Cover of The Man of Forty Crowns by Voltaire Audiobook The Man of Forty Crowns
Audiobook · Adelphi Press

The Man of Forty Crowns

Author
Voltaire
Read by
James Harrington
Language
English
Length
1 hour 29 minutes
ISBN
9781787368071
Published
29 October 2023
Imprint
Adelphi Press
  • satire
  • superstition
  • inheritance
  • marriage
  • societal norms
  • tradition
  • absurdity
  • irrationality
  • French society
  • humor

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Description

"The Man of Forty Crowns" is a satirical short story by Voltaire, highlighting the irrationality of religious dogma and superstition. The protagonist receives an inheritance of forty crowns under the condition that he marries a woman he has never met. This absurd situation leads to a humorous exploration of societal norms and blind obedience to tradition. Voltaire's wit and sarcasm shine in this critique of 18th-century French society. Read in English, unabridged.

Author

Voltaire (1694–1778) made French prose feel like a blade you could pocket. Candide moves too fast for consolation: earthquake, war, and a garden that is not a philosophy so much as a last useful sentence. The letters, the tales, the long public quarrel with superstition — they share one climate. Ridicule here is not decoration. It is how a mind stays free in a crowded century.

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