here, Voltaire is 21 years of age and his education was completed and he had already accepted or rejected the ideas and clichés of the age.

1716: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz dies. 1718: Voltaire is released from the Bastille. Oedipe (play written while in the Bastille) is

performed at Comedie Francaise and La Henriade is in the works (play celebrates Henri IV of France whom Voltaire thought had tremendous virtues).

Adopts pen name, Arouet de Voltaire. Signifies his break with his family. 1725: Voltaire is insulted by the chevalier de Rohan, to which Voltaire insults him. Voltaire

is caned by Rohan’s men. Voltaire challenges Rohan to a duel and is instead thrown into the Bastille. Fifteen days later he is exiled to England.

1726: Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver's Travels. The city of Montevideo is founded. 1726-1729: Voltaire goes to England to begin his exile where he thrives on the concepts of

English philosophers. Voltaire meets William Congreve, Alexander Pope, and other notable figures. Voltaire sees Shakespeare’s plays too. Voltaire believes Shakespeare to be a bad

playwright because mixes tragedy and comedy, but he has good ideas. Voltaire is inspired to write his own versions. Publishes Lettres philosophiques in England which comparatively critique English and French society.

1733: France declares war against Emperor Charles VI; Pope’s Essay on Man (Justifies God to man; Whatever is, is right)

1734: French publication of Lettres philosophiques. Book was burned and banned by the parlement. Warrant out for Voltaire’s arrest but he escapes with his mistress, Emilie

Events in Voltaire’s Life

1694: Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) born to his Father, a minor treasury official, and Mother (Marie Daumart)

1701: Marie Daumart (Mother) dies 1704-1711: Voltaire studies with Jesuit Priests at College Louis-

le-Grand. He excels in Latin. 1710: King Louis XV born. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (b. 1646) publishes

Theodicee (“God created the best of all possible worlds”)

1712: Frederick the Great of Prussia born. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher born 1713: Denis Diderot, French philosopher born

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du Chatelet, to Cirey, in Champagne (northeaster part of France) where he lives for fifteen years.

1738: Discourse in Verse on Man and Elements of the Philosophy of Newton 1740: Frederick II, the Great of Prussia succeeds Frederick William I;

He introduces freedom of press and freedom of worship into Prussia. 1745: Appointed Royal Historian at Versailles for King Louis XV, a position Jean Racine held

as well under Louis XIV. 1746: Elected to the Academie Francaise possibly because of friendship with Madame du

Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV. 1747: Zadig (first philosophical tale). 1749: Voltaire takes up an affair with his niece, Mme. Denis, and Emilie dies during

childbirth (pregnant by another man). 1751: Voltaire takes position at the court of Frederick II of Prussia to educate the King. 1752: Micromegas 1753: Voltaire leaves Prussia, continues to correspond with Frederick. 1753-1758: Voltaire takes residence in Geneva, Switzerland. 1755: November 1. Earthquake in Lisbon kills 30,000 during Mass.

Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne 1756: Seven Years War begins; France and Austria vs. Prussia and England.

The Age of Louis XIV 1758: Moves to Ferney where he builds roads, plants vineyards, and helps a village

become a prosperous town. 1759: Candide 1763: Seven Years War ends with French destroyed by the Prussians at Rosbach; Treaty of

Paris – France loses its colonies to England. The Age of Louis XV (book). 1764: Philosophical Dictionary 1776: King Louis XV dies 1778: Voltaire returns to Paris and Irene is performed in his honor. Dies, May 30. He signs

a confession of loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church to ensure a decent burial, but the church refused him proper burial. Voltaire’s nephew smuggles his body to an abbey in Champagne where it was properly laid to rest.

1791: Voltaire’s body returned to Paris by leaders of French Revolution and interred in the pantheon as a national hero and herald of the revolution.

1793-1794: During the Reign of Terror, Voltaire’s body is buried to the potter’s field.

