The Immoralist
Cover of the Penguin Classics edition
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| Author | André Gide |
|---|---|
| Original title | L'Immoraliste |
| Translator |
Dorothy Bussy (1930) Richard Howard (1970) |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Mercure de France (French, 1902) Alfred A. Knopf (English, 1930) Vintage Books (Howard translation, 1996) |
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Publication date
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1902 |
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Published in English
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1930 |
| Media type | Hardback and paperback |
| Pages | 144 pages |
| OCLC | 5227844 |
The Immoralist (French: L'Immoraliste) is a novel by André Gide, published in France in 1902.
The Immoralist is a recollection of events told by Michel to his visiting friends. One of these friends, Sidi B. M., recounts the story in a letter to M. D. R., Président du Conseil. In his letter, he asks if the letter's recipient may find a job for Michel. Michel is the central protagonist of the story.
Important points of Michel's story are his recovering from tuberculosis, his attraction to a series of Arab boys and his caretaker's son, as well as his development of a new view on life and society. Through his journey, he finds a kindred spirit in the rebellious Ménalque.
Michel was raised by both his mother and father until his mother's death, when he was fifteen. Although, she had raised him with strict Huguenot values, he did not observe these values later in his life. He applied the austerity his upbringing had produced in him to his studies. By the age of twenty he was fluent in French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. He entered academia around this time, when he wrote the "Essay on Phrygian Religious Customs". The essay was published under his father's name and gained praise. At the age of twenty-five, Michel's father was on his deathbed. To please his father, Michel hastily married Marceline.
Shortly after wedding Marceline, Michel and his wife go on their honeymoon to Tunis. Michel is disappointed by the first ruins he sees in El Djem. Shortly after leaving El Djem, Michel becomes very ill. His illness was diagnosed as tuberculosis and it was unlikely he would survive. Marceline takes him to Biskra, Algeria, where he may recover. Michel slowly recovers under his wife's constant care and with a new found zeal for life after interacting with some of the local children. He slowly recovers and the couple leave North Africa through Tunis. While traveling between, Tunis, Malta, and Syracuse, Michel realizes that he has changed. The trip concludes after the couple travel through Italy.
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