Character guide

Candide

major

Also known as little Candide, young Candide, honest Candide, Captain Candide, Mr. Candide

A guileless young man kicked out of his baronial paradise for loving Cunégonde, he trusts Pangloss's creed that all is for the best while the world clubs him senseless.

Cunégonde

major

Also known as Miss Cunégonde, the beautiful Cunégonde, Mademoiselle Cunégonde

The baron's daughter whose kiss with Candide topples them both from Eden, she endures slavery and ruin while remaining the fixed star of his wandering devotion.

Pangloss

major

Also known as Monsieur Pangloss, Doctor Pangloss, Dr. Pangloss, Master Pangloss, Mr. Pangloss, poor Pangloss, the great Pangloss

Candide's tutor, a philosopher who preaches that everything happens for the best in the best of all possible worlds, even as syphilis, war, and the Inquisition dismantle him.

Martin

supporting

Also known as Mr. Martin

A brooding scholar and self-declared Manichean who joins Candide's voyage, insisting that God has abandoned this globe to a malignant being—and daring anyone to prove otherwise.

Cacambo

supporting

Also known as The wary Cacambo, faithful Cacambo

Candide's quick-witted valet, half-Spanish and half-native, whose cunning and courage carry them through Jesuit wars, El Dorado, and the snares of South America.

The Old Woman

supporting

Cunégonde's weathered attendant, once a princess of Popé, whose scarred body and harrowing history make her the company's most clear-eyed witness to human misery.

Paquette

minor

A young woman who was the chambermaid in the Baron's castle and later becomes a prostitute.

The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh

supporting

Also known as The Baron, Baron, the Jesuit Baron de Thunder-ten-tronckh, Westphalian Baron

The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh presides over the small, self-satisfied universe of Candide's childhood, where his tapestry-hung hall and pack of farmyard hounds are treated as evidence of cosmic order. His vanity is structural, not incidental: he laughs at his own stories, tolerates no rival to his rank, and expels Candide for kissing Cunégonde, an act that shatters the boy's paradise. That banishment launches the entire picaresque, making the Baron the first agent of the disillusionment the book will spend its length examining.

James the Anabaptist

minor

Also known as the honest Anabaptist James, the charitable Anabaptist James, The Anabaptist James, Honest James, the good Anabaptist

A kind Anabaptist who helps Candide and Pangloss in Lisbon before dying in a shipwreck.

Lord Pococurante

minor

Also known as the Lord Pococurante, Pococurante

A wealthy Venetian nobleman who is bored with all his possessions and art.

Friar Giroflée

minor

A discontented friar who becomes Paquette's lover and later meets Candide in Venice.

Don Issachar

minor

Also known as Signor Don Issachar, Issachar

A Jewish merchant who shares Cunégonde with the Grand Inquisitor in Lisbon.

The Grand Inquisitor

minor

A Portuguese church official who claims Cunégonde as his mistress and is killed by Candide.

Mynheer Vanderdendur

minor

Also known as Vanderdendur

A dishonest Dutch merchant who cheats Candide in Surinam and steals his money.

King Theodore

minor

Also known as Theodore

A deposed king met by Candide and Martin at a supper with six strangers.

The Perigordian Abbé

minor

Also known as the Abbé, The Perigordian Abbé, the Perigordian, monsieur Abbé

A French abbé who guides Candide through Paris society and introduces him to entertainments.

The Aga

minor

A Turkish official who buys Candide and his companions as slaves in Constantinople.

Pope Urban X

minor

Also known as Pope, Urban X

Mentioned as the Old Woman's father, a pope who never existed in history.

The Oreillons

minor

Also known as Oreillons

A tribe of South American savages who capture Candide and Cacambo but later befriend them.

Voltaire

minor

Also known as Trevoux Voltaire

The author appears as a character in the endnotes, commenting on the story.

Miss Clairon

minor

A famous French actress whom Candide meets during his stay in Paris.

The Marchioness

minor

A Parisian noblewoman who hosts Candide and attempts to seduce him.

Charles Edward Stuart

minor

Also known as King Charles Edward, Charles I

The exiled Stuart pretender to the British throne, met at the supper of six strangers.

Archdeacon Trublet

minor

A French literary figure briefly mentioned in the Paris episode.

The Theatin

minor

Also known as the Theatin

A monk who accompanies Candide and Martin in Paris.