This dissertation deals with the adaptation of Melville's Bartleby for French television by a French director: Maurice Ronet. It is the story of a man, hired as a copyist in an office where his presence has an effect on the organization of the office and the other employees. The story presents a man whose withdrawal from life is obvious and becomes a real obsession for the man who hired him. But through the story, we find out that even if the quest for meaning concerns Bartleby, the only character the reader really gets to know is the narrator. The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the main themes in Herman Melville's Bartleby such as the passage from order to disorder, the exploration of a mystery and the quest for meaning. This dissertation also analyses the stakes of an adaptation, the passage from a 1st to a 3rd person narrative and the way the appearance of a new eye, that of the camera, can contribute to the story and its adaptation on screen.