Natalie Wood's review of Candide and Other Stories (original) (raw)

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Natalie Wood's Reviews > Candide and Other Stories

Candide and Other Stories
by

Candide, another text assigned on my Comparative Literature 'Journeys' module, was an immensely widespread philosophical in the 18th Century. Voltaire challenges Optimism, a philosophical approach to understanding good and evil by relating events to cause and effect. Voltaire criticises this line of thought by leading his protagonist, the open-minded Candide, through the horrors that the world has to offer.
In the context of journeys, I found Candide fascinating in comparison to the common tropes of travel narratives. Many characters encountered in the narrative do not travel out of a colonial desire to collect knowledge or oppress others, but rather have been passively transported as both property or through escape from danger.
Another aspect of the text that interests me was how Voltaire portrays women - Cunégonde and the old woman. I won't spoil the initial shock of reading each woman's suffering, however, I did find their descriptions interesting as the narrative progressed. In Candide, each woman appears to be valued by men for their beauty. Further, if this beauty is noticed to have decayed below a satisfactory level, men comment upon it and continue in noticing further flaws in their countenance. Women are granted their own voice to retell their sufferings, however, men have the final word on their value.

Overall, this text is undoubtedly a masterpiece. The text is enjoyable for the untrained reader as an adventure story, however, the philosophical message is unmissable for the mature reader. As a short text, I feel this is one to read multiple times at different points in life.

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Reading Progress

January 27, 2021 – Shelved

January 27, 2021 – Shelved as:to-read

February 12, 2021 –Started Reading

February 14, 2021 –Finished Reading

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