Summary
Lara Lee, a female servant named Cora, and others prepare the dining room, and present Broomhilda to Schultz upstairs. Lara Lee encourages Broomhilda to speak German to Schultz, and Schultz invites Broomhilda inside, offering her a glass of water in German. As Django listens in from the next room, Schultz explains that the two should continue to speak in German just in case Candie's men overhear them. Schultz tells her that he and a "mutual friend" have traveled a long way and gone through much trouble to reach her, whom they intend to rescue. Without revealing Django's identity, Schultz tells Broomhilda that this friend is just behind the door, and makes her promise not to scream. Shultz taps on the wall, and Django opens the door. Upon seeing him, she faints.
At dinner, Schultz tells Candie and the rest of the dinner party that he believes Samson is Candie's finest "specimen," followed by other slaves named Roger and Eskimo Joe. Schultz calls Samson a "champion," and when Candie insists that all three are champions, Django curtly tells him only Samson deserves that title. Stephen is taken aback at Django's tone of address, but Candie dismisses him. Schultz goes on to say that he wants to purchase a slave with a sense of "showmanship," as he plans to feature him in a revue in the European traveling circus called, "The Black Hercules."
As Broomhilda waits on Schultz at the dinner table, they whisper in German, amusing Candie, who assumes they are taken with each other. Lara Lee observes that Broomhilda has been staring more at Django. In the kitchen, Stephen demands to know whether Broomhilda knows Django, and she insists that she doesn't. At the table, Candie persuades Schultz to purchase Eskimo Joe for his initial offer of $12,000. Schultz tells Candie that he will consult with his lawyer, Mr. Tuttle, and return in five days time with a legal contract after having Eskimo Joe examined by a physician, at which point Tuttle and Moguy can finalize the deal. Candie accepts.
Candie asks Broomhilda how she likes working in the house, and Stephen suggests that as a doctor, Schultz may have some interest in seeing the four lash scars on her back. Over Lara Lee's protests, Candie and Stephen undress Broomhilda, prompting Django to grip his pistol under the table. As Candie begins pointing out the individual lash scars, Lara Lee snaps at him, and Candie tells the men he'll show them after dinner. Stephen closely studies Broomhilda and Django's reaction to the scene, looking more suspicious than ever.
Cora ushers Broomhilda into the next room over, where Stephen once again confronts her about knowing Django, accusing her of lying to him. She begins to cry, frightened by Stephen's inquisition. Just as Schultz is about to propose a new bargain to Candie that includes Broomhilda as well, Stephen bursts back into the dining room, interrupting Schultz. Stephen asks Candie to step into the kitchen to discuss "dessert," but Candie scoffs at the idea. Stephen relents, but then whispers gravely to Candie to meet him in the library. Candie takes his leave, as Cora and the other servants clear the dinner service, and Lara Lee asks Schultz to tell her about the European circus.
In the library, Stephen tells Candie that Schultz and Django have actually come to Candyland to acquire Broomhilda, not a Mandingo fighter, and that she and Django know each other. Candie is skeptical, until he realizes that the $12,000 offer was an intentional ploy to lower his defenses. Re-entering the dining room, Candie manufactures a reason to excuse Lara Lee, and retrieves a human skull from a case, placing it on the table. Candie explains the skull is the remnant of a deceased slave named Old Ben, who routinely shaved Candie's father with a straight razor, and wonders why slaves do not kill their masters. Cutting into the skull with a hacksaw, Candie explains that, according to the pseudoscience of phrenology, African Americans are naturally submissive.
Candie then suddenly loses his temper and orders the men to put their hands on the table, and Butch enters the dining room, aiming his shotgun at Schultz and Django. Candie calls the men liars and orders Moguy to disarm them. Candie orders Broomhilda back into the room, and furiously demands that Schultz and Django pay their original offer of $12,000 for her, or else he will kill her with a hammer, which he brandishes in front of them. Schultz produces his billfold and the money, which Stephen counts. Candie drops the hammer, asks Moguy to draw up a receipt, and invites the men into the parlor for white cake.
Analysis
As a continental European, Schultz is able to wield his erudition over Calvin Candie in a variety of ways. Upon arriving at Candyland, Moguy ironically tells Schultz and Django that Candie, who is a Francophile and insists on being called "Monsieur Can-die," actually cannot speak French, and warns Schultz not to do so around him. Candie's quasi-European pretensions reveal the broader way in which he clumsily tries to couch his barbarism in civility, draping his bloody endeavors in ghastly "Mandingo" fighting with the princely, refined airs of the French aristocracy. Schultz's Germanic origins also allow him to converse with Broomhilda in German, so that they are in no danger of being overheard by Candie and his associates.
One of Tarantino's trademarks as a writer and director is scripting long, winding scenes of dialogue that suddenly erupt into shocking acts of violence, and the dinner scene at Candyland is no exception. The film's themes of acting and performance once again emerge in the dinner scene, when Schultz tells Candie that he is looking for an African American with a sense of "showmanship" to play the part of "The Black Hercules" in the European traveling circus. Schultz's comments are ironic, given that he has himself already instilled in Django a heroic sense of showmanship, encouraging him to pose as a "black slaver" while on the Candyland premises, so that he may rescue Broomhilda.
Just as Hercules slew the Hydra, and Siegfried slew the dragon on the mountaintop, Django must overcome the treacherous obstacles preventing Broomhilda's escape. Tarantino's script initially suggests that this "dragon" will be Candie himself, given that he owns the plantation and Broomhilda, but in fact Stephen emerges as the most pressing threat to the success of Django and Schultz's plan. It is Stephen who intuits the preexisting relationship between Django and Broomhilda, and cunningly tests his hypothesis by suggesting that Candie disrobe Broomhilda so he can study Django's reaction. Stephen's performance—a reaction to Django's "performance"—resembles a famous scene in Hamlet, in which Hamlet stages a play to study King Claudius's reactions.
After Stephen convinces Candie that Schultz and Django are running a scheme, Candie produces the skull of a deceased slave named Old Ben—a reference to the William Faulkner short story "The Bear," which follows the efforts of a hunting group to fell a giant bear named Old Ben. Candie's pseudo-scientific monologue about the features and dimensions of the African skull is a reference to the discredited field of phrenology—the study of the dimensions of the human skull. Phrenologists, who attempted to prove the link between certain human characteristics and varying skull shapes, often used their conclusions to underwrite racist assumptions and religious views, making it an attractive sub-field for pro-slavery Southerners.
Candie's belief in phrenology is yet another way in which he tries to veil his ignorance and barbarism in knowledge and superiority. The motif of "sweets" also surfaces in the dinner scene as well, signifying the moral rot of Candie and Stephen. When Stephen first notices Django and Broomhilda's glances, he attempts to persuade Candie to meet him in the kitchen to discuss "dessert." After Candie successfully forces Schultz to fork over $12,000 for Broomhilda, whom he threatens to kill with a hammer, he then invites the men into the adjoining room, for "white cake." The reference to "white cake" is at once loaded with racial overtones, at the same time that it suggests the insolence and moral bankruptcy of Marie Antoinette.
