3
(p. 16)
the Abares
: The name refers allegorically to the French, who were aligned with the Austrians and Russians against the Prussians and British in the Seven Years War. Actually, “Abares” designates a tribe of Scythians, who lived in the steppes near the Black Sea and who might therefore be at war with the Bulgars.
4
(p. 23) “
the law which seizes on the effects of bankrupts, only to cheat the creditors
”: Voltaire had recently sustained a significant financial loss through the bankruptcy proceedings against one of his brokers.
5
(p. 26)
they felt the earth tremble under their feet, and . . . thirty thousand inhabitants ... were buried beneath the ruins
: The Lisbon earthquake and fire of November 1, 1755, had an enormous impact on Voltaire and was one of the contemporary tragedies that caused him to question Leibniz’s philosophical optimism, as especially evident in his eloquent
Poem on the Lisbon Disaster
(1756) and, of course, in
Candide
.
6
(p. 26) “I . . .
have trampled four times upon the crucifix in as many voyages to Japan
”: It was reported that Europeans were allowed to trade in Japan only if they first demonstrated their repudiation of Christianity by trampling on the crucifix.
7
(p. 27) familiars
of the Inquisition
: “Familiars” were undercover agents of the Inquisition who had the power to arrest suspects. Established in the Middle Ages to suppress heresy, the Inquisition was still active in the eighteenth century.
8
(p. 27) “
you do not believe in free-will
”: Free will versus determinism is widely debated in philosophical and theological circles. Blindly faithful to Leibniz in this respect, as in so many others, Pangloss feebly tries to explain the philosopher’s attempt to reconcile metaphysical necessity with his belief in freedom.
9
(p. 28)
an
auto-da-fé: The name—Portuguese for “act of faith”—of a church ceremony consisting of a procession, mass, and burning at the stake of heretics condemned by the Inquisition. An
auto-da-fé
took place in Lisbon on June 20, 1756.
10
(p. 28)
rounded up a Biscayner for marrying his godmother
: Such a marriage was condemned as incest, since the Catholic Church viewed a godmother as a relative.
11
(p. 28)
who while eating a chicken had set aside a piece of bacon used for seasoning
: The two Portuguese men who removed the bacon thereby revealed themselves as converts who still secretly practiced the Jewish religion.
12
(p. 28)
The mitre and
san-benito
worn by Candide were painted with upside-down flames . . . but Dr. Pangloss’s ... were upright
: The inverted flames on the
san
-
benito
and mitre worn by Candide signify that he had repented, while the upright flames on Pangloss’s outfit indicate an unrepentant heretic. Pangloss, who was the outspoken one in the conversation with the agent of the Inquisition, was probably considered guiltier than Candide, who, as was his habit, merely listened with apparent approval.
13
(p. 32)
seemed to devour her with his eyes all the time she was speaking
: This whole chapter is a parody of a popular novelistic formula of the period for depicting the happiness of lovers reunited after being separated by tragic circumstances.
14
(p. 40)
accused of having excited one of the Indian tribes . . . to revolt against the kings of Spain and Portugal
: An uprising by the natives against their European masters took place in 1755 and 1756, and Jesuit missionaries were accused of inciting it. Spain sent troops to put down the rebellion, and Candide is recruited for this mission.
15
(p. 41 ) “
I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and of the Princess of Palestrina
”: Among Voltaire’s manuscripts found after his death is the following ironical comment on this passage: “Observe the author’s extreme discretion. There has never been until now a Pope named Urban X. The author avoided attributing a bastard daughter to a known Pope. What circumspection! What delicacy of conscience!”
16
(p. 46)
he had been sent to the court of the King of Morocco by a Christian prince
: Portugal allied itself with Morocco in order to obtain trading privileges, and the eunuch was sent as an emissary to conclude a treaty.
17
(p. 50)
Robeck
: In 1736 Johann Robeck (1672-1739) published a treatise advocating suicide and soon thereafter drowned himself. The controversial topic of suicide was widely discussed in the eighteenth century.
