Voltaire's Candide: European Discovery Of The New World
According to Voltaire, author of Candide, the Enlightenment period in Europe’s history must have been a time of great optimism. Although, Candide, was considered an example of The Enlightenment it actually makes fun of a number of the philosophies and demonstrates that the movement was far from being united. Candide reflects Voltaire’s exaggerated self-opinion on Church/Christianity, human suffering, and the effects/impacts of European discovery of the New World. In the book, events all slowly work at Candide’s optimistic up bringing by Pangloss (the apostle of optimism) until he no longer has faith in having a world where “all things are arranged for the best (Voltaire, 12)”. By the end of the book his opinion changes to that “we must cultivate
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When the Europeans were introduced to the New World it affected much of the way they understood things. The basis of wealth in Europe had been land, and the owners of land lived quite well by renting their lands out and requiring their renters to provide them with service and a share of their crops. Suddenly gold and silver, which had been in short supply, began flooding from the New World back into Europe with the result that prices began to soar. The way money was handled was a huge corruption. While Candide was in Eldorado he acquires a fortune because money there is useless to the people, they don’t see money as being something of honor. Where as in much other parts, money is what allows someone to pay off their debts, to bribe someone, to get ahead in life. Voltaire seemed to think that Eldorado was the New World. That it was of great riches. A huge impact the discovery of the New World held on the Europeans was that of disease. Because of their exploration and there insanitary encounters, diseases were spread like wildfire; such diseases include small pox and syphilis. Another thing was the slave trade. Once certain ports were found and opened, more people were being sold offshore and shipped out of their countries. Each world, to Voltaire though, seemed to be better than the
When the Europeans were introduced to the New World it affected much of the way they understood things. The basis of wealth in Europe had been land, and the owners of land lived quite well by renting their lands out and requiring their renters to provide them with service and a share of their crops. Suddenly gold and silver, which had been in short supply, began flooding from the New World back into Europe with the result that prices began to soar. The way money was handled was a huge corruption. While Candide was in Eldorado he acquires a fortune because money there is useless to the people, they don’t see money as being something of honor. Where as in much other parts, money is what allows someone to pay off their debts, to bribe someone, to get ahead in life. Voltaire seemed to think that Eldorado was the New World. That it was of great riches. A huge impact the discovery of the New World held on the Europeans was that of disease. Because of their exploration and there insanitary encounters, diseases were spread like wildfire; such diseases include small pox and syphilis. Another thing was the slave trade. Once certain ports were found and opened, more people were being sold offshore and shipped out of their countries. Each world, to Voltaire though, seemed to be better than the