Cunegonde is a fictional character in the novelCandide. She is the title character's aristocratic cousin. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Candide ou lOptimisme (1759) is a novel by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. ...
At the beginning of the story, Candide is chased away from his uncle's home after he is caught kissing Cunegonde. Shortly afterwards, Cunegonde's family is attacked by a band of marauding soldiers and she is taken prisoner. However, Cunegonde soon becomes the mistress of two wealthy Portuguese who decide to share her between them. Candide kills the two men and he, Cunegonde and the Old Woman (Cunegonde's servant) flee to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires (Good Winds in Spanish, but more akin to Fair Winds, as in navigation) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as one of the largest cities in South America. ...
There, Cunegonde becomes the mistress of the provincial governor. Since Candide is wanted for the murders of the two Portuguese, he is forced to leave her in Buenos Aires. However he vows to find her and marry her. Finally, near the end of the novel, Candide finds Cunegonde near Constantinople, but she has lost her beauty. Candide reluctantly agrees to marry her.
Cunegonde, not wishing to be left behind in this subject, finds an excuse to return to the classroom where she finds that the good doctor has mounted the willing maidservant.
Cunegonde, after being thoroughly ravished by the troupes, makes use of this rush of sexual knowledge to become a sought-after prostitute, and eventually the mistress, in Lisbon, of both a rich Jew and the Grand Inquisitor.
Making their escape, Candide and Cunegonde, along with the Old Lady, board a vessel heading for the New World, but, as luck would have it, the vessel is attacked by pirates, and Cunegonde, along with the Old Lady, is carried off for another round of ravishment.
Thus Cunegonde is trapped - a victim of her own powers of attraction as well as her strong personal taste for luxury - Glitter and Be Gay.
Cunegonde is unhappy about betraying Candide but the Old Woman convinces her that marriage to the Governor would be financially advantageous to all of them, including Candide.
Cunegonde is nowhere to be found but they do meet up with Paquette, the chamber-maid from the Baron's castle, who tells them her story - another woeful tale of disease, prostitution and degradation.
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