Candides Journey To follow Candides journey click on

Candide’s Journey To follow Candide’s journey, click on each white circle on the map. Information pertaining to the place and Voltaire will appear. Once you are finished reading the information and would like to move on, click the red X. Begin the journey in Germany.

Candide’s Journey Westphaila, start here

Candide’s Journey Westphalia, Germany. Voltaire, a Frenchman, specifically chooses to begin Candide’s journey in Germany because this is his satirical focus. Europeans frequently ridicule other nations. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Prussia Voltaire comments on the army’s recruiting techniques and the absurdity of recruiting. The war between the Bulgars and the Abares is an allusion to the Seven Years War but can universally represent any war. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Holland Voltaire is satirizing religious hypocrisy with the inclusion of Jacques and the return of Pangloss. Voltaire worked as a secretary to the French Ambassador in Holland. From the beginning, Voltaire had trouble with authority and energetically attacked the Catholic church and the aristocracy. His writings and beliefs lead to both imprisonment and exile. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Lisbon Voltaire is referencing the historical earthquake that occurred on the morning of All Saint’s Day, November 1, 1755. The quake was 6 minutes and killed 15, 000 people. Voltaire was infuriated by the public’s reaction to the natural disaster. They blamed it on religion. This led to a philosophical debate between Rousseau and Voltaire in which Rousseau claimed that man is responsible for the quake due to the original sin; he reinforces Leibniz’s theory that everything must be for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Spanish Inquisition- Officially instituted in 1478 by the Roman Catholic church to help the Spanish Monarchy to seek out and punish heretics. Notorious for brutal practices such as torturing victims. Voltaire is once again satirizing the hypocrisy of the church. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Cadiz Voltaire is commenting on several of the religious orders such as the Jesuits inciting rebellion , the Franciscan’s suspected of stealing the jewels, and the Benedictines being cheap. “Religious orders, like the ancient Benedictines, founded in the 6 th century, were at first monastic and lived apart from the world. Others, like the Jesuits (Society of Jesus), begun in 1539 and were involved in the world as active missionaries, teachers, and even advisors to kings. The Franciscans, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13 th century as a reaction to earlier corruption of the clergy, began as wandering preachers devoted to a life of poverty. Though most orders shared an original commitment to maintaining the pure, spiritual life, many gradually became more and more involved in the material world. Well before the 18 th century, religious orders had been criticized frequently for their wealth, their meddling in political affairs, and their "worldliness. " Voltaire's depiction of abuses by the religious orders is not unique. Lecherous priests and thieving monks were common in humorous works from the Middle Ages on. The English writer Chaucer (1340? -1400) and the Italian writer Boccaccio (1313 -1375) both satirized the clergy in their great works, The Canterbury Tales and The Decameron. ” X

Candide’s Journey From here Candide goes to the New World. Click this box to continue.

Candide’s Adventures in the New World

Candide’s Adventures in the New World Buenos Aires The governor is a parody of the nobility. The inflated multiplication of names exaggerates the Spanish custom of using both parents' last names in one's own surname. Voltaire is emphasizing the extreme pride and self- importance of the governor. Although the Jesuit cause sounds noble on the surface, it is an example of Western exploitation. The Jesuits are merely using the rebels to gain power and territory. Also, Voltaire yet again critiques the Church. Cunégonde's brother was only saved by the Jesuit because he found him physically attractive. Voltaire uses the Lobeiros (French for Orellions or long-lobed ears) to criticize Rousseau's theory of natural man. The tribesmen are natural men, but they still have all of the prejudices of modern men. X

Candide’s Adventures in the New World

Candide’s Adventures in the New World THE JESUITS The religious order of the Society of Jesus, the official name of the Jesuits, was founded in Spain in the 16 th century. Considering itself an army against the newly established Protestant Reformation in Europe, its political and religious activism led to its rapid growth and great influence. The Jesuits were famous as scholars and teachers, and their schools were the training ground for many influential politicians and writers. (Voltaire himself was educated by the Jesuits. ) As dedicated foreign missionaries, they followed the Spanish into South America to convert the Indians, and to share in the newfound wealth of the New World. X

Candide’s Adventures in the New World

Candide’s Adventures in the New World Eldorado A utopian kingdom in Peru isolated from the rest of the world. The myth of Eldorado, or golden land, was not a creation of Voltaire’s. Since the 16 th century, stories had been told by explorers and conquerors of a land of fabulous wealth in various locations in South America. It was generally believed that such a place did, in fact, exist and many unsuccessful expeditions were launched to find its wealth. The actual silver and gold already found in the New World, and especially in Mexico, gave credence to these stories. Eventually, Eldorado came to mean any imaginary place where easy riches could be found. The Incas are an Indian tribe conquered by the Spaniards. According to the old man, they leave their Utopia, El Dorado, to conquer other peoples and in turn are conquered. The story suggests that it is unwise to leave Eldorado. X

