75 pages • 2 hours read
VoltaireCandide
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1759A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 26-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 26 Summary
While dining with six strangers in their hotel one night, a man “with a face the color of soot” (79) tells Candide to be ready to leave without fail. It is Cacambo, who tells him Cunégonde is in Constantinople. Cacambo is enslaved and must serve his master at dinner, but he has a plan to leave after supper. The six strangers are in Venice for Carnival. One by one, their servants address each man, saying “Sire, Your Majesty may depart when he pleases” (80) as each servant leaves to prepare for departure. The other guests are astonished as each of the six are addressed as “Your Majesty” (80), realizing they are in the presence of royalty.
Candide questions the men, and the first to speak is Achmed III, a deposed Grand Sultan. The next is Ivan, once an Emperor in Russia, but deposed while in his cradle and raised in prison. The third man is Charles Edward, deposed King of England, whose father renounced the throne and is deposed in Rome. The fourth is the King of Poland, who has been deposed due to a war, and the fifth is a twice-deposed King of Poland. The sixth monarch is Theodore, King of Corsica, who has gone from minting his own coin to sleeping on straw in a London prison” (81). Each man has come to Venice for Carnival, and they all give King Theodore jewels, including Candide. Four more “Serene Highnesses” (82) in a similar state of loss arrive just as they are leaving, but Candide barely notices, thinking of getting to Cunégonde.
Chapter 27 Summary
They all board the Sultan Achmed’s ship for Constantinople, and after dining with the deposed kings, Candide compares his fortune to theirs and again feels that Pangloss must have been right, that “all is well” (82). Martin assures him deposed kings are common. Onboard the ship, Candide can finally speak with Cacambo. He tells Candide about Cunégonde, who is enslaved by a deposed Transylvanian Prince called Ragotski; she washes his dishes and has become “fearfully ugly” (83). Candide insists he will love her still. Cacambo informs him that he had to pay 2 million to the Governor for her freedom, and the rest was stolen by a pirate who captured them and sold Cacambo, the old woman, and Cunégonde to the Sultan and the deposed prince. Candide asks Martin who is the most miserable—the deposed kings or Candide—to which Martin replies “I would need to see into your hearts to know” (83), and that there are likely more miserable people to be found in the world.
Candide buys Cacambo’s freedom at an inflated price, and notices two conscripts being whipped for rowing badly. He tells Cacambo they look like the Baron (Cunégonde’s brother) and Pangloss, and he is shocked to discover they are. They are joyfully reunited, and Candide buys their freedom with a diamond worth 100,000 sequins that he sells for 50,000. Candide then sells more diamonds and they set off to find Cunégonde.
Chapter 28 Summary
Candide apologizes to the Baron for stabbing him. The Baron tells his story: After being cured of his wounds, he was abducted by the Spanish, imprisoned in Buenos Aires, and sent to Rome to be with the Superior General. He was then appointed French Ambassador to Constantinople, but he meets an attractive icoglan and gets caught bathing with him, for which he is sentenced to 100 strokes on the soles of his feet and sent to the galleys. Pangloss relates his journey as well: He was “poorly hanged” (86) and revived when the surgeon began dissecting his body. The surgeon and his wife at first think he must be possessed by the devil, but when he asks for mercy, they nurse him back to health. He then finds work with a Venetian merchant in Venice. One day he enters a mosque and is arrested for helping a young woman reattach a posy of flowers to her breast; he is whipped and sent to the galleys. In the galleys the two men found each other and argued who had “suffered the greater injustice” (88). Pangloss holds firm to his original views that all is for the best, because he is a philosopher and, as he says, “it would not do for me to recant” (88).
Chapter 29 Summary
When they arrive at the Prince of Transylvania’s house, they see Cunégonde and the old woman hanging towels to dry. Candide is “seized with horror” (88) at the sight of Cunégonde, who is “all weather-beaten, her eyes bloodshot, her breasts sunken, her cheeks lined, her arms red and chapped” (88). He recoils at first but then they all embrace, and he ransoms both women. Cunégonde is unaware of how ugly she is, and Candide does not refuse her. He informs the Baron they will marry, and the Baron again says “Never” (89), and that his sister will only marry “a baron of the Empire” (89). Candide calls him an “absolute ass” (89) reminding him that he bought both his and his sister’s freedom, rescuing them both. He threatens the Baron “I would kill you all over again” (89), and the Baron invites him to do so, saying “you will never marry my sister while I’m alive” (89).
Chapter 30 Summary
Candide has no desire to marry Cunégonde, but he wishes to punish the Baron’s insolence. Candide, Cacambo, Pangloss, and Martin consult and decide on Cacambo’s proposition to return the Baron to the Levantine captain, put back in the galleys, and ultimately returned to the Superior General in Rome. They had “the double satisfaction of duping a Jesuit and punishing the pride of a German baron” (90). Following the old woman’s advice, Candide buys a small farm with what is left of his fortune, however, they are all miserable. Cunégonde has become “shrewish and insufferable” (90), the old woman infirm and ill-tempered. Cacambo is exhausted and curses his lot, while Pangloss laments never becoming a university professor. Martin believes everyone is equally miserable and “took things as they came” (90). Sometimes the men argued about metaphysics and morals, but eventually they become extremely bored. The old woman one day asks if it is worse to have suffered all the injustices they each experienced or to simply “sit here and do nothing” (91). Martin replies that man is born to suffer anxiety or boredom, while Pangloss concedes that he has suffered horribly his whole life but would continue to maintain that all is for the best, despite “believing nothing of the kind” (91).
