Chapter 23 of Voltaire's Candide: A Short Critical Analysis

Don't know what's in this. I only it found on my laptop. Might be of some use to somebody. Sorry about the bibliography being messed up. I'm sure you will get over it. 

A map of Candide's travels

Francois–Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name Voltaire, published his novella Candide, ou l'Optimisme,a french satire in 1759. It is his most widely read work and as a result became known as his magnum opus. Chapter twenty-three is a short chapter with less than five hundred words. Short chapters are a common feature among the thirty chapters within the book, many much shorter than chapter twenty-three.

The Chapter starts of with Candide feeling quite down and despairing<<Ah Pangloss! Pangloss! Oh Martin! Martin! Ah ma chère Cunégond ! qu'est- ce que ce monde- ci? >> (C, 94). The reader begins to think that, due to the all the misfortune that Candide has endured up until this point (Losing his beloved Cunégonde, losing his vast fortune, being robbed and imprisoned among other things) he is beginning to question Pangloss' philosophy of <<ce meilleur des mondes possibles>> (C, 8) but by the end of the chapter it is clear that he has not lost faith in Pangloss' doctrine <<Tout est bien, tout va bien, tout va le mieux qu'il soit possible>> (C, 95) Although we can guess by the end of the novella that Candide was beginning to have some doubts about Pangloss' rationale. Here, Voltaire uses contrasts to great effect. The chapter beginning wit despair and ending in hope. Voltaire uses contrasts throughout Candide. The beautiful young Cunégonde ends up looking old and horrible looking; The pessimistic philosopher Martin is in direct contrast to the eternally upbeat Pangloss and; the contrast between El Dorado to the real world.

Martin, the cynical scholor, describes the land in Canada in which England and France were fighting for as <<quelque arpents de niege vers le Canada>>. This was an opinion personally held by Voltaire (Mason, 1992). In fact Voltaire wrote something very similar to this in a letter a few years before the publishing of Candide to Mr de Moncrif, an old friend. In the letter, sent in March 1757, he says <<quelques arpents de glace en Canada>> (Voltaire, 1757). In fact Voltaire was a staunch critic of New France for a long time before Candide was published, seeing little or no value <<le Canada, pays couvert de neiges et de glaces huit mois de l’année, habité par des barbares, des ours et des castors>> (Voltaire, 1753) . Again, we see Voltaire using characters as a conduit to expressing his own beliefs and opinions.

When Candide witnesses the execution of the stout British admiral for not being daring enough against his French counterpart, in Portsmouth, he is understandably horrified. This leads him to demur <<Qu'est- ce donc que tout ceci? [...] et quel démon exerce partout son empire?>> (C, 94) His shock is met by the indifference of an English colleague who claims that <<il est bon de tuer de temps en temps en temps un admirl pour encourager les autres>>. Candide's shock is in complete contrast to the English reaction. In this scene we see cultural relativism in the extreme. We are told that the four soldiers shot the admiral in <<la paisiblement du monde>>. Furthermore, the assembley watching the execution <<s'en retourna extrêmement>>. Voltaire experienced something like this when he resided in England. He tried but failed to get a reprieve for Admiral John Byng, who was executed on the 14^th of March 1757. One can only presume that Voltaire reacted similarly to this execution as Candide did to the execution in the book. The death of the Admiral isn't taken too seriously by the reader due to the comiedic way in which Voltaire treated the deaths of the Baron, Don Isaachar and the Grand Inquisitor as well as the supposed deaths of Cunégonde and her family.

The Chapter starts of with Candide feeling quite down and despairing<<Ah Pangloss! Pangloss! Oh Martin! Martin! Ah ma chère Cunégond ! qu'est- ce que ce monde- ci? >> (C, 94). The reader begins to think that, due to the all the misfortune that Candide has endured up until this point (Losing his beloved Cunégonde, losing his vast fortune, being robbed and imprisoned among other things) he is beginning to question Pangloss' philosophy of <<ce meilleur des mondes possibles>> (C, 8) but by the end of the chapter it is clear that he has not lost faith in Pangloss' doctrine <<Tout est bien, tout va bien, tout va le mieux qu'il soit possible>> (C, 95) Although we can guess by the end of the novella that Candide was beginning to have some doubts about Pangloss' rationale. Here, Voltaire uses contrasts to great effect. The chapter beginning wit despair and ending in hope. Voltaire uses contrasts throughout Candide. The beautiful young Cunégonde ends up looking old and horrible looking; The pessimistic philosopher Martin is in direct contrast to the eternally upbeat Pangloss and; the contrast between El Dorado to the real world.

In this chapter Candide is fleeing France after bribing the authorities to free him. England represents freedom to Candide until he sees the execution. Once again Voltaire sets up an illusion and then happily shoots it down. This is a technique which Voltaire is found of using. It is also seen with Voltaire setting up Leibnez's philosophy and then throughout the play continually savaging it until the conclusion.

The simple style in which Candide is written highlights the absurdity of the characters. Voltaire refusing to get off the ship in England is an example which seems absurd. This is highlighted by little or no fancy prose used, only clear and precise vocabulary, to the point with no exaggeration. This is a feature throughout the book. The tone is quite deadpan which is the main component of the black humour. Voltaire makes jokes and moves on. There is no reflection. In this chapter he takes a light hearted swipe at the French and English when Candide asks Martin <<Vous connaissez l'Angleterre; y est- on aussi fou qu'en France?>> and Martin replies <<C'est une autre espèce de folie>>. Perhaps in a a serious novella the reader may take the criticism as more hard-hitting. This novella doesn't take itself seriously. Satire is at the heart of the story. He primarily reserves satire and tongue in-cheek-mockery for Leibniz's philiosophy which is a thread which runs throughout the novella. Candide enduring all the problems he has faced does not give up and is ignorantly positive and hopeful to the extreme that one cannot help but laugh at. The narrator is in the third person, and for the large part is objective but at times explores the consciousness of Candide. This gives the advantage of an unbiased perspective which gives the reader a clear picture.

Overall, this chapter fits nicely into Voltaire's short story as a whole with nothing really to make it stand out from the others. In comparison to other chapters in Candide not an awful lot occurs. With that said it is important as it gives a good insight into the beliefs held by Voltaire for so few words.

Bibliography

Voltaire. (2003). In: Robert, M. and Marguliew, H ed. Candide. (Paris: Hatier)

Mason, H.T. (1992). Candide: optimism demolished. London: Twayne Publishers

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Voltaire. (1757). Voltaire to François Augustin Paradis de Moncrif Sunday, 27 March 1757. Available: 

http://www.e-enlightenment.com.eproxy.ucd.ie/item/voltfrVF1010501_1key001cor/?

srch_type=letters&auth=Voltaire&recip=Mr+de+Moncrif&lang_main=all&r=55

Voltaire. (1753). Des possessions des Français en Amérique.. In: Essai sur les moeurs et l’esprit des 

nations. http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/12/05ESS160.html#151.

Word Count: 1224