Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.

He broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events and emphasized customs social history and achievements in the arts and sciences. Fearing an indefinite prison sentence Voltaire suggested that he be exiled to England as an alternative punishment which the French authorities accepted. Nevertheless he continued to write producing essays and historical studies.

[clarification needed] As a satirical polemicist he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. Voltaire was a versatile writer producing works in almost every literary form including plays poems novels essays and historical and scientific works. swa ma.