Interview With Voltaire

An Interview with Voltaire

DKL: Hello Mr. Voltaire. I’m glad you could make it.

Voltaire:  Bonjour! So am I.

DKL: Thank you for taking the time out of your day for this interview.

Voltaire: No problem. I am honored.

1) DKL:  If you don’t mind, I would like to start off by talking about what caused you to get interested in the arts earlier in life?

V: Well, my mother was part of a royal family so I grew up with a royal background. Because I grew up in an upper class society, I was given a great education and I began to display my poetic gifts as a child. When I was 10, I was sent to an exclusive Jesuit boarding school for boys.  During my stay, I became anti-Catholic and denied religious authority which influenced most of my controversial writings. Soon, I developed a philosophy which involved the belief that God created the world but does not directly involve himself with it(answers.com).

I loved writing- specifically shocking and scandalous poems and stories. Ha-ha, when I was younger, my father always dreamed of me becoming a lawyer/notary. As I think about now, it cracks me up.  He felt literary pursuits were useless but I begged to differ. I knew I was going to be a writer. Soon after, I was sent to Holland as an ambassador’s pages. I fell in love and was planning to elope. But not much later, the ambassador heard about my plans and I was sent home at once. He thought of them as a disgrace. Ha-ha. But look at me now; I am being interviewed because of my writing. But if I had to say anything, I would be thankful for being sent to the boarding school because that is where I really began to question and ponder upon things. That is where the ideas I write about began to develop (yesnet.yk.ca). 

2) DKL:  Did mentors play a major part in your becoming a writer? If so, how? If not, why do you think this is?

V: Well, I certainly had some “negative mentors” as I just mentioned. Those people certainly did not think I would get very far with my writing. I believe they thought it was just another dream that every child has; which usually changes in a matter of days. Ha-ha. But I was very serious about it. But in a way, I like to look at those people who didn’t believe as mentors. They influenced me more because of the fact that they didn’t believe. I always wanted to prove them wrong and I did just that.

            I would also consider the teachers I had in boarding school mentors. Because of them and that school, I began to question things. Because I began to question things, I began to write. It was as if I was casting-off an old me and oh, how I loved the words as they came to me. That is what got me started. But my biggest mentor would have to be the Ambassador; because of his pages. They made me fall in love.

DKL:  Wow… Those were some different perspectives to look at them from. I guess being a write you really have to dig in, huh?? Ha-ha.

V: Ha-ha. I try!

3) DKL: Now what was occurring in the art world, specifically the writing world, as you ‘came on the map’ so to say??

V: Well when I first began writing, it was a very prominent for anyone to do with literature or things of the sort. You had many greats like Johann Sebastian Bach who is a very famous German composer. You have Cesare Beccaria who is an Italian politician but is venturing off into philosophy to protest the horrible injustices that he sees in various European judicial systems. You have Olympe de Gouges who is a French feminist and reformer during these times. I could really go on and on.

            As far as writers go, whew, let’s see… Well we of course have the fabulous me! Haha. Wow, Francis Bacon who is an English philosopher and statesman who developed the inductive method of scientific investigation. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German author who wrote near the end of the Aufklärung, the German Enlightenment. David Hume who is  a Scottish philosopher and one of the most prominent figures in the field of skepticism. Immanuel Kant,  a German skeptic philosopher who built on David Hume’s theories and brought the school of thought to an even higher level (sparknotes.com). I could really go on and on but as you can see,  it is prominent all of the world. It is the plague; just spreading everywhere and getting everyone! Haha.

4) DKL: How did the major cultural, economic and political situations of the time impact your work?

Voltaire: Well certainly economics did because it was a time of war so much of the government’s money was being spent on weapons. At this time, many people were beginning to write about things that were occuring in the war and how it was affecting them. There was massive shocks of industrailization. As far as cultures, there was a major culture shocks during the time. Many religions were being created and criticized (everyculture.com). Others were switching over for whatever reasons. There was also a lot of new inventions on the market.

            As far as politcal situations, there were many people coming in to take over at this time. Because countries were so weak, it was not very hard to take over. They just needed protection and someone to keep over them. This time really impacted my work because it gave me more thangs to discuss. It brought up a very wide variety of topics.

5) DKL:So name some of your major accomplishments and the methods you used in your art?

V: I am an advocate of human rights. Specfically advocacy civil liberties including freedom of religion and free trade.I denounced organized religon and established myslef as a proponent of rationality. I write with very witty verse mocking the royal authorties. Many don’t like this and because of that, I am constantly criticized. I try to write as honestly as I am thinking, and because of that, it does not always meet everyone’s appealing level.

Methods that I use would be my witty verse mocking. It is who I am. Every artist has their own form of expressing themselves, and that is how I chose to do so. Scholars don’t believe that in my writings, I should include things about my personal personal relations or ideas, particularly my humanitarian activites and unorthodox sex life (muse.jhu.edu). But I just include things so that other’s can relate. I am not trying to force others to believe in my beliefs but merely giving them other ideas.

