# The Revolt of the Angels — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France.

- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/i.md): The chapter introduces the d'Esparvieu family history from 1789 to the present, focusing on the family mansion in Paris and its notable members: Alexandre Bussart d'Esparvieu, a statesman and author; his son Fulgence-Ado
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/ii.md): This chapter describes the vast d'Esparvieu library, its origins under Baron Alexandre d'Esparvieu, and the efforts of subsequent generations to maintain and expand it. It introduces the librarian, Monsieur Julien Sariet
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/iii.md): Monsieur Sariette discovers his library in disarray with valuable Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts scattered and damaged. Despite exhaustive inquiries, he finds no explanation and becomes increasingly anxious. He eventuall
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/iv.md): Two months after the mysterious disturbances in the library, Monsieur Sariette, the Catholic archivist, becomes increasingly paranoid, blaming Freemasons and Jews for the thefts. He resolves to spend a night in the libra
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/v.md): In the chapel, Abbé Patouille, Gaétan d'Esparvieu, Maurice, and old Sariette discuss the frescoes by Delacroix, focusing on the depiction of wrathful angels versus guardian angels. Patouille laments the absence of peacef
- [Wherein Père Sariette discovers his missing treasures](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/vi.md): Monsieur Sariette discovers that a very old manuscript of Flavius Josephus, sixty volumes, a Lucretius with Voltaire's notes, a manuscript of Richard Simon, and Gassendi's correspondence with Gabriel Naudé have disappear
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/vii.md): The mysterious disappearances of books from the d'Esparvieu library continue despite new locks and security measures. Monsieur René d'Esparvieu, reluctant to create a scandal, consults his friend Monsieur des Aubels, who
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/viii.md): Maurice, feeling a void in his heart despite his various romantic encounters, becomes infatuated with Gilberte des Aubels at his mother's gathering. After a failed first attempt to arrange a secret meeting, he succeeds d
- [IX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/ix.md): Maurice awaits his mistress Gilberte in his flat, growing impatient at her lateness. When she arrives, they reconcile and make love, but afterward she mentions a bracelet she desires, which Maurice deflects. As they prep
- [The Angel's Confession](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/x.md): Arcade reveals to Maurice and Gilberte that he is a fallen angel who has lost his faith through study of the library's books. He declares his intention to rebel against Ialdabaoth (the God of the Jews and Christians), wh
- [XI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xi.md): Arcade, now dressed in a suicide's cast-off clothes, reveals his angelic nature to Gilberte and explains the hierarchy of angels. He leaves Maurice, who realizes he no longer has a guardian angel, and discusses the spiri
- [XII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xii.md): Arcade meets with Théophile Belais, a fallen angel who left Heaven for love of a music-hall singer named Bouchotte. Théophile, still faithful to God in his heart, avoids politics and revolution. Arcade reveals his plan t
- [XIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xiii.md): Arcade meets the archangel Zita in a tavern, where they discuss the potential for a rebellion in Heaven. Zita outlines her strategic approach, emphasizing the need to appeal to the passions and interests of the angels ra
- [XIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xiv.md): Arcade, now incarnated, stays with Prince Istar in a garret. Istar, a Cherub who rebelled against Ialdabaoth, works for humanity's welfare through chemistry and anarchist activism. Arcade becomes a printer, struggles wit
- [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xv.md): Maurice, distraught over the loss of his guardian angel Arcade, seeks counsel from Abbé Patouille, who dismisses his experience as a hallucination and warns against the dangers of dissipation. Meanwhile, Arcade and Zita 
- [XVI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xvi.md): Maurice, frustrated by his failed attempts to find his angel through orthodox means, turns to occultism and consults the seeress Madame Mira. He obtains a talisman—a Lucretius volume from the library—which the angel had 
- [XVII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xvii.md): Arcade and Prince Istar seek funding from the financier Max Everdingen (the fallen angel Sophar) for their revolution in France and Heaven, but Everdingen refuses, defending the financial system and offering instead to f
- [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xviii.md): In an arbor at the far end of the orchard, Nectaire begins his story for Arcade and Zita, recounting the first rebellion in Heaven. He describes Lucifer's beauty, intelligence, and pride, and how he himself, then called 
- [XIX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xix.md): Nectaire continues his story, describing the idyllic life of ancient Greece and Rome, the rise of civilization through art and wisdom, and the eventual decline as barbarians and new religions, particularly the cunning Ia
- [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xx.md): Nectaire recounts the history of the ancient demons and their interactions with humanity from the time of the Gauls through the barbarian invasions and the rise of Christianity, describing how they preserved knowledge an
- [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxi.md): Nectaire recounts the history of religious conflict, the Reformation's destruction of beauty, the rise of science and reason, the intellectual salons of the Enlightenment, the disappointments of Napoleon, and his eventua
- [XXII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxii.md): Père Guinardon opens a curio shop in the Rue de Courcelles with the fair Octavie, having abandoned Zéphyrine. The shop attracts various visitors, including Comte Desmaisons, Monsieur Blancmesnil, and Gaétan d'Esparvieu. 
