Voltaire : Correspondance, tome 1, Décembre 1704 - Décembre 1738

Zulime

Candide ou l'Optimisme

Candide is the story of a gentle man who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." On the surface a witty, bantering tale, this eighteenth-century classic is actually a savage, satiric thrust at the philosophical optimism that proclaims that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Fast, funny, often outrageous, the French philosopher's immortal narrative takes Candide around the world to discover that -- contrary to the teachings of his distinguished tutor Dr. Pangloss -- all is not always for the best. Alive with wit, brilliance, and graceful storytelling, Candide has become Voltaire's most celebrated work.

Candide

Zadig ou la Destinée

The accompanying apparatus has been revised in accordance with recent biographical and critical materials. The Backgrounds and Criticism sections provide important essays that shed light on major critical issues relevant to Candide and to the intellectual climate of the period. In addition to the reports of five English visitors to Ferney, essays by Haydn Mason, Erich Auerbach, Ernst Cassirer, and Robert M. Adams are included. The final section of the edition, "The Climate of Controversy," summarizes the debate surrounding Voltaire s works and includes essays by Peter Gay, Raymond Naves, Gustave Lanson, and John Morley. Also included are a series of quotations about Voltaire by such prominent figures as Gustave Flaubert, Frederick the Great, and Stendhal, as well as the text of "Pangloss s Song," a ballad from the 1956 Candide-based operetta by Richard Wilbur."

Les oeuvres complètes de Voltaire - Tome 32B, Oeuvres de 1750-1752 (2)

Les oeuvres complètes de Voltaire - Tome 23, Essai sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nations (3) Chapitres 38-67

Candide parut au plus tard en mars 1759. Le roi de Prusse en accuse reception par sa lettre du 28 du mois d'avril. Voltaire en avait envoye le manuscrit a la duchesse de La Valliere, qui lui fit repondre qu'il aurait pu se passer d'y mettre tant d'indecences, et qu'un ecrivain tel que lui n'avait pas besoin d'avoir recours a cette ressource pour se procurer des lecteurs. Beaucoup d'autres personnes furent scandalisees de Candide, et Voltaire desavoua cet ouvrage, qu'il appelle lui-meme une coionnerie. Il ne faut pas, au reste, prendre a la lettre son titre d'optimisme. L'optimisme, dit-il ailleurs[1], n'est qu'une fatalite desesperante.

Voltaire : Correspondance, tome 1, Décembre 1704 - Décembre 1738

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