Milton 1

Scott A. Milton
English XXX
Professor XXX
28 February 2011
The Best of All Possible Delusions
In Cervantes Don Quijote and Voltaires Candide, the eponymous protagonists are out
of touch with the world of their day. Don Quijote is a gentleman approaching fifty who has gone
mad from reading too many tales of chivalry (Cervantes 13-14). Candide, by contrast, is young
and inexperienced. Tutored by the optimistic Dr. Pangloss, he has been brought up to believe that
all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds (Voltaire 7, 5). Both characters set out on
a series of adventures that ultimately bring them into accord with the reality of the world. What
happens along the way, however, demonstrates that Don Quijotes chivalric delusions are far
more dangerous than Candides optimistic navet.
This is in part due to differences in the ideologies of the two protagonists. On one hand,
Quijote follows a warriors code that is inherently confrontational in nature. His mission is to
set right endless injustices and to protect the world by the strength of our arms and the blades
of our swords (Cervantes 17, 69). This chivalric code is outdated and puts him in conflict with
the social world of his day. On the other hand, Candides credo is passive in nature and does not
recommend fighting evil in the world. This philosophy is embodied in the character of Dr.
Pangloss, who explains that everything in the world is necessarily for the best end (Voltaire 5).
Candide later echoes his optimism, stating that the worlds problems and misfortunes are
wonderful, characterizing them as merely shadows in a beautiful painting (Voltaire 211).

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Admittedly, neither characters intentions are badafter all, justice, heroism, and optimism are
usually considered good things.
Nonetheless, their state of delusion gets them into trouble, with Quijotes case again
being more perilous. His chivalric militancy might not be so bad, except that in his madness, he
has lost the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. For example, he is convinced that
the barbers basin is, in fact, the magical, golden helmet of Mambrino he has read about in
stories (Cervantes 120). Such delusions lead Quijote to misinterpret his surroundings and
misunderstand peoples motives. He projects his fantastic expectations on the world, which on
account of his aggressive nature, puts him, his friends, and the people he encounters in harms
way. In contrast, Candide is in full control of his mental faculties, yet his naivet puts him at risk.
Under the delusion of Pangloss overly rosy optimism, he is woefully unprepared for the real
world where people exploit one another. As a result, he is taken advantage of repeatedly by those
he encounters. This is well illustrated by the case of the abb from Prigord, who pretends to be
his friend in order to profit, as much as he could, from the advantages that his acquaintance with
Candide could secure for him and who got a cut of the fifty thousand franks and two diamonds
that the Marquise de Parolignac and her friends hustled from him (Voltaire 213-5). Of course,
Quijote too is susceptible to exploitation by others.
But even worse, his madness makes him recklessly bold, unlike Candide. Quijote is
absolutely fearless and seems to believe he is invincible. He believes he can single-handedly take
down an entire group of thirty or forty giants and claims that he is worth a hundred men in
battle (Cervantes 43, 82). As he explains to his niece and housekeeper, a real knight errant, even
if he finds himself facing ten giants [...] cant let himself be the least bit frightened, but nobly and
bravely must charge directly at them (Cervantes 389). Thus, Quijotes madness makes his

