Emil Zola's book "Trap" made a lot of noise during the first publications. Some called it pornography, others admired the courage and frankness of the story. Even today, the work causes a lot of controversy about its value and super-task. Further in the article - interesting information about Zola’s book "Trap" and a brief summary.
About the book
Roman Zola's "Trap" is the seventh work in a huge twenty-volume cycle called "Rogon-Maccara". The first publication of The Trap took place in 1877. It was with this book that the period of loud, ubiquitous and extremely scandalous fame of the writer began. He was scolded and deified, asked to ban, and circulated the novel in volumes unprecedented for that time. About thirty times the book was published in the shortest period after publication, and it was also Zola's first novel, translated immediately into several foreign languages. The reason for its popularity was unprecedented naturalism for its time, revealing the ins and outs of the life of the French proletariat, mired in alcoholism, violence, profligacy and poverty.
about the author
Emil Zola (years of life 1840-1902) was born and died in Paris. This French writer was at the forefront of naturalism in literature, being the leader and popularizer of this trend. In his works, he tried to show the degradation of French society during the Bonapartist Second Empire, when the rich prospered, and the poor, trying to keep up with them, were even lower than before. It is curious that in Russia, Zola's work began to enjoy success earlier than in his native France. In the Russian Empire, even his earliest works were already successful. After the 1917 revolution in the territory of Soviet Russia, Emil Zola became the first singer of the disadvantaged proletariat in bourgeois countries, but by the age of 30-40 he was unofficially prohibited due to frank scenes in his novels.
Summary
"Trap" Zola begins with a description of the main character of the novel - Gervaise McCar, and her life. She lives in a wretched little room with her lover, Auguste Lantier, and her two sons: Claude of eight years and Etienne of four. Lantier treats a woman very rudely, steals and sells her clothes, after which she leaves with another mistress to put money on the proceeds. Zhervez seeks solace in the Trap, where a local roofer named Kupo confesses her love and offers to get married. They play a modest wedding, in which, it seems, there is not a single person happy for the newlyweds - all the relatives and friends of Kupo and Zherveza are quarrelsome, constantly scolding gossips. From sister Cupo, Madame Lorille, Gervaise receives the nickname "Lame."
Spouses spend four years in labor and savings. They have a daughter, Nana. Gervaise dreams of her own laundry, diligently runs a household. Kupo is hardworking, kind and caring for his wife and daughter. Everything changes at the moment when during the operation Kupo falls from the roof and barely survives. All the family’s savings go to his treatment, but the good neighbor of the spouses, the blacksmith Gouger, secretly in love with Gervaise, lends her 500 francs, and she opens the laundry room.
Thanks to the fulfillment of her cherished dream, a woman becomes prettier and does not pay attention to gossip about her and Gougu. Meanwhile, Cupo is gradually recovering, but he is not the same person as before - he is no longer interested in work, he lounges and drinks for days on end. His wife also becomes infected with laziness and alcoholism, gradually overgrowing debts and at the same time arranging constant feasts to show everyone that their affairs are going well.
On the day of Gervaisa Coupe's return from the "Trap" in an embrace with Lantier, about which almost nothing has been heard all this time. He begins to live with his spouses. Goucher offers Gervaise to leave such a life, however, she does not want to leave her family and laundry, although she loves the blacksmith. Soon between her and Lantier, a sexual relationship is being revived.
Upon learning of the relationship between Gervaisa and Lantier, Gouguer falls ill with grief. Laundry in decline, drunk Lantier and Cupo beat Gervaise every now and then. Soon, the couple was forced to move to the closet on the outskirts, since there was practically nothing for them and the children to live. Now Coupo beats not only his wife, but also his daughter, suspecting that she is a prostitute.
Soon Nana leaves the house, and Gervaise herself goes to the panel. A prostitute and an alcoholic, she literally dies of hunger, but still does not find the strength to commit suicide. Kupo dies after another booze right in the "West", a few months later his wife dies. Quote from the book:
Death carried her away little by little, in parts; that vile existence that Gervaise had prepared for herself was drawing to a close. No one knew properly why she died. Everyone said his own thing, but the truth was that it perished from poverty, from dirt and fatigue, from an unbearable life. Dying of her own swine, as Lorille said. One morning a foul smell spread in the corridor, and the neighbors remembered that for two days Gervaisa had not been seen; when they entered her closet, she was already decomposing.
The novel ends with the funeral of the main character - on the last journey only an old acquaintance, a drunkard from Zapadn, came to conduct her.
Scandalous book scenes
The first shocking scene of the novel is the laundry scene - Gervèze enters into a fight with Virginie, Adele’s girlfriend, with whom Lantier went off to work together. Women scold, fight, and the end of the fight of Gervais removes the trousers from the opponent and, with all, slaps her buttocks with a knocker.
