Le Docteur Pascal (1893) [Doctor Pascal] is the twentieth and final novel of Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart cycle (1871-1893), the cornerstone of the Naturalist movement. In emulation of Honoré de Balzac’s (1799-1850) great literary achievement, the ninety-one completed novels of La Comédie humaine, Les Rougon-Macquart is Zola’s attempt to produce a comprehensive natural and social history of life in Second Empire France (1852-1870). The cycle follows the two titular branches of the family to demonstrate the effects of heredity and environment, and Le Docteur Pascal is the summative culmination of Zola’s Naturalist project. Zola’s Naturalist novels had sparked a fierce polemic in France: condemnation of the perceived excesses of Naturalism was heightened with the publication of the Rougon-Macquart’s seventh novel, L’Assommoir (1877). However, Germinal (1885), the cycle’s thirteenth novel, inspired greater respect. Le Docteur Pascal was...
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Citation: Jones, Sarah. "Le Docteur Pascal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 January 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35768, accessed 13 December 2025.]
