Candide · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Candide by Voltaire.

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Chapter 1
Candide
Candide, a young man of gentle disposition, lives in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia. He is taught by the philosopher Pangloss that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Candide is expelled from the castle after being caught kissing Cunégonde, the Baron's daughter. He is then forced into the Bulgarian army, witnesses a brutal battle, escapes, and travels to Holland where he meets a beggar who turns out to be Pangloss, now disfigured by syphilis. Pangloss recounts the destruction of the castle and the deaths of the Baron, his family, and Cunégonde. Candide is taken in by the charitable Anabaptist James. They travel to Lisbon, where a devastating earthquake occurs. Candide and Pangloss are seized by the Inquisition for their optimistic philosophy, and Pangloss is hanged. Candide is beaten and later finds Cunégonde alive, who tells him her story of survival. Candide kills her captors, the Jew Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor, and flees with Cunégonde and the Old Woman to Buenos Aires. There, they are pursued, and Candide leaves Cunégonde behind, fleeing to Paraguay with his servant Cacambo. In Paraguay, Candide kills Cunégonde's brother, the Jesuit Baron, and escapes with Cacambo to the land of El Dorado, a utopia of immense wealth. They leave El Dorado with great riches, but Candide is robbed by the Dutch skipper Vanderdendur. In Surinam, Candide meets the pessimistic scholar Martin and they sail to France. In Paris, Candide is swindled and falls ill. They travel to Venice, where they witness the supper of six deposed kings. Candide finds Paquette and Friar Giroflée, both miserable. They sail to Constantinople, where Candide finds Pangloss and the Baron alive, working as galley slaves. He ransoms them, and they reunite with Cunégonde, who has become ugly. Candide marries her despite his reluctance, and the group settles on a small farm. After much philosophical debate, Candide concludes that the only way to find contentment is to 'cultivate one's garden,' rejecting Pangloss's optimism and Martin's pessimism for practical work.
Chapter 2
How Candide Was Brought Up in a Magnificent Castle, and How He Was Expelled Thence
Candide, a gentle and simple-minded youth, lives in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh in Westphalia. He is taught by the philosopher Pangloss, who insists that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Candide falls in love with the Baron's daughter, Cunégonde, and after a stolen kiss, the Baron discovers them and expels Candide from the castle.
Chapter 3
II: What Became of Candide Among the Bulgarians
Candide, expelled from the castle, wanders starving and cold until he is recruited by two men in blue who trick him into joining the Bulgarian army. He is trained harshly, beaten for his ineptitude, and later attempts to desert, for which he is sentenced to run the gauntlet. After enduring two rounds of severe whipping, he is about to be shot when the King of the Bulgarians pardons him, and he is healed by a surgeon.
Chapter 4
How Candide Made His Escape from the Bulgarians, and What Afterwards Became of Him
Candide hides during a brutal battle between the Bulgarian and Abarian armies, witnessing horrific carnage. He escapes through devastated villages, eventually reaching Holland where he is rejected by a charitable orator and his wife but is taken in by a kind Anabaptist named James. While walking, he encounters a diseased beggar who turns out to be Pangloss.
Chapter 5
IV: How Candide Found His Old Master Pangloss, and What Happened to Them
Candide encounters a disfigured beggar who turns out to be his former tutor Pangloss. Pangloss reveals that the castle of Thunder-ten-tronckh has been destroyed, the Baron and his family killed, and Cunégonde dead. He attributes his own miserable condition to syphilis, which he traces through a comical genealogy back to Columbus. Candide, moved by compassion, brings Pangloss to the Anabaptist James, who pays for his cure. Pangloss loses an eye and an ear but recovers and becomes James's bookkeeper. James then takes Candide and Pangloss on a ship to Lisbon, where they are caught in a terrible storm.

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Candide

How Candide Was Brought Up in a Magnificent Castle, and How He Was Expelled Thence

II: What Became of Candide Among the Bulgarians

How Candide Made His Escape from the Bulgarians, and What Afterwards Became of Him

IV: How Candide Found His Old Master Pangloss, and What Happened to Them