A study of the relations between the sexes in the novels of Emile Zola

Abstract

This thesis, submitted for the degree of M.A. in the University of Durham, and entitled A Study of the Relations between the Sexes in the Novels of Emile Zola, is of 264 pages and approximately 75,000 words in length. The thesis is intended as a broad survey of the relationships between men and women created by Emile Zola in his novels. It comprises six chapters, the last three of which are subdivided. The first chapter gives a brief review of the author's own involvement with different women. The second chapter attempts to establish to what extent such personal experiences influenced, either directly or indirectly, his fictional portrayal of relations between the sexes. The thesis continues with a discussion on the extent of Zola's indebtedness to the Romantic theme of the Fatal Woman', and its significance in his overall depiction of relationships between men and women. Chapter Four examines relations between the sexes from the point of view of the individual, and contains discussion of many of Zola’s own attitudes towards woman and the treatment she receives from her male partner. Chapter Five examines the same relationships from the point of view of society, and seeks to; determine their sociological interest and relevance. The final chapter concludes by linking the relationships already considered to the art of the novel in an assessment of their psychological, literary, and didactic interest. The thesis also arrives at a very general conclusion that, in the particular aspect of his novels under review, Zola did not reveal the same prophetic radicalism which has often been noted of his work as a whole.