Candide Essay
Candide Essay“A guy walks into a bar and says, “Ouch.” Many are familiar with this ancient pun. Very often, jokes are told that begin with a character walking into a bar. This joke, however, satirizes those clichés and while sounding very foolish, the anecdote is still sensible, much like the humor performed in Voltaire’s Candide. The novel is essentially a satire, itself, on the many philosophies of life, mainly the belief of optimism. Voltaire’s humor throughout Candide’s adventures become more ridiculous and simultaneously, hilarious to achieve his paradox on the ideals of life.
Voltaire includes a variety of comedic elements in Candide, including: sarcasm, paradoxical remarks, and outright ludicrous humor. However, Voltaire does not introduce this humor immediately. He basically “sets up” the reader for what appears to be a novel about philosophical optimism, but then incorporates his satiric comedy, which provides for a better comedic performance. The humor is unexpected and that is what allows for this delayed comedy to work. For example, the first real occurrence or humor does not appear until Chapter IV when Pangloss is explaining to Candide how he obtained the sores on his body and how he was reduced “to such a pitiful state.” (26) Pangloss explains how all of these “diseases” were passed to each person, and eventually him. He then reveals the final scapegoat to Candide, which is love. He blames love for his acquisition of the sores. Voltaire satirizes the human race’s idea of love here, because it is so cherished by all. But he realizes how love is always misunderstood, and this leads to perfect satire. Reading further into Candide, one will notice how Voltaire’s comedy progresses into absurd humor.
Voltaire, in Chapter XI, introduces one of his many tools of comedy, this being the old woman. When read initially the old woman seems to have no reason for involvement in the story and can even be perceived as pointless. However, she is another prop used by Voltaire to provide comedy in the novel. The old woman tells her story, and this is where Voltaire’s absurd comedy occurs. When describing her youth to Candide, she says, “My breasts were forming, and what breasts! They were white and firm, and as shapely as those of Venus de’ Medici.” (42) Her graphic description to another male is what makes this scene so funny; just imagining Candide sitting there, listening to her describe her breasts. She lists many of her other youthful features and the fortuitous incorporation of her breasts is indeed the most humorous. She also explains how the soldiers stripped the women of their clothes, and she adds, “It’s amazing how quickly those gentlemen can undress...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.