The success of Voltaire’s satire relies on a dry combination of both witty humor and heartbreaking tragedy to deliver his critique of the human condition. Candide and his traveling companions also engage in frequent philosophical dialogues, debating a range of Enlightenment-era topics. The text features a series of nested stories, wherein the main storyline pauses while various characters recount their own stories. Candide’s plot is fast moving and picaresque, plays with cliches, and is told by a narrator who does not exaggerate but presents events in a straightforward manner. Candide is regarded as his magnum opus and typically considered part of the Western canon. Voltaire was a prolific author, using polemic prose to rhetorically engage with contemporary philosophy and social critique.
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