Law of Disillusion: Comparison of An Essay on Man Poem by Alexander Pope and Candide by Voltaire - Book Report/Review Example

Law of Disillusion Comparison of Two Works This paper pitches two classics in literary history against each other so as to find comparisons and come up with contrasts. This will be done by regarding and comparing individual features of both works. The first is a poem by Alexander Pope titled “An Essay on Man”; while the second one is a satire by Marie Arouet de Voltaire, a.k.a. Voltaire, called “Candide” or “Optimism”. Before delving into the above mentioned features that will help us compare and contrast the two pieces of work, it is important to start out by introducing both works and their authors. Cadide or Optimism This work by renowned author Voltaire was penned in 1759 as the story of a young man called Candide who becomes disillusioned following the hardships he sees in life. His pain and suffering begin after his indoctrination into the Leibnizian optimism. The author has portrayed his journey as a serious of conflicts and complexities within the main protagonist as well as the way he perceives the environment around him. An Essay on Man There are a variety of interesting facts revolving around the poem by Alexander Pope titled “An Essay on Man”; one of them being the fact that he refused to acknowledge ownership of the piece until 1735! More interesting than that however, is the fact that it was initially written in heroic couplets before being published as a whole in 1733. The poem deals with the inner evil that is all knowing and all consuming within mankind. It was conceptualized as a philosophical poem but was later presented as four books that deal with ethics, politics and various other subjects. Comparison and Contrast At first glance, the two works by Voltaire and Pope are not very similar. Yet, on being closely regarded, one may find that the theme of pain and disillusion is apparent in both works. While Pope is more rhetoric in his rendering of the human phenomenon, Voltaire uses his imagination to capture the more subtle undertones that also border on hope. In this regard, the first feature that comes under comparison is pain. Both authors have a similar take on pain – the difference is in presentation. According to both Voltaire and Pope, human life is never free from all forms of suffering and misery. It is this universal experience brings anyone to have as his guiding outlook in life to the extremes of optimism and pessimism. As if they were deliberately joining the human effort to explain this human reality, the Essay on Man of Alexander Pope and Candide of Voltaire are giving us distinct but not opposing views on it. It may be seen that they do so through the way they present and perceive events. The basic contrasting point in this regard is that while Pope examines pain and its origins in a systematic manner, Voltaire goes about the very same task in a more casual manner considering the fact that the very tone of his presentation is restricted to the fact that he has essentially penned a satire with this story. While Voltaire relies on the use of interactions between the main protagonist and other characters scattered within the story, it may be seen that Pope has a more realistic hue about his descriptions as they pertain to no one in particular and everyone in general. The next feature that is used for comparison is that of perception. The individual perception of a writer always adds character and a distinct signature to his work. This signature style is apparent in the lines of perception put forth by both Voltaire and Pope; and this is where they differ the most as far as their work is concerned. While Voltaire uses a definite undertone of hope, he unwittingly makes use of horizontal lines that only give greater leverage to the reader’s imagination. There are ample examples of this in the adventures of Candide. Yet, Pope takes a more serious turn and makes matters seem more foreboding. In doing so he uses a more horizontal line of narration that offers no scope for personal imagination at the end of the day. It may be seen that Voltaire relies on the use of a casual tone when speaking of each new suffering inflicted upon the young man who plays the main protagonist. On the other hand, Pope addresses his audience with a thunderous reckoning of the evil when speaking of hardships and human pain. The manner of Voltaire is more inclined towards finding a more cosmic related ideal with each new suffering that the young man goes through, while Pope asks his readers to look within and not beyond. This is another example of how Pope uses a horizontal line of perception and Voltaire uses a vertical line of perception which borders on hope and reasoning. The next feature to be discussed is the character of enlightenment. This is one of the aspects where both authors concede in a more direct manner. Both the authors, Pope and Voltaire have presented their work in a way that will replicate the fact that everything happens for a reason. Further, both are said to be men of their time. In this regard, it is necessary to point out a few details as a fitting background to understand the play of enlightenment in both works. The 18th century was popularly known as the Era of Enlightenment, which is also known as the Age of Reason. Accordingly, the era is marked by appeal to, and/or actual use of, the human beings’ faculty of reason or thinking. Since connected to reason is knowledge, so the Era of Enlightenment was also, in effect, rejecting