Monsieur de Phocas, Astarté: Roman

by Jean Lorrain

"Monsieur de Phocas, Astarté: Roman" by Jean Lorrain is a novel published in 1901. The Duke de Fréneuse, a jaded aristocrat and ether addict, confides his intimate journal to a narrator. Within these pages, he reveals his obsessive quest for a mysterious "glaucous transparency"—a green light first glimpsed in ancient eyes. This pursuit leads him through precious gems, portraits, and masks, into encounters with the malevolent Claudius Ethal. A cornerstone of Decadent literature, the novel explores decay, perversion, and phantasmagoric visions in fin-de-siècle society.