Assommoir, L'. Novel by Zola, published in 1877 and considered one of his finest literary achievements. Set in a working-class district in the north of Paris, it is the seventh of the Rougon-Macquart series and tells of the misfortunes of Gervaise, a laundress, the daughter of Antoine Macquart and the mother of other significant characters in the novel cycle: Nana (in Nana), Étienne Lantier (in Germinal), Claude Lantier (in Le Ventre de Paris and L'Œuvre), and Jacques Lantier (in La Bête humaine). Abandoned by Lantier at the beginning of the novel, the virtuous and hard-working Gervaise marries a slater, Coupeau, and their household prospers for a while. A daughter, Anna, is born. But Coupeau has a dramatic fall and, disgruntled at his fate, turns to drink. Though her finances are depleted, Gervaise takes on a laundry of her own with the help of an admirer, Goujet. But, when Lantier returns and worms his way into the household, with Coupeau ever the worse for drink, the burdens of this ménage à trois, her own indulgences, and the growing hostility of her neighbours bring about Gervaise's ruin and her terrible physical and moral degradation. She also turns to drink; Coupeau dies in the throes of delirium tremens in a hospital; Anna (Nana) takes to prostitution; and Gervaise, reduced to a life of utmost squalor, dies of starvation. The novel is noteworthy for its scenes of popular life, its poignant and intense dramatic effects, its rigorous design, its symbolic and mythic configurations, and its innovative narrative techniques.
[David Baguley]
