Thérèse Raquin

Thérèse Raquin
Written by Émile Zola
Date premiered 1867 / 1873
Original language French
Genre Naturalism, theatrical naturalism, psychological novel

Thérèse Raquin [teʁɛz ʁakɛ̃] is a novel (first published in 1867) and a play (first performed in 1873) by the French writer Émile Zola. The novel was originally published in serial format in the journal L'Artiste and in book format in December of the same year.

Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by an overbearing aunt who may seem to be well-intentioned but in many ways is deeply selfish. Thérèse's husband, Camille, is sickly and egocentric, and when the opportunity arises, Thérèse enters into a turbulent and sordidly passionate 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".[1] Because of this detached and scientific approach, Thérèse Raquin is considered an example of naturalism.

Though Zola's third novel, it was his first to earn wide fame and made his reputation though the novel's adultery and murder were considered scandalous, and famously described as "putrid" in a review for Le Figaro.

Plot summary

Thérèse Raquin is the daughter of a French sea-captain and an Algerian mother. After the death of her mother, her father brings her to live with her aunt, Madame Raquin, and her valetudinarian son, Camille. Because her son is "so ill", Madame Raquin dotes on Camille to the point where he is selfish and spoiled. Camille and Thérèse grow up side-by-side, and Madame Raquin marries them to one another when Thérèse is 21. Shortly thereafter, Camille decides that the family should move to Paris so he can pursue a career.

Thérèse and Madame Raquin set up shop in the Passage du Pont Neuf to support Camille while he searches for a job. Camille eventually begins working for the Orléans Railway Company, where he meets up with a childhood friend, Laurent. Laurent visits the Raquins and decides to take up an affair with the lonely Thérèse, mostly because he cannot afford prostitutes any more. However, this soon turns into a torrid love affair.

They meet regularly and secretly in Thérèse's room. After some time, Laurent's boss no longer allows him to leave early, and so the two lovers have to think of something new. Thérèse comes up with the idea of killing Camille. They eventually drown him during a boat trip, though in defending himself Camille succeeds in biting Laurent on the neck. Madame Raquin is in shock after hearing the disappearance of her son and everybody believes that the drowning was an accident and that the couple actually attempted to save Camille. Laurent is still uncertain about whether Camille is truly dead and frequently visits the mortuary, where he finally finds the dead Camille. Thérèse has nightmares and is very subdued, so Michaud—one of the regular visitors of the family—comes up with the idea that Thérèse should marry again and that the ideal husband would be Laurent. They marry but they are haunted by the memory of the murder they have committed. They have hallucinations of the dead Camille in their bedroom every night, preventing them from touching each other and quickly driving them insane. Laurent, who is an artist, can no longer paint a picture (even a landscape) which does not in some way resemble the dead man. They also have to look after Madame Raquin, who has suffered a stroke after Camille's death. Madame Raquin suffers a second stroke and becomes completely paralyzed (except for her eyes), after which Thérèse and Laurent reveal the murder in her presence during an argument.[2]

During an evening's game of dominoes with friends, Madame Raquin manages to move her finger with an extreme effort of will to trace words on the table: "Thérèse et Laurent ont ...". The complete sentence was intended to be "Thérèse et Laurent ont tué Camille" (Thérèse and Laurent killed Camille). At this point her strength gives out, and the words are interpreted as "Thérèse and Laurent look after me very well".

Eventually, Thérèse and Laurent find life together intolerable and plot to kill each other. At the climax of the novel, the two are about to kill one another when each of them realizes the plans of the other. They each then break down sobbing and reflect upon their miserable lives. After having embraced one last time, they each commit suicide by taking poison, all in front of the watchful gaze of Madame Raquin.

Characters

Major themes

Punishment/Imprisonment

Throughout the book there are references to chains, cages, tombs, and pits. These contribute to the impression that Laurent and Thérèse are in a state of remorse and are plagued by guilt. The book mentions how they are always clawing at the chains that bound them together. The shop that Thérèse owns is compared to a tomb, where Thérèse watches corpses walk by in the day.

Temperaments

In his preface to the second edition, Zola writes that he intended to "study temperaments and not characters." To his main characters, he assigns various humors according to Galen's Four Temperaments: Thérèse is melancholic, Laurent is sanguine, Camille is phlegmatic, and Madame is choleric. For Zola, the interactions of these types of personalities could only have the result that plays out in his plot.

Human beast

Also in his preface, Zola calls both Thérèse and Laurent "human brutes," and the characters are often given animal tendencies. Zola would take up this idea again in his La Bête humaine of 1890.

Mechanical man

Similar to the human beast who acts based on instinct, the mechanical man acts like an "unthinking machine."[3]

Literary significance and reception

Thérèse Raquin is generally considered to be Zola's first major work.

Upon its release in 1867, Thérèse Raquin was a commercial and artistic success for Zola; this lead to a reprint in book form in 1868. It gained additional publicity when critic Louis Ulbach (pen name: Ferragus) called Thérèse Raquin "putrid" in a long diatribe for Le Figaro,[4] upon which Zola capitalized for publicity and to which he referred in his preface to the second edition.

Adaptations

Film, TV, radio, theatrical

Zola adapted the novel into a play, first staged in 1873. It was not performed in London until 1891, under the auspices of the Independent Theatre Society, since the Lord Chamberlain's Office refused to license it.

Stage productions include:

The novel was made into several films, including:

An opera based on the novel has been written by the composer Michael Finnissy. Another opera Thérèse Raquin by Tobias Picker opened in 2000.

The novel was also made into a Broadway musical entitled Thou Shalt Not, with music composition by Harry Connick, Jr..

The novel (rewritten in the hard-boiled crime style of James M. Cain) was the basis of the play The Artificial Jungle by Charles Ludlam.

Neal Bell adapted the novel into a play under the same title. It was first produced at New York University by Playwrights Horizons Theatre School on December 3, 1991, directed by Edward Elefterion, with Katie Bainbridge as the title role. Its first professional production was at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on June 30, 1993, directed by Michael Greif, with Lynn Hawley as Thérèse. On July 10, 1994, Michael Greif, in conjunction with La Jolla Playhouse in California, put up the West Coast premiere with Paul Giamatti in the role of Camille. Its professional New York premiere was on October 27, 1997, at the Classic Stage Company, directed by David Esbjornson, with Elizabeth Marvel as Thérèse. The Los Angeles premiere was directed by Charlie Stratton, with Leslie Hope as Thérèse.[7]

Publication history

References

  1. ↑ Zola, Émile. "Préface de la deuxième édition." Thérèse Raquin. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1997.
  2. ↑ Pearce JM (1987). "The locked in syndrome". Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 294 (6566): 198–9. PMC 1245219 Freely accessible. PMID 3101806. doi:10.1136/bmj.294.6566.198.
  3. ↑ Thérèse Raquin
  4. ↑ Ferragus. "La littérature putride." Le Figaro, January 23, 1868.
  5. ↑ Raquin at the Roundabout
  6. ↑ http://castalbums.org/recordings/Therese-Raquin-2014-Original-London-Cast/29754#47725
  7. ↑ Bell, Neal. Thérèse Raquin. New York: Broadway Play Publishing INC., 1998.
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