Candide
Publisher | 1759: Cramer, Marc-Michel Rey, Jean Nourse, Lambert, and others |
---|---|
Publication date | January 1759[3][4] |
Candide, ou l'Optimisme (
Candide is characterized by its tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious coming-of-age narrative (bildungsroman), it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.[9] As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so does Candide in this short theological novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Through Candide, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.[10][11]
Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition, and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naivety.[10] However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is considered Voltaire's magnum opus[10] and is often listed as part of the Western canon. It is among the most frequently taught works of French literature.[12] The British poet and literary critic Martin Seymour-Smith listed Candide as one of the 100 most influential books ever written.
Historical and literary background
A number of historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide, most notably the publication of Leibniz's "
Voltaire actively rejected Leibnizian optimism after the natural disaster, convinced that if this were the best possible world, it should surely be better than it is.[15] In both Candide and Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne ("Poem on the Lisbon Disaster"), Voltaire attacks this optimist belief.[14] He makes use of the Lisbon earthquake in both Candide and his Poème to argue this point, sarcastically describing the catastrophe as one of the most horrible disasters "in the best of all possible worlds".[16] Immediately after the earthquake, unreliable rumours circulated around Europe, sometimes overestimating the severity of the event. Ira Wade, a noted expert on Voltaire and Candide, has analyzed which sources Voltaire might have referenced in learning of the event. Wade speculates that Voltaire's primary source for information on the Lisbon earthquake was the 1755 work Relation historique du Tremblement de Terre survenu à Lisbonne by Ange Goudar.[17]
Apart from such events, contemporaneous stereotypes of the German personality may have been a source of inspiration for the text, as they were for
A satirical and parodic precursor of Candide, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) is one of Candide's closest literary relatives. This satire tells the story of "a gullible ingenue", Gulliver, who (like Candide) travels to several "remote nations" and is hardened by the many misfortunes which befall him. As evidenced by similarities between the two books, Voltaire probably drew upon Gulliver's Travels for inspiration while writing Candide.[19] Other probable sources of inspiration for Candide are Télémaque (1699) by François Fénelon and Cosmopolite (1753) by Louis-Charles Fougeret de Monbron. Candide's parody of the bildungsroman is probably based on Télémaque, which includes the prototypical parody of the tutor on whom Pangloss may have been partly based. Likewise, Monbron's protagonist undergoes a disillusioning series of travels similar to those of Candide.[2][20][21]
Creation
Born François-Marie Arouet, Voltaire (1694–1778), by the time of the Lisbon earthquake, was already a well-established author, known for his satirical wit. He had been made a member of the
It is unknown exactly when Voltaire wrote Candide,
There is only one extant manuscript of Candide that was written before the work's 1759 publication; it was discovered in 1956 by Wade and since named the La Vallière Manuscript. It is believed to have been sent, chapter by chapter, by Voltaire to the Duke and Duchess La Vallière in the autumn of 1758.[4] The manuscript was sold to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in the late eighteenth century, where it remained undiscovered for almost two hundred years.[32] The La Vallière Manuscript, the most original and authentic of all surviving copies of Candide, was probably dictated by Voltaire to his secretary, Jean-Louis Wagnière, then edited directly.[29][33] In addition to this manuscript, there is believed to have been another, one copied by Wagnière for the Elector Charles-Théodore, who hosted Voltaire during the summer of 1758. The existence of this copy was first postulated by Norman L. Torrey in 1929. If it exists, it remains undiscovered.[29][34]
Voltaire published Candide simultaneously in five countries no later than 15 January 1759, although the exact date is uncertain.[4][35] Seventeen versions of Candide from 1759, in the original French, are known today, and there has been great controversy over which is the earliest.[4] More versions were published in other languages: Candide was translated once into Italian and thrice into English that same year.[3] The complicated science of calculating the relative publication dates of all of the versions of Candide is described at length in Wade's article "The First Edition of Candide: A Problem of Identification". The publication process was extremely secretive, probably the "most clandestine work of the century", because of the book's obviously illicit and irreverent content.[36] The greatest number of copies of Candide were published concurrently in Geneva by Cramer, in Amsterdam by Marc-Michel Rey, in London by Jean Nourse, and in Paris by Lambert.[36]
Candide underwent one major revision after its initial publication, in addition to some minor ones. In 1761, a version of Candide was published that included, along with several minor changes, a major addition by Voltaire to the twenty-second chapter, a section that had been thought weak by the Duke of Vallière.[37] The English title of this edition was Candide, or Optimism, Translated from the German of Dr. Ralph. With the additions found in the Doctor's pocket when he died at Minden, in the Year of Grace 1759.[38] The last edition of Candide authorised by Voltaire was the one included in Cramer's 1775 edition of his complete works, known as l'édition encadrée, in reference to the border or frame around each page.[39][40]
Voltaire strongly opposed the inclusion of
Je crois que des Estampes seraient fort inutiles. Ces colifichets n'ont jamais été admis dans les éditions de Cicéron, de Virgile et d'Horace. (I believe that these illustrations would be quite useless. These baubles have never been allowed in the works of Cicero, Virgil and Horace.)[41]
Despite this protest, two sets of illustrations for Candide were produced by the French artist
List of characters
Main characters
- Candide: The title character. The illegitimate son of the sister of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh. In love with Cunégonde.
- Cunégonde: The daughter of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh. In love with Candide.
- Professor Pangloss: The royal educator of the court of the baron. Described as "the greatest philosopher of the Holy Roman Empire".
- The Old Woman: Cunégonde's maid while she is the mistress of Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal. Flees with Candide and Cunégonde to the New World. Illegitimate daughter of Pope Urban X.
