Voltaire, candide, or optimism
Prepared by Dr. hend hamed Assistant professor of English literature Introduction Two Parisian buildings encapsulate the life history and reputation of Francois- Marie Arouet ( ), known to literature as Voltaire: 1. The bastille The Bastille Prison is the stoutest and most fearful jail maintained by what we nowcall the ancient regime in France. Demolished by a mob of rioters on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789, ithad for centuries epitomized the social repression and power of a royalist churchand state. 2. The pantheon On the left back of the Seine, is the Pantheon: Converted at the Revolution from achurch to a secular temple to house the remains of Frances most revered authors. Voltaire is notable for being an occupant of both buildings: he was brieflyimprisoned in the first for his outspokenness in , and his body was finallytransferred to the second with great pomp and ceremony in 1791. Voltaire: biography Voltaire was born into a wealthy family in 1694 and educated by the Jesuits(Jesus Society) at the College Louis-le-Grand. Voltaire became a reluctant law student to please his father, and was briefly adiplomat. From 1715, he occupied himself exclusively with his writing, earning his first briefspell of imprisonment in for writing a satire against the Regent (ruler). Voltaire: biography He was released, then by 1726, he was in trouble again and had to flee toEngland where he met King George I and many members of the literary andscientific elite. For much of the 1730s, Voltaire was in official disfavor and living in exile. By the 1740s, his fortunes recovered, and he became major figure on theEuropean stage: friend to Frederick of Prussia, a protg of Madame dePompadour (a mistress of Louis XV), Royal Historiographer, and Member of theAcademie Francaise. Voltaire: biography By 1754, he quarreled with Frederick, was refused entry back into France, andwas forced to wander around central Europe. He settled in Switzerland, and in 1756 published the first edition of his Essai surlhistoire generale et sur les moeurs et lesprit de nations (Essay on General Historyand on the Manners and Spirit of the Nations). In 1757, Voltaire was involved in secret peace negotiations between Frederick ofPrussia and Louis XV. Voltaire: biography In early 1759, Candide was published, and the French parliament impounded theloose sheets; even Geneva briefly banned the book. Voltaire stayed in the relative safety of Switzerland for most of the rest of hislife, producing literary works well into his 80s. In , he challenged the French government over its treatment of Jean Calas,a French protestant merchant falsely accused of murdering his son for wanting toconvert to Catholocism. Voltaire: biography In 1778, when he returned to Paris for the first time in twenty years, he saw hislast play, Irene, performed. While he was there, he fell ill and died with the words For Gods sake, leave mein peace. Candide: publication history
Candide first appeared in late January 1759 when it was issued in 3 simultaneouseditions of a thousand copies each in Paris, Geneva, and Amsterdam. This strategy was motivated by the desire to sell as many copies as possiblebefore it was pirated and by the fear of censorship. In February 1759, authorities in Paris and Geneva seized copies of Candide in anattempt to suppress it. Candide: publication history
The title page bore the inscription from the German of Doctor Ralph, andVoltaires name did not appear. He only publicly admitted to being the author in In 1956, an acclaimed musical version of Candide was produced on Broadway. In this book, several kinds of travel are implicated, either directly or indirectly.Among them are the personal diaries/journals of Candide and Cunegonde, aswell as the digressions from the main track taken by minor figures such asCandides servant Cacambo. Travel writing Travel writing may seem to constitute a genre that is primarily descriptive andnarrative. It tells the story real or imagined of a person or a group of personsvoyaging from place to place. In practice, no such writing is ever neutral, since travelers inevitably compare