- Year Published: 1759.
- Pages: 94.
Candide Summary
Candide is born in the German province of Westphalia and grows up in the home of the Baron Thunder – ten – tronckh. He is the illegitimate nephew of the German Baron. Dr. Pangloss is a renowned scholar who teaches him that this world is the best of all worlds and asks him to be optimistic in the face of gravest of problems. Young at heart he falls for the beautiful daughter of the Baron, Cunegonde. The Baron catches them kissing and Candide is expelled from his home. Due to this he is now on his own and gets enlisted into the Bulgars army. Candide wanders away from the camp while on a walk and gets flogged as a deserter. He witnesses a horrible battle and escapes and travels to Holland.
From the above paragraph we see how he was trained to be optimistic, however, there are terrific events that take place but he still remains optimistic.
In Holland, an Anabaptist named Jacques gives refuge to Candide. During his stay, he runs into a deformed beggar who has Syphilis whom he discovers to be Pangloss. From him, he gets to know that Cunegonde and her family have been murdered by the Bulgar army. Jaques generously takes Pangloss in as well. The three decide to take a trip to Lisbon but their ship runs into rough weather and Jaques gets drowned.
Candide and Pangloss reach Lisbon which has been ravaged by an earthquake and under Inquisition. Here, Pangloss is killed being termed a Heretic and Candide flogged for condoning with Pangloss’s teachings. An old woman dresses Candide’s wound and takes him to Cunegonde where he comes to know that her entire family got killed but she was raped and then captured by the captain who sold her to a Jew named Don Isaachar. She is a sex slave to Don Isaachar and the Grand Inquisitor. While they are speaking the two of them arrive one