"...And if we look over to our right, here we have the house Voltaire spent his formative

years in...Ahead in the tall grey building we have the home of..." Guillotine Tours

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Philosophical Dictionary

All is Good: “Leibnitz, who was surely a better geometer than he, and a more profound metaphysician, did mankind the service of persuading us that we should be quite content, and that God could do no more for us; that indisputably, he necessarily chose, among all the possible choices, the best one. ‘What will become of original sin?’ they shouted at him. ‘Let it become what it may,’ said Leibnitz and his friends; but in public he wrote that original sin necessarily was a part of the best of worlds.” “The origin of evil has always been an abyss whose bottom nobody has been able to see.”

Chain of Events: “For a long time people have asserted that all events are linked one to the other by an invincible fatality: Destiny.” Leibnitz said that if one fact had been arranged differently, a different universe would have resulted. “The system of necessity and fatality was invented in our time by Leibnitz under the name of sufficient reason. Nevertheless, it is very old: it is no news to say that there can be no effect without a cause and that often the smallest cause produces the greatest effects.”

Faith: “What is faith? Is it to believe what appears quit evident? No; It is evident to me that there is a Being, necessary, eternal, supreme, intelligent: this is not a matter of faith but of reason. Faith consists of believing, not what seems true, but what seems false to our understanding. There is faith in astonishing things, and faith in contradictory and possible things.”

Inquisition: “As you know, the Inquisition is an admirable and wholly Christian invention to make the pope and the monks more powerful and turn a whole kingdom into hypocrites. Jesus Christ is the first inquisitor of the new law: the popes were inquisitors by divine right; and finally they communicated their power to St Dominic.”

Evil: “People clamor that human nature is essentially perverse, that man is born the child of the devil, and of evil. Nothing is more ill-advised; for, my friend, in preaching at me that everybody is born perverse, you warn me that you were born that way, that I must distrust you as I would a fox or a crocodile. It would be much more reasonable, much nobler, to say to men: “You were all born good; see how frightful it would be to corrupt the purity of your being.” Man is not born evil; he becomes evil, as he becomes sick.”

Theist: The theist is a man firmly convinced of the existence of a supreme Being, as good as it is powerful, which has created all the extended, vegetating, feeling, and reflecting being; which perpetuates their species which punishes crimes without cruelty, and rewards virtuous action with kindness. The theist does not know how God punishes, how he protects, how he forgive; for he is not rash enough to flatter himself that he knows how God acts; but he knows that God does act and that he is just. His religion is the most ancient and the most widespread; for the simple worship of God preceded all the systems of the world.

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“O Miserere” – Voltaire on Organized Religion

“Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.” – Voltaire

“Religion should be in conformity with morality, and universal like morality; thus every religion whose dogmas offend morality is certainly false.” – Voltaire

“It is evident to me that there is a necessary eternal, supreme, intelligent, being; and that is not faith, it is reason.” - Voltaire

Voltaire was a deist, believing in God but not in any organized church.

“Bon Voyage” – Voltaire’s Exile in England “How I love the English daring! How I love people

who say what they think!”- Voltaire

According to scholars, Voltaire’s journey in exile to England was a turning point in his life. While in England, Voltaire was able to exercise freedom of speech. He produced prose, verse, drama, polished epic poems, and criticized epic poets of all times and nations. It is said that Voltaire left France merely a poet and returned from England a philosopher. England’s freedom in religious thought encouraged Voltaire to continue his battle against organized religion upon his return to France.

English Influences on Candide:

1. Voltaire’s admiration for Jonathon Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver’s Travels depicted a trip around the world to exotic lands, and its satiric form inspired Voltaire.

‘Swift’s verses are in a peculiar and almost inimitable style; he has the gift of happy jest in verse and prose, but, quite to understand him, one should make a short stay in England.’ - Voltaire

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2. While in exile in England, Voltaire met with and learned of some of England’s finest geniuses.

a. Voltaire met John Gay, writer of The Beggar’s Opera, Jonathon Swift, and Alexander Pope (Essay on Man).

b. Sir Isaac Newton and John Locke – scientists.

