a mercilessly self-serving and hedonistically Machiavellian idealogue. To a significant extent, Michel lived by this doctrine even before his illness. Regardless of what he says (for he is a masterfully duplicitous and thus unreliable narrator), his marriage to Marceline is as much a result of his selfish beliefs as her death later proves to be.

As Michel is recuperating from his illness, he decides that, in the future, “recovery alone must become my study; my duty...my health; I must consider Good, I must call Right, whatever [is] healthy for me; must forget, must repulse, whatever [does] not cure.” After he has recovered his health, however, the doctrine changes. He considers “Good” and “Right” whatever pleases his senses or makes him feel youthful, beautiful, and seemingly immortal. In short, he embraces a type of hedonism that is unethical, because it is Michel-centered and completely exclusive of the rights and well-being of others, particularly of Marceline. Indeed, he married her less to comfort his dying father than to provide for himself a surrogate protector with limited rights. When they marry, his health is “delicate,” and—even though he had “acquired ideas about the stupidity of women” and felt absolutely no love for Marceline—compared to him, she “seemed quite strong.”

It is Marceline’s strength and devotion to Michel that saves his life, but in his eyes, “my salvation depended on no one but myself.” When she tells him she has prayed to God for his recovery, he reproaches her and insists that he does not want her prayers because they would leave him “indebted” to God: “It makes for obligations; I don’t want any.” Marceline, unfortunately, fails to see the extent to which Michel’s denunciation of obligations might affect her, just as she fails to see the real man behind her ideal image of Michel.

Ironically, at the moment that their marriage is consummated, it is also symbolically ended, for Michel regards the act as proof that he has become stronger than his wife and has “possessed” her. After this moment, she seems to him “delicate,” all of her grace “a kind of fragility.” Even in the best of health, she is barely tolerable to him as he pursues “delicious” sensations. Once her health truly begins to fail, she becomes repugnant and “like rest to a man who is not tired.” Michel never acknowledges the fact that her health is broken by carrying his child; not once does he offer, or even seem to feel, any sympathy, when she is nearing death at the age of twenty-three. Instead, he literally rushes her toward death, demanding that they move more and more frequently the weaker she becomes. When Marceline tells Michel that his “doctrine” for living “eliminates the weak,” he replies, “As it should.” He absolutely believes that “only the strong deserve sympathy.”

Just as Marceline has value for Michel only as long as she can serve his needs or desires, the same is true of the other characters to whom he is attracted. His homosexual yearnings are stimulated by the “animal grace” and physical beauty of Bachir, by the beauty and cunning of Moktir, and by the “supple and well built” body of Charles. Because Menalque is an educated embodiment of Michel’s amoral doctrine of existence, Michel needs the older man as both a teacher and an intimate strong enough to force him to prove that he is capable of denouncing all principles. (Menalque is the ultimate hedonist and has been banished from France’s polite society for his life-style. “I create each hour’s newness,” he tells Michel, “by forgetting yesterday completely.”)

Michel proves himself to be deserving of Menalque’s society when he leaves Marceline, pregnant and seriously ill, and accepts his mentor’s invitation to spend the night. Thus, after his encounter with Menalque, the qualities Michel finds attractive in certain males, and for which he chooses to become intimate with them, go beyond mere physical attractiveness. For example, he becomes attached to Pierra because the farmhand is not only handsome but also “guided solely by instinct; he did nothing save on the spur of the moment, yielded to every passing impulse.”

Alcide

Alcide is the youngest son of Bocage, the caretaker of Michel’s estate at La Morinière. When Michel discovers that Bocage has been poaching on the estate, he chooses to secretly join Alcide in poaching on his own land.

Ali

Ali is a young Arab boy whom Michel befriends during his second visit to Biskra. Ali introduces Michel to his sister, who works as a prostitute. After Marceline’s death, Michel has several encounters with Ali’s sister but soon realizes that Ali seems jealous of his sister. To maintain his relationship with Ali, Michel decides to stop seeing the girl. When Ali’s sister teases Michel about being more interested in Ali than in her, Michel reflects, “Perhaps she is not altogether wrong . . .”

Ali’s Sister

Ali’s sister is an Arab girl working as a prostitute. During Michel's second visit to Biskra, Ali introduces him to her. After his wife’s death, Michel sleeps with Ali’s sister several times but eventually stops, partly because he feels bored and partly because he senses Ali’s jealousy. After this, Ali’s sister mocks Michel, suggesting he prefers Ali to her and that Ali is the reason he stays in Biskra. Michel acknowledges that she may be correct.

Bachir

Bachir is a young Arab boy whom Michel and Marceline befriend during their first visit to Biskra. Marceline brings Bachir home to cheer up Michel as he recovers from tuberculosis. On their second visit to Biskra, Michel learns that Bachir has found work as a dishwasher.

Bocage

Bocage is the caretaker of Michel’s estate in Normandy. Michel finds Bocage irritating due to his constant demands for attention and reports on estate management. Michel eventually realizes that Bocage is not entirely honest in his management of the estate.

