Candide: A Satire On The Enlightenment

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that rational thought can inhibit the evils perpetrated by human beings. Voltaire did not believe in the power of reason to overcome contemporary social conditions.
In Candide, Voltaire uses Pangloss and his ramblings to represent an often humorous characterization of the “typical” optimist. Of Pangloss, Voltaire writes, “He proved admirably that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause and that in the best of all possible worlds the Baron’s castle was the best of all castles and his wife the best of all possible Baronesses.” (522)
The attack on the claim that this is “the best of all possible worlds” permeates the entire novel. Throughout the story, satirical references to this theme contrast with natural catastrophes and human wrongdoing. When reunited with the diseased and dying Pangloss, who had contracted syphilis, Candide asks if the Devil is at fault. Pangloss simply responds that the disease was a necessity in this “the best of all possible worlds”, for it was ...

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