3. In England, he had discovered the work of William Shakespeare, which he spread through Europe.

i. “I am surely very far from justifying the tragedy of Hamlet in all respects. It is a rude, barbarous piece which in France and Italy would not be tolerated by the lowest classes. Hamlet goes insane in the second act, his mistress in the third; the prince stabs her father under the pretext of killing a rat, and the heroine jumps into the water. Her grave is prepared on the stage; the gravediggers indulge in jokes, while holding skulls in their hands. The prince answers their abominably coarse talk by foolish sallies that are no less disgusting. Meanwhile, one of the acting persons makes the conquest of Poland, etc., etc. One might believe this work to be the product of the imagination of a drunken savage. But, among these gross irregularities which make the English theatre even to-day absurd and barbarous, we find in Hamlet sublime traits worthy of the greatest genius. It seems as thought nature had pleased herself by combining in the head of this poet what is most powerful and grand with what is lowest and most disgusting.” – Voltaire on Hamlet

4. Fourth were the people of England. In England Voltaire found an

extraordinary number of sects living peaceably side by side, and church and state were inseparable. With religious freedom in England, Voltaire’s belief in the ruthlessness of Christianity and organized religion accelerated. That so many wars in Europe and especially France were fought because of differences in religion, his goal was Christianity’s demise. However, Voltaire was not an atheist, but a deist.

5. Finally, it was Voltaire’s interest in Newton that enlightened and

enriched his writings. While in England, Voltaire met with Dr. Samuel Clarke (Newton’s friend) who awakened Voltaire to metaphysics of which fascinated him.

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The Windbag – G.W. Leibniz

“The secret of being boring is to say everything.” - Voltaire

“When one speaks to another man who doesn’t understand him, and when the man who’s speaking no longer understands, it’s metaphysics.” – Voltaire

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O, Lord, make my enemies

ridiculous.’ And God granted it.” - Voltaire

In 1667, Leibniz received his doctorate of Law. Leibniz is known for inventing calculus, discovering the binary system (computer architecture), and concluding that this world is the best world God could make. Much of his philosophy stemmed from his attempts to prove the existence of God. Progress is assured; all that happens is for the good, and perfection is within the grasp of those who harmonize their actions with the laws of God. He also studied and experimented in physics, technology, biology, medicine, geology, probability, psychology, and wrote on law, politics, history, ethics, theology, and philology.

"Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.

http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/servlet/BioRC

Thoughts and Ideas

In his Théodicé, Leibniz defines God as "infinite possibility" and the world (actuality) as "compossibility" in that it contains the greatest number of simultaneous possibilities; it is therefore the best of all possible worlds. But he argues that “there is no effect without a cause,” and that everything happens for a reason, whether good or bad.

Biography

Philosopher and Mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was born in Leipzig on June 23, 1646. At his father’s death at age six, Leibniz was left his father’s (Professor of Moral Philosophy) library. By age twelve Leibniz taught himself Latin and he began to study Greek. He pursued the course in law and also studied theology, mathematics, and the new natural philosophy of the Enlightenment, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1663. In 1666, Leibniz published On the Art of Combinations, a thesis in philosophy; he was twenty years old.

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Leibniz promoted ideas for religious rationalism, explaining the origin of evil outside of God’s will and the possibility of God permitting evil and even cooperating in its commission without diminishing His supreme goodness.” To Leibniz, the world was not owed by God to know his reasons for evil in the universe, but that the world should be happy knowing that God is present, caring for the entire universe. “Since all possible things have a claim to existence in God’s understanding in proportion to their perfections, the result of all these claims must be the most perfect actual world which is possible.” - Leibniz, G VI 603: L 639 The ultimate reason of things must lie in a necessary substance, in which the differentiation of the changes only exists eminently as in their source; and this is what we call God. - Leibniz “God assuredly always chooses the best.” – Leibniz “There are two kinds of truths: truths of reasoning and truths of fact.” – Leibniz

I’ll give you the face of God! – says Maximillian –

Leibniz vs. Voltaire

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“Everything's fine today, that is our illusion.” – Voltaire

Voltaire and Leibniz are representative of two streams of religious thought in the eighteenth century.

