Comparing Marquis De Sades Justine and Voltaires Candide.

Voltaire and Marquis de Sade can be considered as among the few notable literary
writers. Among their famous works are Candide and Justine respectively. On one hand, Voltaire
is an essayist and a French Enlightenment writer. Most of his works are focused on civil liberties,
specifically on free trade and freedom of religion. Voltaire serves as a pen name to Francois-
Marie Arouet. On the other hand, Marquis de Sade is not only a writer but also a revolutionary
and a French aristocrat. He is known for writing political tracts, short stories, novels that depict
eroticism or sexual fantasies which are bizarre. Both of these writers infuse philosophy on their
writing.
This paper deals with comparing the works of Marquis de Sade and Voltaire. More specifically,
the comparison will delve on their masterpieces, Justine and Candide. Through this paper, one
will be able to determine the similarities and differences on the style of writing as well as on the
way the message of the stories were delivered.

Justine vs. Candide
During the age of enlightenment, Voltaire wrote a French satire entitled Candide, oul
Optimisme or in English, Candide or, Optimism. Voltaire s Candide is about a young man who,
after being indoctrinated by the philosophy of optimism, goes to various challenges that made
him question the Leibnizian mantra that all is for the best of all possible worlds. The novel
presents romance clichs as well as many adventures that reflects during the process the author s
ridiculing of the governments, philosophers and philosophies, armies, theologians, religion and
most importantly the Leibnizian optimism.

In Candide, the style of writing is humorous hence it is able to capture its readers. While it may
be said to be blasphemous, its brilliance cannot also be denied. It can be considered to be one of
the most successful satires because it is able to present the great tragedy of the story but
nonetheless maintain its comedic side. The way the human condition is portrayed is clever and
that under a thin veil of naivet, it was able to present highly controversial issues on intellectual
hostility, political sedition as well as religious blasphemy.

Meanwhile, the masterpiece Justine is the work of Marquis de Sade. This novel is about two
sisters named Juliette and Justine who became orphans at early age and lived in a nunnery. The
novel focuses on the life of Justine as she set out to search for work as well as shelter. In her
quest for virtue, Justine is instead faced with series of misfortunes and most of them are on
being raped and tortured. The story of Justine invokes various philosophical ideas like vice and
virtue subjectivity, pursuing desire, going against the accepted tradition, considering nature as
man s true ruler, believing that reason dominates the disinterested system, believing in the evils
of absolutism and many more.

Conclusion
This paper has significantly discussed the works of de Sade and Voltaire- Justine and Candide
respectively. Candide is a story the presents the philosophy of optimism but with the human
conditions, it is found out that not everything in this world is for the best. On the story of
Justine, it is best described as an erotic novel about its character Justine and the challenges
presented to her as she journeys for virtue in life.

Both of the works has been imbibed with great philosophy. They are not simply pieces of
writings but the kind of work that is deep and implies the authors philosophy. These two literary
pieces invokes the consciousness of the readers. Both of the novels depict intellectually the
hardship and reality of human conditions. Moreover, the novels presents the perceived truth by
significantly clarifying the realities of life and the possibility of pain, dismay, unexpected twists in
life, and even frustrations. Indeed, life is not all happiness and best things but melted and
tainted with sorrows and mysteries. The works of de Sade and Voltaire reflected this connotation
with relevance and artistic presentation. Thus, the said works must be read with enthusiasm for
learning purposes.