Candide by Voltaire and Essay on Man by Alexander Pope

In the book Candide, by Voltaire and in the â€Å"Essay On Man† by Alexander Pope, both authors write about similar ideas. However, they also have some drastic differences, such as Voltaires sarcastic over exaggeration of ideas that oppose his to make a point. Both Voltaire and Pope make conflicting arguments for a general ideology but Voltaire depicts in opinion much stronger. In the Essay on Man, Pope brings up many theories about the universe, Earth, and The Great Chain of Being. One of the most significant ideas he brings up is the idea that â€Å"All partial evil, (is) universal good†(293). What Pope is trying to say here is that perhaps the suffering of a few benefits everyone in the long run. However, the true meaning of this quote isnt extremely clear to the eye from the reading, and leaves the readers mind open. Another one of Popes ideas is the great chain of being, and everythings position on it. He believes it is a law of the world and that breaking it would be nearly impossible. He states that: â€Å"Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel: And who but wishes to invert the laws Of order, sins against the Eternal Cause†(125-130). Pope is essentially saying that if anyone breaks, or tries to break the great chain of being, they are committing a sin against the â€Å"Eternal Cause†, or the cause of God. Also, he is saying that all parts of the chain are necessary. If angels didn’t exist, men would try toShow MoreRelatedAn Essay on Man vs. Candide795 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿An Essay on Man vs. Candide During the period of Enlightenment, many philosophers began a new way of thinking. For philosopher Alexander Pope in An Essay on Man, Pope believed that, â€Å"Whatever is, is right† (L. 294), in that God is in control and every human being is a part of a greater design of God. Voltaire later challenged that belief in Candide with the idea that God does not produce order, but instead, we must produce it ourselves and use reason to give our lives meaning. Pope’s positionRead MoreCompare and Contrast Happines in Candide, Rasselas, Essay on Man1496 Words   |  6 Pagesand put in their two cents of their views on the matter of happiness. Alexander Pope talks about the relationship and purpose man has to the universe in An Essay on Man, Voltaire wrote about living in blind optimism with a false notion of happiness in Candide, and Samuel Johnson wrote The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, in which the main characters are on a quest to find happiness. Alexander Pope’s, An Essay on Man, tries to answer the question many have had about happiness and how toRead MoreDifferent Viewpoints on Human Nature Essay520 Words   |  3 Pagesgreater detail than Candide, The Prince, and Essay on Man. Voltaire, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Alexander Pope, who wrote these three works respectively, concur with each other on many view points. But it is their differences that make the works unique. Voltaire wrote Candide in 1759 during the period known as the Enlightenment. It is a story that has a deeper symbolic meaning about life and human nature. At face value it seems to be an optimistic tale that speaks highly of man. But when looked atRead Morecompare and contrast aphra Bhens Oroonoko the royal slave and candide, or optimism1618 Words   |  7 PagesWRITE AN ESSAY OF 1,500 WORDS IN WHICH YOU COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE TWO PASSAGES BELOW, TAKEN FROM BEHNS _OROONOKO_ OR THE ROYAL SLAVE AND VOLTAIRES _CANDIDE_, OR OPTIMISM. IN YOUR DISCUSSION PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE WAYS IN WHICH THE CONTEXTS OF EUROPEAN COLONISATION AND EXPLORATION INFORM THE TWO PASSAGES. Aphra Bhen was a prolific female playwright and author during the restoration period of English history. Bhen herself stood by the power of the monarchy. Her book _Oroonoko_Read MoreVoltaires Criticism of Leibniz Essay4061 Words   |  17 Pages(Johnson was discussing rationalism at the time). Voltaires response to Leibniz is similar to Johnsons: Go out and look at the world, Voltaire tells us over and over in Candide. Candide, often considered to be Voltaires masterpiece, tells the story of a naà ¯ve (or candid, from which he gets his name) young man who grows up in the German province of Westphalia. Candide grows to be, in his own opinion, wise under the tutelage of the learned and traveled Doctor Pangloss. Pangloss may be intended as aRead MoreCompare Candide and Tartuffe5528 Words   |  23 Pagescharacters, which satirized the Neo-Classic belief system.     Ã‚   In  Candide, Voltaires approach is called black comedy. Many devastating factors play into the characters lives that causes the reader to be amused in a cynical way in order to guard their inner feelings. He challenges society as a whole by the way he implements real life occurrences into his writing and makes them come alive. This becomes evident when Dr. Pangloss told Candide what came of Cunegonde at the castle of Westphalia after he left