- Cacambo: Born from a Mestizo father and an Indigenous mother. Lived half his life in Spain and half in Latin America. Candide's valet while in America.
- Martin: Dutch amateur philosopher and Manichaean. Meets Candide in Suriname, travels with him afterwards.
- The Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh: Brother of Cunégonde. Is seemingly killed by the Bulgarians, but becomes a Jesuitin Paraguay. Disapproves of Candide and Cunégonde's marriage.
Secondary characters
- The baron and baroness of Thunder-ten-Tronckh: Father and mother of Cunégonde and the second baron. Both slain by the Bulgars.
- The king of the Bulgars: Frederick II
- Jacques the Anabaptist: Dutch manufacturer who takes Candide in after his escape from the Prussian Army. Drowns in the port of Lisbon after saving a sailor's life.
- Don Issachar: Jewish banker in Portugal. Cunégonde becomes his mistress, shared with the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal. Killed by Candide.
- The Grand Inquisitor of Portugal: Sentences Candide and Pangloss at the auto-da-fé. Cunégonde is his mistress jointly with Don Issachar. Killed by Candide.
- Don Fernando d'Ibarra y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza: Spanish governor of Buenos Aires. Wants Cunégonde as a mistress.
- The king of El Dorado, who helps Candide and Cacambo out of El Dorado, lets them pick gold from the grounds, and makes them rich.
- Mynheer Vanderdendur: Dutch ship captain/pirate and slave holder. Offers to take Candide from America to France for 30,000 gold coins, but then departs without him, stealing most of his riches. Dies after his ship sinks.
- The abbot of Périgord: Befriends Candide and Martin in the hopes of scamming them. Tries to have them arrested.
- The marchioness of Parolignac: Parisian wench who takes an elaborate title.
- The scholar: One of the guests of the "marchioness". Argues with Candide about art.
- Paquette: A chambermaid from Thunder-ten-Tronckh who gave Pangloss syphilis after getting it herself from her Franciscan confessor. After the slaying by the Bulgars, works as a prostitute in Venice and becomes entangled with Friar Giroflée.
- Friar Giroflée: Theatine friar. In love with the prostitute Paquette.
- Signor Pococurante: A Venetian noble. Candide and Martin visit his estate, where he discusses his disdain of most of the canon of great art.
- In an inn in Venice, Candide and Martin dine with six men who turn out to be deposed monarchs:
Synopsis
Candide contains thirty
Chapters I–X
The tale of Candide begins in the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh in
All is well in the castle until Cunégonde sees Pangloss sexually engaged with Paquette in some bushes. Encouraged by this show of affection, Cunégonde drops her handkerchief next to Candide, enticing him to kiss her. For this infraction, Candide is evicted from the castle, at which point he is captured by
In Lisbon's harbor, they are overtaken by a vicious storm which destroys the boat. Jacques attempts to save a sailor, and in the process is thrown overboard.[49] The sailor makes no move to help the drowning Jacques, and Candide is in a state of despair until Pangloss explains to him that Lisbon harbor was created in order for Jacques to drown. Only Pangloss, Candide, and the "brutish sailor" who let Jacques drown[50] survive the wreck and reach Lisbon, which is promptly hit by an earthquake, tsunami, and fire that kill tens of thousands. The sailor leaves in order to loot the rubble while Candide, injured and begging for help, is lectured on the optimistic view of the situation by Pangloss.
The next day, Pangloss discusses his optimistic philosophy with a member of the Portuguese Inquisition, and he and Candide are arrested for heresy, set to be tortured and killed in an "auto-da-fé" set up to appease God and prevent another disaster. Candide is flogged and sees Pangloss hanged, but another earthquake intervenes and he escapes. He is approached by an old woman,[51] who leads him to a house where Lady Cunégonde waits, alive. Candide is surprised: Pangloss had told him that Cunégonde had been raped and disemboweled. She had been, but Cunégonde points out that people survive such things. However, her rescuer sold her to a Jewish merchant, Don Issachar, who was then threatened by a corrupt Grand Inquisitor into sharing her (Don Issachar gets Cunégonde on Mondays, Wednesdays, and the sabbath day). Her owners arrive, find her with another man, and Candide kills them both. Candide and the two women flee the city, heading to the Americas.[52] Along the way, Cunégonde falls into self-pity, complaining of all the misfortunes that have befallen her.
Chapters XI–XX
The old woman reciprocates by revealing her own tragic life: born the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina, she was kidnapped and enslaved by Barbary pirates, witnessed violent civil wars in Morocco under the bloodthirsty king Moulay Ismaïl (during which her mother was drawn and quartered), suffered constant hunger, nearly died from a plague in Algiers, and had a buttock cut off to feed starving Janissaries during the Russian capture of Azov. After traversing all the Russian Empire, she eventually became a servant of Don Issachar and met Cunégonde.
The trio arrives in Buenos Aires, where Governor Don Fernando d'Ibarra y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza asks to marry Cunégonde. Just then, an alcalde (a Spanish magistrate) arrives, pursuing Candide for killing the Grand Inquisitor. Leaving the women behind, Candide flees to Paraguay with his practical and heretofore unmentioned manservant, Cacambo.
At a
Cacambo and Candide are captured by Oreillons, or Orejones; members of the
After a few more adventures, Candide and Cacambo wander into El Dorado, a geographically isolated utopia where the streets are covered with precious stones, there exist no priests, and all of the king's jokes are funny.[54] Candide and Cacambo stay a month in El Dorado, but Candide is still in pain without Cunégonde, and expresses to the king his wish to leave. The king points out that this is a foolish idea, but generously helps them do so. The pair continue their journey, now accompanied by one hundred red pack sheep carrying provisions and incredible sums of money, which they slowly lose or have stolen over the next few adventures.
