Answer to Question 1
The philosophy of John Locke had a big influence on both the American and French Revolutions. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson restated Locke's assertion that government must protect its citizens' rights to life, liberty, and property. Americans contended that the British government, however, in making unreasonable demands for revenue, threatened colonial liberty. After a protracted war, America gained its independence and, as the British political theorist Thomas Paine proclaimed, served to enlighten the world and diffuse a spirit of freedom among humankind.
The French Revolution, inspired in turn by the one in America, was the product of two major problems: class inequality, and a serious financial crisis brought about by some 500 years of costly wars and royal extravagance. The lower classes sought to overturn long-standing social and political institutions and end upper-class privilege. The monarch Louis XVI attempted to convene a delegation from all classes to address these issues but the Third Estate (the representative body of the lower classes) withdrew, setting the revolution in motion. The revolution was bloody, with riots occurring everywhere in the streets. Eventually, the new National Assembly issued decrees that abolished the last remnants of medieval feudalism, including manorial courts, feudal duties, and church tithes. It also made provisions for a limited monarchy and an elected legislative assembly. The decrees of the National Assembly became part of a constitution, modeled on the American Declaration of Independence. The body of the document promised a constitutional monarchy, a uniform code of law, and free public education.
Answer to Question 2
Voltaire's Candide is an outstanding example of eighteenth-century satire. The work addresses the age-old question of how evil can exist in a universe created and governed by the forces of good. Candide, the titular character, is initially motivated to live life full of optimism: this is the best of all possible worlds.
With a sure hand, Voltaire manipulates the principal satirical devices: irony, understatement, and overstatement. Using ironythe contradiction between literal and intended meaningshe mocks serious matters and deflates lofty pretensions; he calls war, for instance, heroic butchery and refers to Paquetta's venereal disease as a present she received from a very learned Franciscan. He exploits understatement when he notes, for example, that Pangloss only lost one eye and one ear (as the result of syphilis). And he uses overstatement for moral effect: the 350-pound baroness of Westphalia is greatly respected; thus corpulenceactually an indication of self-indulgencebecomes a specious sign of dignity and importance.
Enlightenment optimism, as portrayed by Leibniz in the story, is mocked and Voltaire underscores the contradiction between the ideal and the real that lies at the heart of all satire.
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