Due Thurs Feb 2 by 11:59pm.
From Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism, p.102:
"The Menippean satire deals less with people as such than with mental attitudes. Pedants, bigots, cranks, parvenus, virtuosi, enthusiasts, rapacious and incompetent professional men of all kinds, are handled in terms of their occupational approach to life as distinct from their social behavior. The Menippean satire thus resembles the confession in its ability to handle abstract ideas and theories, and differs from the novel in its characterization, which is stylized rather than naturalistic, and presents people as mouthpieces of the ideas they represent."
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"A constant theme in the tradition is the ridicule of philosophus gloriosus."
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"[It] relies on the free play of intellectual fancy and the kind of humorous observation that produces caricature."
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"At its most concentrated, Menippean satire presents us with a vision of the world in terms of a single intellectual pattern."
Analyze the novella from this standpoint (the powerpoint on Menippean Satire I put up on Moodle should be helpful, as well).
Alex Devillier
ReplyDeleteVoltaire's Candide is certainly a Menippean satire. It contains many of the characteristics needed to be considered one including an increased comic element, it's testing of a philosophical idea, the use of a utopia in El Dorado, and so on.
I'd agree that Frye's remarks are true, at least in accordance with Candide’s structure. All of the characters in Candide are less of actual people with interesting complexity to them, but more of placeholders for stereotyped, singular ideas that Voltaire wanted to deal with in his story. For instance, the easiest example is that of Pangloss. He is there to represent the main point against which Voltaire is trying to argue. His character is not present for style or depth. Instead he represents the idea of Liebniz's philosophy, or rather the misrepresentation that Liebniz's followers had of it. Voltaire goes on to reduce Pangloss’ philosophical notions to the absurd so that reader sees how illogical, silly even, that way of thinking must be. This also concurs with Frye’s view that philosophy is often the point of ridicule.
Since the characters tend to have one side to them, they become a caricature of their what they continually do. Using Pangloss again, his character is constantly muttering that all is for the best, so that is what he is, that statement embodies him. No matter how unlikely it would seem that that could be the proper response, it is his only one.
Voltaire’s Candide is clearly a Menippean satire for several reasons. For one, the entire book is based around ridiculing the philosophy the character Pangloss, an all-encompassing optimism he impresses on Candide as a child. The way Voltaire does this is testing the theory that “all is for the best” to the extreme by having the worst and most outrageous of misfortunes befall Candide and the other characters. At every turn of his endless quest for the hand of Cunegonde, Candide is prompted to wonder whether his dear Pangloss was wrong in his view of the world. Is all for the best when the beloved Lady Cunegonde is disemboweled and ravished by marauding soldiers? Is it still true that all that happens to us is the best when Pangloss is hanged? When Candide loses the vast majority of his fortune taken from El Dorado? When denouement is reached and Candide is finally married to the now hideous and ill-tempered Cunegonde, toiling his life away as a lowly farmer along with his companions? The question is tested to the point of it seeming an impossible point of view.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, even Pangloss himself does not believe in it, although he feels that he must stand by it for the sake of appearing steadfast and wise (making him seem even more ridiculous character). The extreme simplification of the characters, with each characterized by one trait, is also a trait of Menippean satire. Pangloss, especially, is merely a mouthpiece for the philosophic views Voltaire seeks to reduce to the absurd. Voltaire uses the infallible idiocy of Pangloss as a comparison point for the people of his time that stood by this optimism in times of incredible calamity. By this line of thinking, their philosophies cannot be taken as anything but a refusal to attempt to come to terms with misfortunes of others as anything but part of a larger plan that somehow benefits everyone. Furthermore, Voltaire makes use of the fantastic, the impossible, and the scandalous, as well as the abrupt changes of pace and plot twists-- which all characterize Menippean satire. The sudden, unresolved ending to the novella leaves us with an uncertainty about the resolution of its main questions. Voltaire, if he has any ultimate answers, either keeps it to himself or hides it cleverly within the previous pages.
Candide, by Voltaire, is more of a rigorous testing of abstract ideas through applied situations then it is a naturally flowing work consisting of well-rounded people with human emotions organically moving through life. The characters are all mere vessels whose only purpose is to serve as the placeholder for a certain idea or concept. These messengers are forced to cross paths in the most appropriate of situations, regarding their word views, in order to contest their ideas against one another. It is reminiscent of the modern day scientific method; Voltaire experimenting with his hypothesis by placing certain ideas in often horrendous situations, in order to rule out the untruths. He even uses historical events, often without regard to their honest linear occurrence, in order to demonstrate all the atrocities of his life in a short period of time allowing their full potency to be felt. Often these events happen over long periods of time, allowing for their impact to gradually fade, making blind optimism easier to adopt. These horrifying events are sprinkled with abrupt shifts to praise worthy gratuity, such as Candide’s constant rescue from the verge of death, upon which Candide proudly proclaims the ‘all is for the best’ philosophy of Pangloss. This ironically progresses the story, as misfortune shadows Candide wherever he travels. Voltaire is even so gracious as to allow Candide to stumble upon a Utopia, but he is led astray by unsatisfied greed. In this way, and in many others, Candide’s freewill is his greatest foe. It acts as a double-edged sword, also bringing him much joy on his long voyages. He constantly travels throughout the story because he is on an endless quest to be reunited with his true love, Cunegonde, feeling her to be his one shot at happiness. In this sense, Candide is always in search of happiness, feeling it to be on the next horizon of some yet discovered world. This is why Voltaire’s Candide is such a well received Menippean Satire.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Voltaire’s Candide, it is clear that this is a Menippean Satire. Frye’s observation that a Menippean Satire “relies on the free play of intellectual fancy and the kind of humorous observation that produces caricature” is apparent throughout Candide. This is best portrayed in Pangloss, who is constantly spouting that “all is for the best” even though he is constantly surrounded by tragedy. He believes this throughout almost the entire book, even though he is put in some of the worst situations imaginable. Also, Menippean satires usually incorporate some kind of social utopia, or journeys to some unknown land. This can be seen when Candide and Cacambo stumble upon El Dorado during their travels. And ironically Candide did not want to stay at el Dorado at all. This shows that Voltaire thinks that men are very greedy and shallow minded. This is an single intellectual pattern that is clear in Candide. Another one of Frye’s points is that there is a constant theme to ridicule philosophus gloriosus. Voltaire is mocking Liebniz’s idea that man has complete free will and that everything will somehow happen in the best possible way. Voltaire mocks this notion by showing that things may not always turn out for the best, and that in fact life can be quite cruel. He also shows through the events in the book that free will is at most limited because no matter how much Candide tried to be happy and make his life livable, things went horribly wrong. Throughout the novella, Candide was on a continuous quest, which seemed to go from very bleak and dim to positive things. This also proves Candide as a Menippean Satire because more often than not, the plot of these are like a rollercoaster ride, going from something very high and positive to a complete disaster.
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