Les descriptions vestimentaires dans trois romans de Zola: La Curée, Nana, et au Bondeur des Dames

Abstract

In La Curée, Nana, and Au Bonheur des Dames, from Émile ZoIa's Rougon MacQuart series, dress and undress are essential to the narrative. We will show that descriptions of clothing serve not only an ornemental but also a functional role. The descriptions, through symbolism and metaphor, repeatedly underline the central themes of the novel. The staging of a grand spectacle is the link between the novels and the consequent notions of illusion and reality are expressed through descriptions of clothing. In La Curée a man's status and power is reflected by the beauty of his wife's shoulders and the depth ofher plunging neckline. We witness the downfaU of Renée, the Parisian doll, whose glorious and extravagant gowns are seen as a false reflection of her husband's success. Externally, Nana is the personnification of sex, and internally she is filth which oozes to the surface, symbolically staining her gowns in a fitting metaphor for the Second Empire. Fabric and clothing permeate aIl aspects of the grand department store, the Bonheur des Dames, where clothing reveals the feelings and exposes the strengths and weaknessess of the characters just as the merchandise, from coats to corsets, is displayed for all to see. AlI is laid bare in a frenzy of dress and undress and clothing in these novels symbolizes, above all, the excess of the Second Empire.