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Hledání lidského štěstí ve Voltairových povídkách / Search of happiness in Voltaire's novels

My diploma thesis called Search of happiness in Voltaire's novels aims to analyse the theme of happiness in prose works Micromegas, L'Ingénu, Zadig and Candide. The analysis is preceded by an introduction showing the evolution of the theme of happiness through different historical periods. This theoretical part is also followed by a definition of philosophical novel as a typical Voltaire's way of expressing his philosophical thoughts. The analysis itself underlines common points of view found in the novels which all describe a world full of evil, disasters and misfortune. Good and honest heroes enter into this bad world and they struggle to find their place in the sun. Their nice personalities present a big contrast to the merciless world which surrounds them. The analysed examples from novels highlight major problems in Voltaire's time but a lot of parallels are found in today's world. I systematically pay attention to these parallels throughout the diploma. The analysis leads to the description of incorrigibly bad world, where only small islands of happiness can be found represented by friendship and love. We can only deal with such a life thanks to a meaningful activity which can make it bearable. The philosopher's approach to the theme which still captures people's attention is evaluated in the...

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:313714
Date January 2011
CreatorsPokšteflová, Marie
ContributorsPohorský, Aleš, Jamek, Václav
Source SetsCzech ETDs
LanguageCzech
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess

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