Written in 1759, Voltaire’s Candide is an adventure novel that tracks the life of Candide, an innocent boy who is desperately in love with a girl. However, this love story is unusual in that Candide embarks on a number of journeys and faces tough situations, and all underneath a satiric writing style. Candide teases the archetypal coming-of-age novel and particularly literature’s representation of romantic love. As Nelly Severin points out: ‘Some critics have seen in Candide a parody of “romance” and Voltaire certainly used an array of “romance” commonplaces, such as shipwrecks, pirates, bastard births, abductions and recognition” (842). Through parody, Voltaire uses Candide to portray the theme of love, and to raise the question of what constitutes real love as opposed to romantic obsession.
As the title suggests, Candide is the story’s protagonist. He is naive, romantic, and loyal. He is also very gullible; he casually adopts Dr. Pangloss’ excessively optimistic outlook on life when he is young, and maintains this outlook through a sequence of terrible events and situations: “I have seen the worst,” Candide replied. “But a wise man, who since has had the misfortune to be hanged, taught me that all is marvelously well; these are but the shadows on a beautiful picture” (Voltaire 22.50). Pangloss is a memorable character in the novel. As Arthur Scherr points out, “Pangloss, the ridiculous scholar and pseudo-philosopher, has entertained millions of readers with his incorrigibly stubborn optimism and unintentional humor” (87). The protagonist is needy and does not find it easy to formulate his own thoughts and choices. After all, he only moves on from Pangloss’ idealistic worldview once he can take on another view from a farmer. Rather than thinking about life and coming up with his own philosophy, Candide relies on spending time with intelligent people, and then adopts their thoughts and philosophies as his own.
His love for Cunégonde is Candide’s key motivation throughout this story. His romantic notions and love border on the absurd, as the following passage demonstrates: “Cunégonde is dead! Ah, best of worlds, where art thou? But of what illness did she die? Was it not for grief, upon seeing her father kick me out of his magnificent castle?” (Voltaire 4.9). Here, the reader is reminded of Candide’s innocence and naivety. There are plenty of examples of his innocence, and it becomes clear that his love for Cunégonde is all a product of this innocence:
“Love you not deeply?”
“Oh yes,” answered he; “I deeply love Miss Cunégonde.”
“No,” said one of the gentlemen, “we ask you if you do not deeply love the King of the Bulgarians?” (Voltaire 2.10). Candide goes to ridiculous extremes to embark on this love affair, including leaving the bliss of El Dorado, killing numerous people, and only just managing not to be caught and killed himself. The following passage demonstrates Candide’s overwhelming feelings for Cunégonde as he values his love for her over the paradise in El Dorado: “I own, my friend, once more that the castle where I was born is nothing in comparison with this; but, after all, Miss Cunégonde is not here, and you have, without doubt, some mistress in Europe” (Voltaire 18.31). This is significant time in the novel, as El Dorado represents idealism and perfection. According to William Bottiglia, “El Dorado represents Voltaire’s ideal society” (1). That Candide chooses Cunégonde over the ideal land demonstrates how deep he believes his love for her to be. Nearer the end of the novel, when Candide reveals that he no longer loves Cunégonde, this sacrifice seems even more bizarre.
While Candide is driven by his naïve obsession with romance for most of the novel, his feelings do eventually change. His unrealistic devotion to Cunégonde pushes Candide to behave in intense ways, but when the two of them can eventually be together, she cannot remain on the pedestal upon which Candide has placed her. Nearer the end of the novel, Cacambo tells Candide that Cunégonde is now an unattractive slave: “Cunégonde washes dishes on the banks of the Propontis, in the service of a prince, who has very few dishes to wash But what is worse still is, that she has lost her beauty and has become horribly ugly” (27.7). On hearing this, Candide’s opinion of Cunégonde changes instantly. He accepts Cacambo’s views as his own. Once Candide is in a position to marry Cunégonde, he no longer wants her. Voltaire explicitly tells this to the reader in the following passage: “At the bottom of his heart Candide had no wish to marry Cunégonde” (Voltaire 30.1). It seems that his love for her was never real and, in fact, there are no examples of real love in the novel.
Through this parody novel, Voltaire demonstrates a theme of love, and raises questions about the difference between true love and obsession. Though written several centuries ago, Candide covers some timeless themes that are still relevant in today’s society. Candide’s naivety causes him to mistake his sexual obsession for true love and, as a result, he gives up the chance to live in paradise. Voltaire’s use of satire perfectly highlights his aim that was to tease novels about love and growing up. Candide manages to convey this message while still being an independently entertaining read. That it has retained popularity since 1759 proves that Voltaire made some solid decisions when writing this novel.
Works Cited
Bottiglia, William. “The El Dorado Episode in Candide.” JSTOR. 1958. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
Scherr, Arthur. “Candide's Pangloss: Voltaire's Tragicomic Hero.” Project Muse. 2006. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
Severin, Nelly. “Hagiographic Parody in Candide.” The French Review. 1977. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
Voltaire. Candide. Sirène in Paris. 1759. Print.