theworlds they are travelling through to their own world. Sometimes, this can leadtravelers to make negative and even racist judgements; at other times, it can leadthem to recognize flaws in their own society; and on yet other occasions, it canlead them to reflect upon the universality of the human condition. Early travel writing Fifth century BCE, Greek historian Herodotus, for example, was much interested inthe religion and morals of the countries through which he passed. Early modern period In the early modern period it was a comparatively straightforward developmentfor writers schooled in such ancient travel accounts to turn the focus back to front. Instead of deriving insights into customs and beliefs from observations of differentpeoples and places, they started out with propositions concerning the socialnature of humankind that they then tested by applying them to various real or, inmany cases, imagined worlds. Utopian versus dystopian literature
Utopian literature which appeared for the first time in 1516 with the publicationof Utopia by the English scholar Thomas More ( ), projected imaginaryenvironments based upon political principles or ideals. A contrary tendency later arose whereby authors fantasised about worlds inwhich human ideals of a perfect society were shown to be ridiculous, or at leastimpracticable. Gullivers travels by jonathan swift
Gullivers Travels (1726), by the Irish writer and cleric Jonathan Swift ( ), a ships surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, is cast away on a succession ofimaginary islands, in each of which facets of human stupidity or greed areexaggerated. A book such as Gullivers Travels constituted an anti-Utopian or dystopianexercise that gave the lie to particular myths of human perfectibility. To some extent, Voltaire is writing in a Swiftean satiric vein. Voltaire and swift Swift, like his near-contemporary Daniel Defoe in Robinson Crusoe (1719), drewon real-life accounts left by actual travelers, but the islands he describes do notcorrespond to any one recognizable location. Voltaire, on the other hand, was very interested in evoking the feel of the worldas it is its hard, inescapable reality. He, thus, situates the environments featuredin Candide fairly specifically on the map. However unpleasant his characterizations of cities or countries, his Westphalia isbased on the real country, his Lisbon is the real capital of a real country, his Parisand his Constantinople likewise. Voltaire and swift He, thus, draws on the existing or surviving memoirs of travelers far more directlythan do either Defoe or Swift. When writing about South America, for example, Voltaire mentions theexplorations of Guiana by Sir Walter Raleigh ( ). When his narrativemoves to Turkey, he is also possibly aware of the letters from Constantinoplewritten by Lady Wortley Montagu ( ) [An ambassadors wife and oneof the few Westerners ever to have been allowed inside a seraglio, or harem]. Voltaire and Samuel johnson
A contemporaneous work, published in the same month as Candide (January1759), was an English text close to it in structure and theme: The History ofRasselas Prince of Abyssinia by the writer Samuel Johnson ( ). Though Johnson regarded Voltaire as a notorious radical and skeptic,resemblances of shape and viewpoint are apparent in these two narratives. The genre of candide novel?
The long eighteenth century was the first great period in the evolution of thenovel. In France, the form was known as the roman because of its roots inmedieval romance. In England, it was known as the novel. According to strict definitions of the 18th century novel, Candide does not entirelymeet the generic requirements for the novel, or indeed for the novella (a shortnovel). The genre of candide parable? Tale?
In shape and thrust, Candide is far closer to a fable or parable, since its meaningslie comparatively close to the surface, and little happens within it that is notdesigned to make a point in the ongoing argument. The term used by the French to classify this kind of exercise was une contephilosophique, which translates roughly as a philosophic tale. The genre of candide Satire?
