Candide and Shrek use basic plot lines to convey complex messages. They share the same basic tale of a quest to find love, and the perilous adventures along the way. In Candide, the story begins with a happy optimistic young man in love a beautiful young girl. After a series of calamities they are reunited. When Candide saw her, he found her to be horribly ugly, "The tender lover Candide, on seeing his fair Cunegonde dark-skinned, eyes bloodshot, flatbosomed, cheeks wrinkled, arms red and rough, recoiled three steps in horror..." (pg. 96). Candide ends with a disillusioned, and a pessimistic young man. Candide and Cunegonde accept their lot in life and in the end stay where they were, and end any pursuit of the betterment of their lives, "'I also know,' said Candide, 'that we must cult

ivate our garden'" (pg. 101). Shrek is also a quest to find love, although it does not start out as such. Shrek starts out on a journey to retrieve the Princes Fiona for the king of the land; Shrek ends up falling in love with Fiona. In the end Shrek married the Princess, just as like Candide did Cunegonde. But Shrek, unlike Candide, loved his wife and did not marry her out of guilt. Candide are Shrek are simple stories that convey complex messages.

On the surface, the characters, Candide and Shrek, are as dissimilar as the stories are similar. Candide is a "...young man whom nature had endowed with the gentlest of characteristics. His face bespoke his soul" (pg. 3). Shrek is the opposite, the classic fairytale monster: large, lonely, misunderstood. Though they appeared different, they led similar lives. Candide would not venture out of his castle; there was no need. He had his mentor, Pangloss, to teach him of the ways of the world. Shrek, on the other hand went to great lengths to limit his contact with others. He saw humans as weak, meager beings but felt like an outcast. Like Candide, Shrek was gentle. When a group of villagers came to capture Shrek for a reward, Shrek scared them away, but he did not hurt them. His character is kind hearted but just wants to be left alone. But the stories are not just about the characters; they are about ideas.

Both stories are satires on popular topics of the time. Shrek is a quirky fairytale, of a quest to find

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)