Thérèse Raquin is a novel by Émile Zola, first published in 1867. It was originally published in serial format in the journal L’Artiste. It was published in book format in December of the same year. In 1873, Zola turned Thérèse Raquin into a play.
Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by a well-intentioned and overbearing aunt. Her cousin, Camille, is sickly and selfish, and when the opportunity arises, Thérèse enters into a tragic affair with one of Camille’s friends, Laurent.
In his preface, Zola explains that his goal in this novel was to ‘study temperaments and not characters’ and he compares the novel to a scientific study. Because of this detached and scientific approach, Thérèse Raquin is considered an example of Naturalism.
About the author
Émile Zola, in full Émile-Édouard-Charles-Antoine Zola, French novelist, critic, and political activist who was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. He was noted for his theories of naturalism, which underlie his monumental 20-novel series Les Rougon-Macquart, and for his intervention in the Dreyfus Affair through his famous open letter ‘J’accuse’.
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