Candide and Cacambo eventually reach Suriname where they split up: Cacambo travels to Buenos Aires to retrieve Lady Cunégonde, while Candide prepares to travel to Europe to await the two. Candide's remaining sheep are stolen, and Candide is fined heavily by a Dutch magistrate for petulance over the theft. Before leaving Suriname, Candide feels in need of companionship, so he interviews a number of local men who have been through various ill-fortunes and settles on a man named Martin.
Chapters XXI–XXX
This companion, Martin, is a
Candide and Martin visit the Lord Pococurante, a noble Venetian. That evening, Cacambo—now a slave—arrives and informs Candide that Cunégonde is in Constantinople. Prior to their departure, Candide and Martin dine with six strangers who had come for the Carnival of Venice. These strangers are revealed to be dethroned kings: the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III, Emperor Ivan VI of Russia, Charles Edward Stuart (an unsuccessful pretender to the English throne), Augustus III of Poland (deprived, at the time of writing, of his reign in the Electorate of Saxony due to the Seven Years' War), Stanisław Leszczyński, and Theodore of Corsica.
On the way to Constantinople, Cacambo reveals that Cunégonde—now horribly ugly—currently washes dishes on the banks of the
Candide, the baron, Pangloss, Martin, and Cacambo arrive at the banks of the Propontis, where they rejoin Cunégonde and the old woman. Cunégonde has indeed become hideously ugly, but Candide nevertheless buys their freedom and marries Cunégonde to spite her brother, who forbids Cunégonde from marrying anyone but a baron of the Empire (he is secretly sold back into slavery). Paquette and Brother Giroflée—having squandered their three thousand piastres—are reconciled with Candide on a small farm (une petite métairie) which he just bought with the last of his finances.
One day, the protagonists seek out a dervish known as a great philosopher of the land. Candide asks him why Man is made to suffer so, and what they all ought to do. The dervish responds by asking rhetorically why Candide is concerned about the existence of evil and good. The dervish describes human beings as mice on a ship sent by a king to Egypt; their comfort does not matter to the king. The dervish then slams his door on the group. Returning to their farm, Candide, Pangloss, and Martin meet a Turk whose philosophy is to devote his life only to simple work and not concern himself with external affairs. He and his four children cultivate a small area of land, and the work keeps them "free of three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty."[58] Candide, Pangloss, Martin, Cunégonde, Paquette, Cacambo, the old woman, and Brother Giroflée all set to work on this "commendable plan" (louable dessein) on their farm, each exercising his or her own talents. Candide ignores Pangloss's insistence that all turned out for the best by necessity, instead telling him "we must cultivate our garden" (il faut cultiver notre jardin).[58]
Style
As Voltaire himself described it, the purpose of Candide was to "bring amusement to a small number of men of wit".[2] The author achieves this goal by combining wit with a parody of the classic adventure-romance plot. Candide is confronted with horrible events described in painstaking detail so often that it becomes humorous. Literary theorist Frances K. Barasch described Voltaire's matter-of-fact narrative as treating topics such as mass death "as coolly as a weather report".[59] The fast-paced and improbable plot—in which characters narrowly escape death repeatedly, for instance—allows for compounding tragedies to befall the same characters over and over again.[60] In the end, Candide is primarily, as described by Voltaire's biographer Ian Davidson, "short, light, rapid and humorous".[10][61]
Behind the playful façade of Candide which has amused so many, there lies very harsh criticism of contemporary European civilization which angered many others. European governments such as France, Prussia, Portugal and England are each attacked ruthlessly by the author: the French and Prussians for the Seven Years' War, the Portuguese for their
Satire
The main method of Candide's satire is to contrast ironically great tragedy and comedy.[10] The story does not invent or exaggerate evils of the world—it displays real ones starkly, allowing Voltaire to simplify subtle philosophies and cultural traditions, highlighting their flaws.[60] Thus Candide derides optimism, for instance, with a deluge of horrible, historical (or at least plausible) events with no apparent redeeming qualities.[2][59]
A simple example of the satire of Candide is seen in the treatment of the historic event witnessed by Candide and Martin in Portsmouth harbour. There, the duo spy an anonymous admiral, supposed to represent John Byng, being executed for failing to properly engage a French fleet. The admiral is blindfolded and shot on the deck of his own ship, merely "to encourage the others" (French: pour encourager les autres, an expression Voltaire is credited with originating). This depiction of military punishment trivializes Byng's death. The dry, pithy explanation "to encourage the others" thus satirises a serious historical event in characteristically Voltairian fashion. For its classic wit, this phrase has become one of the more often quoted from Candide.[10][64]
Voltaire depicts the worst of the world and his pathetic hero's desperate effort to fit it into an optimistic outlook. Almost all of Candide is a discussion of various forms of evil: its characters rarely find even temporary respite. There is at least one notable exception: the episode of El Dorado, a fantastic village in which the inhabitants are simply rational, and their society is just and reasonable. The positivity of El Dorado may be contrasted with the pessimistic attitude of most of the book. Even in this case, the bliss of El Dorado is fleeting: Candide soon leaves the village to seek Cunégonde, whom he eventually marries only out of a sense of obligation.[2][59]
Another element of the satire focuses on what William F. Bottiglia, author of many published works on Candide, calls the "sentimental foibles of the age" and Voltaire's attack on them.
