“Sœur-des-Pauvres”: A Saint’s Legend à la Zola

Abstract

This article focuses on one of Emile Zola’s short stories in the Contes a Ninon, “Sœur-des-Pauvres.” A first reading of the work reveals the structural similarities it shares with the traditional fairy tale. On closer examination, it becomes clear that Zola borrows rhetorical devices from a fairy tale subgenre, the Saint’s legend. In fact, the borrowings from popular Catholic belief underscore the theme of social justice that will become one of the hallmarks of the author’s later works. Consequently, “Sœur-des-Pauvres”—half conte de fEes, half conte a these,—may be seen as an Ebauche of sorts for Zola’s better-known works.