Candide

Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. Candide is characterized by its tone as well as by its erratic fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious coming-of-age narrative (Bildungsroman) it parodies many adventure and romance clichés the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. Still the events discussed are often based on historical happenings such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. It begins with a young man Candide who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle followed by Candide's slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes Candide with if not rejecting Leibnizian optimism outright advocating a deeply practical precept we must cultivate our garden in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.