The Immoralist

The Immoralist (1902)
André Gide’s The Immoralist is a psychological novel exploring freedom, desire, and moral convention. It is framed as a confession: Michel, a young scholar, narrates his story to friends after returning from North Africa. Newly married to Marceline, Michel contracts tuberculosis on their honeymoon. Facing death, he experiences a rebirth of appetite for life, becoming fascinated with youth, vitality, and sensuality. As he recovers, his outlook shifts from scholarly detachment to impulsive self-indulgence. Seeking authenticity, he rejects traditional values and responsibilities, neglecting Marceline and drifting through Tunisia and France in pursuit of personal pleasure and aesthetic experience. But Marceline grows increasingly ill, and Michel’s self-absorption indirectly leads to her death. His “immoralism” leaves him spiritually empty, questioning the cost of his freedom. Through Michel’s fall, Gide critiques rigid morality while warning about egotism disguised as liberation. The novel’s confessional style and moral ambiguity made it a modernist landmark.