( or , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, via Gallica first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candidus: or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: Optimism (1947).Critical Survey of Short Fiction (2001) A young man, Candide, lives a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise, being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. This lifestyle is abruptly ended, 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".
Candide is characterized by its tone as well as its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story akin to a serious bildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. The events discussed are often based on historical happenings.Mason (1992), p. 10 As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so does Candide, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Through Candide, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism.Aldridge (1975), p. 260
Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned on the grounds of blasphemy and sedition. However, the novel has inspired many later authors and artists; today, Candide is considered Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon. It is among the most frequently taught works of French literature.Waldinger (1987), p. ix Martin Seymour-Smith listed Candide as one of the 100 most influential books ever written.
Historical and literary background Several historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide, most notably the publication of Leibniz's "Monadology", the Seven Years' War, and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Both of the latter catastrophes are frequently referred to in Candide.Wade (1959b), p. 88 The earthquake, tsunami, and resulting fires of All Saints' Day had a strong influence on theologians of the day and on Voltaire, who was himself disillusioned by them. It had an especially large effect on the contemporary doctrine of optimism, a philosophical system founded on the theodicy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, which insisted on God's benevolence in spite of such events. This concept is often put in the form, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" (). Philosophers had trouble fitting the horrors of this earthquake into their optimistic world view.Radner & Radner (1998), pp. 669–686
Voltaire actively rejected Leibnizian optimism after the natural disaster, convinced that if this were the best possible world, it should surely be better than it is.Mason (1992), p. 4 In both Candide and ("Poem on the Lisbon Disaster"), Voltaire attacks this optimist belief, sarcastically describing the catastrophe as one of the most horrible disasters "in the best of all possible worlds".Wade (1959b), p. 93 Immediately after the earthquake, unreliable rumours circulated around Europe, sometimes overestimating the severity of the event. Ira Wade, a noted expert on Voltaire and Candide, has analyzed which sources Voltaire might have referenced, speculating that Voltaire's primary source was the 1755 work by Ange Goudar.Wade (1959b), pp. 88, 93
Apart from such events, contemporaneous stereotypes of the German personality may have been a source of inspiration for the text, as they were for , a 1669 satirical picaresque novel written by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen and inspired by the Thirty Years' War. The protagonist of this novel, supposed to embody stereotypically German characteristics, is quite similar to the protagonist of Candide. These stereotypes, according to Voltaire biographer Alfred Owen Aldridge, include "extreme credulousness or sentimental simplicity", two of Candide's and Simplicius's defining qualities. Aldridge writes, "Since Voltaire admitted familiarity with fifteenth-century German authors who used a bold and buffoonish style, it is quite possible that he knew as well."
A satirical and parodic precursor of Candide, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) is one of Candides closest literary relatives. This satire tells the story of "a gullible ingenue", Gulliver, who (like Candide) travels to several "remote nations" and is hardened by the many misfortunes which befall him. As evidenced by similarities between the two books, Voltaire probably drew upon Gulliver's Travels for inspiration while writing Candide.Havens (1973), pp. 844–845 Other probable sources of inspiration for Candide are (1699) by François Fénelon and (1753) by Louis-Charles Fougeret de Monbron. Candides parody of the bildungsroman is probably based on , which includes the prototypical parody of the tutor on whom Pangloss may have been partly based. Likewise, Monbron's protagonist undergoes a disillusioning series of travels similar to those of Candide.Wade (1959b), p. 296Broome (1960), p. 510
Creation
By the time of the Lisbon earthquake, Voltaire was already a well-established author. Candide became part of his large, diverse body of philosophical, political, and artistic works expressing these views.Means (2006), pp. 1–3Gopnik (2005) It became a model for the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century novels called the contes philosophiques. This genre included previous works of his such as Zadig and Micromegas.McGhee (1943), pp. 438, 440Aldridge (1975), p. 155Mason (1970), pp. 19–35
It is unknown exactly when Voltaire wrote Candide.Wade (1959a), p. 65 Scholars estimate that it was primarily composed in late 1758 and begun as early as 1757.Torrey (1929), p. 446 Voltaire is believed to have written a portion of it while living at Les Délices near Geneva and also while visiting Charles Théodore, the Elector-Palatinate, at Schwetzingen for three weeks in the summer of 1758. Despite solid evidence for these claims, a popular legend persists that he wrote Candide in three days. This idea is probably based on a misreading of the 1885 work by Lucien Pereyand Gaston Maugras.Havens (1932), p. 225
