Madeleine is the story of a great writer’s marriage, a deeply disturbing account of André Gide’s feelings towards his beloved and long-suffering wife. It was a relationship which Gide exalted—he termed it the central drama of his existence—yet deliberately shrouded in mystery. This was no ordinary marriage. Madeleine Rondeaux, two years older than her cousin André Gide, became his wife after Gide’s first visit to Algeria. In his Journal, Gide refers to her as Emmanuèle or as Em. Only in this book, published a few months after his death, does Gide call her by her real name and painfully reveal the nature of their life together. All of Gide’s vast work may be viewed as a confession, impelled by his need to write what he believed to be true about himself. In Madeleine this act of confession reaches a crowning point. It is a complex tale by a complex man about a complex relationship. “Ranks among the masterpieces of Gide’s vibrating prose. It is also the most tragic personal document to have emanated from Gide’s pen.”—New York Times.
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French
Original Language: French
About the Author
Winner of the Nobel Prize and one of the 20th century’s major writers, Andre Gide (1869–1951) is best known for his novels The Immoralist, Strait is the Gate, and The Counterfeiters, and his Journals.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
painful confessional,
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This review is from: Madeleine (Paperback)
It's hard to review Madeleine. On one level it breaks one's heart to see what Gide is missing in his wife's married loneliness. He has a way of his ego coming in--and of selfishly giving way to his own grief and needs. As usual, he's honest; he can't seem to help himself, he must worm into even the most painful recesses of his own soul. The "but" for me is that I feel a reticence in this book--out of respect for Madeleine, Gide keeps certain doors locked, and even sweeps the curtains shut right before one.
Gide is caught between an idealized love for his wife and the reality of his homosexuality--and thanks to his Puritanical upbringing, he doesn't realize his wife has needs for him to meet in marriage, and that he is stinting her emotionally by not being a true husband to her. Gide does his duty by her, as far as he recognizes it, but he is also brutally and blindly (or so he insists) himself, following his own star even when it trammels over her. It was Gide who said once that it is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not. But oh the pain to his wife! They were not a good match. Later in life, perhaps, chastened by what he's wrought on her life, Gide writes "As a general rule, it is better to sacrifice oneself than to sacrifice another person to oneself. But all that is theory; in practice it happens that one becomes aware of the sacrifice only long after it is accomplished." Painful, but best read after The Immoralist--not as one's first Gide. Reading The Immoralist (which is VERY Gide), allows all the punches of this marriage to settle into you. Enjoy the read :)
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A little too much,
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This review is from: Madeleine (Paperback)
I hate it. This was a French book translated to English. More like the authors memoires.
Teaches you nothing but a sick relation between a married woman and another man.
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Used but in very good shape,
By I. Dinesen "general reader" (Chicago, IL, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Madeleine (Et Nunc Manet In Te) (Hardcover)
I needed this for research for a play about Gide's wife. It's a very valuable resource. Fast delivery, good price.
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