‘The civilised man within him, influenced by the power acquired through education, by the slowly erected and indestructible edifice of ideas handed down to him, revolted. Kill not!’
A jealous man, an adulterous wife, and a person suffering from an overwhelming desire to kill. These beasts in human forms are trapped and derailed by their own passions and desires. Uncontrollable impulses drive them into a murderous frenzy. The murders they commit are not only reflections of themselves but also reflections of a society that has gone out of control.
Émile Zola was a French writer best known for his Les Rougon-Macquart series of novels. He was also an important figure in the political liberalization of France during the 19th century and was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.