Les contes en vers de Voltaire: le merveilleux comme véhicule d’un message moral

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show how the contes en vers of Voltaire, generally neglected by scholars, are an important part of his philosophical thought. In these tales Voltaire uses in fact the fairy to convey a moral message. An ethics of love, an ethics of happiness and an ethics of work are presented through the fantastic element: they have in common the rejection of the precepts established by the Catholic religion. Even when he writes about pagan gods, fairies and enchanted palaces, Voltaire never forgets his polemical targets and his social battles.