One day Paquette and Brother Girofleo arrive “in the last extremes of human misery” (91). They had quickly spent the money Candide gave them, separated, reconciled, were imprisoned, and escaped. Brother Girofleo became a Turk while Paquette continued to be a prostitute, though she is unprofitable. Martin points out to Candide that they have all spent millions of piastres and are still miserable, while Pangloss is sad to see his old mistress in such a state. They consult a dervish in the neighborhood on the purpose of man, who rudely advises them to keep their mouths shut and slams the door in their faces. On their way home they hear of political turmoil in Constantinople and ask an old man about it on the way. He says he has no idea and that “those who get involved in political affairs often come to a bad end” (92).
He invites them inside, where they meet his children, who serve them fruits, coffee and tend to their beards. The Turk says he has a humble life but his work keeps the “three great evils” (92) at bay: boredom, vice, and necessity. Back at the farm, Candide and Pangloss think about the farmer’s happy existence and compare it to the troubles of monarchs through the ages. Candide concludes “all I know […] is that we must cultivate our garden” (93). Martin concurs, advising that they set to work and “stop proving things” (93). They all begin to work on their farm, and each one made themselves useful. Pangloss tries to convince Candide that the chain of events of their lives have led to this ideal world, to which Candide replies, “That is well said […] but we must cultivate our garden” (94).
Chapters 26-30 Analysis
The main characters gradually reunite and reflect on their fortunes and losses together. Pangloss’ return to the narrative is perhaps the most significant because his philosophy has been a guiding principle for Candide. After Candide’s many experiences while journeying to the New World and back, he assesses the truth of Pangloss’ teaching and discovers that not even Pangloss believes in his own philosophy. The return of Cunégonde is significant as well, for Candide must face the reality that she is not the perfect woman he remembers from Germany—she has changed, and if he marries her, he must let go of the romantic ideal that has been driving his optimism from the first chapter.
Before the group is reunited in Turkey, however, Candide has one final experience in Venice before setting sail towards Cunégonde. His time in Venice has been marked by the typical decadence and pleasure of Carnival, and yet ironically, Candide cannot find anyone who is enjoying themselves. Carnival is traditionally a time of inverted social status, where power dynamics are flipped, for one cannot tell kings from commoners when everyone is wearing a costume. Therefore, it is unsurprising that in Venice Candide encounters six rulers who have all lost their kingdoms, their status, and their wealth, while Candide, a commoner, is wealthy enough to give alms to the kings, “and who moreover gives it” (82), as one king remarks. The encounter with these kings demonstrates that nothing is assured in life, and the wheel of fortune can turn for anyone, putting kings on the bottom and commoners on top. Martin sees it as “commonplace” (82), while Candide, currently on top, sees it as a confirmation of his optimism.
Before Candide can be reunited with Cunégonde, he first rejoins Cacambo, and randomly encounters Pangloss and the Baron on a Turkish ship. Their sad situation is also comical, as both men get Candide’s attention because they “rowed extremely badly” (84) and are being periodically whipped for it. Their physical ineptitude is no doubt because of their previously privileged lifestyles, and both men have found themselves in this situation by getting caught in certain sexual transgressions—Pangloss for groping a Muslim woman in a mosque, and the Baron, a Jesuit priest, for his sexual tryst with a young Muslim man. Moreover, the two have been arguing about who is more miserable. Pangloss says to Candide that he holds to his original views, but only because it “would not do” (88) for him to recant, given that Leibniz and his “pre-established harmony” (88) are perfect. Here, Voltaire satirizes this sort of circular logic, criticizing philosophers who cannot abandon impractical and illogical theories that have no connection with lived reality.
Voltaire’s satire is deeply critical of philosophers he sees as acting in bad faith, and he explores the real-life effects of theoretical ideas through the stories Candide hears along his journey, which often end in tragedy and loss. Throughout Candide, no one is spared this critique, from religious leaders who do not practice what they preach, to sovereigns, soldiers, teachers, and intellectuals. For example, Pangloss, who has suffered his entire life, puts forth the idea that all is well and simply decides to continue to uphold this belief “while believing nothing of the kind” (91). Candide, his student, then forces himself into a marriage that “at the bottom of his heart” (89) he does not want. He goes through with it “out of sheer good manners” (89) and under Cunégonde’s pressure, in short, because it is what he should do, based on an idea of politesse. One teacher’s theory becomes the student’s lived reality.
With the group reunited in Turkey, they are “philosophizing more than ever” (91) but still have no answers as to the purpose of humans, and moreover, they are all miserable. They consult a dervish, who rudely slams the door in their face, advising them to quit asking questions but offering no practical solutions. While returning home, Candide finds inspiration in the lifestyle of the farmer, who simply admits he knows nothing of politics and shares that the work on his farm keeps his family from the three evils: boredom, vice, and necessity. Essentially, cultivating his own farm keeps his family too busy for boredom, which keeps them away from vice and provides everything they need to be free of necessity. When Candide takes this advice to heart, their lives change: Their farm is productive, and everyone contributes something useful. With their contributions, their moods change, with Brother Girofleo becoming more likeable. Candide’s directive, that “we must cultivate our garden” (93), plus Martin’s request, “Let us set to work and stop proving things […] for that is the only way to make life bearable” (93), echoes the dervish’s insistence to stop questioning and start doing, which vastly improves their lives.
In the end, after his initial exile from his paradise on earth, a trip across the Atlantic and back, and a journey through Europe, Candide and the group establish their own Garden of Eden. Here they resume that innocence, prior to Pangloss’ philosophical teaching; they reject knowledge of the political machinations of the time and focus instead on cultivating their farm. If Eve’s sin was wanting to “know” more, Candide’s refusal to seek knowledge returns him to the possibility of happiness in their new Eden, finding happiness in productivity. Candide, and Voltaire’s, last word on the matter is to acknowledge well-crafted philosophy, but above all, the simple purpose that what really matters is that “we must cultivate our garden” (94).
