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This page contains a running transcript of all conversations taking place in Candide organized by reader. Click through the menu on the left to view individual readers’ comments. Click “Go to thread” to see the comment in context. You can also browse comments by chapter. Learn more about our featured commenters.
Total comments in book: 226
The adventures of the old woman.
Go to threadI find this chapter of ‘Candide’ to be the most influential although a bit depressing. Cungonde learns of the misfortune of the old woman. It turns out that she is the daughter of a Pope and a princess. She has endured many hardships and has had many near death experiences. The old woman symbolizes religious hypocrisy and shows Cungonde a lesson by telling her story: no matter how bad things are they could be worse. No matter how much she may have wanted to die her will to survive surpassed her will to die. The old woman is the anchor of the team with all her experiences. She is the one counseling Candide and Cungonde.