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I
will be posting a detailed synopsis of the story soon, but for the time
being, I have posted on this page descriptions of the story from the
famous novel. Note: 'spoiler' alert! Reviews of the screenplay are not
yet available.
Novel by Emile Zola, first published serially as Un Mariage d'Amour in
1867 and published in book form with the present title in the same year.
Believing that an author must simply establish his characters in their
particular environment and then observe and record their actions as if
conducting an experiment, Zola nonetheless adopted a highly moral,
unscientific tone in this grisly novel, the first to put his
"analytical method" into practice. The sensual Therese and her
lover Laurent murder her weak husband Camille. After marrying, they are
haunted by Camille's ghost, and their passion for each other turns to
hatred. Conservative readers accused Zola of prurience; the novel,
however, illustrates the author's belief that sexual pleasure leads only
to brutality and destruction. ~~Merrian-Webster Encyclopedia of
Literature
Emile Zola's seminal work of naturalistic fiction caused an
international scandal when published in 1867. Zola's blunt, unprettified
representation of the most sordid elements of life--infidelity, murder,
madness and suicide--seemed revolutionary in the context of his time.
Especially remarkable was Zola's gritty portrayal of his eponymous
central character Therese, a brilliantly radical departure from the
simpering female prototypes of Victorian convention. ~~ F.
Kathleen Foley, LA Times
Talking with Liz Smith for today's New York Post, actress Kate Winslet
revealed she's heading into very dark territory in her next film
"Therese Raquin". Based on the 1867 Emile Zola novel, the
story follows a sensual woman named Therese and her lover Laurent who
plot to kill her weakling husband Camille. After the deed is done
however, Camille's ghost begins to haunt them and the pair's passion for
each other turns to hatred - all boiling down to a shocking
ending. ~~Dark Horizons, October 19, 1999
Zola's Therese Raquin caused an international scandal when published in
1867. His blunt representation of infidelity, murder, madness and
suicide seemed too revolutionary for its time. The story has everything
a classic should have: great use of language, style, insights into human
feeling and conflict. A dark and grizzly horror story. ~~Bare
Faced Cheek Theatre Review
Emile Zola's Therese Raquin (1867) is the story of two adulterous lovers
(Laurent and Therese) who, for very French reasons (ennui), decide to
murder her husband (Camille). They pull off the murder, and after a
suitable period of mourning, Laurent moves in with Therese and her
unsuspecting mother-in-law. The remaining 150 pages is about their
suffering. Therese and Laurent are slowly driven insane by their
repressed guilt over the murder. Camille's dying act was to bite Laurent
on the neck--and Laurent worries this bite the way Lady Macbeth washes
her hands. One of the earliest examples of naturalism, the book caused a
scandal when it was published, and you can see why--the gore, the
brutality, the lack of sincere feeling on the part of any character. I
loved it!
From Therese Raquin: "Day by day the situation between husband and
wife became more strained and untenable. At any moment a single spark
would blow everything up...For them everything led to panic and
suffering. They lived in an inferno, hurting each other, turning
everything they did and said into bitterness and cruelty, each trying to
push the other into the abyss yawning at their feet, and at the same
time falling in. Of course each of them had thought about
separation...But they neither dared to run away nor could. It seemed
impossible not to go on rending each other to pieces, not to stay there
suffering and inflicting suffering. They were possessed by a lust for
hatred and cruelty." ~~"Hometown"
Laurent, the seducer, resolves only to start his affair with Therese
when he is "certain in his own mind that he really had something to
gain.'' He ponders what he is about to do and reflects that "it was
a long time since he had last satisfied his appetites." Once the
affair begins, Laurent is nervous, but "Therese had no such doubts.
She gave herself to him unsparingly, going straight where her passion
led." At one point, the cautious Laurent remonstrates with the
passionate Therese that she is too noisy in lovemaking: "For
heaven's sake ... don't make such a racket." ~~James Wood, The New
Republic
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