Paper Topic:

English Literature

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Voltaire Enlightened

In Voltaire 's novel Candide , the theme of the absurd takes on new meaning . In the very beginning of the plot the absurd is obvious in the expolusion of Candide from the Baron 's castle for kissing Cunygonde The entire plot is filled with the ridiculous nature and circumstances of humanity . After Candide is forced into joining the Belgium army he quickly flees to Holland where he is confronted with this very theme of the absurd he discovers that

the philosopher Dr . Pangloss , a very noted , and distinguished man is living in rags and begging . Not only is this , but the extreme of the absurd in Voltaire 's writing further portrayed when he writes that Dr . Pangloss is ridden with a venereal disease . The idea that increased knowledge and human improvement go together became fundamental to the Enlightenment . Voltaire not only rejected this idea but proclaimed the opposite , stressing the simplicity of nature over the artificiality of society , feeling and faith over doubt and rationalism , and the freedom of individual genius over hard and fast aesthetic rules , as can be seen in the development of the character Candide

The novel is increasingly riddled with extreme absurd events ranging from his being beaten during the Spanish inquisition to his reunion with Cunygonde and their fleeing to Buenos Aires . The ultimate theme that is parallel with the absurd is that of countering optimism . Every step of Candide 's journey leaves him subject...

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