2011, 2013 Scott A. Milton - All Rights Reserved

Milton 3
behavior practically suicidal and propels him headlong into dangerous confrontations, the
frequent result of which is injury for himself and Sancho Panza. In contrast to such bravado,
Candides delusion doesnt lead him to act daringly, brashly, and recklessly. Instead, he
trembled like a philosopher during the battle between the Bulgarians and Abarians and hid
himself as well as he could during this heroic butchery (Voltaire 19). Shortly thereafter, he
abandons his army post and flees, perhaps because he is cowardly or perhaps because it is the
only sensible thing to do in the face of such senseless carnage (Voltaire 19). Of course, Candide
is not a complete coward, but he is not driven by lunacy to attack large groups of opponents or to
take extreme risks.
His mild temperament contrasts with that of Quijote, who is violently delusional. The
latter protagonist starts fights just about everywhere he goes. He repeatedly challenges and
attacks others. For example, he splits open the heads of two mule drivers for trying to water their
mules (Cervantes 24). Later in the story, he challenges and attacks Benedictine friars because he
thinks they are magicians kidnapping a princess (Cervantes 46). Such behavior makes him a
public menace. When he attacks the barber and appropriates his basin, his behavior is arguably
criminal, as is the case when he sets free the galley slaves (Cervantes 120, 133). Indeed, because
of his delusion, Quijote thrashes the innocent, the very people he is sworn to protect. This is
demonstrated when he attacks a funeral procession and badly wounds two innocent men.
Although he states that it is his task and occupation to travel about the world righting wrongs
and undoing injuries (Cervantes 106-7), he does precisely the oppositehe does wrong and
causes injuries.
Candide, on the other hand, supposedly has the gentlest of characters (Voltaire 3).
However, Voltaire seems to be satirizing this as well, since readers soon see he has a bit of a

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temper. Candide kills Don Issachar, followed by the Inquisitor, and nearly does in the Barons
son, although at least two of the three were arguably done in self-defense (Voltaire 67-9, 125). It
must be pointed out, however, that these killings are not due to the spell of optimism that
Candide is under, but rather in spite of it. He seems surprised how he, the best-tempered man in
the world could have come to kill these people (Voltaire 125).
Yet he eventually begins to understand the dark side of human nature and question his
optimism, as evinced by his poignant questions to Martin, in what amounts to a scathing
indictment of humanity. Candide asks of him:
Do you think [...] that men have always massacred each other as they are doing today?
That they have always been liars, crooks, traitors, ingrates, brigands, weaklings,
unreliables, cowards, enviers, gluttons, drunkards, misers, social climbers, bloodsuckers,
slanderers, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools? (Voltaire 191).
Candide demands to know To what end, then, was this world created?to which Martin
replies, To drive us mad (Voltaire 189).
So what then is the significance of this madness and delusion in these stories? Despite the
differences between the protagonists and their idiosyncrasies, it appears that the two authors have
somewhat similar messages. Cervantes, on one hand, seems to be suggesting that chivalric
idealism itself is crazy and dangerously out of touch with reality. The final chapter of Don
Quijote closes with a stated purpose: all I ever wanted was to make men loathe the concocted,
wild-eyed stories told as tales of chivalry (Cervantes 746). If this is the case, Cervantes could be
ridiculing the madness of trying to live an ideal, romantic life in an imperfect world
(SparkNotes). However, the inclusion of the fictional writer, Sidi Hamid, adds a literary buffer
that distances the real author from the narration, leaving readers to speculate as to whether or not

2011, 2013 Scott A. Milton - All Rights Reserved

Milton 5
Cervantes shares such artistic goals himself. Voltaires purpose, on the other hand, seems much
more certain. As Haydn Mason contends in his book Candide: Optimism Demolished, Voltaires
satire is largely a refutation of the philosophical optimism that was popular in his day, especially
such as advocated by German philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz in his Theodicity and by English
poet Alexander Pope in his Essay on Man (Mason 5-8). Not only did Voltaire consider this
optimism unfounded, but also dangerous because of the complacency it breeds. His story
marshals as evidence a series of evils and human vices to demonstrate the folly of such a view.
As a progressive thinker and reformer of the Enlightenment, Voltaire employs delusion in his
satire to promote social change.

2011, 2013 Scott A. Milton - All Rights Reserved

Milton 6
Works Cited
Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quijote. Trans. Burton Raffel. Ed. Diana de Armas Wilson. New
York: Norton, 1999. Print.
Mason, Haydn. Candide: Optimism Demolished. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Don Quixote. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes, 2003. Web.
24 Feb. 2011.
Voltaire [Arouet, Franois-Marie]. Voltaires Candide: A Bilingual Edition. Trans. Peter Gay.
Ed. Peter Gay. New York: St. Martins Press, 1963. Print.

2011, 2013 Scott A. Milton - All Rights Reserved