candide
In Candide, Voltaire uses many writing techniques which can also be found in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Moliere. The use of the various styles and conventions shows that, despite the passage of centuries and the language differences, certain writing techniques will always be effective. One common literary technique is the author's use of one or more of his characters as his 'voice' to speak out the authors views on a certain subject. For instance, in Moliere's Tartuffe, the author uses the character of Cleante to speak out against religious hypocrites (page 1419, lines 99-102): Nothing that I more cherish and admire Than honest zeal and true religious fire. So there is nothing that I find more base Than specious piety's dishonest face. In Candide, Voltaire makes use of several characters to voice his opinion mocking philosophical optimism. On page 1594, Candide is asking a gentleman about whether everything is for the best in the physical world as well as the moral universe. The man replies: ...I believe nothing of the sort. I find that everything goes wrong in our world; that nobody knows his place in society or his duty, what he's doing or what he ought to be doing, and that outside of mealtimes...the rest
He ridicules their use in that it takes Gargantua so long to learn simple tasks such as memorizing the alphabet. Beside being entertaining to read, these exaggerations serve to point out the ridiculousness of an ideal by showing it in a preposterous light. In Gargantua and Pantagruel, Rabelais mentions a series of text books which are a part of the sort of educational curriculum that he is satirizing. Similarly, in The Divine Comedy, Dante goes on a journey as well; through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven with his guide Virgil. the work keeps us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty. Through his travels he is shown the error of other men's ways, serving to remind him of his own sins and to put him back on the right path in life. Voltarie has occasion to use the comedic style of exaggeration in Candide, such as the Baron's sister refusing to marry Candide's father because he can only prove seventy-one quarterings of his family tree. " with chapter three of Candide, "How Candide Escaped from the Bulgars, and What Became of Him". By having this character take on such a pessimistic tone, he directly contradicts the obviously over-optimistic tone of Candide. The abbe' mentions two critics who in Voltaires time have criticized his work. " In each of these examples, the character chosen by the author comes across as a reasonable and respectable person, making the author's point of view seem just as reasonable and respectable. of the day is spent in useless quarrels. The format in which Candide is written closely resembles that of Cervante's Don Quixote. In placing their characters in these adventures the authors demonstrate that, through experience with real-world situations, these men (3) trying to live by some outdated or far-fetched ideal soon learn the error in their reasoning and adapt themselves to the author's way of thinking.
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Acceptance Essays
