Fool's Satire

Satire becomes self evident through the use of Don Fernando. By evoking the figure of a governor by the name of “Don Fernando d’Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, a nobleman with a degree of pride appropriate to one who bore so many names” (58), Voltaire targets the aristocracy itself. Previously in the book, aristocracy had already been brought upon through the fact that Candide’s mother (the Baron’s sister) didn’t marry his father due to the fact his family had one quartering less than hers. In this case, Voltaire once again attacks the nobility’s thought that superior assets enable them to wealth and power. With the use of the extensive name, hyperbole becomes adamant. The exaggeration of the name’s length makes the reader feel a sensation of eternity by reading the name. In my case, as I read the name I wondered how many “y” would there be. This effect proves the effectiveness of the satire employed by Voltaire.

The target is clearly the aristocracy, or nobility. Tough the Governor rather than being a wise or just governor, Don Fernando is a cheat and arrogant leader. Voltaire will constantly impose irony during his statement concerning him: “he spoke to his people with lordly contempt and with his nose in the air” (58). Don Fernando enhances a double faced figure: to the people he is the “greatest nobleman in South America” (59) while for the reader and Voltaire he is just a supercilious leader. Therefore it makes the statement as a complete irony as, even though seen as a caring figure, he shows hatred to the people. This hatred is the one Voltaire withstands from all the leaders who believe that superior virtues enhance them to power and wealth. On the other hand, absurdity comes present through the mentioning of his moustache: “you have only yourself to blame if you do not become the wife of the greatest nobleman in South America with the most handsome of moustaches” (59). The moustache is completely random here, but it has its satiric role. In common society, a man with a moustache is typical of the rich. The target is clear, and when that happens, it is difficult not to hide satire between the lines. Fool's satire.