Another literary category often associated with Candide is that of satire, which iswriting that ridiculous or mocks the failings of individuals, institutions or societies.As Voltaire allows his readers to draw their own conclusions, Candide shouldprobably be classified as indirect satire. Together with his contemporaries Swift, Johnson and the poet Alexander Pope( ), Voltaire contributes in no small way to the long eighteenth centurysreputation as Europes greatest period of sature. The title page The title page The words on the title page give the impression that Candide, or Optimism is atranslation from German of a story by one Doctor Ralph. The inventions of an original German text and a Doctor Ralph lend a quasi- objectivity to the text, and distance the narrator from Voltaire himself. The idea of a German original and the existence of a Doctor Ralph areinventions; are part of the fiction. The title page This playful element subverts the superficially earnest account of the young manCandides personal history in the opening paragraph. The very first words themselves Once upon a time- suggests the beginning of afairy tale, and the combination of absurd name (Monsieur the Baron von Thunder- ten-tronckh) and the ironic tone establish immediately a distinctive narrative. Very nave narrator The gossip of the older servants is the source for the belief that Candide was theillegitimate son of the Barons sister and a kindly and honest gentleman of theneighbourhood (p.3). That the narrator describes Candides (presumed) father soindulgently and not as an adulterer suggests unworldly and nave qualities,qualities we soon discover also to be characteristic of Candide himself. From the outset, the reader is thus given very clear hints not to take at face valuethe narrators version of events and his judgements of individuals, peoples, andplaces. Literary irony Voltaire, therefore, makes extensive use of literary irony: the use of a nave ordeluded hero or unreliable narrator, whose view of the world differs widely fromthe true circumstances recognized by the author or readers. The account of Candides travels and adventures by Voltaires unreliable fictionalnarrator Doctor Ralph does indeed differ widely from the true circumstancesrecognized by the author or readers, and much of the humour in Candide isderived from the ironic distance between the narrators words and Voltairessatirical attack on his society. Optimism Optimism is the concept of believing that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Voltaires philosophical views (expressed in his Candide) were defined inopposition to the belief in Optimism which dominated the philosophy of his day. Candide is overtly named after his adventurous, if nave, hero but it is its subtitleOptimism, that announces its theme. pangloss Pangloss is Candides tutor and is the inexhaustible spokesman on behalf ofOptimism. The character of Pangloss was Voltaires exaggerated comic creation, butoptimism in the condition of the world, and human prospects within it, could befound pretty well everywhere in the Europe of the mid 18th century. For obvious reasons, it was more common among the rich than among the poor,men than women, the healthy rather than the sick, slave owners rather than slaves. Origins of optimism: 1- Anthony Ashley cooper
In his Philosophical Dictionary, Voltaire finds its origins in Characteristics of Men,Manners, Opinions, Times (1711) by Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl ofShaftesbury ( ), who has speculated that benevolence was an instinctdeeply embedded in human nature and quite consistent with self-interest. Sincewe all wished for one anothers well-being, all that we needed to do was tofollow our own inclinations and everything, and everybody, would be fine. Origins of optimism: 2- Alexander pope
The highest profile attained by the creed of optimism was its articulation by oneof the greatest English poets of the age, Alexander Pope. His Essay on Man is the supremely confident expression of this attitude, trumpetedforth as if from the console of some great organ. Origins of optimism: 3- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
The principal exponents of philosophical optimism resided in Germany. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz ( ) had argued the case from the nature ofGod. Since the creator was both omniscient and omnipotent and since he wishedthat his creatures should be happy, it followed of necessity that the world he hadmade was one that secured the most contentedness he could contrive. Leibniz did not deny that nasty things happened, or that people suffered. Buthuman beings were not omniscient (they had limited knowledge) and whatappeared to them to be blemishes or setbacks could very well be part of thegrand universal plan. Only God, with his serene overview, says how. Pain and evil / prioro and posteriori reasoning / rationalism and empiricism