Voltaire Leibniz General 18th century movement thought – divorce moral and religious questions from ecclesiastical control

To prevent the separation of morals and religion

Solve problems in practical humanitarian terms

Attempts to deal with the question of evil from a rational point of view

Considers the problem of evil as primarily social to be resolved through practical reform of political and social institutions

Good and evil is understood through religion and metaphysics

Sees the problem of evil in relation to God and hence ultimately confusing for the human mind, irresolvable and enigmatic

Places confidence in God and religion

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Candide: A Play “Common sense is not so common.” - Voltaire

The Book

Candide’s genre is known as a Contes philosophiques: short stories designed to demonstrate a philosophical idea.

Published in 1759, Voltaire never admitted to the authorship of the piece. Candide, ou l’Optimisme was signed by a Monsieur le docteur Ralph. It was written while Voltaire resided in Ferney, ten years after his mistress Emilie died. It was banned by The Great Council of Geneva and the administrators of Paris. It sold 20,000-30,000 copies by the end of the year. Scholars consider Candide to be his greatest work because of his satiric attack on optimism.

Voltaire realized that life was an uphill battle, but these fights made life meaningful and that correcting society’s problems was a step toward fulfillment. No subject was safe from Voltaire’s scathing pen: church, state, war, injustice, philosophy, injustice, or love. Voltaire saved his strongest criticism for those who, having intelligence, refuse to see what is obvious in the modern world.

“Voltaire was not trying to give his own opinion; he wanted only to show how far one could be carried by strict adherence to a metaphysical system. […] Not once did he attempt to understand his opponent’s position. […] Nobody had ever given a good explanation of the presence of evil, and Voltaire had no answer to offer; in his opinion, there was no need for such an answer. Man had an instinct for self-preservation that allowed him always to believe – sometimes against all logic – that his situation would improve.” Voltaire allowed the acceptance of evil in the world; something which no one had previously done.

– From European Writers: the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment Volume 4: Voltaire to Andre Chenier

The Musical “Anything too stupid to be said is sung.” – Voltaire

CANDIDE was originally produced at the Martin Beck Theatre, New York, on December 1, 1956. The original production was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Featured Actress, and Conductor and Musical Director.

In 1973, the play was revised in a one-act version with a new book by Hugh Wheeler and additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. This new version premiered at the Chelsea Theatre Centre, Brooklyn, on December 19, 1973, and moved to the Broadway Theatre, New York on March 8, 1974.

This production went on to win multiple Tony Awards: Best Director, Best Book, Best Costume Design, Best Scenic Design, and The Special Award

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(awarded to The Chelsea Theatre Center of Brooklyn, Hal Prince, and Ruth Mitchell). It also won a Theatre World Award, and five Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Book, Choreography, Costume Design, Set Design, and Director.

In 1989, Bernstein finally was able to conduct the final script for Candide. After thirty years of rewrites and successes and failures, Bernstein was happy with Candide.

The 1997 Broadway revival earned 4 Tony Award nominations and won Best Costume Design. It also earned four Drama Desk nominations.

The Songs for the Three Staged Versions of Candide

1956 1974 1997 Act 1 No Intermission Act 1 The Best of All Possible Worlds Life Is Happiness Indeed (Lyrics

By Sondheim) Life Is Happiness Indeed (Lyrics By Sondheim)

Oh Happy We Duet The Best of All Possible Worlds The Best of All Possible Worlds It Must Be So Oh Happy We Oh Happy We It Must Be Me It Must Be So It Must Be So Glitter and Be Gay O Miserere Westphalian Chorale (Music &

Lyrics By Bernstein) You Were Dead, You Know (Lyrics By John Latouche)