18
(p. 63) “
let’s eat this Jesuit
”: The French phrase “Mangeons du jésuite” caught the popular fancy at a time of rising hostility to the Jesuits, culminating in their expulsion from France in 1764.
19
(p. 80)
Socinian
: The Socinians were a heretical sect organized in the sixteenth century by Lelio Sozzini, or Laelius Socinus (1525—1562), and his nephew, Fausto Sozzini, or Faustus Socinus (1539-1604). The latter settled in Poland after leaving the Roman Catholic Church. Socinianism attempts to reconcile Christianity and humanism by stressing the importance of rational conscience and minimizing the doctrines of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ.
20
(p. 81)
a Manichœan
: A believer in two coequal spirits of Good and Evil struggling to gain the upper hand in the Universe. Mani, or Manicheus, was a Persian philosopher of the third century B.C. who posited a primal struggle between these two opposing and equal forces or principles, one of light and the other of darkness. Manichaeism, which is fundamentally pessimistic, was frequently confused with Socinianism in the eighteenth century, probably because both were heretical. Hence Martin’s ironical remark.
21
(p. 88) “
when they die we throw their bodies upon a dunghill
”: This is a reference to the automatic excommunication of actors and actresses by the Catholic Church and to the resultant refusal to bury them in consecrated ground. One of Voltaire’s causes was to give actors an honorable status in society and the right to be buried in Christian cemeteries.
22
(p. 88) “
Miss Monimia made her exit . . . in the parish
”: Miss Monimia refers to Adrienne Lecouvreur (1692-1730), a great actress of the Comédie Française much admired by Voltaire; she made her debut in the role of Monine in Jean Racine’s tragedy
Mithridate
(1673); after her death she was denied ecclesiastic burial.
23
(p. 93) “
Jansenists against Molinists
”: Jansenists were members of a Catholic sect that sought religious reform and followed the doctrines of Cornelis Jansen (1585-1638), a Dutch theologian who limited free will in favor of predestination and divine grace. His best-known follower was French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). They were condemned as heretical and were fiercely opposed by the Jesuits, or Molinists—from the Spanish Jesuit Luis de Molina (1535-1600), who emphasized free will. The quarrel between the two sects continued well into the eighteenth century.
24
(p. 96)
not like the one in the month of May,
1610,
but like the one in the month of December
in 1594: François Ravaillac succeeded in killing Henry IV in 1610, whereas Jean Châtel had failed in his attempt to kill Henry IV in 1594.
25
(p. 99)
Canada is worth
: This is a reference to the struggle for Canada during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). The wars of the French and English over Canada persisted throughout the eighteenth century until the Peace of Paris (1763) confirmed England’s conquest. Voltaire failed to appreciate the importance of Canada.
26
(p. 99)
In front of this man stood four soldiers . . . perfectly well satisfied
: Candide witnesses here the historical execution of Admiral John Byng (1704—1757), who was executed by a firing squad, by verdict of a court-martial, for allegedly having neglected his duties and thereby having significantly contributed to the humiliating defeat of the English by the French fleet under La Galissonnière in the battle of Minorca (1756) during the Seven Years War. Voltaire had met Byng during his years of exile in England, considered him an innocent victim of national pride, and unsuccessfully intervened in his behalf.
27
(p. 108) “
But your excellency does not hold the same opinion of Virgil?” . . . “I prefer Tasso and even that sleepy tale-teller Ariosto
: The Roman poet Virgil (70-19 B.C.) wrote the epic poem the
Aenied
; until the nineteenth century, many ranked him above Homer; the Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1544—1595) wrote
Jerusalem Delivered
; the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) wrote
Orlando Furioso
.
28
(p. 108) ”
May I take the liberty to ask if you do not get great pleasure from reading Horace?” . . . . ”I see nothing extraordinary in his journey to Brundusium . . . language was dipped in vinegar. His indelicate verses . . . great offence
: Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65—8 B.C.), known as Horace, was one of the greatest Latin poets. The ancient city Brundusium, the modern Brindisi, is located on the heel of the boot of Italy. The phrase “dipped in vinegar” is a reference to a phrase in Horace’s
Satires
(satire 1, book 7). “His indelicate verses” is a reference to Horace’s
Epodes
5, 8, and 12.