This theory (Optimism) was the most frequently cited answers to two dilemmastheologians call The Problem of Evil and The Problem of Pain. Both pain and evil seem contradictory in a world supposedly overseen by acompassionate governor. In Candide, Voltaire repeatedly points this out. Weshould not, however, regard Voltaire as necessarily right and Leibniz and hisfollowers as necessarily wrong. Pain and evil / A prioro and posteriori reasoning / rationalism and empiricism
Leibniz was a rationalist philosopher. His approach might be characterized asarguing forward from certain assumptions: since God is perfect by definition, itfollows that he can do no wrong. Voltaires approach might be described as empirical: he used his experience ofthe world around him to draw certain conclusions about it. (Those 2 approaches are sometimes referred to as a proiri and a posteriorireasoning) Belief in optimism shaken
In 1755, a fissure (long narrow opening) some 5 metres wide opened up underthe Atlantic Ocean, off the shoreline of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, extendingright across the main area of the city. Buildings tottered and fell. It was All Saints Day, and the churches were full ofpeople attending mass; as the walls collapsed they were crushed in theirthousand. Belief in optimism shaken
How could a benevolent and all-seeing deity possibly have ordained this? Outside, people had been cooking their breakfast on open fires in the coolautumn air, the quake overturned the fires which raged uncontrollably acrosstown. A few minutes later, a violent tsunami swept in from the sea, drowning many ofthose who had not been crushed. Much of the infrastructure of the city was destroyed. (Picture P. 181) Belief in optimism shaken
The shock of the Lisbon Earthquake was compounded by the Seven Years War,which was triggered when Frederick of Prussia (Voltaires one-time mentor)invaded Saxony (Northern Germany). The war subsequently spread across the rest of Europe, North America, and SouthAsia where France and Britain were soon at loggerheads over their colonialpossessions. Among Voltaires friends at the time was the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha, who went tothe front line to observe the fighting. In one of the earliest battles, her son waskilled. Voltaire reported in a letter that she carried on crying Whatever Is, IsRight. Alexander popes essay on man
All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee: All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not see; All Discord, Harmony, not understood; All partial Evil, universal Good: And, spite of Pride, in erring Reasons spite, One truth is clear, Whatever IS, IS RIGHT. (Pope, 1966 [1733-4] p 45-6) Alexander popes essay on man
For the first half of the 18th century, this stanza from Pope was something of amantra for paid-up, fully believing optimists, regularly rolled out in articles, tracts,and public speeches. Voltaire himself quoted Popes axiom Whatever IS, IS RIGHT ironically in thesubtitle of his 1756 poem, The Lisbon Earthquake. Pope, in this stanza, repeats the optimistic truism of his age that all evils afflictingindividuals must be understood and accepted as ultimately part of a divine plan. Alexander popes essay on man
Four lines of antithesis (opposed / contrasting ideas juxtaposed in quicksuccession) beginning with the word All then dramatizes the apparentcontradiction between present and immediate ills and Gods beneficence. For Pope, the universal Good is the consolation that contains and transcends theparticularities of partial Evil. The argument is clinched in the final line, whichinsists upon the One truth that is clear, namely that whatever unfolds in life however unpleasant (What IS) is part of a benevolent divine plan (IS RIGHT). Voltaire versus pope Chapter 5 of Candide attacks the cosmic complacency, the thin optimism,expressed in Popes lines. The weapon used is ridicule, a technique at whichVoltaire is particularly adept. Leibnizs ideas are expressed by Candides tutor Pangloss, and are repeatedlyshown up as preposterous. For example, when the virtuous Anabaptist is drowning, Pangloss restrainsCandide from rescuing him, arguing that Lisbon harbor was built expressly so thatthis Anabaptist should one day drown in it [and] offering a priori proofs of this(P. 13). Voltaire versus pope - Another example of how Voltaire exposes the limitations of Panglosss philosophyof optimism (and by extension Popes and Leibnizs) is during the dinner after theearthquake, when he declares, in words echoing Popes An Essay on Man, This is allfor the best For if there is a volcano beneath Lisbon, then it cannot be anywhereelse; for it is impossible for things to be elsewhere than where they are. For all iswell. (P. 14) Reaction of optimism adherents to Lisbons earthquake
They insisted on the Leibnizian philosophical axiom, that in the ultimate schemeof things, there exists a sufficient reason for each and every event, fully ableto account for even its unfortunate-seeming aspects. The second was the scientific view that all happenings are part of an inexorableweb of cause and effect which nothing can influence or divert. Reaction of optimism adherents to Lisbons earthquake
