The Necessary Evil

The Necessary Evil (1899) features Dr. Armand Caresco, a conscienceless surgeon carrying out medical experiments. Caresco sees himself as an intellectual superman whose discoveries might enable humankind to take a leap forward. This daring book dared to broach such shocking topics as the methodology and occasional necessity of hysterectomies. André Couvreur (1863-1944), himself a medical doctor, depicts Caresco’s surgical exploits in an explicit, even flamboyant, fashion that harks back to the notorious Marquis de Sade. In spite of his flagrant disapproval of Caresco’s morality and alleged madness, Couvreur remains willing to give his views serious consideration, and to explore their potential in a manner that refuses to write them off merely because they are tainted with megalomaniac delusion.