Characters Discussed
Candide
Candide (kahn-DEED), a gentle, honest, and pleasant young man, reputed to be the illegitimate son of the sister of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh. Expelled from the Baron’s castle after exploring the mysteries and pleasures of love with Cunegonde, the Baron’s daughter, Candide travels all over the world. A dutiful young man who has been taught that this is the best of all possible worlds, Candide searches the globe for proof, meeting old friends and acquaintances in unexpected places and unusual circumstances. During his travels he has many misadventures and endures many hardships and pains. Impressed into the Bulgarian army, he discovers the horrors of war. He lives through the Lisbon Earthquake and is ordered flogged by officers of the Inquisition. He finds and loses his sweetheart Cunegonde. He discovers wealth and loses it. He kills men when he does not mean to do so. All these experiences slowly convince Candide that this is really not the best of all possible worlds. After years of wandering, he retires to a little farm where he lives with a small group of friends and his wife, Cunegonde, now old and far from pretty.
Cunegonde
Cunegonde (kew-nay-GOHND), the beautiful daughter of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh. With Candide, she explores love, only to have her young lover dismissed violently from the castle. After his dismissal, she endures much pain and many adventures. She is captured by the Bulgarians, raped, and wounded. She makes her way to Portugal, where she becomes the mistress of two men, a Jew and an officer of the Inquisition. She is reunited with Candide only to be separated from him by another series of unhappy adventures. At last she and Candide are reunited. Married, they settle down on a small farm. By that time, his ardor for her has been cooled by the adventures she has undergone and the effect they have had upon her. She becomes adept as a pastry cook, happy in that humble occupation.
Pangloss
Pangloss (pan-GLOHS), Candide’s tutor, a professor of abstract nonsense. Despite the terrible adventures that befall Candide and Pangloss’ other friends, he is unwilling to forgo theorizing or to admit that this is not the best of all possible worlds. He settles down with Candide on the latter’s farm after undergoing many misadventures, including being hanged unsuccessfully by the Inquisition.
Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh
Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh (tewn-DAHR-tehn-TROHNK), Cunegonde’s brother, who inherits his father’s title. He is a proud young man, even in adversity and poverty, and he refuses again and again to give his consent to a marriage between his sister and Candide. Tired at last of the Baron’s refusals, uttered with no regard for what Candide has endured on behalf of Cunegonde or the girl’s changed condition, Candide causes the proud Baron to be shipped as a galley slave.
Jacques
Jacques (zhahk), a kindly Anabaptist who befriends Candide in Holland and travels with him to Portugal, only to be drowned at the time of the Lisbon Earthquake.
Martin
Martin (mahr-TAN), a friend Candide meets in Surinam. Accused by the Church of being a Socinian heretic, Martin admits to Candide that he is a Manichee, though none is supposed to be left in the world. Martin travels with Candide on the latter portion of Candide’s wanderings and settles down with Candide on a small farm.
Paquette
Paquette (pa-KEHT), a maid to the Baroness Thunder-ten-tronckh. Loved by Pangloss, she gives him venereal disease. After many misadventures of her own, she turns up again in Candide’s life and becomes a member of the little colony on his farm, where she earns her living by doing embroidery.
Friar Giroflée
Friar Giroflée (jee-roh-FLAY), a discontented friar who falls in love with Paquette during her travels and leaves his order for her sake. Befriended by Candide, he joins the colony on Candide’s farm and turns carpenter.
The old woman
The old woman, Cunegonde’s servant. She relates that she was once a beautiful princess, the daughter of the Princess Palestrina and a fictional pope, Urban X. The splendid life she expects is lost when she is captured by Moroccan pirates and condemned to a hard life as a slave. She clings to Cunegonde and Candide and settles with them on Candide’s farm.
Cacambo
Cacambo (kah-KAHM-boh), Candide’s servant. Separated from Candide in South America, he turns up later in Venice as a slave belonging to the deposed Sultan Achmet III. Through Cacambo’s intercession, Candide and his party are allowed to visit Turkey.
A contented old man
A contented old man, who has learned that hard work and minding one’s own business are the best means to happiness. He avoids boredom, vice, and need by working a twenty-acre farm. Following his advice, Candide settles with his friends on a farm of his own.
