Cándido o el optimismo

The play narrates, from a sardonic point of view, the adventures of the protagonist Cándido in his first encounter with the precept of Leibnizian optimism that "everything happens for the good in this, the best of all possible worlds" and in a series of subsequent adventures that dramatically refute the famous precept despite the stubbornness with which the character clings to it. The novel satirizes Leibniz's philosophy and is a display of the horrors of the 18th century world. In Candide, Leibniz is represented by the philosopher Pangloss, the protagonist's tutor. Despite observing and experiencing a series of misfortunes, Pangloss repeatedly states that "tout est au mieux" ("everything happens for the better") and that he lives in "le meilleur des mondes possibles" ("the best of all possible worlds") .