À la Recherche d’un Dieu Perdu: Recreating Religion in La Tentation de Saint Antoine

Willemijn Don, New York University

Abstract

La Tentation de Saint Antoine is "un livre qui fait peur," according to Flaubert scholar Jeanne Bem (13). Indeed, it is a monstrous text that presents us with multiple characters and an amalgam of heresies and temptations. Confusion further stems from the difference in versions: one version of the text was written in 1848, a second version was partially published in 1856, and the final version appeared in 1874. The monstrosity resides lastly in the form of the text: we wonder how to define the genre of La Tentation. Flaubert first conceived of it as a play, perhaps even a puppet play, but the didascalies read more like descriptions in a novel and are impossible to act out.[1]

Recommended Citation

Don, Willemijn (2007) "À la Recherche d’un Dieu Perdu: Recreating Religion in La Tentation de Saint Antoine," Working Papers in Romance Languages: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: http://repository.upenn.edu/wproml/vol2/iss1/2