A Comparison of the Quest for Enlightenment in Candide and Dream of the

Quest for Enlightenment in Candide and Dream of the reddened Chamber Seventeenth-century Europe saw the end of the Renaissance and ushered in the neoclassic era. During this period, which is also called the Enlightenment and The Age of Reason, society advocated rationalism and urged the restraint of emotion. Writers sculpturesque their works after the Greco-Roman satires and picaresque novels. At around the selfsame(prenominal) time in China, the author of Dream of the Red Chamber explores a different kind of enlightenment, whose roots are in religion. Buddha is called The Enlightened One, and whiz of the major concerns of Buddhism is Why do we suffer and feel pain? Candide by Voltaire and Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xuegin introduce characters and motifs that keep back depart illustrations of the quest for enlightenment. Candide, in the spirit of the European Enlightenment, is a satire on philosophy and religion. Voltaire uses this work to standdidly criticize irration al optimism and thought control. Interestingly, the articulate candid even makes up a part of Candides name, and Voltaire uses hyperbole to sum to his concept of extremes. After being kicked out of his home, Candide wanders and drags himself toward the neighboring town . . . dying of hunger and fatigue. Later, he embraced the Baron and Pangloss a hundred times. Pangloss, Candides tutor, teaches a fantastic subject called metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology, and one of the towns Candide visits is named Valdberghoff-trarbk-dikdorff. It is these details that accentuate Voltaires criticism of irrational behavior. He further stresses his point with the characters rationalization of hardship as being everything is for the best. careless(predicate) of how ... ...eam of the Red Chamber is also related to the happiness material things can bring. Chen Shih-yin gives up his material possessions and begins a journey to enlightenment. While two author seem to renounce or denounce the world, they also appear to espouse the seize the day philosophy, so that one will not have regrets. Works Cited Voltaire. Candide or Optimism. Trans. Donald M. Frame. The HarperCollins World Reader The Modern World. Ed. bloody shame Ann Caws and Christopher Prendergast. New York HarperCollins, 1994. 1933-1997. Other versions have also been consulted. Cao Xuegin. Dream of the Read Chamber. An selection and adaptation. Trans. Chi-Chen Wang. The HarperCollins World Reader The Modern World. Ed. Mary Ann Caws and Christopher Prendergast. New York HarperCollins, 1994. 1469-1478. Other versions, including the original, have also been consulted.