All of the negative characteristics portrayed in Voltaire's "Candide" are timeless. The author of this short novel knew this and incorporated that message into the book by using the theme of Resurrection. The characters, Pangloss, Cunegonda, and the Baron all represent traits such as folly, snobbery, and narrow mindedness and are somehow resurrected throughout the story. We see that in our world, no matter how hard we try; we will never get rid of the evil characteristics of the people around us.
The first impression we get of Pangloss is that he is almost a sickeningly optimistic man. He believes that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds" and no matter what happens to him he feels that it is for the better. Even after Pangloss becomes extremely ill with syphilis, nearly hanged, almost dissected, and put in prison, he holds onto his theory. Since he believes so strongly in the idea that everything happens for a reason, he makes no effort to change anything, and even stops Candide from rescuing Jacques as he is drowning. Pangloss holds a certain arrogance and narrow mindedness that is carried through after his own "resurrection", proving that his character flaws will never die because they will always remain in the world.
Another character we encounter is the object of Candide's affections, Cunegonda. She suffers greatly after her kingdom is destroyed and lives in self-pity telling everyone her stories of being bought and sold as a mere sex object. She seems to care deeply for Candide, however she marries the Don, leaving Candide to flee and fend for himself. She has little regard for the man who loves her has an air headed quality about her. At the end of the story she has grown terribly ugly and accepts Candide's marriage proposal to the disgust of her brother. Her physical transformation seems to do nothing to change her character, thus further proving that negative characteristics live on.
Cunegonda's brother, the baron, has a certain arrogance and shallowness about him. He respects Candide, however refuses to let him marry his sister because he is not of royal lineage. Even though he sees all that Candide has gone through for his love, Cunegonda, the baron sees only that his family's background is too good for Candide, who is not deserving of a noble hand in marriage.
Pangloss’s teachings were centered on the fact that everything happens for the greater good. This could be seen in candide chapter 3 when candide said master pangloss was right when he told me everything happens for the best of the world (Voltaire pg. 359) the same can be said for Orgon in Tartuffe when orgon said to Cleante so heaven have spoken to me inside my head just bring him home with you and ever since my home has been happy and free of sin
In the beginning of the novel Candide is described as extremely optimistic person who always sees the best in everything. Not only is Candide very optimistic, but he does not really understand how the world works. He seems to be simple minded and immature toward any and all of the harsh realities of the real world. His philosophy towards life is that he is living in “the best of all possible worlds”. Candide gets this philosophy from his teacher Pangloss, who is also an extreme optimist. Both Pangloss and Candide are faced with horrible suffering and misfortune, almost in spite of their optimistic outlook on
She came from modest nobility and ended up cooking and cleaning for all the men who owned her, completing “menial tasks that a romance heroine would never undertake” (Lynch 42). The status of her virginity demonized her. Romantic heroine’s insides are often reflected on the outside. They are beautiful because of their virtue, so “Cunegonde’s ugliness [suggested] her lack of it.” (Lynch 43). Even though her virginity was forcefully taken, she suffered the consequences of being a loose woman. She was bought and sold into slavery. The skills she learned were tools for survival. Besides using her body, she was able to take care of a home. It was unfortunate because becoming a cook “[seemed] to redeem her ugliness somewhat” (Betts 287). Voltaire was commenting on the limits options for women in the eighteenth century. They could either be a wife or mistress. Cunegonde had to perform both roles with just her optimism to keep her going; ““it seems justifiable to say that her final destiny as the supplier of appetizing food parallels her ability to arouse sexual appetite” (Betts
In Candide, a series of unfortunate events befall the main character—Candide—to demonstrate the absurdity of his mentor’s philosophy that he lives in the best possible world. The main tenet of Pangloss’ philosophy is that even from acts that appear evil, or sub-optimal, there is a positive aspect that produces the best of all possible results. In other words, there is no such thing as a sub-optimal outcome or a bad occurrence. Candide demonstrates the absurdity of this mindset when Pangloss contracts syphilis, and when Candide’s benefactor drowns and an earthquake erupts in Lisbon, concluding with Pangloss trying his best to justify both events through the lens of his philosophy.
One of the main female characters of this story is Cunégonde, the love interest of Candide, whose life did a complete 180 turn around. When we first find Cunégonde we see that she lives a lavish life with her family. We see her life turn around when her house is burned down, and her family murdered. Cunégonde herself is raped and sold to a man known as Don Issachar. She is then forced to be shared with another man known as The Grand Inquisitor. Although Cunégonde is a victim in the beginning, she retains her strong character, and after Candide slays the two men, she quickly seizes the opportunity to leaves with Candide and the old woman. If she were a victim,she would quickly falter, unsure of how to act or move because of
Pangloss is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept bad. He is also somewhat naive and believes that he could make the world a better place by spreading his theories on optimism. When Candide had met up with Pangloss after a long period of time, Pangloss said that he was almost hanged, then dissected, then beaten. Candide asked the philosopher if he still thought that everything was for the better, and Pangloss replied that he still held his original views. No matter how little Pangloss believed in the fact that somehow everything would turn out well, he still maintained his original views.
