range of subject, _Son
Excellence Eugene Rougon_ is the one existing French novel which gives
the reader a fair general idea of what occurred in political spheres at
an important period of the Empire. But His Excellency Eugene Rougon
is not, as many critics and others have supposed, a mere portrait or
caricature of His Excellency Eugene Rouher, the famous Vice-Emperor of
history. Symbolism is to be found in every one of Zola's novels, and
Rougon, in his main lines, is but the symbol of a principle, or, to be
accurate, the symbol of a certain form of the principle of authority.
His face is Rouher's, like his build and his favorite gesture; but with
Rouher's words, actions, opinions, and experiences are blended those of
half a dozen other personages. He is the incarnation of that craving,
that lust for power which impelled so many men of ability to throw
all principle to the winds and become the instruments of an abominable
system of government. And his transformation at the close of the story
is in strict accordance with historical facts."

La Curee.

In this novel Aristide Saccard, who followed his brother Eugene to Paris
in the hope of sharing the spoils of the Second Empire (_La Fortune des
Rougon_), was successful in amassing a vast fortune by speculation in
building-sites. His first wife having died, he married Renee Beraud du
Chatel, a lady of good family, whose dowry first enabled him to throw
himself into the struggle of financial life. In a magnificent mansion
which he built in the Parc Monceau a life of inconceivable extravagance
began. The mushroom society of Paris was at this period the most corrupt
in Europe, and the Saccards soon came to be regarded as leaders in every
form of pleasure. Vast though their fortune was, their expenses were
greater, and a catastrophe was frequently imminent. Renee, satisfied
with prodigality of every kind, entered on an infamous liaison with her
husband's son, a liaison which Aristide condoned in order to extract
money from his wife. Rene ultimately died, leaving her husband immersed
in his feverish speculations.

The novel gives a powerful though unpleasant picture of Parisian society
in the period which followed the restoration of the Empire in 1851.

L'Argent.

After a disastrous speculation, Aristide Saccard (_La Fortune des
Rougon_ and _La Curee_) was forced to sell his mansion in the Parc
Monceau and to cast about for means of creating a fresh fortune. Chance
m