Commencing in 1870 and continuing through 1893, French novelist Emile Zola produced twenty novels which have come to be termed the Rougon-Macquarts series. These novels, which essentially consumed the writing passion of Zola over the course of that period was projected by the author to stand as the testament to his talent and be viewed, collectively, as his masterpiece. The series covers the historical period 1850’s France during the rule of Napoleon III to Franco-Prussian war of 1870.
This stretch of history is portrayed through a sort of Rich Man/Poor Man conceit following the various storylines of “rich” family, the Rougons, and their “poor” relations, the Macquarts. The eleventh entry in this series is almost irrefutably the one that 21st century American readers will find the most accessible. If not the first novel to explore the creation of a brand phenomenon soon to change the entire economic and cultural landscape of the developed world, The Ladies’ Paradise is certainly the first by a major literary figure to place its singular focus upon the creation of the modern day department store.
The Ladies Paradise store at the center of the novel named after it is based on Le Bon Marché, the world first department store which was founded in 1838 before being almost totally redesigned in 1852. Much of the action of the novel takes place inside the story and Zola offers a prescient glimpse into the future of consumerism and fetishism of women’s fashion as a means of determining their worth and appeal. Zola also incorporates the means by which revolutions in public transportation and textile producing served to influence urbanization and the creation of modern city life. Although not directly criticizing the economic revolution the department store represents, he also casts a very accurate eye toward the future of monopolizing tendencies upon larger chains to destroy smaller family-owned businesses.
The novel had been adapted into three French films dating back to the silent era. A 2012 BBC series titled The Paradise is an adaptation which maintains the time period of the novel but resets it in a northern British town.
