The Chants de Maldoror (Maldoror) ostentatiously carry all the formal characteristics of the epic genre. They prove themselves thus to be the expression of a metaphysical struggle, constantly struck by buffoonery and sarcasm. Isidore Ducasse, a reactionary in his choice of rear-guard, aims at an effective transformation of literature, by challenging it if necessary with other genres, such as the dramatic poem and the novel. It is a way for him to open up a new era for narrative, enunciating and denunciating, thus enabling the idea of a new moral for the future to emerge.