Although this is another Zola and is part of his Rougon- Macquart family series, this book marks a distinct parting from his usual style. Far removed from Zola’s usual grinding poverty and misery, this novel has an ethereal and fairy-tale like quality, which was, upon researching, Zola’s intention for the book.
The Plot
The style of the book is partly given away in the title. Set in C19th rural France, it follows the short, almost imagined life of an orphaned girl, Angélique. Every aspect of the story has a fairy-tale quality about it- she is even found by a couple beneath a statue of St Agnes on Christmas Eve Night.
The Couple, the Hubert’s are part of an ancient family line of Embroiders. Once they adopt Angélique, they teach her to embroider too. Angélique is different, and to put it simply (in a non-alien way), isn’t ‘quite of this world’, as the title implies she lives in ‘the dream’.
The Dream
Angélique gets hold of a particular book, The Golden Legend. A medieval classic, it tells the story of the Saints, particularly a favourite for Angélique, is the stories of the Virgin Martyrs.
With her pre-existing trait for passionate outbursts, she becomes obsessed with the figures in the tales, and creates a Dream world, peopled with the spirits of the martyrs from this book.
The crux of her ‘dream’, is that she has the firm belief she will fall in love with a handsome, rich Prince.
It is difficult describe what ‘The Dream’ is in the book, as it becomes more than just the figments of Angélique’s imagination.
The whole quality of the style of writing is ‘dream-like’ and not quite grounded in reality, as the reader is drawn along in Angélique fantastical world of Spirits and passions.
Her belief in the dream is one of intense religious fervour, love and a madness for completing works of charity, to the point of obscurity. Along with achieving the wealth of marrying a Prince, she always believes there would be no greater happiness than dying young and beautiful, like the virgin martyrs in her hallucinations.
The Rougon Macquart link
Zola intended for this book to be a bit separate from his usual naturalistic style. The Naturalist literary genre, (which he largely began…), looked to scientific and more hereditary reasons for the facts of life, i.e. you are this way because of your predetermined genes/family line.
Zola’s known style and known qualities of his Rougon-Macquart series still weighs deeply within this novel, even though he probably didn’t want it too.
Although an orphan we are told of Angélique’s birth Mother, who was Sidonie Rougon, who features in previous novels from the R-M series. To run the theme of hereditary being predeterminer of fate the Rougons have the characteristics of being, passionate, with a lust for power and excess in life.
Although Zola makes clear Angélique, has not inherited qualities from her Mother’s family, it is hard to ignore the similarities when you know what to look for, nor does he decidedly ignore them.
For example, in one instance Angélique is, ‘filled with exultation as the hereditary fires within her, which seemed extinguished, flared up once more.’ (p.153)
I have a Dream
This ‘dream’, or at least falling for a Prince, does come true for her, but the reader is left at the end of the novel wondering if everything that happened wasn’t a dream within a dream, with nothing really having happened at all….??
Zola presented this novel writing about it; ‘Here’s a dream, I’m telling you as much, don’t mistake it for anything else. […] I’d have to stick in life as it never is, as it appears only in dreams, everyone decent, honest and happy…’
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