Tuesday, May 7, 2013
David, Josh and Jonas blog post assignment #2
Our question, how Candide was received by Voltaire's audience, synthesizes with Adina and Ayelets question, How Voltaire felt about religion. In our study, we learnt that the novel was rejected by religious officials. We learnt from Ayelet and Adina that Voltaire was opposed to religion. Ayelet and Adina explained that Voltaire was specifically against Christian officials. In addition to the Christians, Voltaire greatly opposed the Jews. Voltaire expresses his hatred towards the Jews when the Jew and the Christian are fighting over Cunegond to be their concubines. This synthesizes because it makes sense that Voltaire would satirize what he was opposed to. Because Voltaire satirized the church, the novel was banned by many religious officials, most notably the Roman Caholic church.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Tamar and Rachel Candide Assignment
We learned many things from the sites about Candide. First, we learned the book actually falls under a precedented category. Candide, with his jejune opinions, typifies the flawed protagonists of picaresque novels. Picaresque novels are typically about imperfect, yet endearing heroes, and the stories of their lives. Candide lives through many hectic episodes, and rationalizes events callowly. Although, Candide's story is also one of bildungsroman, meaning a story containing one's spiritual education. After Candide is disenchanted, he finally has misgivings about Pangloss' optimistic beliefs, and therefore undergoes a spiritual metamorphosis.
At the start of the novel, Candide agrees with Pangloss over the philosopher's world views. Pangloss is practically blind to the evil surrounding him, claiming our world is the best of all possible worlds. But after Candide witnesses tragedy and brutality, he concludes that there is indeed evil around him. As we learned from the video of Dr. Paul LeClerc, Candide believed there is evil in the world, yet there is still a window of hope. Candide seemed to surmise that with staunch efforts, one can resist the evil and change the world for the better.
Candide's conclusions seem to reflect those of Voltaire, as Pangloss represents Leibniz's school of thought. Leibniz also stated, in Monadology, that our world is the best of all possible worlds, and it seems Voltaire criticizes this belief through the use of satire. Voltaire wrote the novel shortly after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and therefore refused to believe such tragedy could occur in the best of all possible worlds. In addition, the pictures in the digital gallery shed light on Voltaire's generation, and the cause of his indignation. The photo of the execution in Lisbon, shows how cruel religious persecution was at the time. One can imagine why Voltaire couldn't see the world with a wide-eyed, optimistic approach. Voltaire was surrounded by depravity and persecution, and therefore believed the world must change.
In conclusion, we learned from the various links that Voltaire uses Candide as his pawn, and at the end of Candide's bildungsroman, he comes to Voltaire's own conclusion. Both Voltaire and Candide believe in fighting against the evil around us, and Voltaire subtly argues this point through his picaresque novel.
Tsipora and Ayala- Candide Question #1
Q#1: What were the conditions
and the setting during the time that Voltaire wrote the novel? What were the
satirical techniques that Voltaire used through the novel?
The novel, Candide, by Voltaire, was written and published in France in the late 1750s. This time period in France was rough because of many internal conflicts and civil wars going on at the time. Philosophers had very optimistic views on the world, saying that the government should pay for the lower classes' rights and that everything is for the best. However, most people did not listen to these philosophers, causing great unrest between the social classes. There were three major social classes at the time. High level politicians, wealthy families and powerful business owners comprised the majority of the upper class, high executives in companies with high incomes were in the middle class, and retailers and mostly unemployed people were in the lower class. In the late 1750s, there was great tension between the three social classes, in which the lower class was neglected. Not only was there great wars socially at the time, but also politically. The French government was known as “ancien régime France”, maintaining the social and political structure of ancient France, which treated the upper class as most important and was a monarchy. The ruling power in government were the monarchs and aristocrats who made up the upper class. The monarchy in France was corrupt, stealing from society instead of providing for them. The king and the monarchy both furthered the idea of royal centralization, that royals were the center of the government. Religiously, France at the time of the Enlightenment was in the midst of a war, in which some religious groups, like the Jesuits, were persecuted. In addition, new ideas were being developed, such as the new importance of hygiene and the lowering of costs to aid the lower classes, both created by Count Rumford. At the time that Voltaire wrote Candide there was great corruption socially, politically and religiously, which fueled his satirical novel.
Voltaire wrote Candide as a satire on the corruption in society at the time, showing his views on many events. In order to exhibit his ideas he used several satirical techniques, such as exaggeration and contrast. Voltaire satirizes the philosophers by creating Pangloss, who is an exaggerated reflection on the optimistic philosophers in the Enlightenment period. Using extreme religious characters, Voltaire makes fun of organized religion, which was a big part of French society. Lastly, Voltaire shows his ideas on money corruption in France by contrasting every place with El Dorado from which he gets the fortune that everyone tries to steal. Exaggeration and contrast are two satirical techniques that Voltaire used in order to rebel against societal ideas in the late 1750s.
sources:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candide/themes.html
The novel, Candide, by Voltaire, was written and published in France in the late 1750s. This time period in France was rough because of many internal conflicts and civil wars going on at the time. Philosophers had very optimistic views on the world, saying that the government should pay for the lower classes' rights and that everything is for the best. However, most people did not listen to these philosophers, causing great unrest between the social classes. There were three major social classes at the time. High level politicians, wealthy families and powerful business owners comprised the majority of the upper class, high executives in companies with high incomes were in the middle class, and retailers and mostly unemployed people were in the lower class. In the late 1750s, there was great tension between the three social classes, in which the lower class was neglected. Not only was there great wars socially at the time, but also politically. The French government was known as “ancien régime France”, maintaining the social and political structure of ancient France, which treated the upper class as most important and was a monarchy. The ruling power in government were the monarchs and aristocrats who made up the upper class. The monarchy in France was corrupt, stealing from society instead of providing for them. The king and the monarchy both furthered the idea of royal centralization, that royals were the center of the government. Religiously, France at the time of the Enlightenment was in the midst of a war, in which some religious groups, like the Jesuits, were persecuted. In addition, new ideas were being developed, such as the new importance of hygiene and the lowering of costs to aid the lower classes, both created by Count Rumford. At the time that Voltaire wrote Candide there was great corruption socially, politically and religiously, which fueled his satirical novel.
