Gervaise, rojena za propad?

Zolajeva Beznica in položaj ženske v Franciji 19. stoletja

Lara Petra Skela (Author), Tomo Virk (Mentor)

Abstract

Diplomsko delo se skozi obravnavo Zolajevega romana Beznica - sedmega v ciklusu 20 romanov Rougon-Macquartovi - ukvarja s položajem žensk v Franciji v 19. stoletju. Natančno osvetlimo njihov slabši položaj in težave, s katerimi so se morale spopadati med tem obdobjem. Njihov položaj v takratni družbi je bil podrejen in manjvreden - ženske niso imele enakih pravic kot moški. Tekom romana spremljamo življenjsko zgodbo glavne junakinje Gervaise Macquart - perice iz najnižjega sloja - do njenega neizogibnega in žalostnega konca. Njen propad je neposredna posledica njenih okoliščin in je pogojen z okoljem in s podedovanimi lastnostmi, predvsem pijančevanjem in duševno neuravnovešenostjo. Tarejo jo številne tegobe in na koncu jo uniči preplet sil, ki jih ne more ne razumeti ne nadzirati. Skozi njeno zgodbo spremljamo stisko in trpljenje prebivalcev najnižjega sloja v času vladavine Napoleona III v Drugem francoskem cesarstvu. Življenje v Franciji v 19. stoletju je delavskemu razredu povzročalo zelo velike težave - tako moškim kot ženkam. Vendar so bile težave žensk zaradi spolne neenakosti še veliko težje od težav moških, saj so imele za njihovo reševanje manj sredstev in moči. Pogubnost pijančevanja je eden ključnih motivov v romanu. Z vdajanjem pijači ti preprosti, zapostavljeni in prikrajšani ljudje drsijo v moralno in fizično uničenje. Roman upravičeno uvrščamo v obdobje Naturalizma, ki si prizadeva prepoznati osnovne razloge za posameznikova dejanja ali prepričanja. Poglavitna ideja del, ki nastajajo v tem obdobju, je, da človeka določajo dejavniki, kot so dednost, okolje in zgodovinski trenutek (oziroma če uporabimo Tainove izraze - race, moment in milieu). Skozi obravnavo teh treh determinant smo opazovali, v kolikšni meri le-te vplivajo na Gervaise in ugotovili, da je bila kot žrtev omenjenih vplivov nezmožna uiti lastni usodi in popolnemu uničenju, ker so bili edini formativni vidiki njenega obstoja že predhodno določeni. Ker je Beznica tudi roman z zgodovinskim pomenom, je bil namen zgodovinskega prereza obdobja, v katerega je roman umeščen, osvetliti prizadevanja in borbe francoskih delavk v 19. stoletju. To so bili zelo burni časi, še zlasti zaradi industrijske revolucije. Zelo močno pa je to obdobje zaznamovala tudi spolna neenakost - od žensk se je pričakovalo podrejanje v odnosu do moškega; boriti so se morale za svoje družbene, ekonomske in politične pravice. Preko različnih ključnih dogodkov v Gervaisinem življenju smo obravnavali njen propad in potrdili vpliv treh determinant. Zola želi s fizičnim in moralnim propadom glavne junakinje izraziti svoj kritični odnos do družbene ureditve v Drugem cesarstvu, kjer je bilo ljudstvo pogosto spregledano in zapostavljeno.

Keywords

francoska književnost;naturalizem;ženske;družbeni položaj;diplomsko delo;Zola;Emile;1840-1902;"Beznica";

Data

Language:	Slovenian
Year of publishing:	2017
Typology:	2.11 - Undergraduate Thesis
Organization:	UL FF - Faculty of Arts
Publisher:	[L. P. Skela]
UDC:	821.133.1.09Zola E.:305-055.2
COBISS:	64402018
Views:	1005
Downloads:	171
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	English
Secondary abstract:	Through the analysis of Zola's novel L'Assommoir - the seventh in the series of the twenty Rougon-Macquart novels -, this BA Dissertation deals with the status of women in nineteenth-century France. We highlight the full extent of the disadvantage and hardships they had to suffer during that period. Their standing within the society of the day was inferior, i.e. women did not enjoy the same rights as men. In L'Assommoir, we follow the story of Gervaise Macquart - a lower-class washerwoman - to its inevitable and sad conclusion. Gervaise's decline is the direct result of her circumstances, and it is shown to be conditioned by environment and inherited characteristics, chiefly drunkenness and mental instability. She is beset upon, and finally crushed, by a combination of forces she can neither understand nor control. Through her story, we get an insight into great hardships that the lowest-class citizens experienced during the period of Napoleon III's reign in the Second Empire. Life in nineteenth-century France certainly posed many difficulties for its working class population - both men and women. Women however, due to gender inequality, faced many more difficulties than men, and had fewer resources with which to deal with them. The evils of drinking are one of the major themes of the novel. By sliding into heavy alcoholism, these poor and disadvantaged people are destined for moral and physical degeneration. L'Assommoir rightly belongs in the literary movement of Naturalism, which seeks to identify the underlying causes for a person's actions or beliefs. The thinking was that certain factors, such as heredity, environment and social conditions (or race, moment, and milieu, to use Taine's terms) were unavoidable determinants in one's life. By making observations on the influence of these three determinants on Gervaise, we establish that she could not escape her life of poverty and her final tragic decline because her preconditions were the only formative aspects in her existence that mattered. As L'Assommoir is also a novel of historical importance, the purpose of a historical overview of the period, within which the novel is set, was to shed some light on the struggles of nineteenth-century French working women. The nineteenth century was a turbulent period, particularly due to the processes of The Industrial Revolution. It was also a period characterized by gender inequality - women were expected to remain subservient to their fathers and husbands and had to fight for their social, economic or political rights. By analysing and making detailed observations on various key events in Gervaise's life, we managed to highlight her tragic decline and thus confirmed the influence of the three determinants on the "heroine". Through the narrative of Gervaise's physical and moral decline and fall, Zola criticized and publicly displayed social inequalities in the Second Empire, when the underclass, i.e. the most disadvantaged people, was often side-lined and neglected.
Type (COBISS):	Bachelor thesis/paper
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Ljubljani, Filozofska fak., Oddelek za primerjalno književnost in literarno teorijo
Pages:	40 str.
ID:	10976748