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Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Court:
Candide is, above all, characterized by its rigorous satire of various aspects of European society in the 18th century. In the first chapter of the novella, Voltaire offers a satire of the German aristocracy through his depiction of the court where Candide was raised:
The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had not only a gate, but windows. His great hall, even, was hung with tapestry. All the dogs of his farmyards formed a pack of hounds at need; his grooms were his huntsmen; and the curate of the village was his grand almoner. They called him “My Lord,” and laughed at all his stories. The Baron’s lady weighed about three hundred and fifty pounds, and was therefore a person of great consideration, and she did the honours of the house with a dignity that commanded still greater respect.
Here, the narrator engages in extensive verbal irony, praising the power and grandness of the Baron while in fact highlighting his status as a very minor figure, despite his status as a lord. He is, the narrator notes, “one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia,” as his castle has both a “gate” and “windows.” Instead of employing an extensive retinue of employees, like the monarch of a more powerful kingdom, the Baron uses farm dogs as his “pack of hounds” and his grooms (or, men employed to take care of horses) as “his huntsmen.” At the time that Voltaire wrote this work, Westphalia, the modern state of Germany was divided into many small kingdoms and states. Here, Voltaire satirizes the German lords for what he considered to be their pretensions to grandeur, despite ruling over only minor regions.
Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—French Society:
In his comedic depiction of upper-class French society, Voltaire employs metaphor, allusion, and satire. After leaving South America with some of the valuable gold and diamonds which he received in El Dorado, Candide travels to France, where, accompanied by Martin and the Abbé of Périgord, he visits a building where upper-class men engage in card-playing, debate, and prostitution. There, Candide asks a French scholar if he agrees with Pangloss’s argument, derived from Leibniz, that Earth is “the best of all possible worlds.” The scholar responds:
“I know nothing of all that; I find that all goes awry with me; that no one knows either what is his rank, nor what is his condition, what he does nor what he ought to do; and that except supper, which is always gay, and where there appears to be enough concord, all the rest of the time is passed in impertinent quarrels; Jansenist against Molinist, Parliament against the Church, men of letters against men of letters, courtesans against courtesans, financiers against the people, wives against husbands, relatives against relatives—it is eternal war.”
In this passage, Voltaire satirizes his own class and nation, as a member of the French intelligentsia. The scholar, who in some ways resembles Voltaire himself, argues that everything in his life “goes awry” and that, aside from supper, “the rest of the time is passed in impertinent quarrels.” Here, Voltaire alludes to various groups, classes, and parties in French society in the 18th century, including the Jansenists (followers of bishop and theologian Cornelius Jansen) and the Molinists (followers of the theologian Luis de Molina), who were opposed on various spiritual and political grounds. In a metaphor, the scholar suggests that everyday life is “eternal war,” an all-out conflict between all parties, even “wives against husbands.” The scholar, then, provides a distinctly cynical perspective on human society and relations.
Related Themes:
