Nana
Nana by Émile Zola, published by Oxford University Press in 2020, is a 386-page novel that explores the life of a captivating figure in Parisian society. The story follows Nana, the daughter of a drunk and a laundress, who rises to fame as a high-class prostitute and actress. Set against the backdrop of the 1867 World Fair, the narrative delves into themes of societal hypocrisy and moral decay, as Nana’s allure leads to the downfall of many men, particularly Count Muffat, Chamberlain to the Empress.
Readers will find a vivid portrayal of Nana’s life as she navigates the complexities of fame and desire, ultimately facing the consequences of her extravagant lifestyle. The novel serves as the ninth installment in Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series, reflecting the excesses of the Second Empire regime. Through Nana’s journey, Zola critiques the moral corruption of society while hinting at the broader implications of female sexuality during this tumultuous period. This edition presents a significant work in the realms of fiction and literary criticism, inviting readers to engage with Zola’s incisive observations on human nature and societal structures.
Official synopsis Publisher
‘She was the golden beast, an unconscious force, the very scent of her could bring the world to ruin.’
Nana, daughter of a drunk and a laundress, is the Helen of Troy of Paris. A sexually magnetic high-class prostitute and actress, she becomes a celebrity, rapidly conquering society, ruining all men who fall under her spell-especially Count Muffat, Chamberlain to the Empress. Nana herself meets a terrible fate, consumed by her own dissipation and extravagance, just as the disastrous war with Prussia is declared.
Nana is the ninth instalment in the twenty volume Rougon-Macquart series. The novel opens in 1867, the year of the World Fair, when Paris, thronged by a cosmopolitan elite, was la Ville Lumiere, the glittering setting-and object-of Zola’s scathing denunciation of society’s hypocrisy and moral corruption. Nana comes to symbolize the Second Empire regime itself in all its excesses; but in the final chapters, the narrator seems to suggest that the coming disaster not so much as a result of the corruption of the Empire, as of rampant female sexuality.
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