3 Review(s)

Candide, a privileged and sheltered young man, is under the folly of optimism and believes he lives in the 'best of all possible worlds' as his mentor, Pangloss, espoused the worldly goodness of German Philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. But fate unravels for Candide as he falls in love with the baron's daughter Cunegonde, and the reality of lopsided optimism unfolds. The novel records and refers to real-world atrocities of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the horrific Seven Years' War in the German state. Appalled by the injustice and the disaster of these events, Voltaire questioned social optimism through the book. Result of the unflinching conflicts and an enthralling yet politically awakening storyline is one of the glories of eighteenth-century England. Magnum opus of the greatest artist of the Enlightenment era, Candide translated from its French original The Optimist, exudes the timeliness of political satire, which is Voltaire's forte. He is remembered for his quality of exposing the problem of evil in society through wit and satire.