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Voltaire's "Candide" Part I Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz on part of Voltaire's famous satire, "Candide", commonly recognized as his magnum opus (masterpiece). It covers chapters 1-5. See how much you know!

A multiple-choice quiz by AlexxSchneider. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
AlexxSchneider

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
325,238

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
390

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Where does Candide live at the beginning of the story? (Remember that it was published in 1759, so place names may not be equivalent to those today.) Hint

Perugia

Paris

Westfalen

Carthage

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Question 2 of 10

2. What does Cun�gonde witness Candide's philosopher tutor, Dr. Pangloss, doing? Hint

Self-harming in the name of God.

Discussing with Candide a plan to overthrow the baron and his successor, his son.

Having sexual relations with her mother's maid, Paquette.

Poisoning her mother's food.

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Question 3 of 10

3. After Candide is kicked out of his home after kissing his cousin Cun�gonde, what happens to him? Hint

He is drafted into the Bulgarian army.

He joins a local gang who help him to destroy the Baron's castle.

He commits suicide and the rest of the story happens in a "dreamworld".

He becomes a servant to the King of Bulgaria.

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Question 4 of 10

4. When Candide is arrested, he has the choice over which punishment he is to receive. Which of these methods is the one carried out? Hint

To be shot in the head with a dozen bullets.

Running the gauntlet through the whole regiment.

Both of these.

None of these.

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Question 5 of 10

5. A man named Jacques comes to Candide's rescue when he has escaped to Holland and run out of food. What is his religion? Hint

Muslim

Roman Catholic

Protestant

Anabaptist

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Question 6 of 10

6. Next Candide is reunited with Dr. Pangloss, but something dreadful has happened to him! What has Dr. Pangloss suffered in Candide's absence? Hint

He has been raped by Bulgarian soldiers.

He has caught syphilis from the maid he was sleeping with.

He has lost his sanity.

His children have died.

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Question 7 of 10

7. Pangloss has bad news for Candide about his beloved Cun�gonde. What does Pangloss tell him Cun�gonde has suffered? Hint

She has died in childbirth.

She was taken as a prisoner-of-war, and her fate is unknown to him.

She has been raped and disemboweled by Bulgarian soldiers and is now dead.

She has been forced to marry an older nobleman.

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Question 8 of 10

8. What is Pangloss' philosophy about the world? Hint

That it is "the worst of all possible worlds".

That it is "the best of all possible worlds".

That the world will never end.

That the world is "what each man makes of it".

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Question 9 of 10

9. About two months after Candide and Pangloss reunite, they are traveling by ship to Lisbon with Jacques as he has business there. Jacques sadly dies on this voyage. How does he die? Hint

Pangloss shoots him when he beats Candide in a card game.

He catches scurvy.

He himself falls overboard when he saves a sailor from drowning.

He is executed because of his religious beliefs.

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Question 10 of 10

10. The ship is then wrecked by a storm, leaving Candide, Pangloss, and one sailor as the only survivors. They reach Lisbon, but what disaster happens there? Hint

A hurricane.

A tornado.

An earthquake.

A volcano eruption.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Where does Candide live at the beginning of the story? (Remember that it was published in 1759, so place names may not be equivalent to those today.)

Answer: Westfalen

Westfalen (also Westphalia) is now the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine Westphalia). Paris is, of course, in France. Perugia is a city in Italy, and Carthage was an important Roman city which is now a tourist attraction and residential area in Tunisia.

Candide is the illegitimate son of the sister of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh. He is in love with the Baron's daughter, Cun�gonde. Voltaire never mentions that they are cousins.

2. What does Cun�gonde witness Candide's philosopher tutor, Dr. Pangloss, doing?

Answer: Having sexual relations with her mother's maid, Paquette.

Cun�gonde is very affected by this display of affection, and wishes that she and Candide could be as close.

Her mother, the Baroness, weighs about twenty-five stone, and the Baron is one of the most powerful men in all of Westphalia.