3) The third was the religious doctrine, advanced by the agent for the Roman Catholic Inquisition, that people are responsible for much that is wrong in the world because their nature has been corrupted since the time of Adam and Eve by so- called Original Sin. People can choose to act as they wish, but their will though technically free- will inevitably cause them to act badly. It is clear in Candide that Voltaire found none of these three responses remotely convincing. Voltaires writing style in candide
Voltaires attack on the ideas of Leibniz and Pope is not limited to matters ofcontent: his very style of writing is an assault upon what he saw as their self- deluding optimism. Much has been written about Voltaires style: its alacrity, its bounce, the speed ofits transitions, and these qualities so appropriate for describing travel are put togood use in Candide. Voltaires writing style in candide
Voltaires target is not just the illusion fed by a particular school of philosophy, butthe sort of moral dishonesty, present in most ages that flinches away from thefacts. In 18th century English, there was a term for such well-meaning linguisticavoidance. It was called cant, a word that had its origin in the Italian verb for tosing, but which had come to mean the whining of a beggar or, by extension, allmanner of humbug. For Voltaire, it was the enemy because it led people to deceive others, and oftenalso to deceive themselves. His view was that to write or speak simply & directly isusually to write or speak well. Female narrators in candide
Doctor Ralph is not the only narrator in this tale. There are three episodes in thenovel recounted by women: Chapter 8 is narrated by Candides beloved,Cunegonde, who retells the events of the opening chapters from her perspective,Chapters 11 and 12 are narrated by the old woman, who tells Cunegonde thestory of her life and the first part of Chapter 24 is narrated by Pacquette, whodisabuses Candide of his perception that she is happy by describing her declinefrom serving maid to prostitute. In these episodes, told from a feminine perspective, Voltaire gives us history fromthe point of view of its victims. Female narrators in candide
Voltaire satirizes the creed of Pope and Leibniz, in these 3 episodes, narrated byfemale characters, Panglosss sanguine (cheerful) apathy (suppression of passion)is exposed as an overwhelmingly masculine delusion by the blunt facts of femalesubservience in a male-dominated society. All three women tell tales of spectacular suffering and misadventure, which arenonetheless lightened by their transparent absurdities and extravaganthyperbole. cunegonde The most important of the female characters in Candide is Cunegonde. In terms of the plot, much of Candides journeying is in search of Cunegonde, buther name warns us that she is no princess in a fairy tale rescued by a braveprince, and nor is she a sentimental heroine in a conventional 18th century novel. Cunegondes name derives from the chaste wife of Henry II (St. Kunigunde), andcompounds explicit sexual references, which are exploited throughout the novelfor a variety of comic effects. cunegonde Aside from its comic effects, Cunegondes name discloses Voltaires concern inCandide to promote the quality of candour (the quality of being open and frank).Voltaires reliance of associations conjured up by her name is in keeping with herown frankness about the body. Also, it is suggested that during the course of her tribulations, Cunegonde hassometimes been reduced to a sexual plaything. Chapter 8: cunegondes story
Chapter 8 constitutes a flashback, in other words, it retells the events of Chapters2 to 7 from the perspective of Cunegonde. As such, it inserts into the tale afeminine point of view. Cunegonde recounts her story in Lisbon, which gives Voltaire a chance to portraythe injustices meted out in this traditionalist Catholic society on 4 minorities:women, Protestants. Intellectuals, and Jews. Chapter 8: cunegondes story
Cunegondes candour is also directed at Voltaires philosophical targets, and indirect contrast to Doctor Ralph, Cunegonde concludes from her awful experiencesthat Pangloss is utterly wrong: Pangloss deceived me cruelly, after all, when hetold me that all is for the best in this world (P. 21). Doctor ralphs versus cunegondes narrations: the French translation
The contrast between Doctor Ralphs and Cunegondes narrations can be furtherappreciated if we pause to examine more closely the translation of Cunegondesstory from the French. Cunegondes straightforwardness is quite beyond the nave Candide: when hehears about the blow on her thigh delivered by her assailant, he tells her with asort of flustered self-consciousness that one day he would very much like to inspectthis wound, or rather the mark of the wound (p. 19). Doctor ralphs versus cunegondes narrations: the French translation
The French original is instructive, since both blow (coup) and thigh (flane) aremasculine nouns, whereas mark (marque) is feminine. The gendered syntax makesit clear it is something feminine and intimate that Candide confusedly wishes tosee. (For other examples, read pages 186/7 from the book) Voltaires tone 1. the old woman (P. 27/8)