29
(p. 117)
Ragotsky
: Ferenc II Rákóczi (1676—1735) was a Hungarian prince who, with the support of Louis XIV, led a rebellion against the Austrians and became prince of Transylvania (1707-1711); after several defeats, he fled to Poland, then to France, and eventually to Turkey.
30
(p. 123) “
everything in this world happens for the best . . . pre-established harmony is the finest thing in the world, as well as a
plenum
and the
materia subtilis”: These are all terms of Leibnizian philosophy. The
plenum
and the
materia subtilis
were also theories of René Descartes (1596-1650) to explain that there was no vacuum and that light rays could pass through this “subtle matter.” Voltaire was intent on ridiculing these outdated theories in favor of the more advanced views of English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
31
(p. 124)
the contingent or non-contingent events of this world
: Yet another example of Voltaire’s use of Leibnizian terminology in order to make fun of Leibniz’s philosophy.
32
(p. 126)
he had been so cheated by the Jews
: This amounts to a settling of scores, for Voltaire had incurred significant financial losses as a result of disputes with and bankruptcies of Jewish financiers and bankers.
INSPIRED BY CANDIDE
George Bernard Shaw’s Candida
The name Candide has come to mean a naive person who is optimistic to the point of stupidity. However, the title character of George Bernard Shaw’s play
Candida
(1893) is not at all naive. Shaw speaks of Candida in his stage directions: “Her ways are those of a woman who has found that she can always manage people by engaging their affection, and who does so frankly and instinctively without the smallest scruple. So far, she is like any other pretty woman who is just clever enough to make the most of her sexual attractions for trivially selfish ends: but Candida’s serene brow, courageous eyes, and well set mouth and chin signify largeness of mind and dignity of character to ennoble her cunning in the affections.”
At
Candida
’s center is a love triangle: Candida; her husband, Morell ; and Eugene Marchbanks, a poet of eighteen who plays the role of the naïf. Marchbanks’s metaphysical poetry echoes the optimistic theories of Leibniz and Pope that Voltaire had lambasted. Shaw, whose best of all possible worlds was no doubt a socialist one, constructed a drama every bit as subversive and critical of human folly as Voltaire’s
Candide
. But by giving Candida the twin gifts of reason and power, Shaw located wisdom in the feminine.
Leonard Bernstein’s Candide
The evolution of the comic operetta
Candide
is a story of prolonged adaptation and revision. Leonard Bernstein began work on a musical based on Voltaire’s
Candide
in 1954, with help from playwright Lillian Hellman and eventual poet laureate Richard Wilbur. Before the work’s 1956 premiere, Bernstein said of Hellman’s book: “She has taken Voltaire and done much more than adapt him: she has added, deleted, rewritten, replotted, composed brand new sequences, provided a real ending, and, I feel, made it infinitely more significant for our country and our time.” To Wilbur’s verses were added lyrics by John La Touche, Dorothy Parker, and Bernstein himself. Bernstein composed the score, arguably one of the most complex in musical theater, around the same time that he wrote the bold and sumptuous
West Side Story
(1957). When it opened in Boston and had a relatively short run on Broadway (1956-1957), the two-act
Candide
was not considered a success; rather than comic, the libretto struck audiences as angry in its targeting of McCarthyism as the modern corollary of the Inquisition.
In 1959, the bicentennial of the publication of Voltaire’s
Candide
, Bernstein’s musical opened in London with some new songs. This production did not succeed either, nor did those based on subsequent revisions in 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1971. In 1973 Hellman’s book was abandoned completely in favor of a new one by Hugh Wheeler, and Steven Sondheim contributed new lyrics. Director Harold Prince took on the task of taming Bernstein’s score, squeezing it into one act and paring down the orchestra to thirteen members. This version, executed without significant input from Bernstein, was the first to have any success. However, though rollickingly funny from curtain to curtain, the 1973 version had lost much of the philosophy of the original.