Garden motif
Gardens are thought by many critics to play a critical symbolic role in Candide. The first location commonly identified as a garden is the castle of the Baron, from which Candide and Cunégonde are evicted much in the same fashion as
These gardens are probably references to the Garden of Eden, but it has also been proposed, by Bottiglia, for example, that the gardens refer also to the
Philosophy
Optimism
Candide satirises various philosophical and religious theories that Voltaire had previously criticised. Primary among these is
Fundamental to Voltaire's attack is Candide's tutor Pangloss, a self-proclaimed follower of Leibniz and a teacher of his doctrine. Ridicule of Pangloss's theories thus ridicules Leibniz himself, and Pangloss's reasoning is silly at best. For example, Pangloss's first teachings of the narrative absurdly mix up cause and effect:
Il est démontré, disait-il, que les choses ne peuvent être autrement; car tout étant fait pour une fin, tout est nécessairement pour la meilleure fin. Remarquez bien que les nez ont été faits pour porter des lunettes; aussi avons-nous des lunettes.
It is demonstrable that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles.[76]
Following such flawed reasoning even more doggedly than Candide, Pangloss defends optimism. Whatever their horrendous fortune, Pangloss reiterates "all is for the best" ("Tout est pour le mieux") and proceeds to "justify" the evil event's occurrence. A characteristic example of such theodicy is found in Pangloss's explanation of why it is good that syphilis exists:
c'était une chose indispensable dans le meilleur des mondes, un ingrédient nécessaire; car si Colomb n'avait pas attrapé dans une île de l'Amérique cette maladie qui empoisonne la source de la génération, qui souvent même empêche la génération, et qui est évidemment l'opposé du grand but de la nature, nous n'aurions ni le chocolat ni la cochenille;
it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus had not caught in an island in America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had neither chocolate nor cochineal.[50]
Candide, the impressionable and incompetent student of Pangloss, often tries to justify evil, fails, invokes his mentor and eventually despairs. It is by these failures that Candide is painfully cured (as Voltaire would see it) of his optimism.
This critique of Voltaire's seems to be directed almost exclusively at Leibnizian optimism. Candide does not ridicule Voltaire's contemporary Alexander Pope, a later optimist of slightly different convictions. Candide does not discuss Pope's optimistic principle that "all is right", but Leibniz's that states, "this is the best of all possible worlds". However subtle the difference between the two, Candide is unambiguous as to which is its subject. Some critics conjecture that Voltaire meant to spare Pope this ridicule out of respect, although Voltaire's Poème may have been written as a more direct response to Pope's theories. This work is similar to Candide in subject matter, but very different from it in style: the Poème embodies a more serious philosophical argument than Candide.[77]
Conclusion
The conclusion of the novel, in which Candide finally dismisses his tutor's optimism, leaves unresolved what philosophy the protagonist is to accept in its stead. This element of Candide has been written about voluminously, perhaps above all others. The conclusion is enigmatic and its analysis is contentious.[78]
Voltaire develops no formal, systematic philosophy for the characters to adopt.[79] The conclusion of the novel may be thought of not as a philosophical alternative to optimism, but as a prescribed practical outlook (though what it prescribes is in dispute). Many critics have concluded that one minor character or another is portrayed as having the right philosophy. For instance, a number believe that Martin is treated sympathetically, and that his character holds Voltaire's ideal philosophy—pessimism. Others disagree, citing Voltaire's negative descriptions of Martin's principles and the conclusion of the work in which Martin plays little part.[80]
Within debates attempting to decipher the conclusion of Candide lies another primary Candide debate. This one concerns the degree to which Voltaire was advocating a pessimistic philosophy, by which Candide and his companions give up hope for a better world. Critics argue that the group's reclusion on the farm signifies Candide and his companions' loss of hope for the rest of the human race. This view is to be compared to a reading that presents Voltaire as advocating a melioristic philosophy and a precept committing the travellers to improving the world through metaphorical gardening. This debate, and others, focuses on the question of whether or not Voltaire was prescribing passive retreat from society, or active industrious contribution to it.[81]
Inside vs. outside interpretations
Separate from the debate about the text's conclusion is the "inside/outside" controversy. This argument centers on the matter of whether or not Voltaire was actually prescribing anything. Roy Wolper, professor emeritus of English, argues in a revolutionary 1969 paper that Candide does not necessarily speak for its author; that the work should be viewed as a narrative independent of Voltaire's history; and that its message is entirely (or mostly) inside it. This point of view, the "inside", specifically rejects attempts to find Voltaire's "voice" in the many characters of Candide and his other works. Indeed, writers have seen Voltaire as speaking through at least Candide, Martin, and the Turk. Wolper argues that Candide should be read with a minimum of speculation as to its meaning in Voltaire's personal life. His article ushered in a new era of Voltaire studies, causing many scholars to look at the novel differently.[82][83]
Critics such as Lester Crocker, Henry Stavan, and Vivienne Mylne find too many similarities between Candide's point of view and that of Voltaire to accept the "inside" view; they support the "outside" interpretation. They believe that Candide's final decision is the same as Voltaire's, and see a strong connection between the development of the protagonist and his author.[84] Some scholars who support the "outside" view also believe that the isolationist philosophy of the Old Turk closely mirrors that of Voltaire. Others see a strong parallel between Candide's gardening at the conclusion and the gardening of the author.[85] Martine Darmon Meyer argues that the "inside" view fails to see the satirical work in context, and that denying that Candide is primarily a mockery of optimism (a matter of historical context) is a "very basic betrayal of the text".[86][87]
Reception
De roman, Voltaire en a fait un, lequel est le résumé de toutes ses œuvres ... Toute son intelligence était une machine de guerre. Et ce qui me le fait chérir, c'est le dégoût que m'inspirent les voltairiens, des gens qui rient sur les grandes choses! Est-ce qu'il riait, lui? Il grinçait ...
— Flaubert, Correspondance, éd. Conard, II, 348; III, 219[88]
Voltaire made, with this novel, a résumé of all his works ... His whole intelligence was a war machine. And what makes me cherish it is the disgust which has been inspired in me by the Voltairians, people who laugh about the important things! Was he laughing? Voltaire? He was screeching ...