- [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxiii.md): Prince Istar visits Bouchotte to hide bombs in Théophile's cupboard, but his forceful advances are violently rejected. After he leaves, Maurice d'Esparvieu arrives on behalf of Madame de la Verdelière to hire Bouchotte f
- [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxiv.md): The chapter traces the journey of the Lucretius of the Prior de Vendôme after it is mistakenly omitted from a binder's list. The volume passes through several hands: the binder's son Ernest steals it to fund a date, sell
- [XXV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxv.md): Maurice finds Arcade again after the performance at Bouchotte's dressing-room. He expresses his longing and demands his guardian angel back, but Arcade reveals he has become a revolutionary spirit fighting against Ialdab
- [The Conclave](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxvi.md): Arcade and Zita convene a conclave of rebellious angels in a dilapidated hall at La Jonchère. Nectaire is elected president in absentia. Arcade denounces Iahveh as Ialdabaoth, a barbarous demiurge, and calls for war. A l
- [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxvii.md): Arcade and Zita discuss the nature of evil and the limits of their rebellion, while Baron Everdingen urges them to arm. Meanwhile, the innkeeper Barattan reports the rebel angels to the police, who suspect a plot against
- [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxviii.md): Maurice's family confronts him about his relationship with Bouchotte, a music-hall singer, and his financial misconduct, leading to a heated domestic scene where Maurice retaliates by exposing his family's own hypocrisie
- [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxix.md): Arcade and Gilberte begin an affair, leading to a confrontation when Maurice discovers them. Maurice challenges Arcade to a duel, but Arcade claims invulnerability. Maurice leaves in despair, wandering the streets in the
- [The Wounded Angel and the Skeptical World](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxx.md): Maurice, recovering from a duel, is visited by Arcade, Gilberte, and family members. Arcade reveals his rebellion against Ialdabaoth, while Gaétan and Sariette react with skepticism. Maurice reconciles with Arcade and Gi
- [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxxi.md): Monsieur Sariette visits Père Guinardon to reclaim a stolen Lucretius from the d'Esparvieu library. Guinardon refuses, claiming he bought it, and a violent struggle ensues. Sariette strangles Guinardon, takes the book, a
- [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxxii.md): Madame de la Verdelière visits Maurice to solicit a subscription for French churches but is driven away by Arcade's irreverent remarks. Abbé Patouille offers spiritual counsel, but Maurice mocks him. Later, Maurice, Gilb
- [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxxiii.md): After a night of revelry, Maurice, Arcade, Zita, Prince Istar, and Théophile are confronted by Inspector Grolle. A violent brawl erupts, resulting in the death of Inspector Grolle and injuries to several others. Prince I
- [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxxiv.md): Maurice d'Esparvieu learns that Inspector Grolle's death was due to a natural cause, relieving him of murder charges. However, he is arrested along with Bouchotte for involvement with the rebel angels. Judge Salneuve inv
- [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_revolt_of_the_angels_se/chapters/xxxv.md): Satan dreams of leading a second rebellion against Ialdabaoth, conquering Heaven, and being crowned God. However, he soon becomes corrupted by power, repeating the tyranny of his predecessor—proclaiming himself a triune 

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