Therese Raquin

Émile Zola’s third novel, Thérèse Raquin (1868), was the first to gain widespread notoriety. In 1873, Zola adapted the novel into a stage play. It has since been adapted into a Broadway musical in 2001; more than a dozen films, the first of which premiered in 1915; and two radio shows in 1998 and 2009.

Thérèse Raquin is a young woman being raised by her aunt, Madame Raquin, since the death of her mother. Madame Raquin has a son, Camille, whom she idolizes. Her incessant doting, however, results in Camille having hypochondria and a weakened immune system. Camille and Thérèse grow up together, sharing the same tight quarters and sleeping in the same bed. Madame Raquin eventually contrives for Thérèse to marry Camille, though there is no love between the two of them. Thérèse enjoys living in the country but resents the way the overbearing Madame Raquin controls her. When Camille decides to move the family to Paris, Madame Raquin opens a business and forces Thérèse to run it, though Thérèse does not like the shabby shop she has found.

Camille gets a job working for the railroad and makes many friends quickly. Thérèse finds these friends boring. Whenever they visit, she quickly retreats to the store downstairs. One of Camille’s guests is his childhood friend Laurent. Thérèse is intrigued by Laurent, who is a failed painter. Laurent agrees to paint Camille’s portrait so that he can spend more time with Thérèse, whom he wants to make his lover. When Laurent and Thérèse are left alone together, they are quick to embrace and kiss.

Thérèse enjoys their affair because it allows her to deceive Camille, whom she resents. She becomes very bold and reckless, and Laurent is afraid of being caught, though Thérèse’s actions excite him as well. However, Laurent’s boss finally forbids him from taking more time off to visit Thérèse, and the two cannot see any other way they will be able to find time to be together. Laurent hatches a plan to murder Camille so he can have Thérèse for himself.

Laurent continues to visit Camille and Thérèse. He is looking for an opportunity to murder Camille without incriminating himself. Finally, while on a trip to the countryside, Laurent suggests drowning Camille and making it look like an accident. Thérèse does not want to go along with the plan at first, but when Camille ridicules and belittles her, she agrees.

Laurent, Camille, and Thérèse go for a boat ride before dinner. Laurent grabs Camille by the throat and attempts to toss him overboard. In the ensuing struggle, Camille bites Laurent on the neck. Thérèse passes out, and Laurent succeeds in throwing Camille into the water. Laurent then grabs Thérèse and capsizes their boat, pretending they all fell overboard by accident. Though Laurent and nearby boaters search for Camille, they do not find his body. Laurent and Thérèse return to Paris to tell Madame Raquin the bad news. A few days later, the newspapers report the story as an accident, and Laurent knows that he has gotten away with murder. Laurent and Thérèse avoid each other, even though it would be easy to continue their affair now. They plan to marry when it is appropriate, but their feelings towards each other have cooled.

When Madame Raquin is around, Laurent and Thérèse act as if they are noticing each other for the first time. Through this deception, they convince Madame Raquin that the idea for them to marry is hers. However, once they make their engagement public, they become very uncomfortable around each other, no longer feeling their former sexual passion. Madame Raquin gives Thérèse a large sum of money, which sweetens the deal for Laurent.

As the wedding approaches, the bite on Laurent’s neck continues to pain him. When Thérèse kisses him in the area, it causes the bite to hurt more. After they are married, the couple cannot relax at night. They both hallucinate that they are being haunted by Camille’s ghost. After several weeks, they still have not consummated their marriage because they keep imagining the ghost between them in bed.

When Laurent finally insists that they have sex, there is no pleasure in the act. Thérèse bites Laurent on the neck, causing the old wound there to throb. During the day, the couple pretends to be happy and in love in order to deflect suspicion about Camille’s death, but at night they live in terror.

Madame Raquin has a stroke and cannot speak. After she loses her voice, she finally finds out about the murder. Thérèse and Laurent are worried that she will find some way to tell what they have done, and the pressure causes them to turn on each other. They begin to hate each other and threaten each other with the police.

Thérèse begs forgiveness from Madame Raquin and begins to feel better. Laurent is furious, and Thérèse compares him unfavorably to Camille. Laurent begins to beat her. Thérèse rebels by posing as a sex worker and picking up strange men. Laurent extorts money from her and begins to stay out all night at cafes.

One day, both Thérèse and Laurent plot to kill each other. Though each can see the intent of the other, they allow themselves to be trapped in order to end their miserable existence. Madame Raquin watches silently while Laurent and Thérèse drink poison, killing them both.