Bethany Kiehl Humanities II December 10, 2008 Essay #2 Voltaire’s satirical novella, Candide, plays around with the idea of a utopian society. His attempts to create this perfect society result in an unsatisfying situation in which his main character, Candide, decides is not worth leaving behind his true love, Cunegonde. As the situation progresses, one is able to see Voltaire’s ideas on an idyllic civilization. In Voltaire’s Candide, the city of Eldorado plays a significant part in Candide’s travels. The near perfection of this idealistic society contrasts the events of Candide’s life thus far. His journey has been wrought with tragic events since the beginning. The political, moral, and social structures of his life seem to have beaten him down in an unfair manner. When he arrives in Eldorado, the society, along with the streets paved with gold and bountiful wealth, is able to show Candide what worldly peace and contentment looks like. Voltaire’s idea of an ideal society comes out in his depiction of the ancient civilization of Eldorado in Candide. In Eldorado, Voltaire paints a picture of a utopian society so vastly different from what Candide knew to be reality. The citizens of Eldorado are all content generous. When Candide and Cacambo arrive at the inn, the hosts serve them an incredible meal, paid for by the government of Eldorado. Candide believes that Eldorado must be the “best of all possible worlds.” However, their gold and wealth do not account for this title. “‘Where are we?’ cried Candide. ‘The children of the kings of this country must be well brought up, since they are taught to despise gold and jewels.’” To Candide, money is the source of evil in his own world. The situation in Eldorado is not so. Eldorado does not have the unfair social structures, monks that “teach, argue, rule, plot and burn people who don’t agree with them,” or prisons and law courts that account for the evils of where Candide comes from. In this perfect environment,...