SOURCE: Mason, Haydn. “The Context,” “The Importance of Candide,” “Critical Reception,” “History,” and “Philosophy and Meaning.” In Candide: Optimism Demolished, pp. 3-17; 21-57. New York: Twayne, 1992.

In the excerpts below, Mason provides a detailed analysis of Candide, including discussions of its origin, context, philosophical, and literary background, as well as its connections to Voltaire's other works.

The Context

The problem of evil, which is at the heart of Candide (1759), had long troubled Voltaire. Why is there suffering in the world? Why are human beings malicious toward one another? Why disease, pain, hunger? Why greed, cruelty, and warfare? The questions took on an increasingly somber tone as Voltaire grew older, especially from the 1750s onwards. His own personal life had been darkened by the death of his former mistress, Madame du Châtelet, who to the day she died in 1749 remained a close companion and friend. Her sudden departure...