Editing Candide (section)

== Historical and literary background ==
Several historical events inspired Voltaire to write ''Candide'', most notably the publication of Leibniz's "[[Monadology]]", the [[Seven Years' War]], and the [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]]. Both of the latter catastrophes are frequently referred to in ''Candide''.<ref name="wade1959b88">Wade (1959b), p. 88</ref> The earthquake, tsunami, and resulting fires of [[All Saints' Day]] had a strong influence on theologians of the day and on Voltaire, who was himself disillusioned by them. It had an especially large effect on the contemporary doctrine of optimism, a philosophical system founded on the [[theodicy]] of [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], which insisted on God's benevolence in spite of such events. This concept is often put in the form, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" ({{langx|fr|Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles}}). Philosophers had trouble fitting the horrors of this earthquake into their optimistic [[world view]].<ref name=radner669>Radner & Radner (1998), pp. 669–686</ref>

[[File:1755 Lisbon earthquake.jpg|thumb|left|350px|This 1755 copper engraving shows the ruins of [[Lisbon]] in flames and a [[tsunami]] overwhelming the ships in the harbour.]]
Voltaire actively rejected Leibnizian optimism after the natural disaster, convinced that if this were the best possible world, it should surely be better than it is.<ref name=mason4>Mason (1992), p. 4</ref> In both ''Candide'' and {{lang|fr|[[Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne]]}} ("Poem on the Lisbon Disaster"), Voltaire attacks this optimist belief,<ref name=radner669/>  sarcastically describing the catastrophe as one of the most horrible disasters "in the best of all possible worlds".<ref name=wade1959b93>Wade (1959b), p. 93</ref> Immediately after the earthquake, unreliable rumours circulated around Europe, sometimes overestimating the severity of the event. Ira Wade, a noted expert on Voltaire and ''Candide'', has analyzed which sources Voltaire might have referenced. speculating that Voltaire's primary source was the 1755 work {{lang|fr|Relation historique du Tremblement de Terre survenu à Lisbonne}} by Ange Goudar.<ref name="wade1959b 88, 93">Wade (1959b), pp. 88, 93</ref>

Apart from such events, contemporaneous stereotypes of the German personality may have been a source of inspiration for the text, as they were for {{lang|la|[[Simplicius Simplicissimus]]}},{{sfn|Grimmelshausen|1669}} a 1669 satirical picaresque novel written by [[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]] and inspired by the [[Thirty Years' War]]. The protagonist of this novel, supposed to embody stereotypically German characteristics, is quite similar to the protagonist of ''Candide''.<ref name = aldridge251254/> These stereotypes, according to Voltaire biographer [[Alfred Owen Aldridge]], include "extreme credulousness or sentimental simplicity", two of Candide's and Simplicius's defining qualities. Aldridge writes, "Since Voltaire admitted familiarity with fifteenth-century German authors who used a bold and buffoonish style, it is quite possible that he knew {{lang|la|Simplicissimus}} as well."<ref name = aldridge251254/>

A satirical and parodic precursor of ''Candide'', [[Jonathan Swift]]'s ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1726) is one of ''Candide''{{'}}s closest literary relatives. This satire tells the story of "a gullible ingenue", Gulliver, who (like Candide) travels to several "remote nations" and is hardened by the many misfortunes which befall him. As evidenced by similarities between the two books, Voltaire probably drew upon ''Gulliver's Travels'' for inspiration while writing ''Candide''.<ref>Havens (1973), pp. 844–845</ref> Other probable sources of inspiration for ''Candide'' are {{lang|fr|[[Les Aventures de Télémaque|Télémaque]]}} (1699) by [[François Fénelon]] and {{lang|fr|Cosmopolite}} (1753) by Louis-Charles Fougeret de Monbron. ''Candide''{{'}}s parody of the bildungsroman is probably based on {{lang|fr|Télémaque}}, which includes the prototypical parody of the tutor on whom Pangloss may have been partly based. Likewise, Monbron's protagonist undergoes a disillusioning series of travels similar to those of Candide.<ref name = aldridge251254/><ref>Wade (1959b), p. 296</ref><ref>Broome (1960), p. 510</ref><!--SOURCE for more info on the connection to Monbron, see:
* Voltaire and Fougeret de Monbron a "Candide" Problem Reconsidered
* J. H. Broome
* The Modern Language Review, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Oct., 1960), pp. 509–518
* Published by: Modern Humanities Research Association
--><!-- Frederick the Great's letter another source? --><!--
=== Textual allusions ===
* The 1757 execution of British [[admiral]] [[John Byng]] is alluded to in ''Candide''. According to Martin, the character representing Byng is executed only "pour encourager les autres" (to encourage the others). This explanation has since become proverbial.<ref name = davidson54/>
* When Voltaire wrote in ''Candide'' that the [[Academy of Bordeaux]] offered a prize to the person who could best explain the existence of Candide's red sheep, he was alluding to an actual offer that was made by that Academy in 1741 to anyone who could write an explanation for [[black people]] having a dark [[skin colour]].<ref name=aldridge255> Aldridge (1975), p. 255</ref> NOTE: Dbaba uncommented this, I think, because he thought there was a dispute over factual accuracy; rather, the material is simply out of place and unnecessary. – Rmrfstar – 31/5/08 -->