— Flaubert, Correspondance, éd. Conard, II, 348; III, 219[88]
Though Voltaire did not openly admit to having written the controversial Candide until 1768 (until then he signed with a pseudonym: "Monsieur le docteur Ralph", or "Doctor Ralph"[89]), his authorship of the work was hardly disputed.[90][a]
Immediately after publication, the work and its author were denounced by both secular and religious authorities, because the book openly derides government and church alike. It was because of such polemics that Omer-Louis-François Joly de Fleury, who was
Despite much official indictment, soon after its publication, Candide's irreverent prose was being quoted. "Let us eat a Jesuit", for instance, became a popular phrase for its reference to a humorous passage in Candide.[92] By the end of February 1759, the Grand Council of Geneva and the administrators of Paris had banned Candide.[4] Candide nevertheless succeeded in selling twenty thousand to thirty thousand copies by the end of the year in more than twenty editions, making it a best seller. The Duke de La Vallière speculated near the end of January 1759 that Candide might have been the fastest-selling book ever.[90] In 1762, Candide was listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Roman Catholic Church's list of prohibited books.[4]
Bannings of Candide lasted into the twentieth century in the United States, where it has long been considered a seminal work of Western literature. At least once, Candide was temporarily barred from entering America: in February 1929, a US customs official in Boston prevented a number of copies of the book, deemed "obscene",[93] from reaching a Harvard University French class. Candide was admitted in August of the same year; however by that time the class was over.[93] In an interview soon after Candide's detention, the official who confiscated the book explained the office's decision to ban it, "But about 'Candide,' I'll tell you. For years we've been letting that book get by. There were so many different editions, all sizes and kinds, some illustrated and some plain, that we figured the book must be all right. Then one of us happened to read it. It's a filthy book".[94][95][96]
Legacy
Candide is the most widely read of Voltaire's many works,
Some twentieth-century novels that may have been influenced by Candide are some
Readers of Candide often compare it with certain works of the modern genre the
The American alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang refer to Candide in their song "Take the Long Way Home", from the American edition of their 1999 album Hooray for Boobies.
Derivative works
In 1760, one year after Voltaire published Candide, a sequel was published with the name
Candide was adapted for the radio anthology program On Stage in 1953. Richard Chandlee wrote the script; Elliott Lewis, Cathy Lewis, Edgar Barrier, Byron Kane, Jack Kruschen, Howard McNear, Larry Thor, Martha Wentworth, and Ben Wright performed.[109]
The operetta
Candido, ovvero un sogno fatto in Sicilia (1977) or simply Candido is a book by Leonardo Sciascia. It was at least partly based on Voltaire's Candide, although the actual influence of Candide on Candido is a hotly debated topic. A number of theories on the matter have been proposed. Proponents of one say that Candido is very similar to Candide, only with a happy ending; supporters of another claim that Voltaire provided Sciascia with only a starting point from which to work, that the two books are quite distinct.[113][114]
The BBC produced a television adaptation in 1973, with Ian Ogilvy as Candide, Emrys James as Dr. Pangloss, and Frank Finlay as Voltaire himself, acting as the narrator.[115]
Nedim Gürsel wrote his 2001 novel Le voyage de Candide à Istanbul about a minor passage in Candide during which its protagonist meets Ahmed III, the deposed Turkish sultan. This chance meeting on a ship from Venice to Istanbul is the setting of Gürsel's book.[116] Terry Southern, in writing his popular novel Candy with Mason Hoffenberg adapted Candide for a modern audience and changed the protagonist from male to female. Candy deals with the rejection of a sort of optimism which the author sees in women's magazines of the modern era; Candy also parodies pornography and popular psychology. This adaptation of Candide was adapted for the cinema by director Christian Marquand in 1968.[117]
In addition to the above, Candide was made into a number of minor films and theatrical adaptations throughout the twentieth century. For a list of these, see Voltaire: Candide ou L'Optimisme et autres contes (1989) with preface and commentaries by Pierre Malandain.[118]
In May 2009, a play titled Optimism, based on Candide, opened at the
See also
- Candide ou l'optimisme au XXe siècle (film, 1960)
- List of French-language authors
- Cannibalism in popular culture
- Pollyanna
Explanatory notes
- ^ Will Durant in The Age of Voltaire:
It was published early in 1759 as Candide, ou l'optimisme, purportedly "translated from the German of Dr. Ralph, with additions found in the pocket of the Doctor when he died at Minden." The Great Council of Geneva almost at once (March 5) ordered it to be burned. Of course Voltaire denied his authorship: "people must have lost their senses," he wrote to a friendly pastor in Geneva, "to attribute to me that pack of nonsense. I have, thank God, better occupations." But France was unanimous: no other man could have written Candide. Here was that deceptively simple, smoothly flowing, lightly prancing, impishly ironic prose that only he could write; here and there a little obscenity, a little scatology; everywhere a playful, darting, lethal irreverence; if the style is the man, this had to be Voltaire.[91]
References
Citations
- ^ Wootton (2000), p. 1
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Aldridge (1975), pp. 251–254
- ^ a b Davidson (2005), pp. 52–53
- ^ a b c d e f Williams (1997), pp. 1–3
- ^ "Candide". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ Candide, ou L'optimisme , traduit de l'allemand de M. le docteur Ralph (1 ed.). 1759. Retrieved 27 May 2015. via Gallica
- ^ Critical Survey of Short Fiction (2001)
- ^ "Pangloss".