Candide is a person of privilege who began life in the Castle of Westphalia. While a part of the castle-life, Candide was taught by Dr. Pangloss. Pangloss is a philosopher who teaches there is a cause for all things and that everything is all for the good, even though a person may not understand it at the time. Suddenly, however, Candide is exiled from the privileged confines of the castle when he is caught kissing Cunegonde, the daughter of the Baron. Upon his exile Candide immediately begins to face adversities. Candide finds himself in the army simply because he is the right size. His life in the army is nothing but turmoil and hardship. Despite the misfortunes of army life, Candide continues to believe there is a cause and effect for all things.
Voltaire creates the character of the Baron in “Candide” to symbolize his attack on class or more specifically; the structure of social hierarchy. As a character, he is the sibling of Cunégonde, the woman that Candide is in love with but they are both from a different class. Ultimately, he completely stands by strictly following class structure and he disagrees against straying from the idea. He finds the love that Candide has for Cunégonde is unacceptable and forbidden because of Cunégonde is higher on the “social ladder” than Candide. Initially, he celebrates seeing Candide once more until he finds out
Voltaire did not believe in the power of reason to overcome contemporary social conditions.In Candide, Voltaire uses Pangloss and his ramblings to represent an often humorous characterization of the "typical" optimist. Of Pangloss, Voltaire writes, "He proved admirably that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause and that in the best of all possible worlds the Baron’s castle was the best of all castles and his wife the best of all possible Baronesses." (522) The attack on the claim that this is "the best of all possible worlds" permeates the entire novel. Throughout the story, satirical references to this theme contrast with natural catastrophes and human wrongdoing. When reunited with the diseased and dying Pangloss, who had contracted syphilis, Candide asks if the Devil is at fault.
Although Eldorado is perceived as this stunning land of riches, Candide couldn’t stay because he still want his love Cundegonde. In chapter 19 they leave Eldorado taking riches and sheep with them, but after one hundred days they ended up losing most of the riches and the sheep. However, Candide still had the little shred of Pangloss’s philosophical idea of optimism, that is until he was robbed by a captain where, Candide decided that he couldn’t dwell on the thought of being positive and thinking that everything is the “best of possible worlds” which lead Candide to meeting Martin. Martin was a poor scholar, whose wife robbed him, who was beaten by his son and his daughter abounding him. Candide still had this hope of seeing Cundegonde and Martin surely had no hope in anything. Martin was clearly Pangloss’s counterpart, whereas Pangloss was positive and believed that everything happened because pf the good of the world, Martin at times would be pessimistic or rather more realistic than Pangloss. In chapter 20 the same captain that robbed Candide of his riches was killed where Candide said, “You see,’ said Candide to Martin, “that vice is sometimes punished. This villain, the Dutch skipper, has met with the fate he deserved,” (Voltaire, What Befell Candide and Martin on Their Passage), Candide basically said here how the captain’s death proves that everything happens for
Candide's misfortune begins when he is kicked out of the castle and experiences a series of horrible events. Candide is unable to see anything positive in his ordeals, contrary to Dr. Pangloss' teachings that there is a cause for all effects and that, though we might not understand it, everything is all for the good. Candide's endless trials begin when he is forced into the army simply because he is the right height, five feet five inches. In the army he is subjected to endless drills and humiliations and is almost beaten to death. Candide escapes and, after being degraded by good Christians for being an anti-Christ, meets a diseased beggar who turns out to be Dr. Pangloss. Dr. Pangloss informs him that Bulgarian soldiers attacked the castle of Westfalia and killed Cunegonde - more misery!
Through the steady adversity faced by Candide, Voltaire brings up important questions about how the nature of optimism appears to commoners. Pangloss's philosophy of "the best of all possible worlds" - an example of the misleading optimistic theory advocated by the philosophers of the Enlightenment which Voltaire deems absurd, - is "listened to attentively and believed innocently" (2) by the young and naive Candide at the beginning of the novel. However, as the novel progresses Candide begins to balks at this optimist idea, in the end suggesting to his comrades to "cultivate our garden" (87). This, his own conclusion, can be interpreted as humble work is the only answer to a life continuously plagued with bad luck. Through the actions of his silly characters, Voltaire preaches that man is unable to understanding the evils in this world and concludes that the basic goal of life is not to seek pure and trivial happiness, rather it is to learn to survive.
In conclusion, Candide and Pangloss have many similarities and many differences. The main similarity of the two is that they are both the object of Voltaire’s satire and they are representing his folly of optimism. The main difference is that Candide finally gives up Pangloss’s philosophy and adopts the farmer’s philosophy, while Pangloss who no longer believes in his own philosophy won’t admit it and says he still believes in it. Overall Candide and Pangloss are very comparable and contrastable in throughout the whole story. Even though they are two totally different characters they hold a lot of the same values.
Two major themes that are shown throughout the book is Optimism and Disillusion and Hypocrisy of Religion . Voltaire included Optimism and Disillusion as a theme to prove that everything is not for the best and that when bad things happen, they are not for the greater good of this world. In Candide, Pangloss and his student Candide believed in the philosophy that “all is for the best in this world”. Several times throughout the book whenever a terrible event occurred they would say that it was for the best. In chapter 4, Pangloss attempts to explain that him contracting syphilis was for the greater
...mise to only love their husbands or wives and now he had been unfaithful to her with the Marquise. This action by Candide demonstrates how Candide has adapted to the world and how people also adapt to the things that exist.