A Foucauldian reading of ‘Technologies of the Self’ in Anatole France’s novel Thaïs

Abstract

This study uses a phenomenological perspective supported by Foucault’s ‘hermeneutics of the self’ to analyse Anatole France’s novel Thaïs. The novel narrates the story of a Christian hermit, Paphnutius, and a courtesan, Thaïs. Living an abstemious life in the desert and reflecting on his sins of the past, Paphnutius recalls having met a delightful actress, Thaïs and how she seduced men, including him, into the sins of the flesh. Taken in by his exhortations, she leaves all her wealth and possessions and follows the monk to attain eternal beauty and bliss. Paphnutius successfully converts Thaïs to the courtesan before she dies as a ‘purified’ soul. However, after her conversion, Thaïs’s desire and love afflict Paphnutius, who ends up doubting the truth of his faith. When he comes to know that Thaïs is on her deathbed, he starts having doubts about the reality of death and hence of God/his belief. We attempt to add a theoretically driven analysis and set forth a few observations. This paper argues that Thaïs is the story of complex human interactions revolving around the axes of truth and subjectivity and provides an excellent narration of the aesthetics of existence in the pagan and early Christian world.