The Mother Figure in Émile Zola’s Les Rougon-macquart: Literary Realism and the Quest for the Ideal Mother

Hennessy (French, Missouri Western State U.) explores new territory in this study of Zola’s maternal figures by arguing that Zola’s overt goal of depicting reality is often accompanied by narration that casts doubt upon maternal behavior. She begins by addressing a paradox in the Rougon-Macquart the fact that very few of the many mothers in the 20 novels are protagonists and that fewer still speak their minds. Ultimately Hennessy studies the moments when maternal figures speak and she draws attention to the narrative devices Zola uses to transmit their voices. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)