Candide (Annotated)

Candide ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated with English versions titled Candide: or All for the Best (1759); Candide: or The Optimist (1762); and Candide: or Optimism (1947). . It begins with a young man Candide who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle followed by Candide's slow painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide if not rejecting optimism outright advocating an enigmatic 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.. Candide is characterized by its sarcastic 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 bildungsroman it parodies many adventure and romance clichés the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still the events discussed are often based on historical happenings such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil so too does Candide in this short novel albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion theologians governments armies philosophies and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.. As expected by Voltaire Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it; most notably Leonard Bernstein composed the music for the 1956 comic operetta adapted from the novel. The original 1956 libretto of Candide written by Lillian Hellman was an intensely bitter and somewhat loose adaptation of Voltaire but Hugh Wheeler's new libretto first produced in 1974 was a far more faithful adaptation of the novella and the one which is still in use today. Today Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon; it is probably taught more than any other work of French literature.. Includes a biography of the Author