Greatest Acomplishments
- Voltaire's first accomplishment was his tragedy that he wrote in 1717-1718 while in prison in Bastille called Œdipe. This was one of the first times he identified himself by his new pen name, Voltaire. This tragedy brought him great fame.
- After being kicked out of France, Voltaire traveled to England and developed some of the English thinking and wrote Essay upon Epic Poetry and Essay upon the Civil Wars of France, which mostly made fun of the French government
- L'Histoire de Charles XII was a novelistic approach that rejected Divine intervention theories when it came to History
- Dictionnaire philosophique describes Voltaire's ideal religion which involves teaching more mortality. This expressed Voltaire's standing on religion.
- In Essay on Manner and Spirit of Nations, Voltaire created the first modern essay that compared the history of nations. This was a great accomplishment for Voltaire.
- Candide was one of Voltaire's most well known pieces. Candide, the main character of this story runs into a series of misfortunes with his best friend. Together, they question whether or not men always used to slaughter each other.
- Zadig was another famous work by Voltaire. It is set in ancient Babylon and questions religion as Voltaire loved to do
- Most of Voltaire's main accomplishments had to do with his writing. Voltaire was an excellent writer, making his success almost solely on his writing.
- Another of Voltaire's accomplishments was putting France into an Enlightenment style. Voltaire's ridicule of the French government helped bring Enlightenment ideals to France.