During the 18th century, The Enlightenment, also known as The Age of Satire and The Age of Reason, was prevalent in Europe. The Enlightenment was a time when individualism and change in institutions replaced tradition. The Age of Reason resulted from the rise of the new middle classes, the bourgeoisie. They realized that they were paying high taxes to support an aristocratic society, in which the nobles were reluctant to share any of the power. This eventually led to the decline of the monarchy. The Enlightenment also affected people in their rebellion against the Church. Before this period, daily life revolved around Christianity and the Church. During the Enlightenment, life became more secular, nonreligious, and people even started to question the church's authorities and practices. One famous philosopher from this period, Voltaire, wrote the novel Candide, in which Enlightenment ideas are represented. By telling the story of an innocent young man's journey in a corrupt and evil world, Voltaire shows the faults of society, especially the government and the church, that were being questioned at the time of The Enlightenment.
Throughout the novel Candide, Voltaire utilizes satire, the use of humor to criticize, in order to show what was wrong with society during 18th century Europe.
One major target that Voltaire satirizes upon in Candide is the government and the nobility of the period in which the novel was written. One example of this is when Voltaire writes, " The Baron was one of the most influential noblemen in Westphalia, for his house had a door and several windows and his hall was actually draped with tapestry,"(19). This line, along with many others, shows the snobbery of the nobility during the Enlightenment. Voltaire is mocking how just because someone has many possessions, they would be considered very prominent and even noble. Another object of ridicule in Candide was the Church.