Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1868), his third novel and the first to gain him widespread notoriety, tells a dark tale of passion, guilt, and destruction. Raised by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin, Thérèse is forced into a loveless marriage with her sickly cousin, Camille. When the family relocates to Paris, Thérèse begins a reckless affair with Laurent, Camille’s childhood friend. Their desire quickly leads them to murder Camille, staging his death as an accident. Though they believe themselves free, guilt and paranoia consume them. Haunted by Camille’s ghost and tormented by their own conscience, Thérèse and Laurent’s passion curdles into hatred. Their marriage becomes a nightmare of violence, betrayal, and despair. When Madame Raquin—paralyzed by a stroke—learns the truth but cannot speak it, the couple unravels completely. At last, in a final act of mutual destruction, Thérèse and Laurent poison themselves under her silent gaze.
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