Alexander Pope and Voltaire have very contrasting views about the universe and life.

Their ideas are presented in the Essay on Man and Candide. Voltaires world in Candide and the events that occur within it disagree with Popes ideas that he presents in his Essay on Man. In his essay on man, Pope emphasizes the idea of a hierarchy or a great chain of being. He states that all living and non-living things have a place in this chain with God being on top and inanimate objects at the bottom, based on the amount of matter and spirit within them. Pope declares that each being should not try to move from their place on the chain, they were created to be in that place by God. In part ii of his essay, he says Then shall Mans pride and dullness comprehend His actions, passions, beings use and end; Why doing, suffering, checked, impelled; and why This hour a slave, next a deity. Then say not Mans imperfect, Heaven in fault; Say rather, Mans as perfect as he ought: by saying this, Pope reasons that man is an imperfect creature. However, this is not mans fault; he was never meant to be a perfect creature for the only perfect being is God. Man was created as an imperfect creature, and because of this he can never move up in the chain of being. Pope uses this reasoning for all aspects of life. In the end, he goes on to say that All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee; . One truth is clear, Whatever Is, Is Right. Pope basically says that all bad things happen for a reason and because God has a plan, everything is part of this plan and therefore any event, no matter how terrible it seems is, in the end, for the greater good. Voltaire, however, makes fun of the idea of a perfect world. In the first chapter of Candide, Candide believes that he is living in the best of all possible worlds. As he travels through the book and experiences life outside the safe and excluded castle, he begins to question whether this truly is the best of all possible worlds. As he witnesses an earthquake destroy and kill a city, he also questions why God does not help them. Cunegonde goes through a whole

period of slavery where she suffers greatly. When Candide finally gets around to saving her, she has become extremely ugly. It is then reviewed that Candide had mostly loved her for her beauty; he physically recoils when he sees her. He must also deal with the Baron who with the ridiculous reason of his family having one less generation of nobles, forbids him from marrying Cunegonde. As he experiences more and more, he learns many life lessons. In the end, he realizes that in other to fully understand the world, you had to travel and learn about life from observing and through hard work. In the book, Voltaire ridicules the idea that the world is perfect and that all things happen for a greater good. He questions why God does not save the innocent lives fighting in pointless wars or die in disasters. In their respective pieces, both men give light to their views on the world. Their ideas are very different; in fact Voltaire openly mocks Popes ideas in his book. Voltaire exposes many of the evils and wrongs in this world; directly contrasting Popes idea that this is the ideal perfect world. Because of this, it is clear that Popes Essay on Man and Voltaires Candide present contrasting views about life and God.