Abstract
In naturalist novels, social and biological determinism is imposed on the fate of an individual located in a specific environment. This environment is decisive for the main theme of any literary text which follows this aesthetics. In L'Assommoir (1877) by Émile Zola, it is in the working class environment hosting Gervaise, the protagonist of the novel, where we can examine the slow but unstoppable fall of her fate, condemned to moral and physical misery and accelerated by her alcoholism. The labour world of Parisian workers, the urban landscape of the French capital, as well as the physical and psychological defects that Gervaise inherits from her father are the inescapable conditions that determine her fate. This article aims at an analytical and descriptive study of the destructive environment that ultimately kills the heroine.
Highlights
biological determinism is imposed on the fate of an individual located in a specific environment
This environment is decisive for the main theme of any literary text which follows this aesthetics
it is in the working class environment hosting Gervaise
Summary
Comme la citation à la tête de cet article le suggère, la littérature de la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle se distingue par sa description de la réalité comme s’il s’agissait d’un document historique. Cet article est donc basé sur la division des espaces environnementaux de Poyatos, en prêtant une attention spéciale aux culturèmes essentiels, c’est-à-dire, à la division entre l’espace urbain et rural, ainsi qu’entre l’espace privé et public ; et d’un autre côté, nous approfondirons les culturèmes secondaires, où les personnages agissent, afin d’analyser et de justifier la relation réciproque que le milieu garde avec les sujets qui l’habitent. Influencé par Claude Bernard (1865), Zola applique la théorie de la médecine expérimentale sur l’art d’écrire et il conçoit le milieu comme ce qui déterminera en premier l’action des personnages dans le roman : « [l]’homme n’est pas seul, il vit dans une société, dans un milieu social, et dès lors pour nous, romanciers, ce milieu social modifie sans cesse les phénomènes » (Zola, 1890 : 19)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Thélème. Revista Complutense de Estudios Franceses
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
