Candide by Voltaire | Chapter 21

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth summary and analysis of Chapter 21 of Voltaire's novella Candide.


Voltaire's satiric novella Candide traces the disillusionment of its titular protagonist, who is first encountered on a bucolic estate in Germany.

There, he and his cousins are tutored by a philosopher, Pangloss, who believes that everything that happens is for the best. Candide is rapidly disabused of this notion after being thrown out for kissing his cousin Cunégonde.

The story then traces his journeys from Portugal to South America and then back to Europe.

Filled with adventure and romance, the novella nonetheless skewers the conventions typical of such tales. Candide and Cunégonde are reunited on multiple occasions, only to be torn apart again by circumstance.

Through the experiences of its feckless hero, the novella demonstrates the folly of believing that everything happens for a reason.

Did you know? Candide was banned in the United States. Once in 1929, U.S. Customs confiscated copies that were sent to Harvard University. Once, in 1943, the U.S. Post Office forced retailer Concord Books to black out the title of the book in its catalog for being obscene literature.

Prolific French writer Voltaire’s Candide was first published in 1759. Voltaire's writing made him one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment, a Western intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries. Though Voltaire had been dead for several years when the French Revolution began in 1789, the longevity of his ideas often earns him credit as one of its instigators.


About Course Hero:

Master Your Classes™ with Course Hero!

Get the latest updates: