The story begins in Westphalia at the castle of the high and mighty Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, his three-hundred-fifty-pound wife, their beautiful young daughter Cunégonde, and an unnamed son. Living happily at the castle is Candide, whose name points to his character — that of one who is simple of mind and (adds Voltaire ironically) sound of judgement. Prominent in the baron's menage is the tutor, Doctor Pangloss, a man revered as a profound and learned philosopher, Pangloss firmly believed and taught that everything in the world was necessarily for the best end: it was all a matter of recognizing the sufficient reason and accepting the logic of cause and effect. Thus, for him and his disciples, this is indeed "the best of all possible worlds." If Candide had had his wish, he would have first chosen to be the powerful baron, second the lovely Cunégonde, and third the wise Pangloss.
The significant incident in this first chapter involves Pangloss' illicit relations with a still unnamed chambermaid. Cunégonde herself witnessed with great interest the act, which took place in a little wood on her father's estate. So intrigued was she with this lesson in "experimental physics" and the demonstration of sufficient reason involving cause and effect that she was determined to experiment herself with the cooperation of Candide. The opportunity presented itself when the two found themselves behind a screen, but the baron discovered them. Cunégonde received a slap on the face, but poor Candide was literally kicked out of the castle. He was now an exile from his best of all possible worlds in Westphalia.
