A History of Voltaire’s Candide

Candide, is a philosophical book by Voltaire published in Geneva in January 1759. It was reissued twenty times the lifetime of Voltaire making it one of the most successful French literary works.

Candide was first published anonymously in 1759, Candide was then attributed to a “Mr. Doctor Ralph” in 1761, following the reshuffle of the text by Voltaire. This title immediately give the tone to the reader who might hesitate about the structure of the work. The author took an early line stance against the nobility and titles. And what about the name of the so-called Dr. Ralph? Nothing more than an onomatopoeia that leaves no doubt about the tone of this work . Ironic if this work from the front lines, leaves no doubt about the origin of the author, who must be a part of the Enlightenment. And then to think of Voltaire, the dean of Philosophers, for the reader of the eighteenth century, there is only one clear person who could have written Candide.

The word “candid” comes from the Latin candidus meaning white: one of possible interpretations of the name is an expression of innocence or naivety of the character.

At that time, Voltaire lived in the property of Delights in Geneva, a real “palace of a philosopher with the gardens of Epicurus”. Two recent events had shaken Europe the Lisbon earthquake of November 1755 and the beginning of the Seven Years War which inspired Voltaire to say: “Almost the entire history is a series of useless atrocities ” (Essay on the general history, 1756).

Having sent his poem about the disaster of Lisbon to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the latter replied with a letter in which he seeks to justify the divine providence, which Voltaire strongly doubts after these events. He claims, in the ninth book of his Confessions, the philosophical novel Candide is the answer to this letter, a reply that Voltaire had promised while the adjournment.

Voltaire had his royal privileges withdrawn by a sentence imposed by the Parliament of Paris. Voltaire therefore found with Candide, a way to continue the ideals of the Enlightenment. But also amply achieved, given the success of this book, instead of reaching a wealthy elite and educated as did the Encyclopedia, he affected nearly all scholars.

Since his retirement to Switzerland Voltaire travels the globe with his imagination. Gradually, he drew some lines in a symbolic Berlin and Germany in the north, Peru to the west, south Venice, Constantinople in the East. They are already the main sites of the tale, the main stages of the journey of Candide. Germany, for example, is bound by the same despotism to Turkey and South America by the German Jesuit who wages war in Paraguay. Paths are now drawn and the characters can take the road.

Some critics have seen the main character as the embodiment of the naivety of the author himself. The baron, with the unpronounceable name, symbolizes the German nobility, while the “king of the Bulgarians” is Frederick II. Voltaire, who believed in the defeat of his former protector, takes his naive consciousness. The story would be a revenge for the humiliation he faced from the king of Prussia in 1753. Voltaire makes reference to Frederick II who he calls the “King of the Bulgarians” and makes mention of his homosexuality that only those who had known Fredrick II knew about.

The staging of religious orders in Candide is rather remarkable. This is because the Jesuits, for whom he develops both a love and hate for, had raised Voltaire. Thus we find episodes such as: The hero Cunegonde’s brother who became a Jesuit.

Voltaire is a complex work. It is easy to read as a comedy but if you take the time to learn about the whole work you can see how complex the whole story is.

Works Cited:

Aldridge, Alfred Owen (1975). Voltaire and the Century of Light. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Ayer, A.J. (1986). Voltaire. New York City: Random House.

Frédéric Deloffre, Les secrets de fabrication de Candide.

Jean-Louis Peaucelle, Adam Smith et la division du travail, la naissance d’une idée fausse, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2007.