Candide

Voltaire’s satire of eighteenth-century Europe, hailed as one of the most influential works in the Western canon

Candide’s misfortunes begin when his uncle, a German baron, banishes him for kissing the baron’s daughter, Cunégonde. Forced to make his own way in the world, Candide goes from conscription in the Bulgar army, to Lisbon, after a harrowing voyage by sea, to the tutelage of the Enlightenment philosopher Pangloss. After an unexpected reunion with his beloved Cunégonde, Candide finds that further misadventure awaits, first through South America and then back in Europe, where he settles in the countryside.

Among the most widely renowned texts of western literature,Candidelives on two hundred fifty years since its first publication as a supreme example of political, philosophical, and religious satire whose wit and power of observation have influenced writers for generations.

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