The Importance Of Ironic Inquiry!
Written to tell the satirical tale of the maturation and growth of a young boy, Voltaire pours his thoughts onto paper with class and snide humor against the nobility, church, and occasional individual ignorance within his novel, Candide. Born to a middle-class family in Paris, Voltaire was found to have a witty sense of humor from a very young age. Published in 1759, his novel satires a number of Enlightenment thinkers and ideas. As a result of his attacks towards the churches and state, Voltaire spent a great deal of time moving around and exploring the world. After returning to Paris at the age of eighty-three, Voltaire was able to look back at his life and at his successful culmination of plays, novels, …show more content…
From the genesis of this novel’s plot, Candide is described to be so madly in love with Cunegonde that he would suffer through anything to have her. Throughout much of the novel, Candide in fact does this very thing. As noted previously, the irony is heavily focused on all of Candide’s misfortunes and ability to remain optimistic while doing so, however, each of these occurrences stem from the ever-present goal of reaching Cunegonde, calling to play yet another important display of irony. One of Candide’s travel mates, Cacambo, explains to Candide the horrible news regarding his very love, “But what is even more sad is that she has lost her beauty and become horribly ugly” (106). Evoking such passionate declaration, Candide only reinforces how unfortunate this development is when he considers, “But I still have enough diamonds and will be able to free Cunegonde easily enough. It is a pity though, that she has become so ugly” (107). A pity, a shame, or a severe consequence of life’s misfortunes, Candide and those accompanying him on his travels all deduce the same conclusion that Cunegonde’s new conditions are ones to not be taken lightly. Candide is willing to desert El Dorado, discovered to be the most joyful place in the world, for Cunegonde. He travels the entire world, loses …show more content…
As the unit settles into a new lifestyle of leisure and endless time, the group is soon to realize the true bore of having little aspiration or work to be done. Most clearly summarized when a neighbor of the group explains that, “Work keeps three great evils at bay; boredom, vice, and want” (118), Candide and his friends discover the true reality of having time with no key responsibility; emphasizing a complete maturing within Candide, and his recognition of needing to create for oneself an individual life. While Candide and his traveling mates once imagined the life they would one day want, a life with little concern and nothing but money and endless freedom, actually being placed in such a situation was very unlike that
Written to tell the satirical tale of the maturation and growth of a young boy, Voltaire pours his thoughts onto paper with class and snide humor against the nobility, church, and occasional individual ignorance within his novel, Candide. Born to a middle-class family in Paris, Voltaire was found to have a witty sense of humor from a very young age. Published in 1759, his novel satires a number of Enlightenment thinkers and ideas. As a result of his attacks towards the churches and state, Voltaire spent a great deal of time moving around and exploring the world. After returning to Paris at the age of eighty-three, Voltaire was able to look back at his life and at his successful culmination of plays, novels, …show more content…
From the genesis of this novel’s plot, Candide is described to be so madly in love with Cunegonde that he would suffer through anything to have her. Throughout much of the novel, Candide in fact does this very thing. As noted previously, the irony is heavily focused on all of Candide’s misfortunes and ability to remain optimistic while doing so, however, each of these occurrences stem from the ever-present goal of reaching Cunegonde, calling to play yet another important display of irony. One of Candide’s travel mates, Cacambo, explains to Candide the horrible news regarding his very love, “But what is even more sad is that she has lost her beauty and become horribly ugly” (106). Evoking such passionate declaration, Candide only reinforces how unfortunate this development is when he considers, “But I still have enough diamonds and will be able to free Cunegonde easily enough. It is a pity though, that she has become so ugly” (107). A pity, a shame, or a severe consequence of life’s misfortunes, Candide and those accompanying him on his travels all deduce the same conclusion that Cunegonde’s new conditions are ones to not be taken lightly. Candide is willing to desert El Dorado, discovered to be the most joyful place in the world, for Cunegonde. He travels the entire world, loses …show more content…
As the unit settles into a new lifestyle of leisure and endless time, the group is soon to realize the true bore of having little aspiration or work to be done. Most clearly summarized when a neighbor of the group explains that, “Work keeps three great evils at bay; boredom, vice, and want” (118), Candide and his friends discover the true reality of having time with no key responsibility; emphasizing a complete maturing within Candide, and his recognition of needing to create for oneself an individual life. While Candide and his traveling mates once imagined the life they would one day want, a life with little concern and nothing but money and endless freedom, actually being placed in such a situation was very unlike that