Candide by Voltaire. Short summary

5 seconds

The simple-minded young man suffers a lifetime of misery after being banished from his home. After a long wander around the world, Candide learns that there are only three evils — boredom vice and want.

1 minute

The simple-minded Candide is brought up with the heirs of Baron Tronk. He is driven from the castle for kissing the master´s daughter Kunigunda. Trouble begins: enlistment in the army, escape, the threat of execution, the destruction of the castle, and the death of the baron’s family. The young man meets his teacher, Panglos, who is convinced that everything is for the best.

The ship on which the mentor and apprentice are sailing to Lisbon crashes. An earthquake begins in the city. To stop the elements, Panglos is hanged and the apprentice is whipped. Cunigunda turns out to be alive. The lovers sail to Paraguay, but fate separates them. Candide awaits a duel with Kunigunda’s brother, an escape, capture by savage cannibals, a visit to the wondrous country of Eldorado, and an acquaintance with a realist philosopher.

Panglos and Cunigunda’s brother survive and end up on the galleys. Candide ransoms his teacher and his waning beloved from slavery and marries her. The wise Turk advises the couple to rid themselves of boredom, vice, and want. The couple settle on a farm and cultivate their garden.