The Kill by Émile Zola (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

By Bright Summaries

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Kill with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Kill by Émile Zola, a daring novel about the excesses and follies of the upper classes of Parisian society during the mid-19th century. It follows the lives of Aristide Saccard, a property speculator who takes great delight in swindling everyone he meets, and his wife Renée, whose loneliness and boredom lead her to embark on an affair with her own stepson, setting in motion a series of events that eventually lead to disaster. The Kill is the fourteenth instalment of Les Rougon-Macquart, an ambitious cycle of 20 novels which tells the story of one extended family under the Second French Empire. Émile Zola was the leading figure of the literary school of naturalism, as well as an influential social thinker, and is now regarded as one of France’s greatest novelists.

Find out everything you need to know about The Kill in a fraction of the time!

This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:

• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

Why choose BrightSummaries.com?

Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BrightSummaries.com
• Release date: Aug 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9782808010801

Book preview

FRENCH WRITER AND JOURNALIST

Born in Paris in 1840.

Died in Paris in 1902.

Notable works:

Nana (1880), novel

The Ladies’ Paradise (1883), novel

Germinal (1885), novel

Émile Zola was one of the most celebrated novelists of 19th century France, and is renowned as the leading figure of naturalism, a literary movement which aimed to incorporate the latest scientific innovations of the era into works of fiction. In his novels, Zola introduces a hypothesis formed following real-life observation and then tests it through experimentation. This aesthetic is exemplified by the Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels. This series of 20 books was Zola’s most significant literary output, and was hugely successful despite its many detractors.

Zola is also famous for the political stances he took, which often led to reprisals against him. The best-known of these incidents was his condemnation of the Dreyfus affair, when Zola wrote a public letter entitled J’accuse…! (I accuse, 1898) which made a significant contribution to the resolution of the affair and the eventual exoneration of Captain Dreyfus (1859-1935).

THE WORLD OF THE NOUVEAU RICHE

Genre: novel

Reference edition: Zola, É. (2004) The Kill. Trans. Nelson, B. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

1stedition: 1871

Themes: Second French Empire, corruption, decadence, women in society, nouveau riche

The Kill is the second novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, and was first published in 1871. The novel’s original French title, La Curée, refers to the specific moment during a hunt when the prey’s entrails are thrown to the dogs for them to fight over. This metaphor echoes the way the novel’s protagonist Aristide Saccard and his associates in the property speculation business fight over Paris and eventually tear it apart, using their scams and tricks to sow misery and misfortune wherever they go.

The novel focuses on the character of Aristide Saccard, who has recently moved to