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Misfortunes In Voltaire's Candide

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A couple is breaking up, a marriage is divorcing, or a child is living with only one parent because the other one shirked responsibility. These botched relationships from reality are described through books, such as Candide. Voltaire, the author of Candide, wrote about the multiple misfortunes and unfulfilled responsibilities of several intricate characters (Pattern 11). The protagonist, Candide, begins as an innocent and naïve character but transforms into a pessimist and failure. His tragic life drastically changes from love to greed, innocence to experience, and from hope to despair through the corruptions of money, love, and beliefs. Candide had a responsibility to honor, protect, and love Cunegonde unconditionally and he inquired, “What has become of Mademoiselle Cunegonde, the pearl of young ladies, the masterpiece of nature?” When Candide found Cunegonde, after the Bulgarians ravaged the castle, he felt the happiest he had ever been. He loved her so much he decided to marry her as soon as possible. Deserting his beloved lady, Candide traveled to find money for the marriage. He went on many adventures and eventually forgot about Cunegonde. Candide realized he no longer loved Cunegonde when he found her again; she was ugly, ravaged, and scarred for life. She was no longer the pearl of …show more content…

Candide lost his naïveté when he slaughtered people without hesitation. The spontaneous act of murder was completed, not out of fear, but rather out of blind love for a lady, the Mademoiselle Cunegonde. This action caused another malfunction in moral obligations, the failure to respect human life, and the failure to give everyone a chance to make amends. Consequently, every failure leads Candide to lose faith in

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