The Temptation of Saint Anthony

The Temptation of Saint Anthony, novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1874 as La Tentation de Saint Antoine. It was also translated as The First Temptation of Saint Anthony. Flaubert called the subject of the narrative his “old infatuation,” which he had begun developing in 1839 as an attempt to create a Faust in the French language. The work is notable for its imagery and its depiction of spiritual torment.

The work takes as its subject the 4th-century Christian anchorite Saint Anthony, who lived in the Egyptian desert. It reflects on his life, his decision to become a hermit, and the temptations of sexuality and sensuality he undergoes. Enfeebled from fasting and beset with sinful feelings and remorse, he experiences hallucinations in which he is drawn to gustatory and sensual excesses and in which he is tormented by philosophical doubt. But he emerges from his agony after he awakens and sees on the Sun the image of Christ’s face.