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English Literature

`Candide ' by Voltaire

In the beginning of 17th century and the peak of 18th century , there was a movement known as Enlightenment ' which encompassed a wide variety of ideas and advances in the field of philosophy , science and medicine Voltaire embodies the Enlightenment more than any other intellectual or writer . Enlightenment is also called the age of Voltaire . The followers of the movement had profound faith in the power of reason and rational thought . They believed that this philosophy will lead human beings to a better social structure . They attacked both the

aristocracy and the church

In `Candide , Pangloss and his student Candied maintain that everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds This idea is a simplified version of the philosophies of the enlightened thinkers , most notable are Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz . These philosophers believed that God exist and since God is perfect so the world he created must be perfect too . They argued that people recognize imperfections in the world only because they are not aware of God 's grand plan . Voltaire does not accept that a perfect God or any God exist . Throughout the novel , he mocks the idea that the world is perfectly good and heaps merciless satires on this idea . The optimists Pangloss and Candide suffer and witness a wide variety of horrors- whipping , rapes , robberies , unjust execution , disease , earthquake betrayal and crushing world-weariness . After Candide was thrown out of the castle of the baron Thunder-ten-tronckh , he was handcuffed and carried to the Bulgarian regiment . He witnessed the atrocities committed by the Bulgarians on the Abarian territories after winning the battle against King of Abres . They burn down villages , ravish young virgins and kill men and women alike . While travelling on ship to Lisbon along with Pangloss and the Anabaptist James they face a tempest . In Lisbon , they faced a violent earthquake , which destroyed three-fourth of the city of Lisbon . At the advice of the sages of the country , Dr Pangloss and Candied are secured for burning them alive for the infallible prevention of earthquake . In Surinam , Candide is robbed of his wealth . The lady he is in love , Miss Cunegund suffers too . She is ravished by two Bulgarians and receives two deep wounds in her belly . Her own castles are demolished and she witnesses the brutal murder of her parents and her brother . Though born a baroness , she is reduced to the station of a cook-wench . In the end she becomes the slave of Transylvanian prince and turns ugly and even Candide finds her repulsive . Pangloss the philosopher is reduced to a slave of a Turkish captain and Candide sets him free from slavery by ransom . These events only points to the cruelty and folly of humanity and indifference of the natural world and do not serve any good purpose . Pangloss struggles to find justification for the terrible things in the world but his arguments turn out to be absurd . In the end of the novel , Pangloss admits that he...

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