Oh Happy We (Reprise) Glitter and Be Gay

My Love (Lyrics By Latouche & Wilbur)

Glitter and Be Gay Auto-da-fé (What a Day) (Lyrics By Latouche & Sondheim)

I Am Easily Assimilated Tango (Music & Lyrics By Bernstein)

Auto-da-fé (What a Day) (Lyrics By Latouche & Sondheim)

Candide's Lament (Lyrics By Sondheim)

Quartet Finale This World You Were Dead, You Know (Lyrics By Latouche)

Act 2 You Were Dead, You Know (Lyrics By Latouche)

I Am Easily Assimilated (Music & Lyrics By Bernstein)

QuietTrio I Am Easily Assimilated (Music & Lyrics By Bernstein)

Quartet Finale

Eldorado I Am Easily Assimilated (Reprise) (Music & Lyrics By Bernstein)

Act 2

Bon Voyage My Love (Lyrics By Latouche and Wilbur)

Ballad of the New World

What's the Use Fons Pietatis My Love (Lyrics By Latouche & Wilbur)

Make Our Garden Grow Finale

Sheep Song (Lyrics By Sondheim) Alleluia

Bon Voyage Sheep Song (Lyrics By Sondheim) The Best of All Possible Worlds

(Reprise) Bon Voyage

You Were Dead, You Know (Reprise) (Lyrics By Latouche)

Quiet

Make Our Garden Grow The Best of All Possible Worlds (Reprise)

What's the Use You Were Dead, You Know

(Reprise) (Lyrics By Latouche) Make Our Garden Grow

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1956 Playwright Lillian Hellman longed to write the book for the musical version of Candide. She refused to rat out her friends (including playwright Arthur Miller) to the Senator McCarthy House of Un-American Activities Committee. Hellman noticed the parallels between the Spanish Inquisition and the House Un-American Activities Committee. “Hellman and Bernstein set out to demonstrate in the McCarthy era that the United States was not ‘the best of all possible worlds.” Unfortunately, the collaborators never agreed what Candide was: Hellman wrote a heavy-handed satire, and Bernstein and Wilbur produced an operetta. There were fourteen rewrites over the two years of writing Candide. Director Tyrone Guthrie calls Hellman’s Candide ‘wildly pretentious’. He notes Hellman’s disadvantage because they had to cast singers rather than actors and Guthrie admitted his own direction ‘skipped along with the effortless grace of a freight train heavy-laden on a steep gradient’. The show’s initial failure was almost single-handedly blamed on Hellman.

1973

Hal Prince was approached by Robert Kalfin, Artistic Director of the Chelsea Theatre Center in Brooklyn, to direct Candide in 1973. Prince rejected the idea at first remembering that when he had seen the original stage production, he didn’t like it. Prince began tossing around ideas about the show though and soon decided that he liked the music and lyrics enough to direct it. Prince’s initial concept featured the audience filing into a carnivalesque auditorium led by Voltaire. Soon, Lillian Hellman and Hugh Wheeler’s rewrite of the show to fit Prince’s concept, and Wheeler found relevancy in the current Watergate scandal. Leonard Bernstein joined the production team and composed songs that had not been in the original production. Stephen Sondheim assisted in writing new lyrics to the additional music. This version replaced some of the original intentions of the 1956 production: “Hellman’s weightiness was replaced with a cheerful flippancy about such issues as rape, sexually related disease and death.” […] It also “changed many of the show’s locales, so that Bernstein’s various pastiches of French, Spanish and Italian music were scattered around the various hemispheres.” (Stearns 14). Prince also wanted to change the audience’s understanding of the characters and make them the center of the action, not the ideas. The scenic design was an obstacle course, the costumes were old, and the orchestra was small.

Did you know? Prince staged the show in eight days. According to Prince, it was the “least sophisticated

musical” he had done. He termed it “street theatre.”

