Emile Zola - Book Report/Review Example

Emile Zola Emile Zola is viewed by many as the most significant of naturalism of the nineteenth century, a theory of which the objective isthe exact and scientific description of social reality. This reality is often referred to as scientific determinism, factualism or philosophical positivism. In the seventeenth century 'naturalist' referred to those working in natural sciences and the term was also used to describe a philosophical doctrine, which denied the existence of metaphysical phenomena and concentrated on the material world. These earlier meanings are important in that naturalism is primarily concerned with the natural world. Germinal embodies this precision and authenticity through Zola's scientific approach, encyclopaedic style of writing, his characterisation of a typology of classes and symbolism which is dictated by ideas that naturalism wishes to impose. Alternatively, critics such as J.K Huysman and Ruth B.Antosh would contest Zola's stance as a naturalist writer where the ambiguity of his ideas and artistic style and devices stand in contradiction. Like many of his novels in Les Rougon-Macquart collection, Zola's approach to writing was similar to that of a scientist and thus Germinal can be viewed as ruthlessly scientific and therefore compatible with naturalism. Firstly, he observed a subject of inquiry- the mining community, supported by documentation- 'Notes sur Anzin'. Secondly, he carried out an experiment, in this instance by introducing Etienne as catalyst into the substance, and thirdly, he observes the results of this experiment. As explicitly laid out in "Le Roman exp'rimental", Zola claims: "'si la m'thode experimentale conduit ' la connaissance de la vie physique, elle doit conduire aussi ' la connaissance de la vie passionnelle et intellectuelle." Zola argued that just as science was on the way to explaining the laws of the physical world, so novelists could do the same by explaining the laws of human behaviour. Germinal is a fictional story based on fact. In this respect it incorporates and illustrates an abundance of information from documentary sources such as the'Notes sur Anzin', and 'l'ouvrage du Dr Bo'ns Boisseau' which Zola refers to continuously in his footnotes, in order to educate the reader on illnesses unique to the mining community. In fact, Zola's preparatory research on life in the mining community was so thorough that Zola is able to transfer his knowledge in a highly descriptive style, by paying attention to major and minor authentic details. In addition to this true representation of the harsh realities of nineteenth century working class life, the events in Germinal, namely the strike, are very close to events that occurred in reality. One example of this is the words yelled by the strikers, which Zola had taken from newspaper accounts of the violence that occurred during the stikes at la Ricamarie and Aubin in 1869. Futhermore, Zola was influenced by the ideas of Marx and Darwin. Therefore one could argue that the characters evolve according to the environment which they have been subjected to, and that their characterisation should not be regarded as fictional. Bonnemort for example has only ever inherited hunger and hard conditions. Thus his strangling of C'cile is symbolic of a reaction to this. Characters in Germinal are therefore products of natural and social forces. There is not the same unpredictability that would be present in a wholly fictional work where the characters can be more diverse. In addition to this, Zola confirms the naturalist theory because his characters fit into certain social groups true to the time and Zola clearly represents the hierarchy present in social categories. For example, amongst the proletariat, la Pierrone is more highly regarded by the bourgeoisie than les Maheus due to the quality of her house keeping. Consequently, when officials from the mining company show their colleagues around the village Deux-Cent-Quarante, they prefer to show them round la Pierrone's house. "On les conduisait droit chez celle-l', parce que c''tait propre." On a smaller scale one can also observe the staff working at the Gr'goires where M'lanie, la cuisini're, is at the top of the hierarchy. "M'lanie r'gnait la cuisine'" Moreover, the characters in Germinal personify a genuine historical current. Souvarine for example is an anarchist and represents the opposition to socialist and dictatorial regimes. He speaks to Rasseneur and Etienne in favour of a bloody revolution. Despite much criticism it can also be argued that the abundance of poetic devices or symbolism in Germinal support the theory of naturalism as it aims to convey messages true to the reality of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In this sense it is not destroying the factual approach to writing. For example, the bloodstain on Catherine's shirt after the troops fire at the strikers is not only a signal of the advent of puberty, but also of the progression of the working class to a higher, possibly more fecund stage of revolutionary development. So one could choose to accept