Lesson in Experimental Physics

"One day Cunégonde was walking near her house in a little coppice, called 'the park', when she saw Dr. Pangloss behind some bushes given a lesson in experimental physics to her mother's waiting-woman, a pretty little brunette who seemed eminently teachable. Since Lady Cunégonde took great interest in science, she watched the experiments being repeated with breathless fascination. She saw clearly the Doctor's 'sufficient reason', and took note of cause and effect." (Candide by Voltaire Pg. 20). What better way to start talking about Voltaire's book than this quote? To me this quote foreshadows all the sarcasm, irony, the satire that we will see throughout the novel. Just like this quote, the meaning or understanding of the entire book is in the hands of the reader. Or maybe not his hands per-se, but his naïveness. Because you could simply graze through the book, not getting the deeper meaning of the things Voltaire writes, but rather a literal meaning, and end up lost in the plot, and this quotes demonstrates just that: was he giving the waiting-woman a lesson in experimental physics or was he doing something else entirely? Those are the questions you constantly have to ask yourself whilst reading the book, because here, every punctuation mark, every capitalization counts for something, they add to the actual meaning of his words. It's just one endless close reading.

The irony starts in the first chapter, with Dr. Pangloss saying "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" but from that point on, everything starts going wrong. Candide is forced to go to war, Lady Condégonde ("that pearl among women") was raped and murdered, the beautiful mansion had been destroyed. That definitely doesn't go with the motto "all is for the best in the best of all worlds." This novel is a complete challenge to that mentality, it criticizes something different in every chapter, it mocks it.

"'Do you believe the Pope is Antichrist, my friend?' said the minister. 'I have never heard anyone say so,' replied Candide; 'but whether he is or he isn't, I want some food.' ' You don't deserve to eat,' said the other. 'Be off with you, you villain, you wretch! Don't come near me or you'll suffer for it.'" (Candide by Voltaire Pg. 27). Here lies another perfect example to show that every single detail is important to the meaning of the novel. To be honest, the first time I read this quote, I thought the man was a fiercely devoted christian, and wanted to know if Candide was a supporter of the Catholic Church or not (like he was). Well, turns out I was completely wrong! I wasn't paying attention to the details just before I got to this quote, and thus I completely misunderstood it. It turns out, Candide had just arrived in Holland (the detail I had missed), and was look for food. Now, this is taking place during the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. When I went back over the few paragraphs before the quote, I saw the detail I had missed and made the connection. He arrived in Holland, during the Protestant reformation, so clearly the man was NOT a supporter of the Catholic church, but rather a hater of it. He thinks the pope is the Antichrist and wants to know if Candide shares the same view. See how the most minimal detail that in any other book wouldn't really matter, completely changed my understanding of the book?

I look forward with excitement to reading this book, and now I know I have to pay very close attention to everything Voltaire writes and how he does it. So as not to make such a big mistake as I did before. This is not only a hilarious satirical masterpiece, it's an exposure of Voltaire's criticism towards many things.