Francois marie arouet voltaire essay

When his father found out, he sent Voltaire to study law, this time in CaenNormandy. But the young man continued to write, producing essays and historical studies.

Born Francois-Marie Arouet French philosopher, essayist, dramatist, historian, poet, critic, and autobiographer.

See also Candide Criticism. The eighteenth century is often called the Age of Enlightenment, but it is just as often called the Age of Voltaire—in the minds of many intellectual historians, the two are synonymous.

Voltaire wrote in many genres, excelling at several, but in the modern era he is best remembered for his connections with the theater, his philosophical works, and his contes—short adventure stories dramatizing philosophical issues. The most famous of these is Candidea satire of G.

He attracted many admirers as well as many critics; his open anticlerical stance was particularly controversial and led to many of his works being censored. He was a Deist for much of his life, and was skeptical of most established political and religious institutions, though he strove for objectivity in his writings.

The values for which he fought most vigorously—freedom and progress—have become basic assumptions underlying modern Western civilization.

He was so weak at birth that he was not expected to live, and was ill and hypochondriacal much of his life. Biographers have suggested that the young Francois-Marie made up for a feeble body by developing a lively mind; even as a student he was known for his brilliance, wit, and impulsive nature.

His sister and mother, with whom he was quite close, died when he was young, and he and his brother parted ways over the issue of religious tolerance. Thus, even in his adolescence, Francois-Marie developed a strong foundation for the philosophy he would espouse as Voltaire.

After completing school, Francois-Marie planned to pursue a career as a poet, but his father intervened, sending him to Holland to work for the French ambassador.

InFrancois-Marie again mocked the regent in verse, but instead of being exiled he was sent to the Bastille for a year. While there, he wrote one of his greatest poems: The poem was not published untiland was then printed secretly. After his release from prison in April he began his long association with the theater.

The production of his Oedipe in November of that year was a tremendous critical and financial success. Inhe visited Lord Bolingbroke, an influential English writer, beginning a connection with English intellectuals that served him well throughout his lifetime.

As his reputation grew, he became a favorite with royalty, accepting substantial gifts from the kings of England and France, but even this did not protect him from attack. When a love triangle formed between Voltaire, the actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, and the chevalier de Rohan-Chabot, the chevalier had Voltaire beaten by lackeys while Voltaire was a guest of the duke de Sully.

When the duke did nothing to help him, he challenged the chevalier to a duel, but when the chevalier moved to have Voltaire arrested, Voltaire arranged for exile in England instead.

During this period Voltaire also tried writing in English, publishing the Essay on Civil Wars and the Essay on Epic Poetry and releasing a revision of his poem on Henry IV as The Henriade, a tremendous popular success which he dedicated to the English queen.

He returned to France secretly, remaining in hiding until he could obtain permission to stay in Paris. He also returned to the theater, with successful performances of Brutus and Zayre In his Letters Concerning the English Nationthe fruits of his time in Enland became apparent; his essays on English writers including Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Locke, and Shakespeare—and on religious differences—celebrated the openness of the English monarchy and English society.

In France, the book was burned and the publisher jailed. Voltaire soon opted to leave Paris again, moving in with his friend and lover Mme.

Together they studied and wrote for nearly fifteen years: Their relationship as lovers waned as Voltaire began a new affair, a scandalous relationship with his young niece, Mme. While there, he labored to see Le siecle du Louis XIV into print, but quickly found himself at odds with king and court.

Voltaire took on several legal battles involving religious prejudice, and often secured reversals of imposed sentences. He began writing more strongly against institutional religions and superstitious beliefs and produced his Traite sur la tolerance Treatise on Tolerance.

After a thirty-year absence he returned to Paris in Aprilhaving been invited to a gala performance of his play Irene. Crowds came to meet his carriage, he was crowned with a laurel wreath, and a bust of Voltaire was placed onstage, crowned, and kissed by the entire cast of his play.

Perhaps overwhelmed by his emotional triumph, Voltaire fell ill and died in less than two months. He agreed to sign a statement saying he accepted Catholicism, likely to avoid the ignominious burial of the unsaved.Voltaire was born François-Marie Arouet to a prosperous family on November 21, , in Paris, France.

He was the youngest of five children born to François Arouet and Marie Marguerite d'Aumart.

Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss.

Francois Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21, in Paris. Voltaire's style, wit, intelligence and keen sense of justice made him one of.

Inspired by the bold ideas that coincided with the French enlightenment, writer François-Marie Arouet, more popularly known as Voltaire, wrote Candide, published . Essay: Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) Francois Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire) was born on November 21, in Paris.

Voltaire’s style, wit, intelligence and keen sense of justice made him one of France’s greatest writers and philosophers. One major figure of the enlightenment was French author and philosopher Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire.

In his lifetime, he was a historian, essayist, playwright, storyteller, poet, philosopher, and wealthy businessman/5(4). Candide On November 21, , Francois-Marie Arouet, otherwise known as Voltaire, was born in Paris.

The youngest of five, son to Francois and Marie Arouet, Voltaire grew up in a household that had come to know the pleasantries of upper class french society.