The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

Saint Anthony, a hermit for thirty years but now despondent because he feels that his life has been a failure. He is tempted by gluttony, avarice, and lust, but he overcomes them all. His disciple, Hilarion, appears to accuse him of ignorance and to tempt him intellectually by exposing him to all the confusing heresies of the early church and to the false gods of history, each of whom contained some element of truth. He is even carried into space by Satan, to be shown that the universe is limitless and meaningless and to be urged to curse God and acknowledge the Devil. Even this temptation Anthony overcomes, as well as the urgings of Death and Lust that he escape through them the ugliness of the world. When, the next day, Anthony sees the face of Christ in the sun, he knows that he has emerged victorious from his trials.

The Devil, who subjects Anthony to the horror of infinity.

Hilarion, Anthony’s former disciple, who exposes him to the sins of the intellect.

The Queen of Sheba, who represents lust.

Tertullian, who drives away the heresiarchs.

Apollonius, who almost conquers Anthony by the offer of the power of having visions and of curing the sick.

Marcellina, a woman who tells Anthony that with the aid of a silver image she can cause Christ to appear.

Montanus, who, according to a strange woman Anthony meets, is the incarnation of the Holy Ghost.

Bibliography:

Brombert, Victor. The Novels of Flaubert: A Study of Themes and Techniques. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1966. Chapter 5 offers an account of The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

Donato, Eugenio. The Script of Decadence: Essays on the Fictions of Flaubert and the Poetics of Romanticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Chapter 4, “Gnostic Fictions,” includes an elaborate discussion of the temptations offered by the heretics.

Ginsburg, Michal Peled. Flaubert Writing. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1986. Chapter 2 includes a detailed critique of The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

Griffin, Robert. Rape of the Lock: Flaubert’s Mythic Realism. Lexington, Ky.: French Forum, 1988. A discussion of The Temptation of Saint Anthony is contained in pages 259 to 288.

Osborn, E. B. Introduction to The First Temptation of Saint Anthony, by Gustave Flaubert, translated by René Francis. London: Bodley Head, 1924. A stylish essay setting out in scrupulous detail the reasons why Osborn considers the earlier texts to be much superior to the 1874 version. The book reprints the revised 1856 text in full, including passages that were dropped from the 1848-1849 text.