- ^ Mason (1992), p. 10
- ^ a b c d e f g Davidson (2005), p. 54
- ^ a b c Aldridge (1975), p. 260
- ^ Waldinger (1987), p. ix
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. 88
- ^ a b Radner & Radner (1998), pp. 669–686
- ^ Mason (1992), p. 4
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. 93
- ^ Wade (1959b), pp. 88, 93
- ^ Grimmelshausen 1669.
- ^ Havens (1973), pp. 844–845
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. 296
- ^ Broome (1960), p. 510
- ^ Means (2006), pp. 1–3
- ^ Gopnik (2005)
- ^ McGhee (1943), pp. 438, 440
- ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 155
- ^ Mason (1970), pp. 19–35
- ^ Wade (1959a), p. 65
- ^ Torrey (1929), p. 446
- ^ a b c Wade (1956), pp. 3–4
- ^ Havens (1932), p. 225
- ^ Wade (1959b), pp. 145, 156
- ^ Rouillard (1962)
- ^ Wade (1957), p. 94
- ^ Torrey (1929), pp. 445–447
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. 182
- ^ a b Wade (1959a), pp. 63–88
- ^ Wade (1957), p. 96
- ^ Voltaire [1759] (1959)
- ^ Taylor (1979), p. 207
- ^ Williams (1997), p. 97
- ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 780
- ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 756
- ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 757
- ^ Bellhouse (2006), p. 769
- ^ Waldinger (1987), p. 23
- ^ Williams (1997), pp. 26–27
- ^ Beck (1999), p. 203
- ^ Leister (1985), pp. 32–33
- Mennonite Jan Luyken in Martyrs Mirror(1685).
- ^ a b Smollett (2008), Ch. 4. ("matelot furieux")
- ^ Ch. 7. ("la vieille")
- ^ a b c Ayer (1986), pp. 143–145
- ^ "Voltaire – Candide XVIII".
- ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 254
- ^ Wootton (2000), p. xvii
- ^ This is the most famous quote from the novel. See Alex Massie, Pour encourager les autres? Oui, monsieur... Archived 2014-01-08 at the Wayback Machine, The Spectator (31 July 2007).
- ^ Voltaire [1759] (1959), pp. 107–108
- ^ a b Voltaire [1759] (1959), p. 112,113
- ^ a b c Barasch (1985), p. 3
- ^ a b Starobinski (1976), p. 194
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. 133
- ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 255
- ^ a b Ayer (1986), p. 139
- ^ Havens (1973), p. 843
- ^ a b Bottiglia (1968), pp. 89–92
- ^ Vannini (2011), pp. 106–107
- ^ Wade (1959b), pp. 303–305
- ^ Waldinger (1987), p. 20
- ^ Readings on Candide (2001), p. 92
- ^ a b Bottiglia (1951), pp. 727, 731
- ^ Davidson (2005), p. 55
- ^ Scherr (1993)
- ^ Aldridge (1975), p. 258
- ^ Readings on Candide (2001), p. 121
- ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 720
- ^ Smollett (2008), Ch. 1
- ^ Aldridge (1975), pp. 251–254, 361
- ^ Leister (1985), p. 29
- ^ Bottiglia (1951), pp. 723–724
- ^ Bottiglia (1951), p. 726
- ^ Leister (1985), p. 26
- ^ Braun, Sturzer, Meyer (1988)
- ^ Wolper (1969), pp. 265–277
- ^ Bottiglia (1951), pp. 719–720
- ^ Braun, Sturzer & Meyer (1988), pp. 569–571
- ^ Braun, Sturzer & Meyer (1988), p. 574
- ^ Crocker (1971)
- ^ a b Voltaire [1759] (1931), p. vii
- ^ Wade (1959b), p. xiii
- ^ a b c d Mason (1992), pp. 13–15
- ^ Will Durant (1965). The Story of Civilization Volume 9:The Age of Voltaire. Simon&Schuster. p. 724.
- ^ Mason (1992), ch. 3
- ^ a b Haight (1970), p. 33
- ^ Hobbs (1930), p. 190
- ^ Bowerman (1931), p. 20
- ^ Boyer (2002), p. 209
- ^ a b Bottiglia (1959), pp. 247–248
- ^ Mason (1992), ch. 2
- ^ Britannica (2008)
- ^ Readings on Candide (2001), pp. 112–113
- ^ Kamrath (1991), pp. 5–14
- ^ Monty (2006), p. 5
- ^ Mason (1992), pp. 33, 37
- ^ Mason (1992), p. 98
- ^ Monty (2006), p. 151
- ^ Young, James D. (1988). Socialism Since 1889: A Biographical History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 91.
- ^ a b Astbury (2005), p. 503
- ^ Clark (1993), pp. VIII, IX
- OCLC 188535974.
- ^ Peyser (1987), p. 247
- ^ a b Peyser (1987), p. 248
- ^ Peyser (1987), pp. 249–251
- ^ Morrison (2002), p. 59
- ^ Burns (2000), p. 992
- ^ "Candide". Collections Search. British Film Institute. n.d. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ Hitchins (2002), p. 160
- ^ Silva (2000), pp. 784–785
- ^ Malandain (1989)
- ^ Boztas (2009)
General and cited sources
- ISBN 0-691-06287-0.
- Astbury, Kate (April 2005). "Candide, ou l'optimisme, seconde partie (1760) / Jean-François Marmontel: un intellectuel exemplaire au siècle des Lumières". Modern Language Review. 100 (2). Modern Humanities Research Association. EBSCO Accession Number 16763209.
- Ayer, A.J. (1986). Voltaire. New York City: Random House. ISBN 0-394-54798-5.
- Barasch, Frances K. (Winter 1985). "The Grotesque as a Comic Genre". Modern Language Studies. 15 (1): 3–11. JSTOR 3194413.
- Beck, Ervin (Summer 1999). "Voltaire's Candide". Explicator. 57 (4): 203–204. . EBSCO Accession Number 2336667.