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“Oh Happy We” – the creators of Candide the Musical

Hal Prince Winner of twenty Antoinette Perry awards for his blockbuster musicals, director and producer Hal Prince has revolutionized American theater with his innovative productions. His list of Broadway hits strings over half a century and includes The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Candide, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Show Boat. Collaborating with composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Stephen Sondheim, Prince is "the undisputed master of the Broadway musical," according to David Richards in the New York Times. Tyrone Guthrie Tyrone Guthrie was an English theater director who founded the Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. His career began in BBC radio with his plays Squirrel's Cage and Matrimonial News, which led him to a position as script editor in London. In 1933, Guthrie became the new resident director of the Old Vic where he staged a number of productions: Wycherly's The Country Wife, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. Two of his productions, Hamlet and Othello, became famous for their Freudian interpretations. From1953 to 1955, Guthrie was the artistic director to the Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario and continued to direct until 1957. The Guthrie Theatre fulfilled his vision for a fully professional classical repertory company and opened in 1963. Lillian Hellman She has been called one of the most influential female playwrights of the twentieth century; the voice of social consciousness in American letters. Hellman could claim five long-running Broadway dramas. In plays such as The Children's Hour, The Little Foxes, Watch on the Rhine, The Searching Wind, Another Part of the Forest, and Toys in the Attic Hellman explored controversial themes from lesbianism to fascism, as well as examined the stifling effects of greed and avarice in family relations. Hellman’s plays were strong in their exploration of the evil bred in the human character by social forces. Richard Wilbur Winner of two Pulitzer prizes for poetry as well as a National Book award, and a Bollingen translation prize, Richard Wilbur has been honored as poet laureate of the United States from 1987 to 1988. As Peter Stitt noted in Richard Wilbur in Conversations with Peter Dale, Wilbur stands apart from his contemporaries in three major ways: "[He] exhibits a classic, objective sensibility in a romantic, subjective time; he is a formalist in the midst of relentless informality; and he is a relative optimist among absolute pessimists." A translator who has adapted many plays of Molière and Racine. Wilbur has written poetry for children, produced critical works on writers and his writing on poetry and literature is collected in Responses: Prose Pieces, 1953-1976, and The Catbird's Song: Prose Pieces, 1963-1995.

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Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein is an American conductor, composer, pianist, and educator who has made significant contributions to the realms of both classical and popular music through numerous concerts, compositions, recordings, television appearances, and classes. He is one of the best-known American composers and the first American-born conductor to regularly conduct European orchestras. He began in 1942 working for a music publisher, arranging popular songs, transcribing band pieces, and notating jazz improvisations, which were published under the pseudonym Lenny Amber. From 1944 to 1950 Bernstein served as guest conductor to seven major orchestras and became music director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra. Bernstein's compositions of this period the ballet Fancy Free, which later became the basis for the critically acclaimed Broadway musical On the Town. In the late 1950s Bernstein composed works for the stage, including the one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti, Wonderful Town, Candide, and West Side Story. In the 1950s and 1960s, Bernstein achieved international stature as a conductor. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bernstein often guest-conducted the Vienna Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he has made recordings and television appearances. Bernstein has made over four hundred recordings, for which he has received many Grammy nominations and awards. John Treville Latouche

John Latouche is known for his theatrical writings, contributing music and/or lyrics to a number of musical revues on and off-Broadway, and writing nightclub material for a variety of performers. His first success came with the musical cantata Ballad for Americans, which was to be the finale of the Federal Theatre Project's, Sing for Your Supper. Latouche continued to write lyrics for Cabin in the Sky, Banjo Eyes, The Lady Comes Across, Rhapsody and Polonaise. Three critically acclaimed but financially unsuccessful musicals followed: Beggar's Holiday, Ballet Ballads, and The Golden Apple. Later came The Vamp, in 1955, and in 1956, The Ballad of Baby Doe. Latouche died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 41, having just completed revisions to his lyrics for Candide.