In the old womans story, the man lying on top of her has been an Italian castrato(a male singer castrated at puberty to preserve the quality of his treble voice intoadulthood). In the 18th century, such professional singers were much prized in the opera housesof Naples: they earned considerable sums and were very popular with women.However, in this passage, Voltaire is not interested in expressing any sympathy forthe castrato, or any such complexities; he is only concerned to exploit the comicpotential of the scene. Voltaires prevailing tone here is comic, even at times, farcical. Voltaires tone 2. The dutch slave (P. 51/2)
Voltaires tone here is rather different. The slave recounts his sufferings, from his mother selling him on the coast ofGuinea, to his Dutch master in Surinam cutting off his right hand and left leg. The slaves African mother and his Dutch owner both benefit by his enslavement,but the slave declares himself to be a thousand times more miserable than dogs,monkeys, and parrots. The impact of the encounter with the slave upon Candide is profound, as he cries:Oh Pangloss! This is one abomination you could not have anticipated, and I fear ithas finally done for me: I am giving up on your optimism after all! (P. 52) Voltaires tone 2. The dutch slave (P. 51/2)
Voltaires tone here is far from comic; instead his satire assumes a serious edge inorder to express unequivocally how much he loathes and abominates slavery. The female narrators, as well as the Dutch slave in Surinam, are not in the slightestbit delicate when it comes to telling people about the cruelties, perversities, andhumiliations that have been their lot. They tell their histories throughout withunflinching honesty and candour. Cacambos journey with candide to el dorado
In El Dorado, Cacambo translates all the exchanges with El Dorados inhabitantsfor Candide. The word El Dorado literally means The Man of Gold. By the 16thcentury, however, it had come to refer to something else: a legendary country inthe far hinterland of South America where gold was as common as any other rock. We now know this place to have been utterly mythical and its seekers to havebeen deluded. But it is not difficult to see how this opulent fairyland had welledup from the Western imagination. In the 16th and 17th centuries, many galleonsladen with artefacts had made their way eastwards across the Atlantic towardsSpain or Portugal leading people to suppose this story was real. In the 18thcentury, the myth was not quite dead. El Dorado After reading some parts of Chapter 18 related to the interview with the 172- year-old man, the reception at court, and Candide and Cacambos decision to leave the country and return to Europe (P ), answer the following questions: 1) Why in a work dedicated to the proposition that perfection is impossible should Voltaire have inserted an episode set in an environment that seemingly satisfies the most luxurious dreams of most people? 2) Why, having established this haven of affluence, should Voltaire cause his footsore travelers to head back to the continent that caused most of their dissatisfaction in the first place? El Dorado 1) With regard to the first question, the chapter amounts to a critique of value inwhich the ethical and material standards of the visitors are played off againstthose of their hosts. The old man lives in a modest house, the door of which is merely of silver andthe paneling in the apartment merely of gold (P. 46). This sounds like irony, but itis only so in the eyes of the reader and of Candide and Cacambo, to the oldman, the house really is modest. El Dorado Those who live in this earthly Paradise are quite unaware of this fact, though theyare also conscious of the unseemly and irrational effects that rumours of their landhave had on the minds of outsiders. The effect from the readers point of view is to bring into question the wholesubject of value. El Dorado 2) With regard to the second question, Candide and Cacambo are subliminallyaware of the unreality of the place they have stumbled upon and are soon anxiousto leave it. They head for the smoke and the stress. There is, however, another far more cynical reason for their departure: the untoldwealth around them is as valueless to them as it is to the native people, as long asit remains where it is, if, like the Spanish before them, they can arrange to take itaway, the situation would be very different. El Dorado Candide declares that if they leave El Dorado, we shall be richer than all thekings put together, we shall no longer have inquisitors to fear, and we shall easilyrescue Cunegonde (P. 49). According to the narrator, Cacambo was persuaded by Candides argument, andso they arranged to have some sheep loaded up with gold, and are winchedacross the mountains to the world beyond. The implication of Candides and Cacambos experience of El Dorado os thatthere are plenty of worlds that are better; they are just unrealizable. This then isUtopia; a perfect and a non-existent place. Zadig, or destiny Voltaire never travelled outside Europe, but Candide was not his first work set inan imagined East. In 1747, he had published Zadig, or Destiny. Its setting was ancient Babylon, andits protagonist was the philosopher Zadig, who, faced with an inexorable tyranny,ends by developing a questioning attitude to absolute authority and to fate. Destin: fate in Voltaires philosophical dictionary (p. 116-17)
