Voltaire
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It was 1694, in Paris, Louis XIV was in power. France was full of superstition.
There was, also, a long, cruel, deadly criminal code, and everything revolved around the
church. The common people of France were living in poverty and subjected to slavery.
Doctors used sorcery and sacred charms, while lawyers kept the poor in subjection with
the harsh criminal code. France was almost bankrupt, even though kings still lived an
extravagant lifestyle. The church did not interfere with the rulers as long as they
portrayed their belief in the church. If one was to question the church, the long criminal
code was there to make sure they did not stay far. It was at this time that a very small,
weak puny baby boy was born. His name was Francios-Marie Arouet, better known as
Voltaire. This great man of history changed the world for the better. Instead of having
beliefs given to us, he changed the whole way people thought. He gave us our ability to
be freethinkers and the ability to see ourselves as individuals.
This puny baby, which no one thought would live, was given a baptism right after
his birth so if he did pass, his soul would be saved. As he grew older, he was able to lie
about his age because he was christened about a year after his birth. Even at a young age,
everyone could see that this boy was very intellectual. At age ten, he was sent to be
taught by the Jesuits at Louis-le-Grand. Voltaire was not keen on the Jesuit religion, as
you can see in one of his remarks,
“how is it that you take so many fools into your order?’ a Jesuit was asked. вЂ?We need saints,’ was the answer” (Orieux, p349).
Voltaire studied law just to make his father happy, but his real passion was
literature.
France, at this time, had no tolerance for other religions. Louis XIV died in 1715.
he left the French people hungry, so his death was portrayed more of a joyous occasion
rather then a sorrowful one. By this time Voltaire was writing epigrams that were very
well known. His epigrams were full of stabs and pokes at the king and church. There
were many pamphlets disbursed throughout France, but most would have an anonymous
author or surname. Most writers were fearful of persecution. Pamphlets were burned and,
if the author was known, they would encounter the same fate. Voltaire was charged with
one epigram that would exile him to Sully. He spent about one year there and, because of
his over-the-top flattery, he was allowed to return to Paris. Almost as soon as he returned,
he was falsely accused of writing an attack on the government. For this, he was sent to
the Bastille. While in prison, he decided to change his last name from Arouet to Voltaire
because he believed that the name Arouet was unlucky. After about one year, he was
released due to his flattery of the king. Although he despised the government and the
church, he knew his flattery would keep him out of jail and in their good graces. At
twenty-four, he introduces his play Oedipe in Paris, but once again thrown in the Bastille
for one of his brilliant remarks. Louis XIV agreed to pardon him as long as he went to
England when he was released.
Voltaire spent three years in England. In the three years he was there, he was able
to master the English language, meet Quakers that he admired for their simplicity, and
write and publish his true thoughts. Voltaire was obsessed with the England and its ways.
He once said,
“It has taken seas of blood to drown the idol of despotism, but the English do not think they bought their laws too dearly” (unknown).
After his stay in England, he dedicated his life to suppress intolerance and do
away with tyranny. At the end of his three year stay, he was once again given permission
to return to Paris.
At age thirty-eight, Voltaire’s lover, Adrienne Lecouvreur, died in his arms. She
was a great actress and by being an actress, she was condemned by the church. She was
not buried in the ground but thrown in a pit like a dog. Voltaire’s greatest fear was that
same fate. With a heavy heart, Voltaire wrote,
“Shall I ever cease to see the light-minded Frenchmen sleeping under the rule of superstition? Is it only in England that mortals dare to think? A man deprived of burial here to whom Greece would have raised alters! In London she would have had a tomb among geniuses, kings, and heroes. Ye gods, why is my country no longer the fatherland of glory and talent?”(Unknown)
While in England, Voltaire started writing his English Letters and