Notes for Candide

Chapter 23 Canada is worth: This is a reference to the struggle for Canada during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). The wars of the French and English over Canada persisted throughout the eighteenth century until the Peace of Paris (1763) confirmed England’s conquest. Voltaire failed to appreciate the worth of Canada.

in front of this man stood fours soldiers … perfectly well satisfied: Candide here witnessed the historical execution of Admiral John Byng (1704-1757), who was executed by a firing squad, by verdict f a court martial, for allegedly having neglected his duties and thereby having significantly contributed to the humiliating defeat of the English by the French fleet under La Galissonnière in the battle of Minorca (1756) during the Seven Years’ War. Voltaire had met Byng during his years of exile in England, considering him an innocent victim of national pride, and unsuccessfully intervened in his behalf.

Chapter 24 Young Theatin friar the Theatins were a Catholic order founded in 1524 to combat the Protestant Reformation doge Chief magistrate of Venice Pococuranté based on Italian words; signifies “who could not care less”

Chapter 25

“But your excellency does not hold the same opinion of Virgil?” … “I prefer Tasso and even that sleepy tale-teller Ariosto”: The Roman poet Virgil (70–19 B.C.) wrote the epic poem the Ænied; until the nineteenth century, many ranked him above Homer; the Italian poet Torquado Tasso (1544-1595) wrote Jerusalem Delivered; the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) wrote Orlando Furioso.

“May I take the liberty to ask if you do not get great pleasure from reading Horace?” … “I see nothing extraordinary in his journey to Brundusium … language was dipped in vinegar. His indelicate verses … great offence.”: Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 B.C.), known as Horace, was one of the greatest Latin poets. The ancient city of Brundusium, the modern Brindisi, is located on the heel of the boot of Italy. The phrase “dipped in vinegar” is reference to a phrase in Horace’s Satires (satire 1, book 7). “His indelicate verse is a reference to Horace’s Epodes 5, 8, and 12. “They are Raphael’s” Raphael Sanzio (1483-1529), one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaisance Cæsar Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.), Roman statesman and general Cato Cato the Younger, also known as cato of Utica (95-46 B.C.), Roman statesman and enemy of Julius Caesar Homer Great figure of ancient Greek literature and presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, epic oems ranked among the supreme literary achievements of western literature Maecenas wealthy Roman (c. 70-8 B.C.), friend and patron of Virgil and Horace …shall touch the stars Reference to Horace’s Odes (book 1, ode 1, lines 35-36): Sublimi feriam sidera vertice, Latin for “I shall strike the stars with my forehead.” Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman senator and orator (106-43 B.C.) Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca (C. 4 B.C. – A.D. 65), Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman Cæsars and Antoniuses References to two Roman statesmen and so;diers: Julius Caesar and Marc Antony (c. 82-30 B.C.) Father Dominican the Order of Dominicans was instrumental in organizing the Inquisition Milton John Milton (1608-1674), one of the great English poets. This paragraph refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost; the epic poem appeared in ten books in1667 and was expanded to twelve in 1674

Chapter 26 Achmet III Ottoman sultan (1673-1736), deposed in 1730; “viziers” were ministers of state in Muslim countries Ivan Ivan VI (1740-1764); as an infant, proclaimed czar; deposed in 1741, after which he was imprisoned for the rest of his life; executed n 1764 Charles-Edward reference to Charles-Edward-Stuart (1720-1788), known as Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Young Pretender King of Poland reference to Augustus III (1696-1763), elector of Saxony and king of Poland; lost Saxony; dethroned by Frederick the Great in1756 King of Poland also reference to Stanislaw I Leszczynski (1677-1766), father-in-law of louis XV, driven off the throne of Poland in 1736 and subsequently made duke of Lorraine King of Corsica Baron Theodor von Neuhof (1694-1756), Westphalian adventurer elected king of Corsica in 1736; ruled for about eight months; tried unsuccessfully to regain the throne; lived in poverty in England after 1749

Chapter 27 Ragotsky: Ferenc II Rákóczi (1676-1735) was a Hungarian prince who, with the support of Louis XIV, led a rebellion against the Austrians and became prince of Transylvania (1707-1711); after several defeats, he fled to Poland, then to France, and eventually to Turkey. Propontis the Sea of Marmora, between the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (in Turkey)