Candide Voltaire ISBN: 0553211668 - Essay Example

Voltaire’s Use of Humor in “Candide.” Voltaire’s novel, “Candide,” is a satire which mocks philosophy, religion and love: in short, life. The eponymous protagonist is a young man who falls in love with Cunegonde, a woman of a higher social class. The narrative follows Candide on his travels through Europe, South America and England, where he meets with a succession of misfortunes as he refuses to give up on his love. Finally, Candide is reunited with Cunegonde and settles down to a secluded life on a small farm.

The major part of the story is devoted to an unending string of misfortunes. In spite of this, “Candide” is one of the funniest works in literature. Voltaire effectively uses humor, irony and exaggeration to make his points. Voltaire uses direct humor to poke fun at his stereotypical characters and, through them, at the times and society. The Baron’s name, Thunder-ten-Tronckh, is a comical take on society’s obsession with wealth and social class: the “thunder” suggests empty bombast, while the “ten-Tronckh” implies wealth.

The Baroness is a rib-tickling “three hundred and fifty pounds” (I-1). This obesity is a humorous dig at wealth and conspicuous consumption. Voltaire drolly describes Dr. Pangloss’s dalliance with the maid as “giving a lesson in experimental natural philosophy” (I-7).  Candide’s mother refuses to marry his father because his lineage is not equal to her own. Again, the young Baron rants, “you have the impudence to marry my sister who has seventy-two quarterings!” (XV-6). Here, Voltaire pokes fun at the undue importance given to ancestry.

Voltaire uses irony to emphasize his satirical attack on the philosophy and religion of his times. Pangloss ruthlessly prevents Candide from trying to save James the Anabaptist and reasons “that the Bay of Lisbon had been made on purpose for the Anabaptist to be drowned” (V-1). When they reach land after the shipwreck, Pangloss is more interested in expounding on the philosophy of reason than in providing food for the suffering Candide. In the wake of the devastating earthquake which kills 30,000 people, the Lisbon authorities “could think of no means more effectual to prevent utter ruin than to give the people a beautiful auto-da-fé” (VI-1).

The irony of this is that “beautiful” connotes imprisonment, flogging, burning and hanging. All this torture is preceded by a “very pathetic sermon” (VI-2) and Candide is whipped in cadence to church music. To top it all, the auto-da-fé is no barrier to ruin: a second earthquake strikes Lisbon immediately after it. Voltaire incorporates exaggeration into his narration with the use of superlatives. Dr. Pangloss, the embodiment of the philosophy of optimism, holds that this is the “best of all possible worlds” (I-4).

Everything is portrayed in superlatives: “the Barons castle was the most magnificent of castles, and his lady the best of all possible Baronesses” (I-4). In truth, the Baron’s castle is filled with class prejudice and his lady is revoltingly obese. In this best of all worlds, the Bulgars and the Abars indulge in a brutal carnage, and Candide meets with trouble after trouble. Voltaire mocks the Jesuits of Paraguay through Cacambo, who says, “there the Fathers possess all, and the people nothing; it is a masterpiece of reason and justice” (XIX-9).

The servant’s exaggerated praise makes a point about the covetousness of religion. Voltaire skilfully use humor in “Candide” to make his points. His narrative is a satire which uses humor, irony and exaggeration to ridicule and expose the prejudices and false optimism of the times. Voltaire mocks the philosophy of optimism with a catalogue of suffering; he ridicules social class with comic stereotypes; he criticizes religion with its cruel inquisition and the greed of its clerics. Voltaire is such a skilled writer that, even when the reader is faced with cruelty, stupidity and a progression of disasters, the humor of the narrative stands out.

It is Voltaire’s use of humor which characterizes “Candide” and makes it an enduring classic. Works Cited.Voltaire. Candide. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.