Voltaire quiz

More questions about Voltaire

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   What optimistic tutor teaches Candide that everything is for the best?

   Answer: Pangloss

   Why: The name is Greek for all tongue, from pan and glossa, a jab at a tutor who lectures his way past every catastrophe.

2. 2 Medium

   Which 1755 disaster caused Voltaire to question divine providence?

   Answer: Lisbon earthquake

   Why: It struck on the morning of All Saints' Day 1755, candles lit in homes and churches set the ruins ablaze, and a tsunami arrived about 40 minutes later.

3. 3 Hard

   Why was Voltaire's masterpiece Candide officially banned and burned in Geneva?

   Answer: Religious and political blasphemy

   Why: Geneva and Paris banned it by the end of February 1759, and Rome added it to the Index in 1762; it became a bestseller anyway.

4. 4 Easy

   Which famous 1759 work did French philosopher Voltaire write?

   Answer: Candide

   Why: Voltaire published Candide anonymously in 1759, and it was quickly banned for its brutal satire of religious and political leaders.

5. 5 Medium

   Why was Voltaire locked up in a Paris prison for nearly a year in 1717?

   Answer: Writing satirical verses about royalty

   Why: Verses accusing Regent Philippe d'Orléans of incest with his daughter cost Voltaire eleven months in the Bastille, from May 1717 to April 1718.

6. 6 Hard

   Which tragic 1718 play was Voltaire's first major theatrical success?

   Answer: Oedipus

   Why: It was his very first play, worked on during his eleven-month imprisonment of 1717, and the first work he ever signed with the new pen name Voltaire.