Nana (daughter of Gervaise - L'Assommoire) grew up working as a prostitute on the streets of Paris. Her beauty propels her onto the stage and she becomes the Second Empire's Helen of Troy. However, she represents Zola's belief that heredity, environment and the dynamic momentum of a particular period determine personality and is therefore portrayed as a disease, infecting and destroying everyone she touches - a symbol for his denunciation of moral corruption in society as a whole.
(Denise Lewis - bwl 59 Winter 2011 ) |
