Misery Loves Comedy

"Candide fled as quickly as possible to another village."
Candide witnessed the immense horrors of death in the
 aftermath of a war between the Bulgars and Abars.

Candide's reception
Voltaire's Candide, a satire following an overly optimistic man—Candide—through continual disasters, was immensely popular. In its first year, 20,000 copies were sold and 17 editions published across Europe. Its humor and criticism on the thoughts and authorities of the time were clearly welcomed by the public. People continue to debate how far the satire extends. Some think Voltaire's conclusion is that philosophy is useless, that to reach contentment you should just work and not think. Others think he merely pretends to be anti-philosophy, coming to the conclusion that you experience things, learn from them, and act on them, actually using philosophy to become active instead of passive and reclusive.

Voltaire's context
Voltaire was himself an active man. He fought (usually through writing and speaking with his powerful friends) against war and religious oppression. His hatred of both is evident throughout Candide, notably when Candide and his tutor, Dr. Pangloss, are severely punished simply for having an opinion on God that differs slightly from the Inquisitor's. Voltaire was after all a deist, believing God didn't influence the current world and that hierarchical religion was absurd.

Voltaire was greatly affected by the abuses of power and hypocrisy of government and religious leaders. In Candide all the characters have their own tragic backstories involving being enslaved, abused, and taken advantage of in one way or another. It seems Voltaire, through his own life events, came to believe that misery is the natural state of humanity; even if things do happen to go well, we then create our own misery. The characters, once they have been reunited and remain without abuse, even fantasize going back to their prior misfortunes over sitting in the contented boredom of their farm.

Slate-colored Glasses

We all knew a kid in grade school who acted out no matter how many times they got in trouble for it. Voltaire was that kid. By the time he turned twenty-four, he had already been exiled and imprisoned at Bastille for his writing criticizing the church and the government. He pushed back against what he considered oppressive authorities and schools of thought, even pushing against some Enlightenment ideals.

Rational thinking was championed during Voltaire's time, but he even questioned that, wanting people to do more than theorize upon and discuss the issues of the time. Further, a fellow writer, Leibniz, wrote in his Monadology that God made everything happen in the world, so the world was essentially good (a common Enlightenment belief among others, as well). Voltaire believed more pessimistically. He thought the belief that all events were divinely prescribed led people to complacency. He saw injustices in the devastating earthquake in Lisbon and in the seven-year's war in which Europe was involved. How could such tragedies be present in a "perfect world"?

Voltaire was greatly affected by the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon. It inspired
him to write Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne and influenced Candide.

I see this complacency in some modern conversations, especially on the topic of climate change. I've spoken with people who trust the scientific evidence that the climate is deteriorating at a faster-than-usual pace but think we shouldn't do anything about it because whatever happens is "in God's plan." I sympathize with Voltaire; this infuriates me. I understand that it's easier to ignore seemingly unsolvable issues by claiming there is nothing we can do, but it's equally as irresponsible.

Optimism often correlates with happiness and longevity. However, multiple studies have shown that pessimistic people tend to be generally more prepared, for stressors from job interviews to the death of a friend. I suppose it comes down to what we value more: blissful ignorance, like Leibniz, or candid realism, like Voltaire.


Image: Earthquake at Lisbon