No. 1 · 1871
La Fortune des Rougon
The Fortune of the Rougons
The founding novel of the cycle, set in the fictional Provençal town of Plassans during the coup d'état of 2 December 1851. Two narratives run in counterpoint: the young lovers Silvère Mouret and Miette Chantegreil join a column of Republican insurgents marching to resist the coup, while Pierre and Félicité Rougon scheme in their 'yellow drawing room' to seize local power by backing the winning side. Zola interrupts the action to trace the dynasty's origins — the neurotic matriarch Adélaïde Fouque, whose marriage to Rougon and passion for the smuggler Macquart create the two great branches of the family, and whose hereditary instability (la fêlure — the crack) will haunt every descendant across all twenty novels. Miette, thirteen years old, carries the red flag at the head of the insurgent column, convinced she is bearing the Virgin's banner in a Corpus Christi procession. Silvère is executed by a gendarme beside the tombstone where he and Miette used to meet. The Rougons triumph; the Republic dies with its children. The cycle's moral architecture is set in its closing pages: Second Empire respectability is built on fraud, betrayal, and the blood of those who actually believed in something.
Roman fondateur du cycle, se déroulant à Plassans lors du coup d'État du 2 décembre 1851. Silvère Mouret et Miette Chantegreil rejoignent les insurgés républicains tandis que Pierre et Félicité Rougon manœuvrent dans leur salon jaune pour s'emparer du pouvoir. Zola retrace les origines de la dynastie : la matriarche névrotique Adélaïde Fouque, dont la fêlure héréditaire hantera tous ses descendants. Miette, treize ans, porte le drapeau rouge en croyant marcher à une procession de la Fête-Dieu. Silvère est fusillé. Les Rougon triomphent.
Setting: Plassans