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Rothschild Parker is known for her short-stories, poetry, drama, and criticisms. Growing up Parker supported herself by writing captions for Vogue. She became the drama critic of Vanity Fair in 1918 but was fired for an acerbic theater review in 1920. She took a position at Ainslee’s Magazine writing a column titled "In Broadway's Playhouses." She published essays and character sketches in the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Everybody's. Other writings include: Such a Pretty Little Picture, Men I'm Not Married To; a song for the musical No, Siree!, a collaboration on the play Close Harmony, or The Lady Next Door, and the one-act play Nero. Parker married Alan Campbell, an actor, and went to Hollywood in 1934. Over the next sixteen years they collaborated on 22 scripts. Her later works include sketches for the New Yorker, a column for Esquire, and the lyrics for Candide. Her voice helped define what was most daring and skeptical in the 1920's. Using scorn, bitterness, and cutting wit, Parker devised a moving art out of her lifelong unhappiness.

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“The Best of All Possible Worlds”

Geography in Candide

Westphalia

Region and former province of Prussia. Münster was its capital The region of Westphalia occupies, roughly, a triangle formed by a line drawn East from the Rhine River to the Weser River at Minden, a line drawn from Minden Southwest to Siegen (near the border with Hesse), and a line drawn to the Northwest from Siegen and parallel to the Rhine River. The land consists partly of fertile soil and partly of sandy tracts, moors, and heaths.

Walderberg-Trabk-Dikdoffn An imaginary place in Prussia. Thunder-Ten Tronck An imaginary place in Germany.

Lisbon, Portugal Set on seven terraced hills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, large trade/export economy

Cadiz, Spain Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the strait of Gibraltar.

Rovno, Gubernya A region of Russia/Poland

Montevideo, Uruguay Large in ports of exporting goods. Montevideo’s origins lay in the colonial rivalry of the Spanish and Portuguese.

Cartagena, Colombia On the Northern shore of South America. Known for its mining of lead, silver, iron and zinc.

Massa-Carrara City in Northern Italy. It lies along the Carrione River in the foothills of the Apuan Alps, just northwest of Massa and east of La Spezia. Known for its marble.

Port of Morocco Mountainous country of western North Africa that lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain.

Eldorado, Brazil

Also spelled El Dorado; Spanish: “The Gilded One” (painted with or covered with gold). Eldorado came to mean an entire fabulous country of gold and was only one of the many mythical regions of great riches.

Constantinople, Turkey

Former capital of the Byzantine Empire and of the Ottoman Empire Constantinople had a great wealth of artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453. The largest and most splendid European city of the Middle Ages, Constantinople shared the glories and vicissitudes of the Byzantine Empire, which in the end was reduced to the city and its environs. Although besieged innumerable times by various peoples, it was taken only three times —in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II. Defended by Greek fire, it was also well fortified.

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“Make Our Garden Grow” - Utopia in Candide The land of Oreillons

o Patterned after Rousseau’s Noble Savages, live in a state of nature. o Governed by primitive tribal laws o The Oreillons are cannibals and consider Jesuits a prime delicacy

The Jesuit Kingdom in Paraguay o Baron lives well; all he wishes is at his disposal. o Utopia is maintained by fear of an upper class with no end other than

continual expansion Eldorado

o All seems well, people live long, are free from want, and use reason in all things. No one works; all is free and plentiful.

o Voltaire thinks, though, that without work, people can not find meaning in their lives.

Thunder-ten-tronckh o An idyllic place. Fine for the upper classes but miserable for all else; similar

to Paraguay Candide’s Garden outside of Constantinople

o About as perfect a place as people can find. o Candide’s garden equals happiness. o Reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. o The best of all possible worlds to him is a place where each person tends his

own garden.

“We must cultivate our garden.”

Voltaire was a gardener and believed in gardens, even if other people were gardening them.

His exile in Ferney moved him away from court practices and court values concerned with status, family practices and values, and security. It was a garden that represented Voltaire’s view of a new French ideal of domestic happiness. “We have finally come to enjoy luxury only in taste and convenience,” he wrote in The Age of Louis XIV. All that counted now was “affable manners, simple living and the culture of the mind.”

