The Masterpiece Literary Elements

A novel

The actions take place in Paris, the second part of the 19th century

Third-person narration

In the beginning the tone of the novel seems enthusiastic, as the main characters are young, full of hopes and are eager to work hard to turn these hopes into reality. But with the flow of time their lives become more or less deprived of illusions, and the unhappy end is to cover them. In the most tragic form it is depicted in the character of Claude Lantier.

The protagonist is Claude Lantier, the antagonist is the Old Way of Thinking and Attitude towards art. the antagonist of the novel is more abstractive one.

The main conflict is of the role of art in human life, of the place of an artist in it.

The climax comes when the Claude’s paintinf “The Dead Child” is refused by the Salon and mocked by audience. At that moment Claude understood that his life is over.

When Claude and Christine moved from Paris to country they were very happy, and when Christine gave birth to their son, their life seemed to be happy ever. But with years passing Claude’s behavior became more and more nervous, he was more often miserable than happy. Christine persisted on moving back to Paris, and at this crucial moment it becomes obvious that Claude might never be happy and satisfied with his life, his behavior foreshadows that h will end sadly.

The place of family in a person’s life is understated, for Claude his wife and his son mattered less than his art.

Allusions to the Salon in Paris are the most frequent in the novel.

See the imagery section

It is believed that when a person is doing what he really likes, he is happy. But with Claude such a belief does not work, we see that his great devotion to art, which is supposed to make him happy, makes him more and more miserable. it is the biggest paradox depicted by Zola.

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“A flood of sunlight streamed into a forest clearing”