This document provides an analysis of the similarities and differences between Charles Baudelaire's poetry collection "Les Fleurs du Mal" and Emile Zola's novella "Thérèse Raquin". It identifies 10 aspects for comparison, including realist portrayal of subjects, character-centric narratives, use of rhythm, and treatment of death. While both works explore themes of good and evil, they differ in how evil is portrayed - as human nature in Baudelaire versus human folly in Zola. Overall, the document finds that both authors effectively captured important social and moral issues of 19th century France through their respective literary forms.

1. English Assignment Help
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2. Topic: Literary Criticism
Problem Statement:
Select 5 aspects of Zola’s Thérèse Raquin that
are similar to Baudelaire’s Les Fleur du mal and
5 aspects that are different. Support with a
quotation for each similarity and each difference
(at least 10 quotations in all).
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3. Introduction: The Texts
• Les Fleur du Mal, or The Flowers of Evil, is an anthology of
poems by Charles Baudelaire. The poet brings together an
assortment of his musings, bearing a theme Baudelaire was
said to have been profoundly influenced by in his lifetime:
that of good vs. evil.
• The second text in consideration is a novella by Emile Zola, a
contemporary of Baudelaire. Set in 19th century France,
Therese Raquin explores the lives of the protagonist, Therese,
and those of people around her.
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4. Objectives
• Since the writers in question were
contemporaries, a lot can be said of the
parallels that can be drawn between the two
texts.
• As reflections of their time(s), both Les Fleur
du Mal and Therese Raquin have significant
similarities in style elements, while they
broadly differ in terms of the treatment of
various themes.
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5. 1. Realist Portrayal of Subjects
• Zola employs an animistic approach to the description of both living
and non-living beings alike, with the former being described by the
temperaments of various animals, while the latter thrives in the
vivid use of colours, which some critics have attributed to as
painterly. This quality in the narrative of Therese Raquin sets an
environment that is highly sensitive to the instincts of its characters.
“To the right, along the whole length of the arcade, extends a wall
against which the shopkeepers opposite have stuck some small
cupboards. Objects without a name, goods forgotten for twenty years,
are spread out there on thin shelves painted a horrible brown colour.”
[Chapter 1]
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6. 1. Realist Portrayal of Subjects
• The case is similar to that of Les Fleurs du Mal,
notwithstanding certain contrasts which will be
examined in due course of this essay. Starting
from the invocation, the poet laureate pays
candid tributes to the reigning emotions of his
time, by addressing them, in his note to the
reader as
“Serried, swarming, like a million maggots,
A legion of Demons carouses in our brains” [To The
Reader]
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7. 2. Character-centric narratives
• The theme in Les Fleur du Mal was the instruments of
evil in the context of the rest of the observable world.
“The poet resembles this prince of cloud and sky
Who frequents the tempest and laughs at the bowman;
When exiled on the earth, the butt of hoots and jeers,
His giant wings prevent him from walking” [The
Albatross]
• By lamenting the ill-fated protagonist in ‘The Albatross’
thus, Baudelaire goes on to present the perspective of
the persecuted.
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8. 2. Character-centric narratives
• In Chapter 8 of Therese Raquin, Zola’s narrative
hinges on problematic determinism, the kind
where the circumstances leading to the build-up
of the plot have reached a crux.
“Laurent had made a correct guess: he had become
the sweetheart of the woman, the friend of the
husband, the spoilt child of the mother. Never had
he enjoyed such a capital time. His position in the
family struck him as quite natural.” [Chapter 8]
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9. 3. Subtle use of refrain
• The refrain is a well-known aesthetic instrument
in poetic circles, but the inconspicuous similarity
of the use of certain striking phrases to
reconstruct later narratives is a hallmark of Zola’s
acumen throughout the story.
“And when she learnt the truth, her grief was tragic.
She gave hollow sobs, she received shocks that
threw her backward, in a distracting attack of terror
and anguish. She remained there choking, uttering
from time to time a piercing scream amidst the
profound roar of her affliction” [Chapter 11]
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10. 3. Subtle use of refrain
• The striking similarity of Les Fleur du Mal
capitulates on the same, due to its narrative
nature. Most of the poems, starting from
Benediction, address the poet, and not just his
readers. These refrains bring about an impression
that the narrator, the poet, is also an integral part
of the anthology.
“The Poet is brought forth in this wearisome world,
His mother terrified and full of blasphemies
Raises her clenched fist to God, who pities her :”
[Benediction]
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11. 4. Rhythm
• Unlike most of the other similarities, the use of rhythm in
the ornamental scales of Baudelaire, or the parsing Zola
subtly employs in setting the mood for most of Therese
Raquin’s scenes bear an uncanny similarity in conveying the
mood.
• For instance, the exotic perfume’s story in its own words, is
almost aromatic in its meter.
“I see a port of sails, where every mast
Seems weary of the labours of its cruise ;
While scents of tamarind, blown here and there,
Swelling my nostrils as they rinse the air,
Are mingled with the chanties of the crews” [The Exotic
Perfume]
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12. 4. Rhythm
• Zola parsed the narrative of Therese Raquin in the
same spirit, touching upon frames, and reflecting on
the same from the vantage point of the narrator.