6) DKL: Very interesting point. I don’t think many people would accept you trying to force others into what to believe which is why they critcize so much. So I’m glad you made that point. Okay now, What were the key opportunities you had that led to turning points in your life and art?

Voltaire: Well as I have mentioned, one thing that defintitely helped me was my up-bringing. Being that my mom was from an upper-class society, I was given more of an oppurtunity for a better education. When I was sent to the boarding school, I really began to question things which is what brought along my controversial writings.

When I was sent  to work for the ambassador, I really began to fall in love  with the craft. There were times I would sneak into a hidden area just to write. But eventually, I got caught and this is why I was fired. Ha-ha. Something that first got me started was one situation when the French authorities arrested me and put me in the Bastille prison because of my sharp lyrics. I believe this is when I began to get noticed because I wrote about someone pretty important in France. People were angry to say the least.

7) DKL: Are there many or any personal choices you had to make to become successful? If so, what are they? 

Voltaire: Oh yes! There were many choices I had to make. Going against the religion I was raised to believe in, choosing to write when I was not supposed to, and going against my Father’s wishes for me to be a lawyer to name a few.

            One situation: my father wanted me to be a notary my whole life, but I never liked that idea. It never fulfilled my passion. So yes, I went against his wishes. I moved to Paris and pretended to work as an assistant to a notary; sort of like an apprentice job, so my father thought. But instead, I spent the majority of my time writing poetry. When my dad found out, he immediately sent me to study law in Normandy (wikipedia)!

8) DKL: What hardships did you have to overcome in order to be an artist?

Voltaire: Whew, so many! I had to face the fact that I was disobeying so many people in my family. I also had to had to do jobs that I did not want to do. I had to face jailtime and on top of that, I have to face the fact of not be excepted by many.

      I was not excepted as a write by my family, the apprentice I worked for and my father just to name a few. I am also not excepted by many who read my works because they don’t appreciate my form of writing. That is how I express my feelings; my writing. I had to overcome law school, what a doozy that was! I think it was so difficult for me because it is not where I wanted to be nor what I wanted to do.

9) DKL: So do you feel that those were limitations that you ran into as an artists as well as a person?

Voltaire: Absolutely. In daily life, you always want to have supporters. Even for the smallest things. Can you imagine trying to pursue a career and having pratically no one behind you? It was pretty harsh. I felt alone and at times; I doubted that I could really do it.

      As an artist, it also affected me because I don’t think I was as great as I could have been with more support. But, I did want to prove others wrong which caused me to work hard. I also wanted to get my point across to people because that’s the reason I was writing; for others to read.

10) DKL: What stories can you say brought you to where you are today?

Voltaire: Definitely when I was sent to jail for critcizing someone of great importance (infoplease). I think that is really what put me on the map. Some were happy I did it, but others, not so much. Everyone has their own opinon. Another thing I can say led me to where I am is being shipped to boarding school because like I said, it is where the writing derived form. When I was sent to work for the ambassador, I really fell in love with the craft. I would take as much time as I could and devour it like a hungry bear. Ha-ha.

      And oddly, I think people not believing in me pushed me forward. That gave me an extra strive. My dad pratically forcing me to be a notary just caused me to “rebel” persay and want to do it even more. So to my fater, I thank you. To all others, I thank you. Because if it weren’t for them, I would not be the man I am today.

DKL: Wow. Well I thank you Mr. Voltaire for taking the time of to discuss this with me. It was very insightful and interesting. I’m hoping maybe we can do this again some other time.

Voltaire: The pleasure is all mine and thank you.

Citations:

1) Voltaire." Voltaire and the Theatre of the Eighteenth Century. 1. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Web.

2) online-literature.com. Jalic Inc., 2008. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

3) “Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire." infoplease.com. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007. Web. 24 Feb 2011

4) “Voltaire." Voltaire: Historian. London: Oxford University Press, 1958. Web. 

5) Reill, Peter. Voltaire. New York, NY: Book Boilders Inc., 1996. Print.

6) "The Enlightment (1650-1800)." sparknotes.com. Spark Notes, 2011. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

7) "Voltaire." voltaire.ox.ac.uk. The Voltaire Foundation, 2011. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

8) "Voltaire Biography." biography.com. Britannica Inc., 2010. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

9) "Voltaire Biography." answers.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

10) "Voltaire." yesnet.yk.ca. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

11)"Who Is Voltaire?." wisegeek.com. N.p., 21 feb 2011. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

12) "Biography." muse.jhu.edu. N.p., 2010. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

13) "Voltaire." visitvoltaire.com. N.p., 07 Jan 2009. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

14) "Political-Economic Situation." everyculture.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 24 Feb 2011.