Candide

A detailed Summary of Candide

Candide, written by Voltaire and published in 1759, is based in the Age of the Enlightenment. In this era of reason, the people abandoned the ideas of faith and resorted to the natural law. Through his work, Voltaire shows the aspects of the Enlightenment rationale by condemning the nobles, the church, and philosophy. Candide portrays the thought of natural law and reason, and although it does not support all of the rationale of that era it is still considered one of the leading works of the Enlightenment.

Candide, "the (illegitimate) son of the Baron's sister," lived in Westphalia at the Thunder-ten-tronckh castle. Candide was in love with the beautiful Lady Cunegonde, the daughter of the Baron. Pangloss, a great philosopher and teacher, educated both Candide and Lady Cunegonde, and taught them that they lived in the "best of all possible worlds." One day Lady Cunegonde saw Pangloss and the Baron's "waiting-woman" engaged in "experimental philosophy." Lady Cunegonde decided that she wanted to test out this philosophy with Candide, so she sought a chance to be able to do this. They met, coquetted, and stole a kiss behind a screen, where they thought that they would not be visible. Yet the Baroness happened to see them, a

The next day, Candide took a stroll and while he was walking found a beggar. The man was in such bad shape that Candide felt pity towards him and gave him the little amount of money that he had. This mendicant ironically was Pangloss, the great philosopher. James also took Pangloss in and gave him an accounting job. James was going to go on a business trip to Lisbon and decided to take Candide and Pangloss along. While sailing towards Lisbon, a huge storm approached, tearing the ship to pieces. James fell overboard and only Candide, Pangloss, and a sailor survived.

While Candide and Lady Cunegonde were together, Don Issachar came in and tried to strike Candide. The old woman handed Candide a sword and Candide slayed him. Shortly afterwards, the Grand Inquisitor came in and Candide also slayed. Candide, Lady Cunegonde, and the old women fleed leaving everything but Lady Cunegonde's jewels behind. They eventually arrived in Cadiz, after much strife due to the fact that the jewels were stolen by a Franciscan. Candide impressed a military general who was headed towards the New World, with his knowledge of war. The general placed Candide over a small unit of soldiers, and they all set sail toward the New World.

When Candide arrived in Holland he was tired and hungry. He happened to come upon a crowd of people listening to an orator. The public speaker, a Protestant, addressed the issue of charity. Afterwards, Candide went up to him and asked him for a piece of bread or something to eat. The man rejected Candide's request because of his religious ignorance. James, a spectator of the scene, felt compassion and took Candide in.

Cacambo then proposed that they go to Cayenne. The trip was very difficult and they end up getting lost. They finally arrived at a river edge and found a canoe on the shore. They got in the canoe that lead them downstream; the second day the current was too strong and the canoe was pushed into the sides of giant boulders. Somehow Candide and Cacambo survived and kept on getting swept down stream. The river carried them underneath a large mountian and lead them to the civilization of Eldorado, the land of gold.

Back at the Old World, the Franciscan who stole Lady Cunegonde's jewels got caught when the jewels were recognized as belonging to the Grand Inquisitor. The Franciscan told the authorities where the murderers had gone. Candide was forced to and Lady Cunegonde was safe behind the protection of Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueora y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza.

Candide escaped with Cacambo, his servant, and deserted his lovely Lady Cunegonde once again. Cacambo advised Candide to try to join the Paraguayan priesthood and somehow Cacambo persuaded the Jesuit guard to let them in. When they arrived at the commander's premises, Candide realized that the commander was Lady Cunegonde's brother. Her brother began to narrate his story of the past years. Then Candide informed the commander of his past experiences and his plan to marry Lady Conegonde. The commander drew his sword, infuriated at the fact that Candide wanted to marry his sister. Candide drew his sword in order to defend himself, and "plunged it up to the hilt in the baron's stoma

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Approximate Word count = 2172
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People