- Bellhouse, Mary L. (December 2006). "Candide Shoots the Monkey Lovers: Representing Black Men in Eighteenth-Century French Visual Culture". Political Theory. 34 (6). Sage Publications: 756. S2CID 144392810.
- Bottiglia, William F. (September 1951). "Candide's Garden". PMLA. 66 (5): 718–733 [720]. S2CID 163821740.
- Bottiglia, William F. (1959). Besterman, Theodore (ed.). Voltaire's Candide: Analysis of a Classic. Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century. Vol. VII. Institut et Musee Voltaire. OCLC 185848340.
- Bottiglia, William F. (1968). Voltaire; a collection of critical essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall, Inc. OCLC 440167.
- Bowerman, George F. (1931). Censorship and the Public Library. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0-8369-0232-7.
- Boyer, Paul S. (2002). Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-17584-7.
- Boztas, Senay (2009). "Interview: Frank Woodley – Candide laughter". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- Braun, Theodore E. D. (March 1988). "Teaching Candide – A Debate". The French Review. 61 (4): 569–571. JSTOR 393842.
- Britannica (2008). "Great Books of the Western World: A Collection of the Greatest Writings in Western History" (PDF). Britannica. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- Broome, J. H. (1960). "Voltaire and Fougeret de Monbron a 'Candide' Problem Reconsidered". The Modern Language Review. 55 (4): 509–518. JSTOR 3721375.
- Burns, Jennefer (October 2000). "Telling tales about 'Impegno': Commitment and hindsight in Vittorini and Calvino". The Modern Language Review. 95 (4): 992–1006. JSTOR 3736629. Gale Document Number:A80191130.
- Crocker, Lester G. (Autumn 1971). "Professor Wolper's Interpretation of Candide". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 5 (1): 145–156.
- Davidson, Ian (2005). Voltaire in Exile. New York: Grove Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-8021-1791-0.
- Dawson, Deidre (January 1, 1986). "In Search of the Real Pangloss: The Correspondence of Voltaire with the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha". Yale French Studies (71 Men/Women of Letters): 93–112. JSTOR 2930024.
- Gopnik, Adam (2005). "Voltaire's Garden". New Yorker. 81 (3). Conde Nast Publications.
- Haight, Anne Lyon (1970). Banned Books: Informal Notes on Some Books Banned for Various Reasons at Various Times and in Various Places. R. R. Bowker. )
- Havens, George R. (April 1932). "The Composition of Voltaire's Candide". Modern Language Notes. 47 (4): 225–234. JSTOR 2913581.
- Havens, George R. (May 1973). "Some Notes on Candide". Modern Language Notes. 88 (4, French Issue): 841–847. JSTOR 2907412.
- Hitchins, Keith (Summer–Autumn 2002). "Le voyage de Candide à Istanbul". World Literature Today. 76 (3/4). JSTOR 40157767. EBSCO Accession Number 9209009.
- Hobbs, Perry (2 April 1930). "Dirty Hands: A Federal Customs Official Looks at Art". The New Republic.
- Kamrath, Mark L. (1991). "Brown and the Enlightenment: A study of the influence of Voltaire's Candide in Edgar Huntly". The American Transcendental Quarterly. 5 (1).
- Leister, Elizabeth Cooney (1985). Voltaire's Candide. Barron's book notes. Woodbury, NY: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. ISBN 0-8120-3505-4.
- Malandain, Pierre (1989). Voltaire: Candide ou L'Optimisme et autres contes. Pocket. ISBN 2-266-08266-3.
- Mason, H. T. (January 1970). "Voltaire's "Contes": An "État Présent"". The Modern Language Review. 65 (1): 19–35. JSTOR 3722784.
- Mason, Haydn (1992). Candide: Optimism Demolished. Twayne's Masterwork Studies. New York City: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-8085-8.
- McGhee, Dorothy M. (1943). "The "Conte Philosophique" Bridging a Century". PMLA. 58 (2). Modern Language Association: 438–449. S2CID 163776697.
- Means, Richard (2006). Voltaire: Background and Early Writing. Great Neck Publishing. ISBN 1429806540. EBSCOhost Accession Number: 19358655.
- Monty, Julie Anne. "Textualizing the Future: Godard, Rochefort, Beckett and Dystopian Discourse" (PDF). The University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- Morrison, Ian R. (January 2002). "Leonardo Sciascia's Candido and Voltaire's Candide". Modern Language Review. 97 (1): 59–71. S2CID 162092688. EBSCO Accession Number 6388910.
- Oxford Color French Dictionary Plus. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. 2004. p. 42. ISBN 0-19-860898-5.
- ISBN 0-688-04918-4.
- Radner, Daisie (October 1998). "Optimality in biology: Pangloss or Leibniz?". Monist. 81 (4): 669–686. JSTOR 27903615. EBSCO Accession Number 1713757.
- Rouillard, C. D. (November 1962). "Review of 'Voltaire and Candide: A Study in the Fusion of History, Art and Philosophy'". Modern Philology. 60 (2): 145–149. JSTOR 434858.
- Scherr, Arthur (Spring 1993). "Voltaire's 'Candide': a tale of women's equality". The Midwest Quarterly. 34 (3): 261–282. Thomson Gale Document Number A13877067.
- Silva, Edward T. (1974). "From Candide to Candy: Love's Labor Lost". Journal of Popular Culture. 8 (4): 783–791. ISSN 0022-3840. EBSCO Accession Number 1975201832.
- Smollett, Tobias (2008). "Candide". Wikisource, The Free Library. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- Starobinski, Jean (Summer 1976). "Sur le Style Philosophique de Candide". Comparative Literature. 28 (3): 193–200. JSTOR 1769217.
