Zola's Works
"Publicité pour Thérèse Raquin." Wikimedia Commons, 1867.
Émile Zola is most well known in the theatre world for his contributions to naturalism. Sometimes known as the “father of naturalism”, Zola wrote the movement’s first manifesto called “Le Roman experimental” which propelled the artistic style in 1879. His naturalist theory initially focused solely on novels, where his artistry was focused, but the theory soon moved to the theatre when he published “Naturalism on the Stage” in 1881.
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Zola came from a scientific background, having focused on the sciences in school, and he was especially influenced by Darwinism and human determination. The movement really rose out of the increased study of the real. Scientific determinism was a huge part of his version of naturalism. He believed that “the power of the novel [is] to show how men’s passions and spiritual lives are likewise governed by strict laws and how those laws are liable to work out in particular circumstances” (Bloom 223). He thought that a character should be put through trials and tribulations as a form of experimentation of human nature, and that the dramatist’s main goal should be to depict social wrongdoings to bring these problems out into the open. He wanted to see how a character would react most naturally to those detrimental situations. In his essay “Naturalism on the Stage” he wrote, “I invent nothing because I think it is more useful to obey the impulses of humanity” (Zola 693). He firmly believed that humans are trapped in larger forces that they are not able to control and thus, they are unable to steer their own destinies (scientific determinism).
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At this time, realism was rising to popularity. Zola believed that realism did not show all aspects of life because realist plays did not deal with the grotesque and the gloomy. Zola created naturalism ​partly to show the tragic things that
happen in life which sometimes, left naturalist plays to be perceived as dramatic and depressing. There are no high points in naturalist plays to counter the upsetting lows. Another observation Zola made about the realists was that realist playwrights were like a “camera”. They only captured a story in their plays, whereas naturalist playwrights experimented with their main character – a naturalist playwright gets to “construct” (Bloom 224).
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Zola himself only wrote one play which was Thérèse Raquin (1873), based on his novel written five years prior. When it came to theatre, Zola was much more a theorist than a playwright.
Works Cited:
Berg, William J. “Émile Zola.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 23 Mar. 2018, www.britannica.com.
Bloom, Harold, and Anthony Savile. “Naturalism and the Aesthetic.” Émile Zola, Chelsea House, 2004.