Enclosing his garden broadened Voltaire’s circle of compassion. When people were dragged from their gardens to be tortured and killed in the name of faith, he began to take it, as they say, personally. It was this moment that blossomed into the human-rights campaigns against persecution, torture, and cruelty in punishment that came to dominate the remaining years of his life in Ferney.

Though Candide seems to retreat from a confrontation with human cruelty to an enclosed garden, its publication marked Voltaire’s, and his ages, moral development away from a passive Deism.

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Pretty Pictures from Francisco Goya Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history. He has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns.

Les Ensachés

Disparate furioso

Bobabilicon

Gui hai gui hacer mas?

Suggested Readings

Brooks, Richard A. Voltaire and Leibniz. Genève, Librairie Droz, 1964. Voltaire. Candide, Ou L'Optimisme. Translated From the German of Dr. Ralph. Paris:

Sirene, 1759. Voltaire. Philosophical Dictionary. Trans. Peter Gay. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1962. Voltaire. The History of Candide: or All for the Best. Trans. A B. Walkley. Boston: Small,

Maynard, and Co., Inc., 1931. xiii-xix. Wootton, David. Candide and Related Texts. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000.

Above are paintings and etchings from Desastres de la guerra, & Disparates. For more pictures, see your Dramaturg!

http://www.eeweems.com/goya/

Micromegas by Voltaire Written in 1751 or 1752, it is a science fiction work influenced by Gulliver’s Travels. The story contains some mathematical blunders, factual errors, and implausibility’s, but the reader must suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the story.

"Why, then," inquired the Sirian, "do you quote the man you call Aristotle in that language?" "Because," replied the sage, "it is right and proper to quote what we do not comprehend in a

language we least understand."

Themes: Today’s readers can find many relevant statements and issues which these characters and

Voltaire suggest. Use of science to present the philosophic notion that there is an absurdity to human beliefs

and actions. Voltaire mocks human prejudice and pretension, and the ignorance of philosophers and

scientists.

Story: Sirian is banished and travels to improve his mind. The two travelers have irrational desires – more knowledge (although they are very

intelligent) and a longer life (although they live significantly longer than others). The Sirian and the Saturian marvel at the microscopic inhabitants of the earth. Aristotle: “The soul is an actuality and a rationality, in virtue of which it has the power to be

what it is.” Descartes: “The soul is pure spirit, which receives in its mother's womb all metaphysical

ideas, and which, on issuing thence, is obliged to go to school as it were, and learn afresh all it knew so well, and will never know again.”

Malebranche: “Nothing at all, it is God who does everything for me; I see and do everything through Him; He it is who does all without my interference.”

Leibnitz: “A hand which points to the hour while my body chimes, or, if you like, it is the soul which chimes, while my body points to the hour; or to put it another way, my soul is the mirror of the universe, and my body is its frame: that is all clear enough.”

Locke: “I know nothing of how I think, but I know I have never thought except on the suggestion of my senses. That there are immaterial and intelligent substances is not what I doubt; but that it is impossible for God to communicate the faculty of thought to matter is what I doubt very strongly. I adore the eternal Power, nor is it my part to limit its exercise; I assert nothing, I content myself with believing that more is possible than people think.”

Statements: Man is not as important as he thinks, just like the Earth is not the center of the Universe. A major idea is the Humans need to give up on their dependence on a higher, supreme being

that will take care of all of their problems and provide for them. They should work for themselves.

Suggests that our main faults are inherent to our inaccurate and misguided rationality (as shown when the philosophers and scientist speak about their beliefs).

Humans are narrower minded, tradition bound, and self-important. War is absurd for the reasons that humans fight. Ironic Ending: The Sirian gives the humans a philosophic book telling of the ultimate essence

of things, but when the humans open it, there is nothing written on the pages. Are the pages actually blank, or do the humans not have the ability to see what is written?

Robert Rounseville and Barbara Cook in Candide