- Taylor, O. R.; Vercruysse, Jeroom (1979). "Review: Les Éditions encadrées des Œuvres de Voltaire de 1775". The Modern Language Review. 74 (1): 207. JSTOR 3726968.
- Torrey, Norman L. (November 1929). "The Date of Composition of Candide, and Voltaire's Corrections". Modern Language Notes. 44 (7): 445–447 [446]. JSTOR 2913558.
- Vannini, Giulio (2011). "Il Satyricon di Petronio nel Candide di Voltaire". Antike und Abendland. 57: 94–108. S2CID 170870726.
- Voltaire (1931) [1759]. Morize, André (ed.). Candide: ou, L'optimisme; édition critique avec une introd. et un commentaire par André Morize. Paris.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Voltaire (1959) [1759]. Bair, Lowell (ed.). Candide. translated by Lowell Bair ; with an appreciation by Andre Maurois ; illustrations by Sheilah Beckett. New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 0-553-21166-8.
- Wade, Ira O. (October 1956). "The La Vallière MS of Candide". The French Review. 30 (1).
- Wade, Ira O. (15 February 1957). "A Manuscript of Voltaire's Candide". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 101 (1): 93–105. JSTOR 985142.
- Wade, Ira O. (1959a). "The First Edition of Candide: A Problem of Identification". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. 20 (2): 63–88. OCLC 810544747.
- Wade, Ira O. (1959b). Voltaire and Candide: A Study in the Fusion of History, Art, and Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-8046-1688-4. Library of Congress number 59-11085.
- Waldinger, Renée (1987). Approaches to Teaching Voltaire's Candide. New York: The Modern Language Association of America. ISBN 0-87352-503-5.
- Walsh, Thomas (2001). Readings on Candide. Literary Companion to World Literature. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. ISBN 0-7377-0362-8.
- Williams, David (1997). Voltaire, Candide. Spain: Grand & Cutler Ltd. ISBN 0-7293-0395-0.
- Wolper, Roy S. (Winter 1969). "Candide, Gull in the Garden?". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 3 (2): 265–277. JSTOR 2737575.
- Wootton, David (2000). Candide and Related Texts. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 0-87220-547-9.
- OCLC 22567416.
Further reading
- Adorno, Theodor W. (1970). Redmond, Dennis (ed.). Negative Dialectics. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag. ISBN 0-7456-3510-5. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- Betts, C. J. (April 1985). "On the Beginning and Ending of Candide". The Modern Language Review. 80 (2): 283–292. JSTOR 3728661.
- Cates, David Allan. "Comparing Candide and X Out of Wonderland" (PDF). XOutofWonderland.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Gullace, Giovanni (1985). Il Candide nel pensiero di Voltaire. Napoli: Società editrice napoletana.
- Gullette, Cameron C. (December 1934). "Fanfluche – Cousin of Candide". The French Review. 8 (2): 93–107.
- Henry, Patrick (Spring 1977). "Travel in Candide: Moving On But Going Nowhere". Papers on Language & Literature. 13 (2): 193–197. ISSN 0031-1294. EBSCO Accession Number 7728974.
- Henry, Patrick (Winter 1977). "Time in Candide". Studies in Short Fiction. 14 (1): 86–88. ISSN 0039-3789. EBSCO Accession Number 7150968.
- Henry, Patrick (Spring 1977). "Working in Candide's Garden". Studies in Short Fiction. 14 (2): 183–184. ISSN 0039-3789. EBSCO Accession Number 7153217.
- Henry, Patrick (1987). "Contre Barthes". Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century. 249. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- Howells, R. J. (April 1985). "'Cette Boucherie Héroïque': Candide as Carnival". The Modern Language Review. 80 (2): 293–303. JSTOR 3728662.
- Kirby, David (Summer 1993). "The new Candide or what I learned in the theory wars". Virginia Quarterly Review. 69 (3): 393–407. ISSN 0042-675X. EBSCO Accession Number 9308316577.
- Lynch, James J. (January 1985). "Romance Conventions in Voltaire's Candide". JSTOR 3199529.
- Marsh, Leonard (Spring 2004). "Voltaire's Candide". Explicator. 62 (3): 144–146. S2CID 162339127. EBSCO Accession Number 13275608.
- Oake, Roger B.; Wade, Ira O. (Spring 1961). "Review of "Voltaire and Candide"". Comparative Literature. 13 (2): 176–178. JSTOR 1768579.
- Scherr, Arthur (Winter 2001). "Voltaire's Candide". Explicator. 59 (2): 74–76. S2CID 162381012. EBSCO Accession Number 4423176.
- Sturm, Mary J.; Parsell, David B. (2001). Critical Survey of Short Fiction (Second Revised ed.). Salem Press, Inc. ISBN 0-89356-006-5. EBSCO Accession Number MOL0120000549.
External links
Sister project links
- Voltaire (1759). Wikisource. . Translated by Tobias Smollett – via
- Voltaire. Wikisource. (in French) – via
Editions
- Candide at Standard Ebooks
- Candide at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)
- Candide at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
- Candide public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- Candide (original version) with 2200+ English annotations at Tailored Texts
- Candide, ou l'optimisme, traduit de l'allemand. De Mr. le Docteur Ralph, 1759.
- La Vallière Manuscript at http://gallica.bnf.fr.
Miscellaneous
- Candide: Illustrations of a classic, bibliography of illustrated editions, list of available electronic editions and more useful information from Trier University Library
- Voltaire's Candide, a public wiki dedicated to Candide
- Brief Bibliography for the Study of Candide, issued by the Voltaire Society of America
- Podcast lecture on Candide, from Dr Martin Evans at Stanford University, via iTunes