3. After Candide is kicked out of his home after kissing his cousin Cun�gonde, what happens to him?

Answer: He is drafted into the Bulgarian army.

On his first day with the army he receives thirty strokes of the cane. On the second day, he receives twenty, and on the third day, only ten.

The title page of the 1759 edition reads "Candide, ou L'Optimisme, traduit de l'allemand de Mr. le Docteur Ralph" - English "Candide, or optimism, translated from the German of Doctor Ralph". This is generally thought to be Voltaire's way of the authorities not being able to blame him for the story, although he did in fact write it.

4. When Candide is arrested, he has the choice over which punishment he is to receive. Which of these methods is the one carried out?

Answer: Running the gauntlet through the whole regiment.

The punishment is to run the gauntlet thirty-six times. He runs the gauntlet twice, through a regiment of two thousand men - this means four thousand blows to the back, before he begs for mercy and the bullets. They agree and blindfold him, and are about to shoot him when the King of Bulgaria arrives and pardons him.

5. A man named Jacques comes to Candide's rescue when he has escaped to Holland and run out of food. What is his religion?

Answer: Anabaptist

Anabaptism was a sector of Christianity, whose followers had rejected conventional Christian practises - taking oaths, wearing wedding rings, and participating in civil government.

Jacques comes to Candide's aid after the latter has a chamberpot thrown over his head by the wife of an orator who asked Candide whether the Pope was anti-Christ. Candide's hesitance to answer caused the wife to become angry.

6. Next Candide is reunited with Dr. Pangloss, but something dreadful has happened to him! What has Dr. Pangloss suffered in Candide's absence?

Answer: He has caught syphilis from the maid he was sleeping with.

Pangloss has the appearance of a beggar when Candide sees him. His eyes are sunken into his head, he is covered in sores, and his nose is partially eaten away. His teeth are also black. Candide does not recognize him at first.

Voltaire does not ever mention Pangloss as having any children.

Voltaire was born Fran�ois-Marie Arouet. "Voltaire" is an anagram of "Arovet Li", the Latinized form of "Arouet, le jeune" - "Arouet, the young man".

7. Pangloss has bad news for Candide about his beloved Cun�gonde. What does Pangloss tell him Cun�gonde has suffered?

Answer: She has been raped and disemboweled by Bulgarian soldiers and is now dead.

Pangloss tells him that they smashed her father's skull as he tried to save her, and cut her mother, the Baroness, to pieces. He says her brother received the same fate as she. Candide is devastated by this news, as he loved Cun�gonde and had intended to marry her.

8. What is Pangloss' philosophy about the world?

Answer: That it is "the best of all possible worlds".

The subtitle of the story might have given this one away. Pangloss is an Optimist. This philosophy comes from Gottfried Leibniz, who was also a mathematician and the co-founder of calculus along with Sir Isaac Newton. Leibniz believed that God is benevolent and that everything that happens does so out of necessity to maintain this world as "the best of all possible worlds".

The story of Candide focuses on him trying to believe Pangloss' teachings, despite the horrors that he witnesses.

9. About two months after Candide and Pangloss reunite, they are traveling by ship to Lisbon with Jacques as he has business there. Jacques sadly dies on this voyage. How does he die?

Answer: He himself falls overboard when he saves a sailor from drowning.

There is a big storm, and Jacques falls overboard, and the sailor does nothing to save him. Candide nearly jumps into the water to save him, but is stopped by Pangloss.

Voltaire's father wanted him to become a lawyer.

10. The ship is then wrecked by a storm, leaving Candide, Pangloss, and one sailor as the only survivors. They reach Lisbon, but what disaster happens there?

Answer: An earthquake.

This refers to a real-life earthquake, which occurred in 1755. It is also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, and happened on All Saints' Day. It was followed by a tsunami and fire.

The sailor who survives the storm is none other than the one whom Jacques saved! Candide is injured in the earthquake, but it is not a serious injury.

Source: Author AlexxSchneider

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