Voltaire’s satire, Candide, is a novel that critiques and creates the perfect world. Two different situations paint inaccessible images of the earth at her finest. The first Utopia visited is El Dorado, a country in the New World where all men are equal and money is worthless. Another incident of a perfect world is the final chapter of satire, where Candide is reunited with his friends. These journeys show Voltaire’s ideas of near Utopias and their characteristics.
El Dorado is a magical country that Candide and his valet, Cacambo, miraculously stumble upon while floating down a dangerous river. In this perfect environment “all men are free” (pg. 46), and unlike Europe and the rest of the world, there are no jails or lawsuits, and the government provides guests with wonderful food. Young children play with the plentiful supply of quoits, or precious stones and gold, because they are mere pebbles to the citizens of the country. The two travelers encounter different characters, such as the King of El Dorado, who treats Candide and Cacambo beautifully by providing them with all they need and embracing them when they leave. They also visit the old Master of the Horse to the King who explains the history of El Dorado. The old man says that the citizens are “sheltered from the rapaciousness of the European nations” because many years ago they pledged never to quit the kingdom. This promise, as well as the great physical barriers of the country, allows the people to keep their purity, innocence, and passions for life and learning. Although El Dorado is a home of unlimited happiness, Candide is not content without his love, Cunegonde, or the remaining memories of his lost friends back home.
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In search of the Perfect Man in Heian Period Sneaking through the court one day I happen to overhear three aristocratic women engaged in a heated debate concerning the issue of attributes of the perfect man. The three women are: Sei Shonagon, Murasaki Shikibu and Mother Michitsuna and they all are representatives of ancient Japanese historical period called Heian. It is no accident that the great ...
In the final chapter of the novel our traveler finds all of his friends, and that his sins appear forgiven. After Candide and Cacambo leave El Dorado, they bring the quoits along with them in order to have a great supply of money. This section of Utopia guides them to the next, a perfect world made up of their friends and personal enjoyment. On the great voyage from Venice to Constantinople Candide finds the Baron, Cunegonde’s brother who he thought he had killed, and Pangloss, Candide’s philosopher friend who he had seen being hung. This scene displays two different aspects of the perfect world that Candide experiences. First, after longing for Pangloss for many years and thinking he was dead, Pangloss reappears and unrealistically explains his living condition. This aspect shows that painful events that appear to have occurred are mere mistakes, and mainly good things truly happened. The other man who Candide finds on the ship is the Baron, who hasn’t been killed by Candide. It seems that Candide’s mistakes are being undone; the Baron hadn’t died as expected when the story left them. With his quoits Candide is able to buy his friends from their masters, and together they find Cunegonde, the supposed love of his life. With all of this good fortune, Candide should be happy with the Utopia that his life has formed. However, Voltaire shows that the perfect world is an impossible state. In their new home Candide no longer desires to marry Cunegonde, since she has grown very ugly, therefor leaving him with nothing left to live for. A friend of his points out that she doesn’t know what’s worse, all the hardships in her life or to “stay here and have nothing to do” (pg 85).
Once Candide is in his perfect world, he is still unsatisfied.
This satire explains that a great problem the world suffers is that the perfect state is unachievable. Although Voltaire describes two Utopias, the great country of El Dorado and a home with no worries or difficulties, Candide always wants more. There is no way to please human beings, even when all of your mistakes are undone and all men are equal. The true problem is that troubles still exist and there is no way to achieve complete happiness.
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By: Anonymous Brave New World George Santayana once said, "Ideal society is a drama enacted exclusively in the imagination." In life, there is no such thing as a "complete utopia", although that is what many people try to achieve. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is an attempt at a utopian society. In this brave new world, mothers and fathers and family are non-existent. Besides being non-existent, ...
