"Cliff Notes - Candide" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Candide hits an emotional low point in this chapter. To understand what changes have taken place in his character, compare Candide now with the way he appeared at another low point, after the auto-da-fe in Chapter 5. In both instances, Candide's reaction to optimism is based more on what has happened to other people than on what has happened to him. But notice the difference in the form his reaction takes. In Chapter 6, he is puzzled, doubting. In Chapter 19, he denounces optimism and defines it for himself. Instead of asking questions, he is answering Cacambo's question. After the auto-da-fe, Candide's story takes a brief turn for the better when he finds Cunegonde again and she becomes more hopeful. In Surinam, things merely get worse and worse. Even relatively smaller annoyances, like the magistrate's coldness, make him despair.

What do you think has caused this change in Candide? Can you trace the steps that brought him to this point? What is there in Eldorado that could have made it a turning point for Candide?

In Chapter 19, two new characters enter the story, Martin the scholar and the Dutch merchant Vanderdendur. Vanderdendur, the slave holder and swindler of Candide, is a complete scoundrel. He is the exact opposite of another Dutch merchant in the story, the honest Anabaptist Jacques. Vanderdendur meets his end in Chapter 20, when at sea he is drowned in a shipwreck like Jacques. But whereas Jacques died trying to save another man, Vanderdendur is killed trying to rob another ship.

The scholar Martin is the third of Candide's companion advisers. Candide chooses Martin to accompany him in a contest he's holding to find the most miserable man in Surinam. This scene is reminiscent of the old woman's challenge to Cunegonde, in Chapters 12 and 13, to have each of their fellow passengers tell his story. The results of Candide's contest confirm the old woman's opinion about the universality of human misery. Ironically, Candide chooses his companion not because he is the most miserable--nearly all are equally miserable--but because he promises to be the most amusing.

NOTE: Martin is persecuted for being thought a Socinian, a follower of the beliefs of a small Unitarian Protestant sect that denied the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, and other basic tenets of orthodox Christianity. Although the Socinians had found refuge in Poland in the 16th century, they were eventually disbanded and destroyed as a practicing sect. Socinian writings, however, continued to have influence among the non-orthodox, and were well thought of by the French philosophes because of their relatively rational approach to religion. Martin, like the Anabaptist Jacques and the victims of the Inquisition in Lisbon, is yet another example of the intolerance and religious hatred that Voltaire fought against.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 20

Martin and Candide discuss philosophy as they cross the ocean. Candide is wavering again toward Pangloss's philosophy, especially when he thinks of seeing Cunegonde again. Martin claims to be a Manichean who believes that the world, with the exception of Eldorado, is dominated by evil.

NOTE: MANICHEANISM. Manicheanism, which flourished from the 3rd to the 7th century, was originally a Persian philosophy, but spread West to become one of the earliest and most important heresies of the early Christian Church. Its founder Mani preached that the world was a battleground for the two equally strong but opposing forces of good and evil. Thus, life was a constant struggle between the two, in which the ideal state was one of balance, not the triumph of one over the other. This view runs counter to traditional, Christian belief in a universe created and directed by goodness, where evil is only an aberration, and where the goal is the triumph of goodness, not a standoff. For Martin, the forces of evil seem to have gotten the upper hand.

While Martin and Candide are arguing in effect whether this is the best or worst of all possible worlds, they witness a sea battle between two ships, one of them belonging to the Dutch pirate Vanderdendur. When his ship sinks a red sheep floats over to the ship on which Candide and Martin are sailing. Candide takes this as an omen that he may see Cunegonde again. Candide's black mood decreases and so does his opposition to optimism. His hope of seeing Cunegonde again, the omen of the sheep, even a good meal, contribute to his reviving optimism. Voltaire shows in this chapter that Candide's attitude is becoming influenced by circumstances rather than philosophy, and also by the strength of his hope of finding his love Cunegonde.

Martin's pessimistic view of human behavior is outlined in this chapter. His observations of cruelty and human woes, and his own painful experiences, have led him to believe in a world where evil has the upper hand. Although he is, in a sense, an anti-Pangloss, Voltaire does not make Martin's views appear as ridiculous as those of Pangloss. This may imply that Voltaire prefers reasonable pessimism or, at least skepticism, to excessive optimism. Since the basis of pessimism lies in its view of human nature as basically evil or vulnerable to evil, is there any evidence in Candide that Voltaire holds this view and that Martin is really speaking for him? How would you characterize Voltaire's view of human nature based on this book?

