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Why do Maheu and Maheude feel a sense of betrayal when Zacharie and Catherine begin seeing Philomene and Chaval more regularly? How is the role that children play for these working-class characters different from the more well-off ones?
Zola heightens the sense of betrayal that Maheu and Maheude feel when Zacharie and Philomene decide to get married and move in with one another—and when Chaval takes Catherine as his lover. They lose two sources of income, and, as Maheude notes, she had the kids so that they could help provide for the family. For Maheude, Zacharie and Catherine no longer serve the main purpose for which they were brought into the world.
Maheude's...
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