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Title: Fortune of the Rougons by Emile Zola ISBN: 0-86299-216-8 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1991 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $10.95

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Summary: A PROLOGUE TO THE ROUGON-MACQUART EPIC
Comment: CONTRARY TO A COMMONLY HELD VIEW THAT THIS NOVEL IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR HARD-CORE ZOLA FANS, IT IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ROUGON-MACQUART EPIC. IT IS THE FIRST ROUGON-MACQUART NOVEL AND IT PORTRAYS THE RISE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE WITH THE SAME FORCE AS ZOLA'S RENOWN NOVEL "LA DEBACLE/THE DOWNFALL" (THE NINETHEENTH IN THE ROUGON-MACQUART EPIC) PORTRAYS ITS DEMISE. HAVING SAID THAT, ONE MUST ADD THAT IN THE FRENCH LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, ZOLA'S ROUGON-MACQUART EPIC IS AS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING THE FRENCH SOCIETY UNDER NAPOLEON III AS BALZAC'S "LA COMEDIE HUMAINE/THE COMEDY OF HUMAN LIFE" IS TO UNDERSTANDING THE FRENCH SOCIETY UNDER LOUIS-PHILIPPE, EVEN THOUGH THE LATTER CONSISTS OF 97 NOVELS, WHEREAS THE FORMER CONSISTS OF ONLY 20 AND FURTHERMORE, ONLY 19 NOVELS IN THE ROUGON-MACQUART EPIC DIRECTLY REFLECT THE PERIOD IN HISTORY BETWEEN 1852 AND 1870, BECAUSE ZOLA NEEDED THE NOVEL "DOCTOR PASCAL" TO EXPRESS HIS VIEWS ON THE HEREDITY THEORY.

UNLIKE THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE ROUGON-MACQUART NOVELS, IN WHICH EVENTS TAKE PLACE IN PARIS, A SMALL SOUTHERN TOWN CALLED PLASSANS IS CHOSEN AS A SETTING. IN REALITY SUCH TOWN DOES NOT EXIST, IT IS ONLY INTENDED TO RESEMBLE A PLACE CALLED "L'AIX", WHERE ZOLA SPENT MOST OF HIS CHILDHOOD.

IT SHOWS HOW PIERRE ROUGON (THE OLDEST SON OF ADELAIDE FOUQUE) MAKES A CAREER FOR HIMSELF, HIS WIFE AND TWO OF HIS SONS DURING THE COUP D'ETAT. AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF HIS RISE, WE WITNESS A TRAGIC FATE OF HIS NEPHEW SILVERE AND SILVERE'S BELOVED MIETTA. THEY DIE YOUNG FOR THEIR IDEALS.

THE SUBSEQUENT NOVELS WILL SHOW VARIOUS SIDES OF LIFE UNDER NAPOLEON III. ADELAIDE FOUQUE'S GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN WILL EITHER BE MAIN CHARACTERS OR AT LEAST PLAY A SECONDARY ROLE IN ALL OF THEM. MANY OF THESE CHARACTERS WILL POSSESS INNATE VICES OF DIFFERENT KINDS. FOR EXAMPLE, GERVAISE MACQUART'S ADDICTION TO ALCOHOL IN "L'ASSOMOIR/THE DRAM SHOP" TOGETHER WITH DIFFERENT KINDS OF NEUROSIS DEVELOPED BY HER SONS CLAUDE ("L'OUVRE/THE MASTERPIECE") AND JACQUES ("LA BETE HUMAINE/THE BEAST IN MAN") ARE ALL HEREDETARY. THE SAME GOES FOR THE DEPRAVED NATURE OF GERVAISE'S DAUGHTER NANA IN "NANA". ADELAIDE FOUQUE'S GRANCHILDREN FRANCOIS MOURET AND MARTA ROUGON ("LA CONQUET DES PLASSANS/THE CONQUEST OF PLASSANS") DIE AFTER GOING INSANE, LIKE THEIR GRANDMOTHER.

WE LEARN FROM THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THIS NOVEL THAT NOT ONLY ADELAIDE FOUQUE HERSELF, BUT HER FATHER AS WELL WAS INSANE. THEREFORE, ADELAIDE FOUQUE IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF THE VICES THAT RUN IN THE FAMILY. NONETHELESS, THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE ROUGON-MACQUART FAMILY INCLUDED IN THE NOVEL "DOCTOR PASCAL" BEGINS WITH HER.