Martin's observations often seem just. He points out the fallacy in Candide's thinking when Candide applauds Vanderdendur's "punishment." Martin reminds Candide that many other people who had nothing to do with the captain's dishonesty died with Vanderdendur. Martin is a realist, and, unlike Pangloss, he does not seem to distort reality to fit his philosophy. Martin's character and its effect on Candide should be watched closely in the remaining chapters of the novel.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 21

Martin and Candide continue to talk as they near France. Martin tells him about France, especially about Paris and his own negative experiences there. Candide says that he has no desire to go to France and invites Martin to accompany him to Venice. Martin accepts. As they are still discussing human nature, the ship arrives in Bordeaux, France.

Martin's philosophy and character are developed further in this chapter. Martin, especially in his jaundiced view of life and human nature, has been seen by some readers as a spokesman for Voltaire. But Voltaire has many spokesmen in Candide and his whole view of the world is not likely to be found in any single character. He reveals aspects of this view to you through different characters.

Martin is in some ways similar to Candide's previous companion, Cacambo. Like Cacambo, Martin is not shocked by human behavior. He finds it quite plausible, as did Cacambo, that girls should take monkeys as lovers. What other similarities can you find between Cacambo and Martin? What differences are there? Why did Voltaire replace Cacambo with Martin?

Chapter 21 is another bridge chapter, returning Candide to the Old World. Voltaire's satire of Parisian and French ways is introduced.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: CHAPTER 22

Candide donates his sheep to the Academy of Science in Bordeaux. Intrigued by the constant talk of Paris, he decides to go there before proceeding to Venice. When he and Martin arrive in Paris, he falls ill. He is waited on by various people, who hope to make a profit from his wealth--doctors, new-found friends, two pious ladies. When Candide finally recovers, an abbe from Perigord, a province in southwestern France, takes him under his wing. (In 18th-century France, an abbe was not necessarily an ordained cleric. Frequently he was a man who had studied theology and, therefore, could receive the honorary title of abbe. Candide and the abbe go to the theater, where Candide is moved by the performance of a tragedy. The other spectators are busy criticizing and discussing literature. The abbe and he then go to a fancy home in the fashionable Faubourg Saint-Honore neighborhood. Candide loses a great deal of money gambling at cards. Over dinner, the literary discussion begun at the theater continues, as do Candide's perennial philosophical questions. After dinner, Candide is seduced by his hostess.

After talking to the abbe about Cunegonde, Candide receives a letter from her; she tells him that she is in Paris, ill and penniless. Candide rushes to her, taking along gold and diamonds. Their reunion is interrupted by the police, who have been looking for the suspicious foreigners, Candide and Martin. Since Candide has not been allowed either to see Cunegonde or to hear her voice, Martin realizes that the girl isn't Cunegonde. The whole thing is a setup and everyone can be paid off. Candide and Martin leave for the port of Dieppe, where the brother of the police officer will arrange their departure from France.

Candide's stay in France, though brief, is treated in detail by Voltaire. Most of the chapter is devoted to a satire of the over-sophisticated society of Paris as witnessed by the simple foreigner, Candide. Some of the main themes of the work are reiterated--Voltaire's view of the clergy and philosophical optimism, and Martin's Manichean view of evil. But the point of this chapter seems to lie elsewhere.

Voltaire was a born-and-bred Parisian who was forced to live much of the time outside Paris. All his life, he had a classic love-hate relationship with his native city. This chapter seems to provide a forum for the author to present an ironic view of his own culture in a work set largely outside that culture. Voltaire's world view of corruption and evil is brought home here. Candide's innocence provides the perfect foil for the corruption of Paris.

NOTE: A large part of this chapter was added in 1761. Most of the long discussion at the theater and the entire scene at the home of the Marquise de Parolignac were added then, greatly expanding the satirical picture of the Parisian social and literary scene.

The chief characteristics of Parisian society as portrayed by Voltaire are its greed and its love of controversy for its own sake. Nearly everyone Candide meets in Paris is trying to take advantage of him. Candide's wealth brings out "friends" wherever he goes. The abbe from Perigord is the prototype of this venal aspect of Parisian society. He attaches himself to Candide in the guise of a friend, eager to guide him to the pleasures of Paris. But his motives are, in reality, purely financial. He gets a cut from Candide's losses at cards and from the sale of the diamonds that Candide gave to the marquise. He hopes to swindle Candide out of much more in the encounter with the false Cunegonde.

NOTE: The discussion of literature was a typical pastime in the Parisian salons of Voltaire's day. In these discussions, Voltaire voices some of his own opinions through his characters. The scholar's view of tragedy, for example, is close to Voltaire's own view of that art form. He also pokes fun at some of his personal opponents, particularly the literary journalist Freron, who made frequent attacks on Voltaire. His portrait of the professional critic, who derives no pleasure from art except that of condemning it, is contrasted with Candide's sincere delight at the play.

Many references in this chapter can be related to Voltaire's own life. What is important for you to understand is the general quality of his description of Paris, the main thrust of his satire. The details are interesting but not essential to your understanding of the work as a whole.