Where It All Goes Down
Europe and Latin America in the 1750's
Candide is set in both real and fictional locations throughout Europe and Latin America in the 1750's—Lisbon is 100% real and places like El Dorado are 100% fantasy land.
The action takes place over the greater part of Candide’s lifetime (dude really gets around), and the day-to-day world in which Candide is set is fantastical and dramatic—it's unusually full of coincidences and disasters. The exaggerated landscape helps to frame the exaggerated personalities of Voltaire’s characters, while still making the text a part of our reality.