9,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Serie: BrightSummaries.com
- Sprache: Englisch
Unlock the more straightforward side of The Kill with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!
This engaging summary presents an analysis of
The Kill by Émile Zola, a daring novel about the excesses and follies of the upper classes of Parisian society during the mid-19th century. It follows the lives of Aristide Saccard, a property speculator who takes great delight in swindling everyone he meets, and his wife Renée, whose loneliness and boredom lead her to embark on an affair with her own stepson, setting in motion a series of events that eventually lead to disaster.
The Kill is the fourteenth instalment of
Les Rougon-Macquart, an ambitious cycle of 20 novels which tells the story of one extended family under the Second French Empire. Émile Zola was the leading figure of the literary school of naturalism, as well as an influential social thinker, and is now regarded as one of France’s greatest novelists.
Find out everything you need to know about
The Kill in a fraction of the time!
This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection
Why choose BrightSummaries.com?
Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.
See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Seitenzahl: 33
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
Ähnliche
ÉMILE ZOLA
FRENCH WRITER AND JOURNALIST
Born in Paris in 1840.Died in Paris in 1902.Notable works:Nana (1880), novelThe Ladies’ Paradise (1883), novelGerminal (1885), novelÉmile Zola was one of the most celebrated novelists of 19th century France, and is renowned as the leading figure of naturalism, a literary movement which aimed to incorporate the latest scientific innovations of the era into works of fiction. In his novels, Zola introduces a hypothesis formed following real-life observation and then tests it through experimentation. This aesthetic is exemplified by the Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels. This series of 20 books was Zola’s most significant literary output, and was hugely successful despite its many detractors.
Zola is also famous for the political stances he took, which often led to reprisals against him. The best-known of these incidents was his condemnation of the Dreyfus affair, when Zola wrote a public letter entitled J’accuse…! (“I accuse”, 1898) which made a significant contribution to the resolution of the affair and the eventual exoneration of Captain Dreyfus (1859-1935).
THE KILL
THE WORLD OF THE NOUVEAU RICHE
Genre: novelReference edition: Zola, É. (2004) The Kill. Trans. Nelson, B. Oxford: Oxford University Press.1stedition: 1871Themes: Second French Empire, corruption, decadence, women in society, nouveau richeThe Kill is the second novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, and was first published in 1871. The novel’s original French title, La Curée, refers to the specific moment during a hunt when the prey’s entrails are thrown to the dogs for them to fight over. This metaphor echoes the way the novel’s protagonist Aristide Saccard and his associates in the property speculation business fight over Paris and eventually tear it apart, using their scams and tricks to sow misery and misfortune wherever they go.
The novel focuses on the character of Aristide Saccard, who has recently moved to Paris from the countryside. In the capital, he has adopted a lifestyle characterised by luxury, a never-ending cycle of parties and all the glamour of high society. However, his wife Renée is beset by tragedy: in a bid to give her life meaning, she embarks on an affair with her stepson Maxime, echoing the plot of the play Phèdre (1677) by Jean Racine (French playwright, 1639-1699). Their bliss is short-lived, and Renée eventually spirals into solitude, neurosis and ruin.
SUMMARY
CHAPTER I
Renée, an upper-middle-class Parisian woman, is attending a party in the Bois de Boulogne with Maxime, her husband’s son from his first marriage. She confides in him that she finds her life incredibly dreary, but he cannot understand why she feels that way: “Wherever you go, to the Tuileries, to the houses of ministers, to the houses of mere millionaires, high or low, you’re treated like a queen. There isn’t a pleasure you haven’t tasted” (p. 10). Indeed, Renée spends exorbitant amounts of money on clothes and jewellery, lives in a luxurious apartment and has servants to cater to her every whim. Nevertheless, she is starting to find her daily routine unbearable, and finds herself longing for something more – some kind of rare, unknown pleasure:
“[S]he was thinking of those fleeting delights, of those entertainments that had faded so quickly, and of which she was now so weary; she pictured her past life, the instantaneous satisfaction of her appetites, the sickening luxury, the appalling monotony of the same loves and the same betrayals.” (p. 13)