The wedding of Gervaisa and Cupo is one of the most famous scenes in the work of Emil Zola. This is not a joyful event, but an ordinary drinking party, in which everyone - on purpose or by chance - manages to insult the newlyweds.
The stage of childbirth, in which Nana appears, is described by the author with special cynicism - between the contractions of Gervais, he continues to clean and fry the cutlets. Quote from the book:
Well, from what she gives birth? This does not mean that you need to leave Coupo without lunch! But she barely had time to put a bottle of wine; she didn’t have enough strength to get to the bed - she fell to the floor and gave birth right there, right on the mat.
One of the most unpleasant scenes of the novel is when Gervaise and Lantier return home from the Trap and discover a room in the vomit of a drunk Cupo. With anger, the woman agrees to surrender to her former lover and, right in front of little Nana, is hiding in his room.
"Trap"
Emil Zola entitled this novel by the same name as the tavern, in which almost all the tipping points of the work take place. He wanted to emphasize that for the weak spirit of the poor, the main trap are all such institutions, calling for an idle life in debauchery and alcoholism, leading away from work and family values.
Key actors
- Gervesa McCar - the main character of the "Trap" Zola. This is a middle-aged, slender, battered woman, limping on one leg. She works as a laundress and is the mother of two, and then three children. The main problem of Gervaisa is her vanity - she cannot accept the problems surrounding her and prefers to put up with hard drinking and poverty, instead of fighting and changing the current situation.
- Cupo is a roofer, the husband of Gervaisa. At the beginning of the work, he is a hardworking man and a caring family man, but his character breaks down after an injury.
- Auguste Lantier - lover and cohabitant of Gervaisa. Insolent, cruel person with hedonic outlook on life.
- Gouger is a blacksmith, neighbor of the Coupo couples, secretly in love with Gervaise. The most positive character of the whole novel.
- Nana is the daughter of Gervaise and Coupo, a “vicious child,” as Zola writes about her. She leaves home, works as a prostitute and blames the mother, who set a bad example, for everything.
Criticism
Already during the very first publication in the Paris newspapers "Trap" Zola was severely criticized by writers, which attracted the attention of even the simplest ordinary people to the novel. The book was called pornographic, dirty and disgusting, and the writer himself - a rude, laughing and mocking his reader. The most authoritative opponent of the book was Victor Hugo.
Those few who defended the book cited Gustave Flaubert and his book Madame Bovary as an example. Twenty years before the publication of Zapadnaya Zola, Flaubert was just as cruelly criticized for the scene of Emma’s passing. Filled with a much larger number of detailed abominations, the Trap was defended with the words: "Twenty years have passed since Bovary, but his contemporaries are still scared from the bottom up."
Reader Reviews
Modern readers, as before, cannot agree on the book Zola's Trap. Someone is still shocked by the extreme frankness of the book, deeper readers are scared of the times themselves, which the author just described in detail. Here is what some anonymous readers of the book write on the literary website: "It is not clear why Zola himself was blamed for the novel? Was it he who was to blame for such a life and such mores? Those who abuse the work simply do not want to face the truth."
Adaptations
In 1931, the film "Fight" was released in the United States, freely retelling the plot of "Trap". All characters and storylines are adapted to the American realities of the late 20s.
The only true film adaptation of Zola's Trap is the 1956 film Gervaise. It was shot by the famous French director Rene Clement. The plot of the book is not shown verbatim, and there are significant differences from the book, however, all the main lines and characters are preserved, as well as the mood of the book. The main roles were played by Maria Shell, Francois Perrier and Jacques Arden. The film was nominated for an Oscar as the best in a foreign language, received BAFTA awards (best film and best foreign actor), Bambi (best foreign actress) and Venice Film Festival prize for directing.
In addition to film versions, from the moment the book was released, theatrical productions of The Trap were regularly performed - not only as ordinary performances, but also as an opera. There are also many audio versions of the work in different languages. In one of these productions in the original language, the main role was voiced by the famous actress Simone Signoret.
Related books
As mentioned above, the "Trap" Zola is part of a cycle. Most of the works are little related, but this book has a previous and subsequent history. In the first novel of the cycle, which is called "Career of the Rugon," briefly mentions the main character of the "Trap" Gervaise McCar. A short episode tells how she fled from her native village to settle with Lantier in a poor area of Paris.
The ninth novel of the cycle is called “Nana” and, as the reader might already have guessed, tells the story of the fate of the daughter of Zherveza and Kupo. Since "Nana" is one of the most famous works of the writer, some publishers publish this novel together with "Trap", where they call the novel "a preface to" Nana. "