Voltaire begins Candide by describing the images of Candides house, a beautiful castle in Baron of Wesphalia. The novel has not even begun and there is already a gossip about Candides potential to have had an unlawful son of the Baroness. Candide is a character of complete navet and dullness and is always influenced by other characters of greater personality. He is, however, a man of the kindest and caring heart and is always willing to help others in danger such as Jacques when he was almost executed. In the beginning, he is depicted as incredibly innocent, consumed with the philosophies and teachings of his tutor, Pangloss. Pangloss engraved in the mind of Candide everything in the world is for the best. The unfortunate day when Candide was ostracized from the glamorous castle was when the Baron found Candide and his beautiful daughter, Cunegonde kissing.
After experiencing eviction, drafting into the King of Bulgars army, escaping to Holland, and meeting Pangloss on a street, Pangloss ultimately discovers that Cunegonde, his lover, has been raped and murdered. Candide asks Pangloss to embower him with his knowledge of optimism so that he could move on with his life. An Anabaptist, Jacques, generously offers Candide hospitality for his stay in Holland. However, Jacques is soon thrown overboard of a ship when he was kindly offering help to a sailor. Another surprising death occurs immediately after. At the Auto-da-fe, Candide views the hanging of Pangloss, his mentor, while getting beat up himself. To comfort Candides injuries and wounds, an old woman kindly leads Candide to see Cunegonde, who has actually survived, which was a contrast to Panglosss account. The two lovers are happily reunited and Cunegonde retells her experience of a horrific rape by the Jewish merchant named Don Issachar.
In fact, she is asked to live and possibly even marry this stranger. All along, Cunegonde witnessed Candides beatings as well as Panglosss death. Every time something terrible is approaching, Candide brings back the ideas and philosophies of Pangloss. Cunegonde and Candide flee to Buenos Ayres, where they meet the wealthy Governeor Don Fernando. He immediately sees Cunegonde and begins to flirt with her. In fact, the Governor even proclaims his love to Cunegonde and is encouraged to marry her by the Old Woman. Unfortunately for Candide, Cunegonde accepts his proposal, but only marries for his wealth.
Later, Candide meets a man by the name of Cacambo. He declares his desire to marry Cunegonde to Cacambo, who turns out to be her brother. Cacambo tells Candide that she cannot do such a thing and marry a common man. Immediately, Candide is angered and wants to begin violence. They soon become traveling companions and eventually end up in the location of Eldorado, a wealthy place of gold and jewelry everywhere. This land is almost completely perfect having the most advanced technology, the lack of religious persecution, no jury or court system, and overall, a land of riches. Although the idea of being wealthy and rich is nice, Candide still misses and wants to marry Cunegonde. Thus, he sends Cacambo with jewelry to try to win Cunegonde from her husband, Governor Don Fernando.
When Candide flees to Paris, Cacambo is enslaved and arrested, however, Candide fortunately saves him. Candide finds that Pangloss has actually survived his rumored death. Although Pangloss has received much torture and other misfortunate events, he is still steadfast with his optimism. Candide is overwhelmed and excited and even buys their freedom. Candide still wants to find Cunegonde, the love of his life. When Candide does find her, he has noticed dramatic change. Over the years, her beauty has been lost, however, he still wants to win her heart again. He buys her liberty and despite her change in appearance, Candide still wishes to marry her. The novel ends on a happy note with Cunegonde and Candide married, Cacambo, the Old Woman, and Pangloss settling a life on the farm where they can live a simpler life that they all had once experienced. With this new view and lifestyle, everyone is satisfied and finally pleased.
Voltaire used the ideas of the Enlightenment Era to create a satire of many philosophers ideas of the world. One of the major themes of Candide is the ludicrous idea of optimism. From the beginning, Pangloss and Candide are seen pondering the idea that everything is for the best. However, this is only true of the minds of the navet. Many philosophers at the time believed that God is perfect and thus, he also created a perfect world. In contrast to their widely known belief, Voltaire paints the pictures and events of an imperfect world to satirically mock those philosophers thinking. Pangloss and Candide are described to experience many close deaths, a flood, an earthquake, raping, torturing, beatings, diseases, and even disloyalty. Although Pangloss seems to use the idea of optimism to justify these unbearable and horrific events, it almost seems like nonsense after several misfortunate events.
Another major theme is how money is used to corrupt. When Cunegonde met Governor Don Fernando, she decided to marry him only for his wealth and riches. Had it not been for his wealth, she would have stayed with Candide and married him instead. This idea is seen yet again when Candide flees to the land of Eldorado where he discovers a plethora of gold and other jewelry. He decides that his is wealthy enough to win Cunegondes heart and decides to ask Cacambo to take some of the riches and ask for Cunegondes hand it marriage. It is money that drove most of these characters into doing something that they did not wish to do.
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