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"Le Mondain" ("The Worldling" or "The Man of the World") is a philosophical poem written by French enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire in 1736. It satirises Christian imagery, including the story of Adam and Eve, to defend a way of life focused on worldly pleasure rather than the promised pleasure of a religion's afterlife. It opposes religious morality and especially the teaching of original sin. Its points echo Voltaire's prose works Lettres philosophiques and Remarques sur Pascal. Voltaire noted a trend against using poetic forms to make philosophical arguments, and wrote "Le Mondain" in deliberate opposition to this trend.[1]
The poem is set in the Garden of Eden but, contrary to the teaching of original sin, Eden is not portrayed as a paradise from which man would be expelled, but a state of barbarity. Adam's nails are described as long and dirty since no one has yet invented a tool to trim or clean them. The implication is that the world we experience is hence not a prison into which we have been thrown as punishment.[2] Instead, the poem's closing line says, "Le paradis terrestre est où je suis" ("The earthly paradise is where I am").
Line 22 of the poem, "Le superflu, chose très-nécessaire" ("The superfluous, a very necessary thing"), became a common catch-phrase.[1][2]
Responding to hostile reactions in 1737, Voltaire wrote a poem in the same style, Défense du Mondain ou l'apologie du luxe ("Defense of the Worldling or an Apology for Luxury").[2] The themes of the two are somewhat different; "Le Mondain" focusing on the personal benefits of worldly pleasure, while the Défense talks about the social benefits of seeking pleasure.[1]
The French dramatist Alexis Piron wrote a poem in response, L'Antimondain, in 1738.[1]
The poem's publication caused a scandal which led to Voltaire fleeing in 1738 from the Château de Cirey in France to Brussels, where he spent three months before returning.[3]
The poem has been described as embracing the doux commerce philosophy.[4]
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