With his quick wit and bold initiative, eighteenth century French author, Voltaire, forced a new meaning to the Doctrine of Philosophical Optimism in his story Candide. In the land of Westphalia, Germany is where this tale begins. Here was a beautiful castle owned by Monsieur the Baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh and in his castle there lived a strapping young fellow, named Candide. He was suspected to be the son of the Baron's sister and a fine man of the community, whom she refused marriage because the man was poor. Candide was living a great life when, as in any worthwhile story, a girl turned the world upside down for him.
Cunégonde was her name, she was seventeen and ripe at her age. Also, she was the daughter of the Baron. From afar, Candide adored her every moment he could. Living in the caste of the Baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh, Mademoiselle Cunégonde, seeing Mademoiselle Cunégonde everyday, and listening to the great philosopher Maître Pangloss was the order in which Candide placed his greatest joys.
One day, while Candide was listening to Pangloss' new tutoring lesson, he was inspired by the oracle's words. “It is demonstrable,” he said, “that things cannot be other than they are: for, since everything is made to serve an end, everything is necessarily for the best of ends.” Pangloss proceeds to tell Candide that noses were made to put spectacles on and so we have spectacles, legs were made to wear breeches and so we have breeches, and that stones were made to build castles and so the best baron is the best housed, thus proving that this is the best of all worlds making everything for the best.
Not only was Pangloss a tutor to Candide, he also tutored Cunégonde unknowingly in the ways of “experimental physics.” While she walked around the grounds of the castle, Cunégonde spotted Doctor Pangloss and her mother's chambermaid engaging in these “experimental physics” (sexual intercourse). The young lady found these causes and effects very appealing, so she decided to apply the same concepts to Candide one night after dinner. Of course, like most young people doing things are not supposed to, Cunégonde and Candide were caught in the throws of love by Monsieur the Baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh. As a result, the Baron booted Candide out of the castle without a second glance.
Candide wandered without direction for a long while, before meeting two seemingly decent fellows. These two uniformed men recognized Candide's good health and immediately invited him to dinner, where they used flattery and liquor to enlist him the Bulgarian army. During training, Candide did so well that his peers deemed his prodigy. Candide could not completely grasp the concept of his being a hero, so when he was pondering this he went on a walk. Having always been allowed the freedom to use his legs as he pleased, Candide was utterly confused when four other men of the regiment tied him up and dragged him back to camp to be court-martialed, but poor Candide was unaware of his crime. Voltaire clearly remarks that under the command of this army, there are no freedoms, which should always be present for they are natural rights. Candide was given the choice to be shot in the head with twelve lead bullets or flogged thirty-six times by the whole regiment (two thousand men).
When the regiment was lining up for the third round of floggings, Candide asked to be shot in the head. He was granted this request, but just after being blindfolded and knelt, the King of Bulgars was riding by. This good king wondered as to what the censured man's offense was and upon learning of it gave Candide a full pardon and was healed. Then the King of Bulgars declared war on the King of Arbars. Candide was present as canons took out at least six thousand men on either side and then muskets accounted for about ten thousand, all in all thirty thousand was approximately the amount of casualties. Candide concluded that he would go somewhere else and leave the Bulgars. While he walked, he saw men kneeling over their dead wives and a few virgins cut open after having served their natural purpose. Finally reaching a small village, Candide began to beg for bread and is brutally refused at first by an orator, who is in no way aligned with Pangloss' theory. Things began to seem for the worse, but Candide held strong.
Strangely enough, a kind Anabaptist, named James, gives Candide a place to stay and cares for him. The next day, Candide is out for a walk when he runs into a wretched sight: a beggar, coughing up blood and teeth. Moved by this, Candide goes to the beggar and gives him money only to find that this beggar is Pangloss! After being taken back to the good Anabaptist, Pangloss tells Candide was has become of him and Cunégonde. He reveals that Cunégonde is dead, she disemboweled and raped by Bulgar soldiers, while he was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease received from Paquette, the Baroness' chambermaid. Candide is in woe over the whole situation, but Pangloss never fails to explain why the events are necessary to make the best of all possible worlds. However, in representation of Voltaire's own view, James the Anabaptist believes that men make their own fate and proves so in saying, “Men may have corrupted nature just a little, for men were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves.”
