In 1784, Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) wrote an essay entitled Was Ist Aufklärung? (What is Enlightenment?), in which he stated that the Enlightenment was mankind’s coming of age, it was the liberation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error (Porter 2001).Īs previously noted, Candide was an instant best-seller and for many readers of the time it was their first introduction to the Enlightenment (Stewart 2009). It is also commonly known as the ‘Age of Reason’, although some say this is misleading (Porter 2001). In short, the Enlightenment was an intellectual movement beginning in the late 17 th century and continuing into the 18 th century, which emphasised reason and individualism instead of tradition. In particular, I am going to critically discuss the significance of optimism in Candide, a major recurring theme in the novel that Voltaire attacks.īefore we discuss Candide, we must first understand what the Enlightenment was. In this essay, therefore, I will discuss Candide and its impact on the Age of the Enlightenment. Candide quickly became a bestseller of the European book trade in the eighteenth century at least 20,000 copies of the book were sold within a month of its publication and, consequently, has become one of the key texts of the Enlightenment (Pearson 2008). Candide (1759), or Optimism, is a French satire written by Voltaire (1694 – 1778), a philosopher of the Enlightenment.
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