Voltaire wrote Candide as a satire on the corruption in society at the time, showing his views on many events. In order to exhibit his ideas he used several satirical techniques, such as exaggeration and contrast. Voltaire satirizes the philosophers by creating Pangloss, who is an exaggerated reflection on the optimistic philosophers in the Enlightenment period. Using extreme religious characters, Voltaire makes fun of organized religion, which was a big part of French society. Lastly, Voltaire shows his ideas on money corruption in France by contrasting every place with El Dorado from which he gets the fortune that everyone tries to steal. Exaggeration and contrast are two satirical techniques that Voltaire used in order to rebel against societal ideas in the late 1750s.
sources:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candide/themes.html
William Hogarth's "Gin Lane"
which shows the great squalor in which people lived in the 1750s
and brought about social reforms.
David and Josh-- Candide question #2
Candide was widely opposed by the upper class, specifically government and church officials. It was only later widely accepted because of its sharp wit and insightfulness into the human condition. Because of his fears of bad reception, Voltaire originally didn't take credit for Candide, rather he wrote under a pseudonym. In 1762, Candide appeared on the Roman Catholic Church's list of banned books. It was mostly denounced by political and religious leaders, the religious leaders calling it blasphemous. However, Candide succeeded in becoming the best selling novel the year it came out. This shows that Candide was widely accepted by the middle and lower classes, it's main audience. These classes supported the novel because it satirized the people that persecuted them, the Church and the government.
Voltaire Question 5: Alex, Michael, Elijah
What is Voltaire's view of theodicy?
Voltaire's opinion of the creation of evil is that man, by himself, created it. The origin world, pure and perfect after G-d's creation of it, was deemed unfit by man. Mankind tried to perfect an already perfect world, causing disputes, which led to chaos and the spread of evil ways.
Synthesizing The Question Above With:
1) Was Voltaire an optimist or pessimist?
2) How does Voltaire use Utopias in Candide?
Voltaire uses the idea of theodicy in Candide. Theodicy is the origin of evil in the world. By focusing on evils of the world, one could think that Voltaire was a pessimist. This is because Voltaire puts Candide in almost every situation and/or society possible and yet all of the ones that people rule in are corrupt or evil. This is an example of Failing Utopias. The only true utopia in Candide is El Dorado but that society is almost impossible to create now that we have taken our societies this far away from that idea. This also shows how Voltaire is a pessimist because he knows that the only way to have a perfect society is by having El Dorado come to life but he knows this to be impossible so he is basically portraying to us that it is not possible to get rid of evil. Tying these ideas together we conclude that our opinion of Voltaire is he thinks evil was created by man, and is pessimistic about ever creating a Utopia.
Voltaire's opinion of the creation of evil is that man, by himself, created it. The origin world, pure and perfect after G-d's creation of it, was deemed unfit by man. Mankind tried to perfect an already perfect world, causing disputes, which led to chaos and the spread of evil ways.
Synthesizing The Question Above With:
1) Was Voltaire an optimist or pessimist?
2) How does Voltaire use Utopias in Candide?
Voltaire uses the idea of theodicy in Candide. Theodicy is the origin of evil in the world. By focusing on evils of the world, one could think that Voltaire was a pessimist. This is because Voltaire puts Candide in almost every situation and/or society possible and yet all of the ones that people rule in are corrupt or evil. This is an example of Failing Utopias. The only true utopia in Candide is El Dorado but that society is almost impossible to create now that we have taken our societies this far away from that idea. This also shows how Voltaire is a pessimist because he knows that the only way to have a perfect society is by having El Dorado come to life but he knows this to be impossible so he is basically portraying to us that it is not possible to get rid of evil. Tying these ideas together we conclude that our opinion of Voltaire is he thinks evil was created by man, and is pessimistic about ever creating a Utopia.
Work on Candide for 5/2/13
Thank you, Josh, for finding us these resources:
Questions To Think About:
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/candide.html
An article entitled "Irony and Social Critique in 'A Modest Proposal' and _Candide_"
Here are the questions about Candide that we're working with:
1) What were the conditions in the world that Voltaire was satirizing? Tsipora and Ayala
2) Who was the book's audience, and what was their reaction to it? Did the lower classes understand the book? Josh and David
3) What was Voltaire's motivation in writing the book? Talia and Raquel
4) Why does Voltaire use utopias? Jenny, Ronit, Maddie
5) What is Voltaire's view of theodicy (not The Odyssey)? Michael, Alex, Elijah
6) Is Voltaire himself an optimist or pessimist? Benny and Solomon
7) What is Voltaire's bias? Sammy and Benni
8) What is Voltaire's view of religion? Adina and Ayelet
9) Why is Candide a "classic?" Why are we reading this book?
10) Can this book be related to the Africa project? Tamar and Ayelet
Maddie Rosen's book choice
I have chosen to read The Fault in our Stars. I picked this book because it was recommended to me by multiple people who said it was a great read.
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