The idea of destiny or heredity permeates all the works of this
portentously ambitious series. Details may be repellant. One should
not "smell" a picture, as the artists say. If one does, he gets an
impression merely of a small blotch of paint. The vast canvas should
be studied as a whole. Frailties are certainly not the whole of human
nature. But they cannot be excluded from a comprehensive view of it.
The "_Rougon-Macquart_ series" did not carry Zola into the Academy.
But the reputation of Moliere has managed to survive a similar
exclusion, and so will the fame of Zola, who will be bracketed with
Balzac in future classifications of artistic excellence. For
twenty-two years, from _La Fortune des Rougon_, in 1871, to _Docteur
Pascal_ in 1893, the series continued to focus the attention of the
world, and Zola was the most talked about man in the literature of the
epoch. _La Fortune des Rougon_ was introductory. _La Curee_ discussed
society under the second Empire. _Le Ventre de Paris_ described the
great market of Paris. _La Conquete de Plassans_ spoke of life in the
south of France. _La Faute de l'Abbe Mouret_ treated of the results of
celibacy. _Son Excellence Eugene Rougon_ dealt with official life.
_L'Assommoir_ was a tract against the vice of drunkenness. Some think
this the strongest of the naturalist series. Its success was
prodigious. In this the marvellous talent of Zola for minute
description is evinced. _Une Page d'Amour_ (A Love Episode) appeared
in 1878. Of _Nana_, 1880, three hundred thousand copies were quickly
sold. _Pot-Bouille_ portrayed the lower _bourgeoisie_ and their
servants. _Au Bonheur des Dames_ treated of the great retail shops.
_La Joie de Vivre_ came in 1884. _Germinal_ told of mining and the
misery of the proletariat. _L'Oeuvre_ pictured the life of artists and
authors. _La Terre_ portrayed, with startling realism, the lowest
peasant life. _Le Reve_, which followed, was a reaction. It was a
graceful idyl. _Le Reve_ was termed "a symphony in white," and was