Zola as a naturalist where poetic devices interpret ideas such as the rise and fall of the proletariat. Moreover, Philip Walker views such devices as necessary in order that naturalism or factualism is truly successful. "..reality can only be explored through our nerves. The Novel bombards us with sensations. The story is, indeed, largely presented to us through them." Contrary to these ideas, some critics would argue that Germinal is anything but scientific. According to Philip Walker, Germinal reveals the ambiguity of Zola's philosophical ideas. So apart from trying to recreate a fictional version of the reality of the nineteenth century, he suggests that Zola wishes to gain the sympathy of the reader for the injustices done to the working classes and also conveys his pessimistic thoughts of the dark side of life and humanity. Walker argues that the light at the end of the novel is only a dream and serves to bring out through contrast, the darkness of the reality of the miners' defeat. The reader can also explore Zola's portrayal of the dark side of humanity through Chaval's lust, jealousy and anger; in his fight for Catherine; and Maigrat's lust and greed in handing bread to women only in return for his sexual gratification. Zola also portrays the evils of humanity such as hardship and poverty and misery. "Le vent passait avec sa plainte, comme un cri de faim et de lassitude venu des profondeurs de la nuit." One could argue however that Zola portrays the strength of the working classes. One of the many striking examples is the strength of one of the youngest of the Maheu family, Alzire, who, although she is dying, still prefers to be sensitive to the feelings of her family. " Alzire non plus ne disait rien, t'chait de ne pas trembler, pour leur 'viter de la peine." Nevertheless, in presenting not only pessimistic but also optimistic views, Zola's thoughts are ambiguous, and are not compatible with a scientific and documentary style of writing. One can also assert that the poetic devices used by Zola blur the evocation of fact- an argument which would contradict Naturalism. His style of writing is more than realism, it is a form of poetry (symbolism, imagery and lyricism) which serves to create Zola's epic narration and description. Ruth B. Antosh disagrees that Zola is a naturalist because of his use of symbolism. On several occasions Zola uses anthropomorphism to refer to the mine as a devouring monster. Not only does he refer to the mine as a 'b'te goulue', or a 'monstre', the name of the mine itself, 'Le Voreux', has been chosen to evoke words such as 'd'vorer' and 'vorace'. The seams of coal are presented as the intestines of the monster, 'veines de l'houille' and the air pumps as 'la respiration' of the monster. The collapse of the mine is like a death scene as the beast staggers to the ground, ' la b'te mauvais [..] venait de couler ' l'ab'me.' Although this latter image of 'Le voreux' devouring and consuming itself personifies the power of the bourgeoisie being crushed, it is still a poetic device and requires the reader to read between the lines. In the same way, it can be argued that Zola's prophecy of the events of the twentieth century are also expressed poetically and not scientifically. Souvarine's pet rabbit 'Pologne' for example, was eaten on the last day of the strike. This prophecy of Poland being eaten up by Russia is only expressed through poetry. Furthermore, despite the fact that the miners lose the strike, Zola, through his use of metaphors, is able to envisage an optimistic future for the working classes. "Une arm'e poussait des profondeurs des fosses une moisson de citoyens dont la semence germait et ferait 'clater la terre, un jour de grand soleil." In conclusion, it is clear that the Naturalist theory, defined as the exact and scientific description of social reality, is unmistakeable in Zola's Germinal. Zola's method is similar to that of a scientist carrying out an experiment and introducing catalysts in order to observe human behaviour. He draws his material from documentary sources. In particular, his research on medical problems in the mining community, and the events in Germinal serve to illustrate the rise and fall of the proletariat. Characters fit into social categories and the characters themselves represent a genuine historical current. The individual developments of characters can also be supported by existing theories from Marx and Darwin where characters evolve according to their environment and heredity. In this respect the characters are denied the free will of purely fictional characters. There are, however, elements of Zola, which serve to contradict the naturalist theory. Namely, the ambiguity of his philosophical ideas, such as his pessimistic and optimistic views of humanity, where Zola either provokes sympathy in the reader for the harsh conditions of the miners, or respect for their inner-strengths when faced with struggle. Moreover, the poetic symbolism, imagery and lyricism are so abundant that Zola's style is very unlike the documentary type of fiction that one would expect from the naturalist theory. Zola's