It seems as though Pococurante has everything imaginable. From elegant gardens, laid out and ornamented with beautiful marble statues, to neatly dressed pretty girls whom Pococurante takes to bed. As well as high price paintings, concerts taking place in his own home, and a library shelved with thousands of books.
None of the above makes him happy. He says things like..
"I am getting tired of these two girls as well"
"This noise.. utterly disgusts me."
"Neither I nor anyone else in Italy can take pleasure in these sorry extravagances."
What is keeping this man here? He gets extremely bored of everything so quickly. Voltaire points out that he is a man of sixty. Do you think because of his age he has seen so much greatness in his life and now nothing can please him? Maybe he has been like this his whole life? He has a lot of money.. and money can only buy so much. It is definitely not buying the Count happiness.
Then what does this man have to live for?
"I say what I think, and care little whether others agree with me." - Pococurante.
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Pococurante is an example of one of those sayings that money can't buy a person hapiness. Are there people out there that have everything and are miserable? It kind of makes me wonder if this character exists in real life. I forgot who it was, maybe it was Candide, but he states that it is true that misery brings hapiness. He is only happy when he is miserable, therefore he finds faults and misery in everything he has. The only reason he lives is to find misery in new things, and the new garden will be enjoyable for a bit but he will soon find faults and must find something else to enjoy and then find faults in.
ReplyDeletePococurante is an example of a miserable person. I think he must have something to live for or he wouldn't keep on trying. It could be his misery that he lives for or he could be just trying to find something that he actually likes. Maybe he lives for the journey that hopefully leads to something that makes him happy.
ReplyDeleteI think he is an example that if you get everything in life that comes easy, that person wont be happy just like Pococurante who has everything is sick of life. Then there is Candide who keeps going in life in search for Lady Cunegonde. He couldnt get her and kept on fighting for Pococurante got everything and felt like there was nothing to live for.
ReplyDelete-Courtney Lynch
Pococurante is the best example of wealth does not bring happiness. He is only happy to complain even though he could have anything he wants. His age doesn't have anything to do with his character. Everything has come to him easy in his life so he doesn't take pleasure in anything.
ReplyDeleteI think Alison's right on that his age is less important than his status in life. The closing line you quote (""I say what I think, and care little whether others agree with me." - Pococurante.") seems to me to be Voltaire mocking the kind of critic we all know, someone who is superior to all he surveys and able to dole out insults and complaints about everything to the point where he doesn't really enjoy anything but the act of criticizing others.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Alison's post. I also believe he is there to express his views without anyone stopping him. He has everything in the world and could get anything he wanted, but is not happy. This proves that money cannot buy happiness.
ReplyDelete