Candide
Voltaire (1759)
“A razor-sharp satirical attack on blind optimism, written in ten days by a man who had seen the world and found it catastrophically absurd.”
Short Summary
Candide, a naive young man raised on the philosophy that 'all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds,' is expelled from his idyllic home and dragged across Europe, South America, and the Ottoman Empire. He witnesses war, the Lisbon earthquake, the Inquisition, slavery, and murder — always accompanied by his philosopher-tutor Pangloss, who insists optimism is justified despite all evidence. The novel ends not with a philosophical answer but a practical directive: 'we must cultivate our garden.'
Detailed Summary
Candide is born into the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia, raised alongside the beautiful Cunégonde and tutored by the philosopher Pangloss, who teaches the Leibnizian doctrine that 'everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.' When Candide is discovered kiss...