description of 'Le Voreux' is highly poetic and his prophetic imagery and vision of the proletariat rising forth is only achieved through this poetic style and device. However, Germinal is one of Zola's greatest achievements and the most successful of the Rougon-Macquart collection, and it owes this success to the combination of his scientific approach and poetic style of writing. It would seem that Zola enhances his capacity to depict social reality through his extended use of poetic devices. This observation does not contradict naturalist theory, for in doing so he evokes a more sophisticated representation of reality. As a fiction writer a naturalist should be able to use the power of language to describe reality. For Zola, this reality consists of universally recognisable facts, but also elements that are ambiguous- and thus open to interpretation- just like Zola's poetry. Thus, Zola's achievements as a writer confirm the naturalist theory and go beyond it; he not only depicts the black and the white, but also the grey in between. Andre Antoine One of the most influential figures in the theatre of the twentieth century began as a frustrated amateur. In 1886 Andr' Antoine was working at the Paris Gas Company when he became a member of a conservative Parisian amateur theatre group which called itself the Cercle Galois. Unhappy with the programming and production methods of the group, Antoine managed, after about a year, to get the group to agree to allow him to produce a program of new plays. But when they discovered that one of the plays on his first program was to include a play based on a novel by the controversial Emile Zola (famous for his participation in the prosecution of the Dreyfus affair), the Cercle withdrew its sponsorship. Undaunted, Antoine persuaded the building owner to rent him the space; he could afford rental for only a single performance, but he proceeded with his plan, and, like Shakespeare's Bottom, played the lead in one of the plays (the Zola Jacques Damour) and took on all the responsibility for production personally carting his mother's furniture across town for one of the sets. Calling his effort the Th''tre Libre, Antoine threw himself into the effort with the zeal of a passionate amateur. One of the "new" playwrights on the bill was Paul Alexis, a columnist for a Parisian daily, who publicized the program. Other papers followed suit. Zola himself attended a dress rehearsal and was sufficiently impressed to bring a group of friends to the performance March 30 1887. Only Jacques Damour was well received by the audience, but the critical response encouraged Antoine to continue and a second program which included a naturalistic one-act by Oscar M'tenier called In the Family. The critics were impressed by the productions, though the plays were cooly received. Encouraged by the critical response, Antoine left the gas company for good. In order to avoid censorship and be able to perform unlicensed and perhaps even unlicensable plays, the Th''tre Libre was a members-only, private organization. During its relatively brief existence, the Th''tre Libre presented one-hundred-eighty-four plays in sixty-two programs and introduced around seventy new authors. But financial ill- management born of artistic preoccupations doomed the project. During most of its existence, each program was performed only once. Even when the Th''tre Libre was most popular, no more than three performances were staged one of which was for a comped house. Since the theatres used were small (the largest was 800 seats), ticket revenues could never match the expenses of the high production standards demanded by Antoine and by the time he left the organization in 1894, it was in debt more than 100,000 francs. In 1897 he founded the Th''tre Antoine, where he repeated his artistic successes from the Th''tre Libre for 10 years. He was director (1906-14) of the prestigious Od'on in Paris and after World War I until his death he abandoned active production and became a critic, playing a sort of grand old man of the theatre holding forth on matters critical, dramaturgical and theoretical. More an implementor than an innovator, Antoine led the way to popularize managerial methods and staging techniques which are still current. He trained his actors at the Th''tre Libre in his naturalistic style and sought to rid them of what he saw as the phoniness of those trained at the Conservatoire and the excesses of elocution. Though really an eclectic embracing diverse literary styles, his emphasis on naturalistic plays and technical theatre and illusionism was his most lasting legacy. He applied naturalistic staging to even verse dramas like Bergerat's Bergamasque Night which had been conceived in imitation of commedia dell Arte. Antoine's influence was very far-reaching. The Th''tre Libre became the model for the "independent theatre" movement, which spread across Europe and led to America's "little theatre" movement which evolved into our regional not-for-profit theatres. His diaries and critical writing became the blueprint for much of the staging of the twentieth century. Read More