"Cliff Notes - Candide" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)
^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 6
To prevent more earthquakes, the authorities decide to hold an auto-da-fe.
NOTE: An auto-da-fe (from the Portuguese, "act of faith") was a public ceremony, during the first part of which accused heretics were sentenced by the Inquisition. The second part of the auto-da-fe was the execution by fire, carried out not by the Inquisitors but by the civil authorities. The clothing worn by Candide and Pangloss are the symbolically painted cape (sanbenito) and pointed hat (miter) of the heretic. By the 18th century auto-da-fes were rare, but not unheard of.
The officers of the Inquisition hand over the victims: a Spaniard ("Biscayan") who married his child's godmother (a marriage forbidden by the Church) and two men whose refusal to eat bacon (pork) revealed them to be practicing Jews despite their formal conversion to Catholicism. All unconverted Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492. Pangloss and Candide, wearing the costumes of condemned heretics, are also delivered to the authorities. The ominous nod by the Inquisition officer to his armed guard that ended Chapter 5 is now explained. Candide and Pangloss were to be victims of the Inquisition for their heresy.
Candide is beaten and Pangloss is apparently hanged. The Biscayan and the Jews are burned. After Candide is set free, an old woman approaches him and tells him to follow her.
Voltaire chooses to have his characters condemned by the Inquisition in order to dramatize his chief quarrel with religion. In his view, religion perpetuates superstition, which, in turn, creates fanaticism and intolerance. The auto-da-fe chapter contains all these elements.
Superstition inspires the auto-da-fe, which is thought to prevent earthquakes. The burning of the heretics is the height of fanaticism. Intolerance is implicit in the burning of the converted Jews and in the hanging of Pangloss for his opinions.
After the auto-da-fe, Candide questions his optimist beliefs. Yet, it is not his own sufferings that most disturb him. He is baffled by the deaths of three of the people he cares about most: his good friend, Jacques; his tutor, Pangloss; and his beloved, Cunegonde. He repeatedly asks "Was it necessary?" because he can find no reason for their deaths. He wonders what other worlds must be like if this one is the best possible.
Candide's questions are left unanswered. He no longer has a Pangloss to justify and explain evil. He will now have to face such questions alone and find his own answers.
NOTE: Pangloss is hanged, which the narrator notes "is not customary." You will find out in Chapter 29 why Pangloss was hanged and what role this plays in the story.
^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 7
The old woman takes Candide to a small hut after his beating. She gives him food and ointment to rub on. She refuses, however, to explain why she is helping him, saying only that she is not the one he should be thanking. On the third day, she brings him to a beautiful house in the country and leaves him alone. When she returns, she is accompanied by a veiled woman. Candide lifts the veil to find Cunegonde. The lovers collapse. When they are revived, Candide tells Cunegonde his story.
The atmosphere of mystery and romance is broken by none other than Cunegonde, the heroine. When she and Candide come face to face, they are overcome. Candide falls to the floor, but Cunegonde manages to collapse on the couch. This practical touch brings out the humor of the situation. And Cunegonde's straightforward answer to Candide's question about her fate at the hands of the Bulgars is a perfect introduction to the down-to-earth character of Cunegonde.
NOTE: Like Pangloss, Cunegonde believes that all the other inhabitants of Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh are dead. This allows for further surprises and more recognition scenes later on.
^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 8
Cunegonde tells Candide of her adventures since they parted in Westphalia. After having seen the rest of her family murdered, Cunegonde explains that she was, indeed, raped and stabbed by a Bulgar soldier. She then went to live with the Bulgar captain, who had saved her. After he tired of her, the captain sold Cunegonde to a Jew, Don Issachar, who has established her in his country house in Portugal.
Don Issachar has been forced to share Cunegonde with the Grand Inquisitor, head of the Inquisition in Portugal, who has also taken a fancy to her. Cunegonde claims to have yielded to neither man, though both are in love with her.
Cunegonde then tells how she came to find Candide. She was attending the auto-da-fe with the Grand Inquisitor, the head of the Inquisition, when she recognized Pangloss and Candide among the victims. She sent her servant, the old woman, to find Candide and bring him to her. After dinner, their happy reunion is interrupted by the arrival of Don Issachar.
Chapter 8 is particularly important for the insight it gives the reader into the character of Cunegonde. Her narrative is a mixture of melodrama and down-to-earth practicality. She describes her dramatic struggle to resist the Bulgar soldier but doesn't think of her conduct as particularly unusual. She admits that her "saviour," the captain, killed her attacker not out of concern for her, but because the soldier had failed to salute. Although she confesses horror at the auto-da-fe, she is also glad that she had a good seat and refreshments.
But despite the fact that her practicality and adaptability allow her to find her way in most situations, she is not portrayed as cynical or unfeeling. She is genuinely overjoyed at seeing Candide. But she is essentially practical, and, though overjoyed, she does not forget that she is also hungry and wants her dinner.
As a student of Pangloss, Cunegonde mentions his optimist philosophy in her narrative, but, unlike Candide, she does not try to convince herself that Pangloss must be right. She sees the real world: the country house far more beautiful than her "perfect" home in Westphalia and the cruel reality of the Inquisition in the "best of all possible worlds." She faces reality and, comparing it with Pangloss's ideal view of life, concludes sensibly that she must have been deceived.
NOTE: Cunegonde provides another explanation for the auto-da-fe. It was held partly to conjure away earthquakes but also to put the fear of the Lord--or, in this case, of the Inquisition--into Don Issachar, the Grand Inquisitor's rival for Cunegonde.
^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 9
Bursting in on the reunited couple, Don Issachar attacks Candide with a dagger. Candide then draws his sword and kills him. Terrified, he and Cunegonde turn to the old woman for advice. Before she can help them, the Grand Inquisitor enters. Without hesitation, Candide runs him through. The old woman says that they must run away. Taking money and jewels, they head for the Spanish port of Cadiz.
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