Themes and Characters
Although the work features numerous depictions of injuries and death, the narrative is satirical and evokes a sense of ironic humor for readers. Candide is depicted as a naive and honest young man, likely the illegitimate son of a nobleman. He is perpetually astonished by any adverse events and appreciative of anyone who shows him kindness. Throughout the story, he is variously conscripted, flogged, or shipwrecked, and occasionally aided in increasingly implausible ways. Despite his adventures, he never forgets his tutor Pangloss's philosophy that this is the best of all possible worlds—though Candide sometimes questions this belief.
The character Cacambo, who becomes Candide's devoted servant and companion, is of mixed heritage—Spanish and South American indigenous. By the conclusion of the story, it is evident that Cacambo is honest, reliable, industrious, and almost beyond reproach.
In the narrative, noble-born individuals are portrayed positively only when they do not exhibit arrogance based on their lineage. By the story's end, the number of cruelties inflicted by self-serving leaders of various nations and principalities, or by dethroned leaders who have retained their pride, becomes impossible to count. Throughout the novel, Voltaire emphasizes that humans often treat each other appallingly, causing much of the suffering. Just as readers might assume Voltaire attributes all human suffering to the failure to live peacefully and lovingly, he includes descriptions of natural disasters like storms, shipwrecks, and earthquakes. Pangloss even references a real earthquake in Lima, Peru, which caused significant loss of life. Voltaire lists these horrors to show that God or Nature is also responsible for some human misery. In philosophical discussions, Candide debates whether God made humans as they are, thus absolving them of responsibility for their sins. These debates remain unresolved, suggesting that the author aims to raise philosophical questions rather than provide definitive answers.
It is not until the very last page of the story that Candide gains any insight into how one should live. By this point, he understands enough to avoid causing suffering to others and ultimately learns how to eliminate three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty. He decides to work in the garden of his humble home.
Characters
Cacambo
Cacambo is described as "a quarter Spanish, born to a half-Indian father in the
Tucuman province of Argentina. He had various roles throughout his life: a
choir boy, a sexton, a sailor, a monk, a commercial agent, a soldier, and a
servant." Currently, he serves as Candide's cherished valet and travel
companion. Together, they explore Eldorado. Towards the conclusion, Cacambo
orchestrates the reunion between Candide and Cunégonde. Additionally, Cacambo
takes on the majority of the labor when they begin farming.
Candide
Candide is the exceedingly innocent young man who is "driven from his earthly
paradise" with harsh kicks to his backside. Similar to Everyman from the
medieval morality play, Candide endures numerous experiences to ultimately
understand the human condition. Initially embodying optimism, he reluctantly
ventures into the world, leaving behind the Baron's castle in Westphalia.
Though he was told Westphalia is the best of all possible kingdoms, he later
realizes it had its flaws.
Suspicions suggest Candide is the illegitimate son of the Baron's sister and a local gentleman. This questionable lineage is only held against him when it matters most—his marriage to Cunégonde. Throughout his journeys, he is conscripted, beaten, and robbed. These circumstances force Candide into criminal acts, leading him to lament, "I'm the kindest man in the world, yet I've already killed three men, and two of them were priests!" His affection for Cunégonde makes him an easy target for exploitation, resulting in numerous betrayals and heartbreaks. During quieter moments, Candide reflects on his situation and the broader human condition with the depth of a seasoned philosopher.
Lady Cunegonde
Cunégonde is the object of Candide's affection. As a young woman, she witnesses
her family's massacre and is subsequently passed from one man to another. She
eventually ends up with Don Issachar, whose advances she manages to fend off.
He provides her with a home in Lisbon, where the Old Woman becomes her
maid.
After catching the Grand Inquisitor's eye, she is shared by both men until Candide rescues her. Cunégonde then travels with him to Buenos Aires, where she marries Don Fernando de Ibarra until Cacambo secures her ransom. Instead of reuniting with Candide, pirates capture her and sell her into slavery. When Candide finally buys her freedom, she is old, unattractive, and working as a dishwasher. Nevertheless, she eventually becomes an excellent pastry cook.
