Abbe Mouret’s Transgression by Émile Zola. Short summary

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Seminary graduate Serge Mouret sees his destiny as serving God. An encounter with the realities of life shatters the young abbot’s idyllic world.

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After graduating from seminary, the young abbot Serge Mouret receives a parish in the village. He settles in a church cottage with his twenty-year-old weak-minded sister and a maid.

Mouret is full of idyllic illusions, fanatically devoted to the church and completely alienated from secular life. The parishioners of the local church, by contrast, live in the down-to-earth reality of everyday life and are virtually indifferent to questions of faith.
The conflict between inner spiritual aspirations and harsh reality, and the excessive immersion in mysticism and religion cause Mouret a complex neurotic state.

Dr. Pascal takes Serge to an abandoned manor house in order to heal him. There, in the silence of the beautiful garden, in the company of the young Albina, Mouret recovers mentally.

He cannot remember the past, lives on today’s emotions and his love for Albina. The monk Arcangia brings Mouret back to reality. The abbot leaves. Albina lets her beloved go, but dies in separation.