Candide
or The Optimist
Francois Marie Arouet
Also known as
Voltaire
Author Biography
• Voltaire was a satirist and a French
Enlightenment philosopher
• He was known particularly for his satirical wit
• He was a proponent of religious freedom and
opposed tyrannical governments
• As such, Candide, (C. 1757-1758), became part
of a large, diverse body of philosophical,
political and artistic works expressing these
views
Candide
• The novella is known for its sarcastic tone,
erratic, fantastical, and fast moving plot.
• It parodies many cliché romances and
adventures
• Yet, events are based on actual historic
occurrences such as The Seven Years War
and the Lisbon earthquake
• Voltaire deals with the problems, evils and
concerns of the time period through satire,
parody, humor and allegory
Criticism of Optimism
or sometimes referred to as
Panglossianism
• Philosopher and mathematician Leibniz
is criticized through the character,
Pangloss, who reiterates throughout the
novella the mantra ‘all is for the best in
the best of all possible worlds.’
• The horrors of the war and the Lisbon
earthquake did not apply to this view of
optimism
Candide parallels the ideas
brought forth in Jonathan
Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726).
Gulliver is a gullible protagonist,
that travels to distant lands, like
Candide, and is hardened by the
experience – Voltaire was
undoubtedly inspired by this
work.
Characters
• Candide – protagonist, naïve young man,
whose faith in the oft uttered ‘all is for
the best…” optimistic mantra of his
tutor Pangloss is perpetually tested, he
pursues his beloved Cunegonde and faith
throughout the novella
• Pangloss – Candide’s tutor who is an
optimist and philosopher, he is also the
parody of certain philosophers of the
time (Leibniz), and the vehicle for the
satire
Characters cont’d
• Martin – the cynical scholar and
traveling companion of Candide. His
philosophies diametrically oppose the
Panglossian philosophy as being entirely
pessimistic.
• Cunegonde – the Baron’s daughter with
whom Candide falls in love, simplistic;
woe befalls her when her father’s
estate is destroyed and she is taken as
a slave during the war. The Baron had
taken Candide in and raised him, but
threw him out after he fell in love with
Cunegonde
Cacambo - Candide's valet when Candide travels in South
America. A mixed-race native of the America’s, highly
intelligent, morally honest; rescues Candide from a number
of scrapes and is responsible for Candide's reunion with
Cunégonde. Provides direct contrast to ineffectual
philosophers such as Pangloss and Martin.
The old woman - daughter of a Pope, has experienced the
death of a fiancé, rape by pirates, slavery, and cannibalism in
wartime, she becomes Cunégonde's servant, misfortunes
made her cynical about human nature, but she doesn’t give in
to self-pity, wise, practical, and loyal to her mistress. Though
she has often been close to suicide, she always finds a reason
to live.
Characters cont’d
The Commander or the baron - Cunégonde's
brother; after his family's castle is destroyed in
wartime, he becomes a Jesuit priest. It is implied
numerous times that he has homosexual tendencies.
He is arrogant about his family's noble lineage and
likes Candide but refuses to allow him to marry his
sister.
Jacques (the Anabaptist) - humane Dutch
Anabaptist, cares for the itinerant Candide and
Pangloss; despite his kindness he is pessimistic about
human nature, he drowns in the Bay of Lisbon while
trying to save the life of an ungrateful sailor.
Characters cont’d
The farmer - The farmer has a modest farm
outside Constantinople. Candide and his friends are
impressed with his lifestyle of hard work and simple
pleasures, and adopt it for themselves.
Count Pococurante - The count is a wealthy
Venetian. He has a marvelous collection of art and
literature, but he is bored with and critical of
everything.
Characters cont’d
Paquette - she is initially the chambermaid
of Cunégonde's mother, has an affair with
Pangloss and gives him syphilis, and
eventually turns to prostitution to support
herself, Brother Giroflée is one of her
clients. In Venice, Candide is moved by
Paquette's misery gives her a great deal of
money, which she quickly squanders.
Characters cont’d
Brother Giroflée - dissatisfied monk that parents
forced into a monastery to enlarge his brother's
fortune, Paquette's client, and like her, he is
miserable and does not get any happier after
Candide gives him a large sum of money.
The Grand Inquisitor - an important figure in the
Portuguese Catholic Church that represents the
hypocrisy of religious leaders. He uses the threat of
religious oppression to force the Jew Don Issachar
to share Cunégonde with him. Meanwhile, he orders
that suspected heretics be burned alive. Candide
kills the Inquisitor when the Inquisitor discovers
him with Cunégonde.
Characters cont’d
Don Issachar - a wealthy Jew, that purchases
Cunégonde and makes her his mistress. The Grand
Inquisitor forces him to share Cunégonde by
threatening to burn him alive as a heretic. Candide
kills Don Issachar when he interrupts Candide
and Cunégonde.
Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueora y Mascarenes y
Lampourdos y Souza - governor of Buenos Aires, who
becomes infatuated with Cunégonde and makes her
his mistress despite her engagement to Candide.
Characters cont’d
Vanderdendur - a cruel slave owner and an
unscrupulous merchant, after stealing one of
Candide's jewel-laden sheep, his ship is sunk in a
battle. Candide sees his death as a sign that
retributive justice is at work in the world.
The Abbé of Perigord - a Paris socialite who cheats
Candide out of his money.
The Marquise of Parolignac - a cunning, sexually
licentious Paris socialite. She seduces Candide and
steals some of his jeweled rings.
Modern Adaptations of Candide
• Candide the operetta was conceived by the
playwright Lillian Hellman
• Leonard Bernstein, the American composer
and conductor convinced Hellman to do it as a
comic operetta
• In the derivative work it opened on Broadway
in 1956 although criticized as too serious, it
was revitalized with a new libretto nearly 20
years later and enjoyed critical acclaim
Themes
• The Uselessness of
Philosophical Speculation
• The Folly of Optimism
• The Corrupting Power of Money
• The Hypocrisy of Religion
Motifs
• Resurrection
•Rape and Sexual Exploitation
•Religious and Political
Oppression
Symbols
Pangloss is less a well-rounded, realistic
character than a symbol of a certain kind
of philosopher. His optimism and logical
fallacies are meant to represent the
thought of G.W. von Leibniz and other
Enlightenment thinkers. He is an open
symbol of the folly both of blind optimism
and of excessive abstract speculation.
Symbols
The Garden
At the end of the novel, Candide and his companions find
happiness in raising vegetables in their garden. The symbolic
of the Garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve enjoyed
perfect bliss before their fall from God's grace. However,
in Candide the garden marks the end of the characters'
trials, while for Adam and Eve it is the place where their
troubles begin. Moreover, in the Garden of Eden Adam and
Eve enjoyed the fruits of nature without having to work,
whereas the main virtue of Candide's garden is that it
forces the characters to do hard, simple labor. In the world
outside the garden, people suffer and are rewarded for no
discernible cause. In the garden, however, cause and effect
are easy to determine—careful planting and cultivation yield
good produce. Finally, the garden represents the cultivation
and propagation of life, which, despite all their misery, the
characters choose to embrace.
Symbols
The Lisbon Earthquake
The earthquake in Candide is based on a real
earthquake that leveled the city of Lisbon in 1755.
Before writing Candide, Voltaire wrote a long poem
about that event, which he interpreted as a sign of
God's indifference or even cruelty toward
humanity. The earthquake represents all
devastating natural events for which no reasonable
justification can be found, though thinkers like
Pangloss might do their best to fabricate flimsy
justifications in order to maintain a philosophical
approach to life.
Works Cited
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candid/
context.html