Am I my Brother's keeper? Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin as a retelling of Cain and Abel

Authors

William B. Holley, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Publication Title

RELIEF - Revue Électronique de Littérature Française

DOI

10.18352/relief.975

ISSN

1873-5045

Abstract

Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin exemplifies what the author would develop as his naturalist philosophy. This philosophy, based upon what the Zola considered to be a scientific and empirical process to understand the human condition, appears at a time in France where many different philosophical thoughts converge. This paper looks at how Zola’s declared scientific study of the “human-beast” is in fact a retelling of the Biblical tale of Cain and Abel, perhaps spurred by the confusion of the competing philosophies.

Comments

Copyright and Open Access:https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/29816

Recommended Citation

Holley, William B.. 2017. "Am I my Brother's keeper? Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin as a retelling of Cain and Abel." RELIEF - Revue Électronique de Littérature Française, 11 (2): 57-66: Utrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Uopen Journals). doi: 10.18352/relief.975 source: https://revue-relief.org/article/view/9153
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/language-facpubs/64