The count, who seems to have everything, is still unhappy.
He has wealth, education, art, and literature at his command, but
none of it truly pleases him. Candide, who had the pleasure of utopia
in Eldorado, returned to the imperfect world because he wanted to find
Cunégonde and enjoy resources such as those the count has but fails
to enjoy. Through the count, who only takes pleasure in constant
criticism of everything, Voltaire perhaps means to suggest that human
beings are incapable of satisfaction.
In some ways, the count embodies Enlightenment attitudes.
The thinkers of that era had access to a greater wealth of art and
learning than those of most previous eras of European civilization.
The work of the Renaissance artist Raphael and the Greek and Roman authors
on the count’s bookshelf were important staples of the culture of
that period. Yet Enlightenment thinkers were famous for biting criticism.
The count voices support for the practice of seeking knowledge and
experience before making judgments. He scorns people who judge a
writer by his reputation rather than by his work. The emphasis on
gaining knowledge through experience is strongly characteristic
of Voltaire’s own thinking. Thus, it is probable that Voltaire is
in some ways sympathetic to the count’s critical point of view.
The count’s discernment certainly seems preferable to Candide’s
mindless reverence for the authors he has been taught to regard
as good. At the same time, the count’s character illustrates Voltaire’s
skepticism at the idea that anything, even great art, can make human
beings happy.
The six strangers, who claim to be dethroned kings, serve
as an extended mockery of the arrogance of the aristocracy. Although they
believe they are naturally endowed with the right to power, they
continually lose power through wars and political upheaval. Candide
feels sorry for the strangers, but Martin correctly states in Chapter 27 that
their sufferings are nothing to shed tears over. The strangers still
have valets and slaves at their disposal. One of them even owns
Cacambo, Candide’s good friend.
The account of the dethroned kings also illustrates the
changes that were taking place in Voltaire’s society. The growth
of capitalism meant that the European nobility was losing influence
to commoners who made or acquired wealth of their own accord. The
kings wonder at the fact that Candide, a private citizen, has far
more money than they do. Voltaire, who was not of noble birth but
had a vast fortune, himself lent or gave money to impoverished royals.
In this context, the overweening pride of the aristocracy seems
not merely unjust but completely unjustified.
