Question

In Candide, what is satirized, and for what purpose?

F Voltaire satirizes himself to make fun of the French nobility.
G Religious institutions are satirized in order to promote spirituality.
H Ignorance, weakness, and folly are satirized in order to improve humanity.
J Human suffering is satirized in order for Voltaire to obtain political office.

Answer 1

Candide is a humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism promoted by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment.

Step-by-step explanation:

Candide is a novella by Voltaire, a French philosopher. The work is a bildungsroman, a roman à clef, and a satire. It aims to refute the work of Gottfried Leibniz, another philosopher who argued that the world that exists is ''the best of all possible worlds''. Voltaire vehemently disagreed and wrote Candide to explore the ubiquity and randomness of human suffering.

Over the course of the story, the protagonist, Candide, visits a number of places. He is born in Germany and then travels to Holland, Portugal, Argentina, England, France, Italy, and Turkey. The story is largely about whether the world is a good or bad place. Candide's tutor, Doctor Pangloss, argues optimistically that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Candide spends the story trying to find and marry Cunégonde, a young woman with whom he is in love, even leaving the gold city of El Dorado to be with her. He encounters many misfortunes and though he does ultimately marry Cunégonde, he no longer loves her.