Le retour de l'enfant prodigue
Encyclopedia
Le Retour de l'Enfant Prodigue (The Return of the Prodigal Son) is a short story by André Gide
. Gide wrote the story in early 1907, in less than two weeks.
It is based on the Biblical parable of the prodigal son
. The story begins with the prodigal son returning home, not repentant, but hungry, poor, and frustrated at having failed to achieve his goal. He engages in dialogues with his father, mother, and elder brother. In Gide's version of the parable, the prodigal has a younger brother, who is on the verge of also leaving home; the returned prodigal promises to join this brother when he has made good.
The story draws upon Gide's own life experiences, and his struggles with his Protestant upbringing.
In Wallace Fowlie's
words, "Gide is persistently asking the question whether the Law is suitable for all men".
The story has also been adapted for the stage and performed in Paris
, where incidental music
for it was written by Henri Sauguet
in 1933.
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
. Gide wrote the story in early 1907, in less than two weeks.
It is based on the Biblical parable of the prodigal son
Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Prodigal Son, also known as the Lost Son and the Prodigal Father, is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to the Gospel of Luke a father extravagantly gives his sons their inheritance before he dies...
. The story begins with the prodigal son returning home, not repentant, but hungry, poor, and frustrated at having failed to achieve his goal. He engages in dialogues with his father, mother, and elder brother. In Gide's version of the parable, the prodigal has a younger brother, who is on the verge of also leaving home; the returned prodigal promises to join this brother when he has made good.
The story draws upon Gide's own life experiences, and his struggles with his Protestant upbringing.
In Wallace Fowlie's
Wallace Fowlie
Wallace Fowlie was an American writer and professor of literature. He was the James B. Duke Professor of French Literature at Duke University from 1964. Known for his translations of the poet Arthur Rimbaud and his critical studies of French poetry and drama, he also wrote about rock-poet Jim...
words, "Gide is persistently asking the question whether the Law is suitable for all men".
The story has also been adapted for the stage and performed in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for it was written by Henri Sauguet
Henri Sauguet
Henri Sauguet , was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux as Henri-Pierre Poupard, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies , concertos, chamber and choral music and numerous songs, as well as film music...
in 1933.