Obedient to the dictionary convention of beginning with classical precedents,Voltaire opens his entry with a discussion of how Homer understood the meaningof fate. Modern philosophers, he continues, agree that all events are governed byimmutable laws, and he proceeds to give several examples of how the strictapplication of this axiom leads to absurd conclusions. With heavy irony, he then discloses his own view by quoting first unnamed idiots,who say that My doctor saved my aunt from a fatal illness, he made her live 10years longer. Destin: fate in Voltaires philosophical dictionary (p. 116-17)
Then, one of the other idiots argues, Fortune is nothing, it is adored in vain.Voltaire does not stop at the ironic use of the abusive term idiots to reveal hisown beliefs, his irony extends to all the authorities he cites in his entry. If there is a pattern, it is that conventionally acclaimed authorities such asprofound statesmen and the philosopher produce arguments at odds withVoltaires ideas, whereas the conventionally disregarded opinions of idiots and apeasant give expression to arguments in accord with Voltaires views. Voltaire concludes the entry by insisting that it is our fate to be subject toprejudices and to passions. Fatalism of the east One of the most deeply rooted perceptions present in the 18th century Europeanmind was that a stubborn belief in fate or destiny was a characteristic of thepeoples of the Orient. In the minds of Voltaire and his contemporaries, suchdespotic regimes in such places were aided and abetted by the inherent fatalismof the East. Fatalism of the east: Edward Said
Edward Said argues in his well-known study Orientalism (1978) that during thecenturies when the cultures of the West had predatory designs on the lands of theEast, a belief in oriental passivity and fatalism served as a useful adjunct to theseplans of acquisition. Peoples who were temperamentally pessimistic were, it wasinferred, easily dominated, by their own rulers or by outsiders. In the West, it wassupposed, men and women were more likely to believe in freedom of choice andwere therefore more inclined to resist tyranny. Chapter 30: the dervish & his philosophy
- Voltaires attitude here is that of relativism. The Dervish-philosopher is great, butmainly in the eyes of his disciples. He is quite detached from the world and advisesCandide and his band to withdraw from the world too: in reply to Panglosssquestion So what must we do?, he says, Keep your mouth shut (P. 92). Theinterview concludes with the Dervish-philosopher slamming the door in Panglosssface. Chapter 30: the old man and his philosophy
- The old man on the farm also expressed a detached attitude towards themachinations of powerful people in the big city: I never enquire about what doeson in Constantinople (P. 92), he declares. But if both these machinations and hisindifference to them are predestined, who are Candide and Pangloss to object? Asa matter of fact, they do not object, but retire to their own garden and do likewise. Chapter 30: pangloss & his arguments
Pangloss considers everything that has happened to be confirmation of his creed,even though the disappointments he and his companions have endured contradictit. Panglosss last statement is a triumphant re-assertion of his belief system towhich he has remained true through all manner of adversity. But notice that Candide makes no attempt to contradict him; instead, he remarksThat is well said, before going on to express his own hard-won pragmaticnostrum., but we must cultivate our garden (P. 94) Chapter 30 In this last chapter of Candide, Voltaire is therefore trying to see the idea ofdestiny from several points of view. These include not only different schools ofphilosophy, but also the perspectives on this common problem adopted bydifferent cultures, Eastern and Western. Chapter 30: Think? Have they then succumbed to Eastern fatalism?
Have Candide and his companions found minimal fulfilment at last, or have theysimply stopped trying, something that Voltaire himself never did? These are paradoxes that Voltaire quite deliberately refrains from solving for us. AsVoltaire very well knows, you cannot have it both ways; you cannot believe infreedom and fate at the same time. Or can you? The ending As far as the ending is concerned, we should not ignore the possibility that, at apractical level, Voltaire was commending gardening as a therapeutic solace.Gardens are pleasant places, and Voltaire was fond of his own. Another world very familiar to Voltaire, which is described in Candide with muchless affection, is that of books and publishing. For Voltaire, the candid response, it seems, is to work or sit in your garden, with abook or without one.