Doctor Pascal: Analysis of Setting
"Doctor Pascal: Analysis of Setting" explores the rich and evocative landscapes within Émile Zola's novel "Doctor Pascal," highlighting the significance of various locations that shape the characters' experiences. Central to the narrative is Soleiade, Doctor Pascal's residence in Aix-en-Provence, characterized by its warm contrasts of light and shadow, and the interplay between architecture and lush vegetation. The setting provides a backdrop for intimate moments shared between Pascal and his niece Clotilde, particularly on the terraces overlooking the garden.
The surrounding quarter, Aix-Plassans, offers a serene escape into the countryside, marked by the timeless beauty of its cypress trees and the gentle rolling hills. La Viorne, a stream visible from Soleiade, symbolizes the connection to nature, drawing attention to the expansive horizons familiar to local inhabitants. Additionally, the significance of Aix-en-Provence, with its rich architectural history and natural beauty, is underscored through the iconic Cathedral of St. Sauveur, which serves as a focal point for social activity.
Mount Sainte Victoire looms in the distance, adding a dramatic element to the landscape, while the Route de Nice suggests a pathway to the broader world beyond Aix-en-Provence. In contrast, the bustling port city of Marseille represents a stark departure from the novel's Provençal imagery. This detailed analysis of the setting not only enriches the narrative but also reflects the profound connection between environment and character development in Zola's work.
Doctor Pascal: Analysis of Setting
First published:Le Docteur Pascal, 1893 (English translation, 1893)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Naturalism
Time of work: Late nineteenth century
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
Soleiade
Soleiade (sal-ayd). Aix-en-Provence residence of Doctor Pascal, located about fifteen minutes by foot from the Cathedral of St. Sauveur, and the center of the town’s diverse social life. The novel’s descriptions of the home are filled with the warm contrasts between shadows and light, stone and vegetation, so characteristic of the private lives of its occupants. More important than the interior, usually closed off from the sun, is Soleiade’s terraces and balconies overlooking the garden, where Pascal and his niece Clotilde spend a good part of their time.
*Aix-Plassans
*Aix-Plassans (aks-plah-SANZ). Quarter of Aix-en-Provence in which Pascal lives; it looks out on the beginnings of the countryside, which offers Pascal and Clotilde a refuge from daily social contacts during their frequent strolls. The soft valley of Plassans seems timeless, shaded by century-old cypress trees. As the region opens onto the countryside, the yellowness of its dusty soil recalls again the contrasts between shade and light. As for Aix-Plassans itself, Émile Zola probably chose this quarter because of his own father’s association with it, as an architect and builder of a prominent town fountain.
*La Viorne
*La Viorne (vjorn). Stream running through Aix-Plassans that is visible from the outer terrace of Doctor Pascal’s residence. Its shaded banks seem to draw the viewer’s attention away from the stone architecture and fountains of the city’s squares and toward one of Zola’s favorite symbols of the Provençal countryside, the immense horizon arching over the rocky sides of the many valleys, none famous enough to be known to the outsider, but bearing names familiar to the town’s inhabitants.
*Aix-en-Provence
*Aix-en-Provence (AK-sahn-proh-vahns). Old city north of Marseilles in southeastern France. Although Aix-en-Provence has many architectural attractions that make Pascal’s residential quarter pale by comparison, Zola concentrates on the single image of the city’s cathedral. The area around Aix, because of its natural beauty and the varied hues of its soil, rocks, and valleys, draws his protagonists most often into the countryside.
*Mount Sainte Victoire
*Mount Sainte Victoire (sant vik-TWAHR). Craggy mountain outcropping jutting up in the distance northeast of Aix-en-Provence that is visible from most parts of the city’s outskirts. Sainte Victoire’s shadows and gleaming rockface were captured on canvas by Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne.
*Cathedral of St. Sauveur
*Cathedral of St. Sauveur (sant sah-vewr). Prominent medieval church in the traditional center of Aix-en-Provence whose splendid stone carved facade and belfries seem to represent an almost physical force drawing both the eyes and social activities of the town’s residents. Zola mentions the church in almost every section of his novel.
*Route de Nice
*Route de Nice (nees). Panoramic roadway leading eastward from Aix-en-Provence through the long valleys separating the rocky chestnut-and pine-forested interior from the Mediterranean coastal range. The road seems to represent the direction toward which Zola’s characters turn their view if they think of the world beyond. It is, however, the road itself, with its shades of light and colors that is depicted, not its travelers’ distant destinations.
*Marseille
*Marseille (mar-SAY). Port city on the Mediterranean. Although not very distant from Aix-en-Provence, this busy urban port seems to belong to another world entirely. On the occasions when Pascal travels there on professional business, there seems to be an interruption in the novel’s rich Provençal imagery, leaving readers with no more than the city’s name to imagine how distinct it is from Aix.
Bibliography
Grant, Elliott M. Émile Zola. New York: Twayne, 1966. Detailed analyses of Zola’s works, as well as of his theories, plans, and methods. Includes a discussion of Doctor Pascal, the final volume of the Rougon-Macquart cycle and a pivotal work in Zola’s oeuvre.
Hemmings, F. W. J. Émile Zola. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1966. Discusses Doctor Pascal as the summation of the Rougon-Macquart cycle. The birth of a male child at the end illustrates the theme of rebirth and rejuvenation. The character of Dr. Pascal is interpreted as incorporating Zola’s own ideas and philosophy of life.
Lanoux, Armand. Zola. Translated by Mary Glasgow. London: Staples Press, 1955. Lively biography that includes discussion of Zola’s works. Characterizes Doctor Pascal as a portrait of Zola in middle life. Like Zola, the hero’s chief concern is his fear of old age.
Nelson, Brian. Zola and the Bourgeoisie: A Study of Themes and Techniques in Les Rougon-Macquart. Totowa, N.J.: Barnes & Noble Books, 1983. Doctor Pascal is included in a discussion of utopia and sex in the bourgeois world. Nelson concludes that the novel illustrates themes of decadence and renewal, and he links Zola’s utopian vision of progress to the value of work.
Wilson, Angus. Émile Zola: An Introductory Study of His Novels. New York: William Morrow, 1952. Informative theoretical background of Zola’s naturalism and materialism. Wilson characterizes Doctor Pascal as one of Zola’s novels of Aix, the scene of his provincial youth.