Brother Giroflé
Although Brother Giroflé appears to be a content Theatine monk, he despises
monastic life. His family coerced him into the monastery so that his older
brother could inherit the family fortune, which has led him to resent his
family deeply. He often dreams of burning down the monastery and fleeing to
Turkey. Candide gives him some money, resulting in Candide losing his bet with
Martin. Brother Giroflé quickly spends the money and, together with Paquette,
who has also exhausted her funds, escapes to Turkey. There, they live on
Candide's farm.
Jesuit Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh
Cunégonde's brother survives the devastation of Westphalia and the murder of
their parents. This strikingly handsome young Baron is taken in by a Reverend
Father and soon sent to the Father General in Rome. He becomes a Jesuit due to
not being Spanish and is dispatched to Paraguay, where he rises to the rank of
Colonel, fighting against Spanish forces. When he refuses to let Candide marry
Cunégonde, Candide impales him with his sword.
After recovering from Candide's attack, the Baron is captured by the Spanish. He requests to be sent back to Rome and eventually leaves Rome as a chaplain to the French Ambassador in Constantinople. When caught naked with a Mussulman, he is beaten and sent to the galleys. Candide rescues him, but when the Baron once again forbids the marriage, Candide arranges for him to be returned to the galleys.
King of Eldorado
The King of Eldorado epitomizes the ideal ruler with a perfect system of
governance.
Martin
Candide selects Martin as his travel companion. Martin is a scholar who "had
been robbed by his wife, beaten by his son and abandoned by his daughter, who
had eloped with a Portuguese [and] had just lost the minor post that had been
his only means of support." Consequently, Martin is cynical and devoid of
optimism. Nevertheless, he is a pleasant man and an engaging conversationalist.
Candide enjoys his company so much that he never parts ways with him.
The Negro
Among Candide's various encounters with slavery, none is more impactful than
his meeting with the Negro. Dressed only in short blue trousers and missing his
left leg and right hand, the Negro symbolizes the harsh reality of slavery in
the Americas. Additionally, he evokes memories of the early Spanish expeditions
to the New World, where the Spaniards, desperate for gold, brutally butchered
the indigenous people when they couldn't find it.
Old Woman
See Princess of Palestrina
Dr. Pangloss
Dr. Pangloss educates the baron's son and Candide in
metaphysico-theologo-cosmonigology. He contracts syphilis from Paquette,
leading to the loss of an ear and a nose. Later, he is hanged during an "Auto
da Fé" ("act of faith"), but the execution is botched, and he is revived by
someone who takes his body. Eventually, he ends up as a galley slave and is
rescued by Candide. Despite everything, he continues to uphold his belief in
optimism.
Paquette
Paquette serves as the chambermaid to Cunégonde's mother. She transmits
syphilis to Pangloss, a disease she herself contracted from a Franciscan friar.
Her relationship with her confessor leads to her expulsion from Westphalia.
Since then, she has led a life of prostitution. She eventually finds herself on
Candide's farm after squandering the money he gave her.
Pococurante
Candide and Martin visit Pococurante, a Venetian senator reputed to be a man
who has "never known sorrow or trouble." They believe Pococurante is a wise man
who can help them make sense of the world's difficulties. Candide expects to
find a joyful man and initially thinks Pococurante is the happiest person he's
ever met because he is never satisfied and always seeks new experiences.
Martin, however, disagrees, arguing that this constant search for contentment
makes Pococurante the most miserable person alive. Quoting Plato, Martin says,
"the best stomach is not the one that rejects all food," and there is no
"pleasure in having no pleasure." Candide sees the wisdom in Martin's words and
feels fortunate once more to have Cunégonde to look forward to.
Princess of Palestrina
The Princess of Palestrina, once possessing the figure of the Venus de Medici,
is engaged to the prince of Massa-Carra, who is poisoned and dies. Heartbroken,
she travels to her mother's estate near Gaeta. On the way, Barbary pirates
attack, and she is raped. She and her mother are then enslaved. Upon arriving
in Morocco, they witness the fifty sons of Emperor Muley Ismael at war, and the
Princess's mother is brutally drawn and quartered. The Captain kills everyone
in sight, but the Princess survives. She later encounters a castrato who once
sang in her mother's chapel. He promises to take her back to Italy but instead
sells her into slavery in Algiers, where she catches the plague. After being
sold several more times, she ends up serving in the house of Don Issachar,
where she stays with Cunégonde.
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