You are on page 1of 4

Jessica Correia

Essay #2
HIS 363
April 23, 2015
Prompt #1 A Young Man in Crisis
Masculinity in Crisis

France in the early to late nineteenth century experienced a time of great economic and
social change. Two central characters exemplify this perfectly. The first character, Rastignac,
from the novel Pere Goriot is a man who strives to reach as much social and economic success
as possible with the constant inner battle of how far he would go to fulfill his ambitions. On the
opposite end there is Michel from the novel the Immoralist. Michel was born into this exact life
that Rastignac strived for, however, he seemed to always find that his feelings were
disappointing and unauthentic. Rastignac stood for a typical character in France during 18151830s as the French were recovering from a restored monarchy and for the first time ever in this
time period lower class people had the opportunity to seek interest in other higher classes as well
as material objects. Michel on the other hand lived in France in the early 1900s which set up a
whole list of other struggles and obstacles such as the crisis of masculinity and the anticipation of
the next war. Thus, bringing forth the story of a confused man, Michel, who attempts to find
himself in the midst of an ever changing world.
In 1880 France, Frenchmen were very alarmed and concerned at the memorization that
they had in fact lost the Franco-Prussian War. Losing war during such a troubling time was very
agonizing to the French, however the sulk from the loss should not last long as another war could
occur. The goal was to thrive in victory in case of another outbreak of war. On top of the loss
and new economic circumstances another issue was blooming and that was the drastic decline of

the birth rate. With the birth rate in such high decline there would not be enough men in the
generation to come to fight for their nation. Suddenly it became a priority for surviving men to
return home to their wives and add onto their families.
Unfortunately, for the military and government agenda women had ventured outside of
social norms while their men were away fighting in the Franco-Prussian War. Women now dared
to want more out of life. Some enrolled in classes and became students with hopes to become
journalist, doctors, and even professors. Naturally the fear swept over the nation as unheard of
events began to unfold. Women were beginning to shed the dresses in exchange for pants and
blouses. Thus, making them appear more like men. These ratifying women were even, dare to
say, cutting their hair. They were demanding the right to vote and even going to feminist
conferences. It was feared by the Frenchmen in the late 1800s that if women became more like
men then men would in fact become more like women.
Thus, Michels dilemma. A far deeper struggle to find and identify himself in a world
that is not so accepting of change. Something Rastignac definitely could not handle for all he
seemed to ever be interested in was the materialistic things. Rastignac hoped for money, nice
things, and to be respected as a higher class power. Michel faced an internal struggle of mind
verse the body. Internal struggles began when Michels father passed away during his young
adulthood. As a young boy he was sheltered and given everything that one could basically
dream, asides from the fact that he had lost his mother at a very young age. The idea of death
shuttered him. It was in these moments that he pondered how foolish he must have been all of
these years and was on a quest to find out who he was.1
Through his loses he begins to develop an obsession with living. He aspires to travel the world
and learn of all of its wonders. Moments where he explores nature and lies in the rocks by a
1 Andre Gide, The Immoralist pg. 42

creek are even glorious moments where he analyzes himself. In the midst of his new obsession
Michel recognizes that he is in fact a homosexual. During late nineteenth century France this is
seen as severe immorality in society. Thus even Michels thoughts are progressive and not
easily accepted. Suppressing his truth in marriage his secret was safe within himself during the
given time. However, with his new self discovery some things were inevitable, such as the
cutting of his beard. Michel craved so much to show his inner emotions outwardly that he felt
led to shave his beard which at the time is almost unheard of. This moment he describes as
getting a mask removed.2
With France in an obsessed state to prove their strength a lot of pressures rode of the backs of
men as it was their duty to ensure Frances success in any future wars or foreign affairs. Hence,
the crisis of masculinity. It was important for Frenchmen to maintain their masculine integrity
through strength and to continue the physical appearances of status quo gender roles. Michels
decision to shave his beard supports the exact opposite. He in a sense is confirming Frenchmen
in the 1900s that women cutting their hair to appear more like men will in fact become more like
men and men who cut their masculine hair features would in fact become more womanly. This
harbored fear in that if another war did break out there would be no valiant soldiers because
women are irrational beings who are attempting to be men, all while the men are turning into
care keepers and nurturers.
Internally Michel fought only himself. His marriage with Marceline was one that he only
went into for his dying fathers wishes; however he does find himself having deep feelings for
her. The marriage is used as a tool for Michel to grow in a very conservative way as he hides
behind her love and ignores some of his own inward emotions. Towards the end of Marcelines
life Michel still contemplates more than ever his raw inner feelings. Every day the feeling grew
2 Andre Gide, The Immoralist pg. 48

in me that there were untapped riches to be found hidden under the suffocating layers of culture,
decency and morality.3 It was in Marcelines final days that he actually began to address deeper
issues within himself. The hopes of self-discovery and exploring the world seemed to make his
dreams unstoppable. There was however still the crisis of masculinity though in his world and it
was one where he would have to put on his bravest face yet in order to embrace his new world.
The social unrest of Michels home state is enough evidence to support why he chose to live a
married life with Marceline and suppress a lot of his feelings during his early adult hood. Acting
against what the French nation needed would have been seen as a betrayal to his nation. While
he still chose to act on certain topics such as the cutting of his beard Michel never goes flat out
and says bluntly what exactly is going on internally. His slow transitional progress is one that
was deemed very necessary for the time period and acts as a much more in depth deprivation
than the story compared to Rastignac the success and materialistic driven man.

3 Andre Gide, The Immoralist pg. 110

You might also like