Voltaire

Biography

Voltaire was born François-Marie Arouet on November 21, 1694 in Paris, France. He was the son of Francois Arouet, a minor treasury official, and Marie Marguerite D’Aumard. Upon his birth, it was thought that he would not live very long, so a priest came to baptize him immediately, hoping to save his soul (Darrow). During this time, France was close to bankruptcy and was basically run under the rule of one church. The church in itself set a standard of beliefs that must be followed explicitly, at least in all outward appearances. Literature questioning the church's accepted practices would be deemed heretic and destroyed, the author most likely suffering the same fate (Darrow). Thus, Voltaire had plenty to write about in his works.

His early education was the responsibility of an irreligious priest named Chateauneuf, who tired to keep Voltaire's mind free of the superstition of the times (Darrow). Near age 10, Voltaire was sent away to a boys' school, where the the first stages of his writing began. Later, Voltaire's father decided that his son should be an attorney, even though Voltaire had already expressed his desire to write. His father said, "Literature is the profession of the man who wishes to be useless to society, and a burden to his relatives, and to die of hunger" (Darrow). However, Voltaire did not die of hunger or become a burden on society. Instead his works often provided great social sommentary, and mocked society and its accepted practices. Because of the nature of his works, Voltaire became a semi-regular inmate at the Bastille.

Voltaire spent most of his life in Paris, until his exile to England by Chevalier de Rohan, a nobleman. While in exile, Voltaire was greatly impressed with the monarch system which England used. He liked the freedoms he had there in speech and religion. Voltaire wrote a “fictional document about the English government entitled the Lettres philosophiques (Philosophical letters on the English)” (1). Voltaire created much controversy with this document being as it shined upon the English system being more advanced than the French system, especially in the areas of religion.

After many years of moving and writing/experimenting with Marquise du Châtelet about natural sciences, Voltaire returned to Paris. It had been twenty-eight years since his last visit to Paris. After seeing one of his own plays being preformed he started writing another tragedy, Irene. He wrote until he became ill and died in 1778. Upon his deathbed, Voltaire ended his long strife with the church by making a final confession in order to be buried on hallowed ground. The church, however, was not so forgiving and refused to allow his remains to be buried on sanctified grounds, but the body had already been buried. “He was buried in the Abbey of Scellères, and his body was transferred to the Panthéon on July 10, 1791, during the French Revolution. In 1814, after the first fall of Napoleon and the restoration of the House of Bourbon monarchy, Voltaire's bones were removed from the Pantheon and destroyed. His heart is preserved at La Comedie Francaise”(1). Fifty years passed before the desecration of Voltaire's remains was discovered. By that time his brain had been sold at auction and somewhere along the way, disappeared (IMDB).

Works

• Candide
• Letters on the English
• Zadig
• Micromegas

Historical Context

The Age of Enlightenment.

Resources

Voltaire at encyclopedia.com

Voltaire at Wikipedia

Works Cited

1. "Biography for Voltaire." 1 Feb 2006. [1]

2. Darrow, Clarence. Voltaire. 1 Feb 2006. [2]

3. Voltaire "Voltaire." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Feb 2006