Charles

Charles is the seventeen-year-old son of Bocage, the caretaker of Michel’s estate at La Morinière. Michel immediately takes a liking to Charles, and they spend their days riding horseback around the estate. However, when Michel and Marceline return to La Morinière a year later, Michel finds that Charles has changed, and he no longer feels attracted to the young man.

Daniel

Daniel is one of the three friends Michel invites to visit him in North Africa after Marceline’s death, so he can share his story with them.

Denis

Denis is another of the three friends Michel summons to North Africa, intending to confide in them by sharing his story.

Marceline

Marceline is Michel’s wife, and she marries him at the age of twenty. Although their families were friends during their childhood, Michel and Marceline don't truly know each other. During their honeymoon in North Africa, Michel falls seriously ill with tuberculosis, and Marceline diligently nurses him back to health. As Michel's condition improves, she brings a young Arab boy named Bachir to their hotel to lift Michel's spirits. The couple eventually befriends several Arab boys; Marceline gravitates towards the sickly and weaker children, while Michel prefers the strong and healthy ones.

Upon returning to France from their honeymoon, Marceline contracts tuberculosis, having caught it while caring for Michel. At La Morinière, Marceline announces her pregnancy. However, after moving to Paris, her health deteriorates, leading to a miscarriage. Despite her worsening condition, she and Michel set off on travels through Switzerland, Italy, and North Africa. Michel insists that these locations will benefit her health, but Marceline continues to decline. Eventually, after arriving in Biskra for the second time, Marceline passes away.

Menalque

Menalque is a friend of Michel who attends one of Michel’s university lectures in Paris, where they quickly form a bond. The character of Menalque is inspired by Oscar Wilde, a renowned Irish playwright of that era. In The Immoralist, Michel references a recent public scandal and lawsuit involving Menalque, alluding to the infamous trial in which Oscar Wilde was accused of homosexual relations with the son of a wealthy Englishman. Michel argues that the accusations and scandal against Menalque were baseless and unjust. To show his solidarity, Michel hugs Menalque in front of everyone after the lecture, signaling he is not embarrassed by their association.

During their time in Paris, Michel and Menalque engage in numerous late-night discussions. Menalque reveals that he retraced the North African journey Michel and Marceline took on their honeymoon. He shares that he questioned many of the Arab boys they befriended in Biskra and became fascinated by Michel’s actions there. One day, Menalque gives Michel the very scissors that had been stolen by the boy Moktir. Menalque expresses his belief in following one's natural instincts, regardless of societal judgments.

Michel

Michel is both the narrator and the main character in The Immoralist. His mother passed away when he was fifteen, and his father, a scholar of ancient Greek and Roman culture, raised him to follow a similar scholarly path. At the age of 25, Michel's father falls seriously ill, prompting Michel to marry Marceline, a young woman he barely knows, to fulfill his father's dying wish. The couple spends several months traveling through Italy and North Africa on their honeymoon. They sleep in separate rooms, and their marriage is not consummated until two months after their wedding. During their travels, Michel contracts tuberculosis but recovers with the devoted care of his wife.

As Michel's health improves, he begins to pay attention to his physical body and sensual pleasures for the first time in his life. He perceives this transformation as a kind of rebirth, revealing a natural self that had been hidden from him. Concurrently, Michel finds himself attracted to healthy young men and boys in North Africa and France. Despite Marceline suffering a miscarriage and becoming increasingly ill with tuberculosis, Michel persuades her to travel with him across Europe and back to North Africa. Shortly after they return to Biskra, Algeria, where they had spent much of their honeymoon, Marceline dies. Now free from all responsibilities to others, Michel stays in Biskra for several months. He has several encounters with a girl prostitute but soon realizes he prefers the company of her younger brother, Ali. Torn between his homosexual inclinations and the traditional societal values he was raised with, Michel faces a personal crisis. He reaches out to his three closest childhood friends, pleading with them to visit him in North Africa. When they arrive, Michel shares the story of his personal transformation and expresses his distress about his future.

Moktir

Moktir is a young Arab boy Michel befriends during his initial visit to Biskra. One day, Michel observes Moktir stealing a pair of sewing scissors belonging to Marceline. Intrigued by the incident, Michel decides not to reprimand the boy or retrieve the scissors. Instead, he lies to his wife about the scissors being lost. After this, Moktir becomes Michel's favorite among the boys. Later, when Michel is in Paris, his friend Menalque returns the stolen scissors, having retrieved them from Moktir. During Michel and Marceline's second trip to Biskra, Michel learns that Moktir has turned to crime and was recently released from prison. One night, Moktir takes Michel to a prostitute; upon returning home, Michel finds his wife dying.

Monsieur D. R.

Monsieur D. R. is the recipient of a letter penned by an anonymous friend of Michel to his sibling. This letter not only begins the novel but also establishes the frame narrative for the main story.

Unnamed Friend

The Immoralist starts with a letter addressed to Monsieur D. R. by one of Michel's three friends, who had been invited to North Africa to hear his tale. The letter's anonymous author, referring to Monsieur D. R. as "my dear brother," explains that he has documented Michel's story as it was shared with the three friends and has included this transcription with the letter.