Les contes de Voltaire, complets en un seul volume
- Langue:
- anglais
- État:
- Œuvre complète
- Paternité:
- Écrite par l'auteur
- État du texte:
- Texte propre
- Étendue:
- ~180 000 mots · 858 passages
Citer cette œuvre
- APAVoltaire. (n.d.). Les contes de Voltaire, complets en un seul volume. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-romances-complete-in-one-volume
- MLAVoltaire. "Les contes de Voltaire, complets en un seul volume." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-romances-complete-in-one-volume.
- ChicagoVoltaire. Les contes de Voltaire, complets en un seul volume. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-romances-complete-in-one-volume.
De quoi il s'agit
Les contes philosophiques de Voltaire réunis : Candide, Zadig, Micromégas, L'Ingénu et les autres, en traduction anglaise.
Contexte et histoire
Voltaire ne tenait pas ces textes pour son œuvre véritable — il se voyait poète et auteur de tragédies — et les publia presque tous sans signature, allant parfois jusqu'à nier les avoir écrits. La postérité a fait exactement l'inverse : plus personne ne lit les tragédies, et Candide n'a jamais cessé d'être réédité. Ce sont des récits courts, rapides, écrits pour démolir une idée précise ; Candide s'en prend à la thèse que nous vivons dans le meilleur des mondes possibles, formulée par Leibniz, lui aussi présent à ce catalogue.
Contexte éditorial, non une source citable : contrairement aux passages de l'œuvre, ces données ne peuvent pas être vérifiées dans le corpus.
I choose that a story should be founded on probability, and not always resemble a dream. I desire to find nothing in it trivial or extravagant; and I desire above all, that under the appearance of fable there may appear some latent truth, obvious to the discerning eye, though it escape the observation of the vulgar.--_Voltaire._ COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY PETER ECKLER, 35 FULTON STREET. 1889. PUBLISHER'S PREFACE Voltaire wrote what the people thought, and consequently his writings were universally read. He wittily ridiculed established abuses, and keenly satirized venerable absurdities. For this he was consigned to the Bastile, and this distinction served to increase his popularity and extend his influence. He was thus enabled to cope successfully with the papal hierarchy, and laugh at the murmurs of the Vatican. The struggle commenced in his youth, and continued till his death. It was a struggle of light against darkness--of freedom against tyranny; and it ended in the triumph of truth over error and of toleration over bigotry. Educated by the Jesuits, he early learned their methods, and his great ability enabled him to circumvent their wiles. The ceremonious presentation of his tragedy of _Mahomet_[1] to Pope Benedict XIV., is an example of his daring audacity;--his success with the "head of the church" shows his intellectual superiority--whilst the gracious reply of "his Holiness" fitly illustrates the pontiff's vanity. From priest to bishop, from cardinal to pope, all felt his intellectual power and all dreaded his merciless satire. He was famous as poet, dramatist, historian, and philosopher. An experienced courtier and polished writer, he gracefully and politely conquered his clerical opponents, and with courteous irony overthrew his literary critics.…