ause; and, that in this best of all possible worlds, the baron's castle was the most magnificent of all castles, and my lady the best of all possible baronesses."(Voltaire, 27) At the opposite philosophical pole stands the convinced pessimist and skeptic who also influences Candide's own views. According to Martin, nothing is too evil to be a part of this world. For example, when the dismayed Candide consults him on the question whether the numberless forms of evil in the world have always existed ("Were [people] always guilty of lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty? Were they always thieves, fools, cowards, gluttons, drunkards, misers, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, and hypocrites?"(68)), Martin states in all certainty that things have always been this way. Candide, in his extreme naivety is thus influenced by turns by the optimistic Pangloss and by the pessimistic Martin. His third companion however seems to be the wisest: his footman, Cacambo is a simple and seemingly ignorant character, but in many situations, he proves to be wiser than the two professed philosophers. It is to him and to his advices that Candide owes most of his miraculous escapes from his dangerous adventures. The thing that best characterizes Cacambo is probably the fact that he "never lost his presence of mind in distress"(Voltaire, 57), that is, he always takes things as they are, without stopping to wander at what he sees around him or to form opinions. Candide is thus influenced by all these three companions, being thus exposed to three radically different views of the universe. In the end, he remains as innocent and bewildered as he was in the beginning.
             William Shakespeare's Othello is essentially a play about human passions, which, when unleashed, can be blind and destructive. Iago can be considered the most important character in the text, as it is he who manages to manipulate all the characters in the
             ...