Voltaire 1694 1778 FrancoisMarie Arouet a talented boy

Voltaire (1694 -1778) Francois-Marie Arouet

“a talented boy, but a notable scamp” • • Father wants him to be a lawyer Takes the pen name “de Voltaire” At 24, he is successful as a playwright Accepted into the best literary and social circles

Then in 1725… • Insults a nobleman; beaten and imprisoned in the Bastille • Upon his release, he flees to England • Enjoys the freedoms and liberty

Returns to France… • Writes a sharp criticism of the French political system • Warrant for his arrest is issued • Remainder of his life is spent outside of France

Stays with Prussia’s Frederick the Great • Finds it difficult to live under his authoritarian rule and is kicked out by Frederick the Great himself.

Switzerland • Spends his last years in Switzerland • Continues to write and press for liberty and justice in France

Candide • Written in 1729, in his early sixties • Embittered by the death of the love of his life • Angry at Frederick the Great for evicting him from Prussia • Decides to write about “life’s injustices” and “the fuzzy thinking people use to rationalize their behavior”

Takes aim at • Inhumanity of the slave trade in America • Oppressiveness of the political systems throughout European nation states • Satirizes public figures who he finds offensive in their behavior • Lampoons the followers of German mathematician, Gottfied Wilhelm von Liebnitz

Why Liebnitz? • He is the inventor of “philosophical optimism” • Believes that “there is no effect without a cause” • Pushes the idea that “this is the best of all possible worlds” • Liebnitz is a favorite his dead lover; as if he desperately hopes for her return so they can continue to discuss his controversial ideas once again.

What is a satirist? -technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society. Satire intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles. A writer may point a satire toward a person, a country or even the entire world.

What are their weapons? • fictional characters, which stand for real people, to expose and condemn their corruption, or foolish behavior. • Exaggeration - usually in the form of hyperbole (an exaggeration which may be used for emphasis and humor) It was so cold I saw polar bears wearing fur coats. You could have knocked me over with a feather. •

Understatement intentionally making a situation seem less important than it really is. Opposite of hyperbole. helps to develop other figures of speech such as irony and sarcasm Ex. “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. ” Catcher in the Rye

warped logic/non sequitur • An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence. • Ex. “ Slim, of medium height, and with sharp features, Mr. Smith's technical skills are combined with strong leadership qualities” (New York Times). • “This war is righteous because we are French!” • “You will do what I say because you are my wife!”

Returns to Paris • • At 83, he returns to Paris Dies 1 year later (1778) Denied burial by the Parisian clergy 13 years later, at the height of the French Revolution his writing is praised and cited often in revolutionary pamphlets. • his body is returned to Paris, where people line the streets to view the funeral procession