A Freudian Analysis of Voltaires Candide Essay -- Candide Voltaire F

A Freudian Analysis of Voltaires Candide In Civilization and its Discontents, Sigmund Freud refers to the important role that love plays in the world of Man. Love sure enough plays an important role in Voltaires Candide throughout Candides journeys, a constant factor is his love for Lady Cunegonde and his desire to be with her. Freud writes the way of life which makes love the subject matter of everything ... comes naturally to all of us, (Freud, p. 29). Candides love for Cunegonde is the driving force of his life from the moment they are parted at the beginning of the novel until they are bonded in join at the end. Throughout his experiences, Candide continues to think about Cunegonde. Even after narrowly surviving the Bulgar-Abar war, Candides thoughts are still about Cunegonde (Voltaire, p. 26). We are never so unable to help unhappy as when we have lost our love aim, (Freud, p. 29). Man is never more vulnerable as when the person he has chosen as the object of his love is taken from him. When Candide is at Eldorado, where no- hotshot goes hungry or has any needs which go unfulfilled, he tells his companion Cacambo, I shall never be happy without Lady Cunegonde, (Voltaire, p. 82). Candide found, it would seem, the one place on Earth where there is no suffering from poverty, war, or injustice. He and Cacambo could have lived long and fulfilling lives in Eldorado, but Candide insists on returning to his earnest Cunegonde. When Candide and Cunegonde are at last reunited, Cunegonde asks Candide what has happened to you since that innocent kiss you gave me? (Voltaire, p. 40). The kiss, which Cunegonde describes as innocent, cost Candide dearly her brother the Baron drove Candide from the house w... ...is largely responsible for our disaster and we should be much happier if we gave it up and returned to primitive conditions, (Freud, p. 33). Candide realizes at the end of the novel that the formula for being content is simple We must go and work in th e garden, (Voltaire, p. 144). When Man does not have to fight the rules of civilization, his life is a much simpler lot. Many of the points which Sigmund Freud makes in Civilization and its Discontents can be paralleled to the experiences of Candide in Voltaires Candide. These points can alike be linked with the society Man lives in today. Candide is clearly a member of Mans society and is subject to all the needs and desires described by Freud. whole works Cited Sigmund Freud. Civilization_and_its_Discontents. New York W. W. Norton and Company 1961. Voltaire. Candide. London Penguin Books 1947.