Early Brilliance
Voltaire quickly chose literature as a career. He began moving in aristocratic
circles and soon became known in Paris salons as a brilliant and sarcastic
wit. A number of his writings, particularly a lampoon accusing the French
regent Philippe II, duc d'Orléans of heinous crimes, resulted in
his imprisonment in the Bastille. During his 11-month detention, Voltaire
completed his first tragedy, dipe, which was based upon the dipus tyrannus
of the ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles, and commenced an epic poem on
Henry IV of France. dipe was given its initial performance at the Théâtre-Français
in 1718 and received with great enthusiasm. The work on Henry IV was printed
anonymously in Geneva under the title of Poème de la ligue (Poem
of the League, 1723). In his first philosophical poem, Le pour et le contre
(For and Against), Voltaire gave eloquent expression to both his anti-Christian
views and his rationalist, deist creed.
A quarrel with a member of an illustrious French family, the chevalier
de Rohan, resulted in Voltaire's second incarceration in the Bastille,
from which he was released within two weeks on his promise to quit France
and proceed to England. Accordingly he spent about two years in London.
Voltaire soon mastered the English language, and in order to prepare the
British public for an enlarged edition of his Poème de la ligue,
he wrote in English two remarkable essays, one on epic poetry and the other
on the history of civil wars in France. For a few years the Catholic, autocratic
French government prevented the publication of the enlarged edition of
Poème de la ligue, which was retitled La Henriade (The Henriad).
The government finally allowed the poem to be published in 1728. This work,
an eloquent defense of religious toleration, achieved an almost unprecedented
success, not only in Voltaire's native France but throughout all of the
continent of Europe as well.
Popularity at Court
In 1728 Voltaire returned to France. During the next four years he
resided in Paris and devoted most of his time to literary composition.
The chief work of this period is the Lettres anglaises ou philosophiques
(English or Philosophical Letters, 1734). A covert attack upon the political
and ecclesiastical institutions of France, this work brought Voltaire into
conflict with the authorities, and he was once more forced to quit Paris.
He found refuge at the Château de Cirey in the independent duchy
of Lorraine. There he formed an intimate relationship with the aristocratic
and learned Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise
du Châtelet, who exerted a strong intellectual influence upon him.
Voltaire's sojourn at Cirey in companionship with the marquise du Châtelet
was a period of intense literary activity. In addition to an imposing number
of plays, he wrote the Élements de la philosophie de Newton (Elements
of the Philosophy of Newton), and produced novels, tales, satires, and
light verses.
Voltaire's stay at Cirey was not without interruptions. He often traveled
to Paris and to Versailles, where, through the influence of the marquise
de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, he became a court favorite.
He was first appointed historiographer of France, and then a gentleman
of the king's bedchamber; finally, in 1746, he was elected to the French
Academy. His Poème de Fontenoy (1745), describing a battle won by
the French over the English during the War of the Austrian Succession,
and his Précis du siècle de Louis XV (Epitome of the Age
of Louis XV), in addition to his dramas La princesse de Navarre and Le
triomphe de Trajan, were the outcome of Voltaire's connection with the
court of Louis XV.
Following the death of Madame du Châtelet in 1749, Voltaire finally
accepted a long-standing invitation from Frederick II of Prussia to become
a permanent resident at the Prussian court. He journeyed to Berlin in 1750
but did not remain there more than two years, because his acidulous wit
clashed with the king's autocratic temper and led to frequent disputes.
While at Berlin he completed his Siècle de Louis XIV, a historical
study of the period of Louis XIV (1638-1715).
Attacks on Religion
For some years Voltaire led a migratory existence, but he finally settled
in 1758 at Ferney, where he spent the remaining 20 years of his life. In
the interval between his return from Berlin and his establishment at Ferney,
he completed his most ambitious work, the Essai sur l'histoire générale
et sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nations (Essay on General History and
on the Customs and the Character of Nations, 1756). In this work, a study
of human progress, Voltaire decries supernaturalism and denounces religion
and the power of the clergy, although he makes evident his own belief in
the existence of God.
After settling in Ferney, Voltaire wrote several philosophical poems,
such as Le désastre de Lisbonne (The Lisbon Disaster, 1756); a number
of satirical and philosophical novels, of which the most brilliant is Candide
(1759); the tragedy Tancrède (1760); and the Dictionnaire philosophique
(1764). Feeling secure in his sequestered retreat, he sent forth hundreds
of short squibs and broadsides satirizing abuses that he desired to expose.
Those who suffered persecution because of their beliefs found in Voltaire
an eloquent and powerful defender. The flavor of Voltaire's activities
could be summarized in the phrase he often used: écrasons l'infâme
("let us crush the infamous one"). With this phrase, he referred to any
form of religion that persecutes nonadherents or that constitutes fanaticism.
For Christianity he would substitute deism, a purely rational religion.
Candide, in which Voltaire analyzes the problem of evil in the world, depicts
the woes heaped upon the world in the name of religion. He died in Paris,
May 30, 1778.
Criticism
Voltaire's contradictions of character are reflected in his writings
as well as in the impressions of others. He seemed able to defend either
side in any debate, and to some of his contemporaries he appeared distrustful,
avaricious and sardonic; others considered him generous, enthusiastic,
and sentimental. Essentially, he rejected everything irrational and incomprehensible
and called upon his contemporaries to act against intolerance, tyranny,
and superstition. His morality was founded on a belief in freedom of thought
and respect for all individuals, and he maintained that literature should
be useful and concerned with the problems of the day. These views made
Voltaire a central figure in the 18th-century philosophical movement typified
by the writers of the famous French Encyclopédie. Because he pleaded
for a socially involved type of literature, Voltaire is considered a forerunner
of such 20th-century writers as Jean Paul Sartre and other French existentialists.
All of Voltaire's works contain memorable passages distinguished by
elegance, perspicuity, and wit. His poetic and dramatic works, however,
are marred often by too great a concentration on historical matter and
philosophical propaganda. His other writings include the tragedies Brutus
(1730), Zaïre (1732), Alzire (1736), Mahomet (1741), and Mérope
(1743); the philosophical romance Zadig (1747); the philosophical poem
Discours sur l'homme (Discourse on Man, 1738); and the historical study
Charles XII (1730).
Contributed by:
Wallace Fowlie
"Voltaire," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