Candide’s Adventures in the New World

Candide’s Adventures in the New World Surinam On the journey to Surinam Candide meets a slave on the road who is in particularly poor condition. The slave tells them about how his situation is "the price of the sugar you eat in Europe. " Voltaire uses this to highlight the price we have to pay for human luxuries. Voltaire also may use this because slavery is such an unspeakable abomination that no justification is possible. Or it may be because so many bad things have happened to Candide, and he has seen so much evil, that his encounter with the slave is the final straw. Candide picks up the scholar Martin, the third of Candide's companion advisers. Candide chooses Martin to accompany him in a contest he's holding to find the most miserable man in Surinam. Martin, like the Anabaptist Jacques and the victims of the Inquisition in Lisbon, is yet another example of the intolerance and religious hatred that Voltaire fought against. Martin is persecuted for being thought a Socinian, a follower of the beliefs of a small Unitarian Protestant sect that denied the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, and other basic tenets of orthodox Christianity. X

Candide’s Adventures in the New World Candide returns to Europe. Click this box to proceed.

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Bourdeaux Manicheanism: one of the earliest and most important heresies of the early Christian Church. Its founder, Mani, preached that the world was a battleground for the two equally strong but opposing forces of good and evil. Thus, life was a constant struggle between the two, in which the ideal state was one of balance, not the triumph of one over the other. This view runs counter to traditional, Christian belief in a universe created and directed by goodness, where evil is only an aberration. For Martin, the forces of evil seem to have gotten the upper hand. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Paris The Enlightenment period in Europe is about to give way to political revolution. Reason during this period is held to be the supreme power with which to challenge the old institutions and superstitions. France is dominated by the Catholic Church and is still under the control of a nearly all-powerful king. The bourgeoisie in France is weakened and its numbers were few. The majority of people belong to the lower classes and are barely literate, burdened by taxes, and underemployed. France is slowly industrializing and cannot compete with British factories. France needs reform desperately. The discussion of literature was a typical pastime in the Parisian salons of Voltaire's day. In these discussions, Voltaire voices some of his own opinions through his characters. The scholar's view of tragedy, for example, is close to Voltaire's own view of that art form. He also pokes fun at some of his personal opponents, particularly the literary journalist Freron, who made frequent attacks on Voltaire. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey England As Candide and Martin approach Portsmouth Harbor in England, they witness the execution of a British admiral. The execution brings theme of war to the forefront again. The absurdity of the rules of war can be seen in Candide's observation that, though the French admiral was equally as far from the British admiral as the British was from him, the French admiral was not executed. A similar execution did take place in 1757. British Admiral John Byng was executed after being convicted of failing to engage his ship in a battle against the French near Minorca, Spain, the previous year. Voltaire had personally crusaded to stop the execution. Voltaire often raised his pen in defense of those he deemed oppressed or ill treated. In doing so he wanted to point out the historical event here, in an attempt to show that even a country which he admires has it's own barbaric practices. X

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Venice Paquette has been exploited by medicine, law, and religion. Giroflee is a show of the nobility's power over the church, and their desire to consolidate power. The Lord is unhappy because he wanted to be a hero, and he is only a man of books. Paquette continues Voltaire's portrait of women as objects used and discarded by men. Click here to see allusions used in chapter 25. Click here to continue on Candide’s journey.

Allusions in Chapter 25 LODOVICO ARIOSTO (1471 -1533) Italian Renaissance poet, author of the comic epic Orlando Furioso. CICERO (106 -43 B. C. ) Roman orator and statesman HOMER (ninth century B. C. ) Greek epic poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. HORACE (65 -8 B. C. ) Roman poet, especially famous for his Odes. JOHN MILTON (1608 -1674) English poet, author of Paradise Lost. RAPHAEL (1483 -1520) Italian Renaissance architect and painter. SENECA (4 B. C. ? -A. D. 65) Roman philosopher and essayist. TORQUATO TASSO (1544 -1595) Italian epic poet of the late Renaissance, author of Jerusalem Delivered. VIRGIL (70 -19 B. C. ) Latin poet, author of the Aeneid. Click here to continue on Candide’s journey

Candide’s Journey

Candide’s Journey Constantinople On the way to Constantinople, Candide buys Cacambo's freedom. Then he, Martin, and Cacambo set sail for the shores of Propontis (Sea of Marmara). On the galley, they see two familiar faces among the slaves, Pangloss and the young Baron. They return to Constantinople. Candide ransoms the Baron and Pangloss, and they once again set sail for Propontis. Voltaire means for Pangloss to represent folly and the Baron to represent arrogance, and their immortality means that neither of these two conditions will die. The end result in Constantinople is Candide's plan for a garden. 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 Adam and Eve are evicted from the Garden of Eden in Genesis. Cyclically, the main characters of Candide conclude the novel in a garden of their own making, one which might represent celestial paradise. Candide then develops the philosophy that self improvement can only come from works, which is Voltaire's main point. Another argument can be made that there really is no historical background here because Voltaire wanted to make the ending uneventful.