Utopias are an imagined place in which everything is perfect. Perfect, meaning being able to obtain all necessities, including love, which is not shown in the journey to El Dorado. This passage applies several literary elements in defining this idea. In Candide, Voltaire uses imagery and point of view in order to portray the idea that believing in a perfect world is less important than love.
Voltaire depicts El Dorado as a utopia while using imagery to emphasize the exact look of a so-called perfect world. “ [Candide and Cacambo] walked over to a modest little house... The door was mere silver, and the rooms were panelled with nothing better than gold… It is true that the hall was incrusted only with rubies and emeralds…” (Voltaire 78). Voltaire …show more content…
It is conveyed, “...that the house where [Candide] was born won’t bear comparison with the mansions of this country” (Voltaire 82). El Dorado will never surpass his home, as all of the conditions needed for him to be truly happy are not fulfilled there. Escaping this perfect world is perfectly okay to Candide because he does not belong there. He believes the place is too good to be true. He may value the riches he has gotten from it, but overall that is not what matters. In addition, Candide now views optimism as deceitful. “It is significant that it is after Candide has passed through the utopia of Eldorado that he can at last reject the philosophy of optimism” (Isaacs). With this change of mentality, El Dorado is viewed as a misfit, proving that the world isn’t perfect without Cunegonde. Staying in El Dorado would mean escaping the evils of the real world, but to Candide, that is not worth it if he has to lose his significant other. Voltaire utilizes Candide's perspective to emphasize the fact that he is willing to give up the world free of religious discrimination, all of the wealth he could ask for, and much more just to fulfill his love
Voltaire depicts El Dorado as a utopia while using imagery to emphasize the exact look of a so-called perfect world. “ [Candide and Cacambo] walked over to a modest little house... The door was mere silver, and the rooms were panelled with nothing better than gold… It is true that the hall was incrusted only with rubies and emeralds…” (Voltaire 78). Voltaire …show more content…
It is conveyed, “...that the house where [Candide] was born won’t bear comparison with the mansions of this country” (Voltaire 82). El Dorado will never surpass his home, as all of the conditions needed for him to be truly happy are not fulfilled there. Escaping this perfect world is perfectly okay to Candide because he does not belong there. He believes the place is too good to be true. He may value the riches he has gotten from it, but overall that is not what matters. In addition, Candide now views optimism as deceitful. “It is significant that it is after Candide has passed through the utopia of Eldorado that he can at last reject the philosophy of optimism” (Isaacs). With this change of mentality, El Dorado is viewed as a misfit, proving that the world isn’t perfect without Cunegonde. Staying in El Dorado would mean escaping the evils of the real world, but to Candide, that is not worth it if he has to lose his significant other. Voltaire utilizes Candide's perspective to emphasize the fact that he is willing to give up the world free of religious discrimination, all of the wealth he could ask for, and much more just to fulfill his love