Émile Zola is considered to the big daddy of Naturalism. He's the guy who kick-started the movement in the 1860s in France, by attempting to write a new kind of novel. Zola was heavily influenced by Darwin's scientific ideas, which led him to become interested in the way that environment shapes people. He is not to be confused with Zorro, although his last name is almost as awesome.

His novel series known as Les Rougon-Macquart traces the lives of two families living through France's Second Empire. Through the exploration of these two families' fates, Balzac explored how social environment affects individuals. Zola's work was a huge inspiration for many of the Naturalists that came after him.

Thérèse Raquin (1867)

This is Zola's first major novel. It tells the tale of Thérèse, who is unhappily married (it's Naturalism—you expected happiness?) to the egotistical Camille. When the couple moves to Paris, she gets involved with Laurent, and the two lovers plot Camille's murder.

This is a great example of a Naturalist novel. Zola set out, as he says in the preface to the book, "to study temperaments and not characters." He observes and writes about his characters as though he's a scientist.

And in this, as in many of Zola's novels, we'll find the usual melodramatic unhappy ending.

Nana (1880)

Nana is one of the twenty—yep, count 'em—novels that make up Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart series. Nana is a prostitute (yes, this is going to be bleak) who begins in the slums but then slowly makes her way up the glitzy world of sex until she becomes a powerful high-class prostitute/escort.

Like Zola's other novels, Nana is a study in character and environment. Nana's moral corruption is linked to the environment in which she comes of age: she's a product of the slums, she's poor, and her character reflects the problems of her environment.

Chew On This

So how do Zola's novels reflect a "scientific" approach? Check out our discussion on the sciencey science behind Thérèse Raquin.

Zola's famous novel, Nana, is about a prostitute who comes to a tragic end. We'll find the usual Naturalist emphasis on pessimism and determinism in this novel. Delve into the novel here.