There is only one extant manuscript of Candide that was written before the work's 1759 publication, discovered in 1956 by Wade and since named the La Vallière Manuscript. It is believed to have been sent, chapter by chapter, by Voltaire to the Duke and Duchess La Vallière in the autumn of 1758. The manuscript was sold to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in the late eighteenth century, where it remained undiscovered for almost two hundred years.Rouillard (1962) The La Vallière Manuscript, the most original and authentic of all surviving copies of Candide, was probably dictated by Voltaire to his secretary, Jean-Louis Wagnière, then edited directly.Wade (1957), p. 94 In addition to this manuscript, there is believed to have been another one, copied by Wagnière for the Elector Charles-Théodore, who hosted Voltaire during the summer of 1758. The existence of this copy was first postulated by Norman L. Torrey in 1929. If it exists, it remains undiscovered.Wade (1956), pp. 3–4Torrey (1929), pp. 445–447
Voltaire published Candide simultaneously in five countries no later than 15 January 1759, although the exact date is uncertain.Wade (1959b), p. 182 Seventeen versions of Candide from 1759, in the original French, are known today, and there has been great controversy over which is the earliest. More versions were published in other languages: Candide was translated once into Italian and thrice into English that same year.Davidson (2005), pp. 52–53 The complicated science of calculating the relative publication dates of all of the versions of Candide is described at length in Wade's article "The First Edition of Candide: A Problem of Identification". The publication process was extremely secretive, probably the "most clandestine work of the century", because of the book's obviously illicit and irreverent content. The greatest number of copies of Candide were published concurrently in Geneva by Cramer, in Amsterdam by Marc-Michel Rey, in London by Jean Nourse, and in Paris by Lambert.Wade (1959a), pp. 63–88
Candide underwent one major revision after its initial publication, in addition to some minor ones. In 1761, a version of Candide was published that included, along with several minor changes, a major addition by Voltaire to the twenty-second chapter, a section that had been thought weak by the Duke of Vallière.Wade (1957), p. 96 The English title of this edition was Candide, or Optimism, Translated from the German of Dr. Ralph. With the additions found in the Doctor's pocket when he died at Minden, in the Year of Grace 1759.Voltaire (1959) The last edition of Candide authorised by Voltaire was the one included in Cramer's 1775 edition of his complete works, known as , in reference to the border or frame around each page.Taylor (1979), p. 207Williams (1997), p. 97
Voltaire strongly opposed the inclusion of illustrations in his works, as he stated in a 1778 letter to the writer and publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke:
Despite this protest, two sets of illustrations for Candide were produced by the French artist Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune. The first version was done, at Moreau's own expense, in 1787 and included in Kehl's publication of that year, Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire.Bellhouse (2006), p. 756 Four images were drawn by Moreau for this edition and were engraved by Pierre-Charles Baquoy.Bellhouse (2006), p. 757 The second version, in 1803, consisted of seven drawings by Moreau which were transposed by multiple engravers.Bellhouse (2006), p. 769 The twentieth-century modern artist Paul Klee stated that it was while reading Candide that he discovered his own artistic style. Klee illustrated the work, and his drawings were published in a 1920 version edited by Kurt Wolff.Waldinger (1987), p. 23
List of characters Main characters Candide: The title character. The illegitimate son of the sister of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh. In love with Cunégonde. Cunégonde: The daughter of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh. In love with Candide. Professor Pangloss: The royal educator of the court of the baron. Described as "the greatest philosopher of the Holy Roman Empire". The Old Woman: Cunégonde's maid while she is the mistress of Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal. Flees with Candide and Cunégonde to the New World. Illegitimate daughter of Pope Urban X. Cacambo: Born from a Mestizo father and an Indigenous mother. Lived half his life in Spain and half in Latin America. Candide's valet while in America. Martin: Dutch amateur philosopher and Manichaean. Meets Candide in Suriname, travels with him afterwards. The Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh: Brother of Cunégonde. Is seemingly killed by the Bulgarians, but becomes a Jesuit in Paraguay. Disapproves of Candide and Cunégonde's marriage.
Secondary characters The baron and baroness of Thunder-ten-Tronckh: Father and mother of Cunégonde and the second baron. Both slain by the Bulgars. The king of the Bulgars: Frederick II Jacques the Anabaptist: Dutch manufacturer who takes Candide in after his escape from the Prussian Army. Drowns in the port of Lisbon after saving a sailor's life. Don Issachar: Jewish banker in Portugal. Cunégonde becomes his mistress, shared with the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal. Killed by Candide. The Grand Inquisitor of Portugal: Sentences Candide and Pangloss at the auto-da-fé. Cunégonde is his mistress jointly with Don Issachar. Killed by Candide.