Eighteenth century Europe can be described as being in a transitory state of philosophy and politics. The Enlightenment was meant to give the individual the tools to better understand the world around them through spiritualty, philosophy, science or a combination there of. However the discourse and teachings of this archetypical narrative were far from monolithic in nature. The quest for knowledge resulted in the mass creation of theoretical explanations for issues such as morality, class exploitation, and good vs. evil. With regards to the last, the school of thought known as théodicée was a popular conception of the time because of its agreeability with Catholic principles. Voltaire is an example of a philosophe who vehemently disagreed
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First of the notable pessimists is the Old Woman. Having suffered misfortune so great that her rape and deflowering were considered a “common thing as not to be worth mentioning” (ch.11 p.25) in comparison, the reader is exposed to a gruesome portrayal of man’s aptitude for cruelty. After being subjugated to rape, assault, slavery, and acts of cannibalism the Old Woman admits that “a hundred times I was upon the point of killing myself; but still I loved life” but also recognizing the absurdity of such infatuation; likening it to “continually [carrying] a burden which one can always throw down”(ch.12 p.29). This and other metaphors made by the Old Woman establish her as a perceptive, intelligent character whose tribulations have resulted in not only in pain and suffering, but also in wisdom. In addition to the Old Woman, the Candide is met with another strong pessimistic character to which wisdom is attributed. The character of Martin serves as a direct foil to Pangloss. He is established as a philosopher similar to Pangloss but with radically different philosophy. Prescribing to the theme of violence and injustice, Martin has lived an extremely difficult life. As such his philosophies take on heavy pessimistic overtones to the point of becoming deterministic. In almost all situations Martin foretells of the worst possible outcomes, having very little faith in his fellow man. As fellow travelers able to provide insight into the events Candide encounters, the role the Old Woman and Martin play in shaping Candide’s conception of optimism and Pangloss’ philosophy are
First of the notable pessimists is the Old Woman. Having suffered misfortune so great that her rape and deflowering were considered a “common thing as not to be worth mentioning” (ch.11 p.25) in comparison, the reader is exposed to a gruesome portrayal of man’s aptitude for cruelty. After being subjugated to rape, assault, slavery, and acts of cannibalism the Old Woman admits that “a hundred times I was upon the point of killing myself; but still I loved life” but also recognizing the absurdity of such infatuation; likening it to “continually [carrying] a burden which one can always throw down”(ch.12 p.29). This and other metaphors made by the Old Woman establish her as a perceptive, intelligent character whose tribulations have resulted in not only in pain and suffering, but also in wisdom. In addition to the Old Woman, the Candide is met with another strong pessimistic character to which wisdom is attributed. The character of Martin serves as a direct foil to Pangloss. He is established as a philosopher similar to Pangloss but with radically different philosophy. Prescribing to the theme of violence and injustice, Martin has lived an extremely difficult life. As such his philosophies take on heavy pessimistic overtones to the point of becoming deterministic. In almost all situations Martin foretells of the worst possible outcomes, having very little faith in his fellow man. As fellow travelers able to provide insight into the events Candide encounters, the role the Old Woman and Martin play in shaping Candide’s conception of optimism and Pangloss’ philosophy are