The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-11


In conjunction with his friend Marius Rou,
he wrote drama based on his "Mysteres
de Marseillo," and the director Of the Gym
nase Theatre at Marseiles consented to
stage 1t. The first performance went of
fairly well, although there was little hiss
ing. but the piece was only twice played
afterward. It seems to have been the
failure Of this effort that caused lola 10
abandon for some years all hope Of making
his way as a dramatic author. Accordingly
in 1858 he transformed his rejected play
Ia Madeleine" into a novel, which he
entitled la Homie, and offered II as serial
to a newspaper. 1t was accepted, but it's
minute descriptions OF the working OF
sensual passion In q woman shocked readers,
and the publication ceased abruptly. Yet
when subsequently it was published In
book form, under the title OF Madeleine
Ferat. 1t soon went into q second edition.
! Although lola had written q highly
favorable review OF their novel, 'Germinie
Laoerteux," when the book appeared In
1865, he seems not to have met the brothers
Goncourt until more than three years after
! ward. In December, 1858. he lunched with
them at their house In Auteuil. and in the
course Of conversation expressed a keen
desire to find publisher who, for term
OF six years, would pay him sum OF 30 900
francs for eight novels in which the history
Of a family would be reoounted. This his
tory, OF course. was that OF the Rougon-
Maoquarts, which finally expandef into
series Of twenty volumes. At later date,
! namely, In August 1870, while lunching
with Edmond de Goncourt-Jules had re-
Gently died-Zola reverted TO the subject.
and declared his conviction that after
: all that had been accomplished by Flaubert
! in Madame Bovary." and after all the
analyses Of petty shades of feeling, all the
minute jewelry work, so to speak, which
had been done in literature. younger men
could only appeal to the public by the
power and the breadth Of their creations;
! In other words, they must work on large
scale. The intended inference was that
| this view OF the situation had prompted
Zolas theme of a family history. He
was not influenced, however. solely by
that consideration. The author finds the
original germ Of his idea in the projected
poetic trilogy of his youth, 4Genese, which
was to have recounted the advent, develop
ment and destiny Of mankind. That vague
scheme, suggested by tho pages of Lucre-
/ thus, had been resuscitated, transformed
and modernized, 30 to speak. by the re-
peatcd perusal Of Balzac's Coincide HUI
maine" Mr. yizetelly has also little doubt
that from the practical standpoint Of per-
sonal advantage lola was moved by the
pecuniary success Of many connected
SERIES OF books, as by those OF Erckmann-
! Chatrian for example.
! lola. for his part, however, did not pur-
| pose to W rite about the past, even the near
past. such as the First Republic and the
First Empire, which had supplied Erckmann-
Chatran with themes; his aim was to de-
! scribe contemporary manners, those OF the
then existing Second Empire. That regime
had begun in blood, and had passed through
some remarkable phases, which would pro-
vide suitable backgrounds for several
stories. Evidently, the contemplated Sc
ries must be largely record OF social and
physical degeneration. The degeneraoy
of the times, indeed, was a stock subject
OF contemporary literature. What lola
himself thought on the subject had been
indicated by him with vigorous indignation
in a newspaper article apropos OF the licen-
tious operettas OF the day. Protesting
against the cappers who went into ecstasies
when a so-called actress emphasized some
! obscene expression by her contortions, he
exclaimed: we have grown up amid shame;
we are the bastard progeny OF an acoursed
age. AS yet we have only reached jerking
of the hips and exhibition Of bosoms; but
the slope il fatal, and we shall roll down it
to the very gutter, unless we promptly
draw ourselves erect and become freemen.
OF course, the biographer does not fail
to consider the projected series-Les
Rougon- Maoquart--from another point
of view. At the very outset OF Zola's
scheme the predisposition toward certain
branches Of science which he had revealed
in youth revived. Even while he was
writing Madeleine Ferat" the question Of
hereditary influence had attracted his at
tention, and it assumed larger proportions
and greater completely when he began
to think of his contemplated family his
tory. The members Of the family in ques-
ton (like all others) would. he thought,
be affected, not only by their actual environ
ment but also by psychological conditions
coming from their progenitors. lola felt
that he must study the question carefully,
and for some months his spare time was
spent at the Bibhotheque lmperiale NOV
Nationally, where he read every book he
could discover that treated q hereditary
influence. As he himself subsequently
stated, there was among the works which
most impressed him one by scientist
now almost forgotten DR.. Prosper Lucas,
the brother cf Charles Lucas, che eminent
pioneer In criminology. 1t is, Of course.
well understood that at this time (lSos)
nobody had heard Of Prof. Weissrnann and
the school OF Neo- Darwinians who were
to deny the effect Of use and disuse upon
organs, and the transmissibilty Of &C.
auired characters. Without discussing,
however, the correctness Of the scientific
assumption which runs through the Rou-
son-M acquart books, we would note the
ARRANGEMENTS made by the author for the
publication of the series.
At the end Of 1893, lola drew up a scheme
OF his proposed Family History prepar-
ing the original genealogical tree of the
Rougon- Macquarts, which in 1878 was
inserted at the beginning OF 'Une Page
glamour" The leaves bear the names OF
twenty-six charaoters. But the series ex-