Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron Candide is an open-minded young man whose tutor Pangloss has instilled in him the belief that 'all is for the best'. But when his love for the Baron's rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered Candide is cast out to make his own way in the world. & so he & his various companions begin a breathless tour of Europe South America & Asia as an outrageous series of disasters befall them earthquakes syphilis a brush with the Inquisition murder sorely testing the young hero's optimism.