Summary: Chapter 24
When Candide fails to find Cunégonde and Cacambo after
several months in Venice, he falls into despair. He begins to agree
with Martin’s claim that the world is misery. Martin scolds Candide
for trusting a valet with a fortune of millions, and repeats his
argument that there is “little virtue and little happiness on the
earth.”
On the street, Candide sees a pretty young woman and
a young monk walking arm-in-arm with happy expressions on their
faces. When he approaches them, he discovers that the girl is Paquette
and the monk is named Brother Giroflée. Paquette, Pangloss’s old
mistress, confirms Pangloss’s story that he caught syphilis from
her. A surgeon took pity on Paquette and cured her, and in return
she became the surgeon’s mistress. The surgeon’s jealous wife beat Paquette
every day, but the surgeon tired of his wife and poisoned her while
treating her for a common cold. His wife’s family sued him, so he
fled. Paquette was sent to prison but the judge granted her freedom
on the condition that she become his mistress. When the judge tired
of Paquette he turned her out, and she resorted to prostitution.
Brother Giroflée is one of her clients, and Paquette appears happy
to please him. Giroflée’s parents have forced him into the monastery
to increase his older brother’s fortune. Giroflée hates the monastery
because it is rife with petty intrigue. Candide gives the two money
to ease their sorrows.
Summary: Chapter 25
Candide visits Count Pococurante in Venice. The wealthy
count has a marvelous collection of art and books, but he is unable
to enjoy any of it. He finds the paintings of Raphael unpleasant
and the works of Homer, Horace, and Milton tiresome. The count once
pretended to appreciate these things in front of others, but is
now unable to pretend, and scorns those who “admire everything in
a well-known author.” The count’s brashness astonishes Candide, who
has never been trained to judge for himself, but Martin finds the
count’s remarks reasonable. Candide thinks the count must be a genius
because nothing pleases him. Martin explains that there is “some
pleasure in having no pleasure.”
Summary: Chapter 26
During Venice’s Carnival season, Candide and Martin are
dining with six strangers in an inn when they encounter Cacambo,
who is now the slave of one of the six strangers. Cacambo explains
that Cunégonde is in Constantinople and offers to bring Candide
to her. Summoned by his master, he is unable to say any more. Candide
and Martin converse with their dinner companions and discover that each
is a deposed king from a different corner of Europe. One of them,
Theodore of Corsica, is the poorest and least fortunate, and the
others each offer him twenty sequins. Candide gives him a diamond
worth one hundred times that sum. The kings wonder about his identity
and the sources of his generosity.
Analysis: Chapters 24–26
Martin’s reaction to Candide’s despair at not finding
Cunégonde reveals the drawback of his pessimism. Instead of attempting
to comfort or even distract his friend and benefactor, Martin gloats over
Candide’s distress to further confirm his own world-view. Like Pangloss’s
unqualified optimism, Martin’s unqualified pessimism keeps him from
taking active steps to improve the world.
Still, that pessimism is further confirmed by the story
of Giroflée and Paquette, an apparently blissful young couple whose
idyllic appearance masks misfortunes much like those every other
character has encountered. Martin warns Candide that throwing money
at their problems will not erase them, a warning that bears fruit
in the remaining chapters. After all, Candide’s wealth has multiplied
his problems rather than eliminated them.