the age-old held authority of institutions of the time, in particular, the Church as source of knowledge. During this period, it was the Christian Church – or more specifically, the Church of the Roman Pontiff based in Rome – that was dominant in Europe. This serves as proof that Pope and Voltaire’s feet are grounded in the presentation of “An Essay on Man” and “Candide” respectively. While Essay on Man and Candide are well-thought out and are unarguably products of high-degree intellectual exercise, they reflect the practical preoccupations of the time. Pope was even accused of being but a mere copy cat of Anthony Ashley Cowper or the philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz, whose philosophy was likewise dwelt on (and argued against) by Voltaire. Pope further appropriated in his writing the metaphysical notion of order of the universe (likewise held by many scholars of his time), while Voltaire’s disapproval of Manichean beliefs cannot be denied in Candide. Of the two, however, Pope is observably the more moderate. Another feature for comparison is that of the reality of evil. It is needless to say that since both authors in their work have depicted a leaning towards enlightenment as the source of all circumstances and existence, the existence of evil must also be acknowledged in their work. This also has a lot to do with the time period that both authors came up in. The Essay on Man and Candide do not afford us with a systematic and isolated discussion or treatment about the reality of evil. What the two afford us is an explicit acceptance of evil realities surrounding our daily lives. Voltaire did this by mentioning one after one examples of misfortunes that were visiting the lives of his every character in Candide. Candide, himself, was not spared from evil experiences. Even his very identity – as an illegitimate nephew of a German baron – hardly qualifies as anything positive. Then, having done thus, Voltaire sets to discuss the value of optimism (and pessimism). In effect, Voltaire raises the question of: in the face of reality of evil in our life, how optimistic or pessimistic one should or could be? For his part, Pope began by appealing to human faculty of reason in his bid to communicate to his readers his message of optimism-philosophy. His first epistle begins with this words: “Together let us beat this ample field, / Try what the open, what the covert yield!” (). This is obviously an invitation for his readers to use their capacity of reason to examine those which they have long surrendered to teaching authority of the institution of the Church – including the reality of evil. This invitation he repeats in the lines: “Say first, of God above, or man below, / What can we reason, but from what we know?” (). Consistently, he reminds his readers that, as it were, because human beings have been given the faculty of reasoning or the capacity to think, they themselves must look for knowledge – for all that it means – and not allow the Church to spoon-feed them all of what is to know in this world; or to make sense out of their experience of evil in the world, and not to permit the Church to provide them the universal explanation about evil in human life. Conclusion There are literary reviews positing that Pope’s Essay on Man is a carrier of optimistic philosophy. And how can one say that the Essay on Man is optimistic in its outlook? Well, it is an attempt to justify the ways of God to man particularly on the persistent issue of the reality of evil in human life and even in the universe – hence, it is said that the poem consists of Pope’s theodicy (meaning, his philosophy on God). God has designed the social order – as popularly held by the times – and yet evil plays a part in the world, against which human beings cannot argue against since they are anyway incapable of knowing fully the purposes of God. Thus, human beings can only accept that “whatever is, is right” (confer and ). Yes, it is again reflection of the time – in particular of the optimistic outlook of the time. The social order is divinely fated and, thus, essentially perfect. On the other hand, Voltaire’s stylistic handling of extremes of optimism and pessimism rubbed unto his appreciation of the Essay on Man. In 1756, Voltaire wrote in the edition of Lettres Philosophiques: “The Essay on Man appears to be the most beautiful didactic poem, the most useful, the most sublime that has ever been composed in any language.” However, elsewhere too, he picked up Pope’s “whatever is, is right” and made mockery of it: “Tout est bien” in a world filled with misery! (see .) References Classic Literature. URL:classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/apope/bl-apope-essay-4.htm (Accessed during: June, 2008) Essortment.com. URL:www.essortment.com/all/popeessaychri_rvjn.htm (Accessed during: June, 2008) Enotes. URL: www.enotes.com/literary-criticism/an-essay-man-alexander-pope (Accessed during: June, 2008) Victorian Web. URL: www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/pope/man.html (Accessed during: June, 2008) Cliff’s Notes. URL: www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Candide-Critical-Essays-Alexander-Pope-s-Essay-on-Man.id-50,pageNum-34.html (Accessed during: June, 2008) Literature.org. URL: www.literature.org/authors/voltaire/candide/chapter-15.html (Accessed during: June, 2008) Online Literature. URL: www.online-literature.com/voltaire/candide Wikipedia - The World’s Free Encyclopedia. URL: www.wikipedia.com (Accessed during June, 2008) Read More