“During the journey, they barely exchanged a few words.
Each of them buried himself in a corner of the cab which
jolted along over the stones. There they remained
motionless and mute in the obscurity that prevailed
within the vehicle. Ever and anon a rapid flash from a gas
lamp, cast a bright gleam on their faces. The sinister
event that had brought them together, threw a sort of
dismal dejection upon them.” [Chapter 12]
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13. 5. Dilemma and Paradox
• The characters in both Les Fleur du Mal and Therese
Raquin are very responsive towards their identity as
the self.
“At last he was rid of his crime. He had killed Camille. It
was a matter that was settled, and would be spoken of no
more. He was now going to lead a tranquil existence, until
he could take possession of Therese. The thought of the
murder had at times half choked him, but now that it was
accomplished, he felt a weight removed from his chest,
and breathed at ease, cured of the suffering that
hesitation and fear had given him.” [Chapter 12]
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14. 5. Dilemma and Paradox
• Laurent meets his contextual counterpart in the
dancing serpent, which, self-styles itself
“Upon your heavy head of hair
With its acrid scents,
Adventurous, odorant sea
With blue and brown waves,
Like a vessel that awakens
To the morning wind”
Reminding itself of wavering moods. [The Dancing
Serpent]
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15. 6. Meter and Metrics
• As is the difference between prose and poetry, the
author in Therese Raquin and the poet in Les Fleur du
Mal stuck to a vibrant narrative that differed
significantly in terms of phrase parsing in sentences
and stanzas, respectively.
“Everyone went upstairs to the dining-room. Madame
Raquin who expected nobody, hastened to light the lamp,
and prepare the tea. When all were seated round the
table, each before a cup, when the box of dominoes had
been emptied on the board, the old mother, with the past
suddenly brought back to her, looked at her guests, and
burst into sobs. There was a vacant place, that of her
son.” [Chapter 8]
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16. 6. Meter and Metrics
• The quintessential Thursday morning routine is captured thus,
whereas Baudelaire’s depictions are localized. This gradient in the
use of length for effect can be seen in contrast to the Snake that
Dances, where
“Like silk or satin, smoothly-glazing
The light that it caresses.
Under your tresses dark and deep
Where acrid perfumes drown,
A fragrant sea whose breakers sweep
In mazes blue or brown,
My soul, a ship, to the attraction
Of breezes that bedizen
Its swelling canvas, clears for action
And seeks a far horizon.” [The Snake that Dances]
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17. 7. Evil as nature vs Evil as folly
• This is perhaps the most stark difference between
the texts in consideration. While Baudelaire’s
treatment of good and evil as themes remained
consistent with the traditional co-existent
paradox, which was the subject of various
dilemmas.
“Under the languorous moods that weigh it,
Your childish head bows down :
Like a young elephant’s you sway it
With motions soft as down.” [The Dancing Serpent]
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18. 7. Evil as nature vs Evil as folly
“The hidden forces of lust that had brought about
this result had been secretly proceeding within him,
to end by casting him, bound hand and foot, into
the arms of Therese. At this hour, he was in
dread lest he should omit to be prudent.” [Chapter
4]
• However, while we see Laurent encounter Camille
in the context of what may be seen as one of the
earliest ‘evils’, he is presented with a dilemma,
and the idea of folly, is seen to be stemming not
from nature, but from nurture.
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19. 8. Social Commentary
• Baudelaire was remarkable in the use of hyperbole, but
he conceptualized his settings in an idyllic world, which
made most of his reflections dark and macabre. On the
other hand, Zola lent the voice of the narrator to
various characters in their part of the world as it was
presented to them.
• While Baudelaire chastises his antagonists by their
vices, Theresa, the counterpart of Les Fleur’s Lady
Macbeth, breaks free from her upbringing and
becomes healthy and beautiful through her turbulent
relationship with Laurent.
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20. 9. Death
In chapter 12, when the realisation of murder
dawns upon Laurent, he is shown to be
unusually relieved. This indifference contrasts
with the general mood in Les Fleur du Mal,
where death is depicted as driving its prey to the
depths of anxiousness. The existentialist themes
in the anthology are sporadic, but they capture
the essence of the poet’s internalisation of
death, which he calls, Spleen.
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21. 10. The narrative as an account of
hostility
• It can be said that the atmosphere in Baudelaire’s
Les Fleur du Mal is predominantly hostile and
macabre.
“Like the convict to his chain,
Like the stubborn gambler to the game,
Like the drunkard to his wine,
Like the maggots to the corpse,
– Accurst, accurst be you !” [To The Reader]
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22. 10. The narrative as an account of
hostility
• The throes of the undead are as lively and metaphorical as
those of the living, as is reflected from these lines. In the
crucial moment of Therese Raquin, the atmosphere is
claustrophobic, but Therese and Laurent reflect on entirely
different incidents.
“During this conversation, Therese and Laurent had remained
silent. They had not even smiled at the folly of Grivet. Both
leaning with their arms on the table, looking slightly pale, and
with a vague expression in their eyes, listened. At one moment
those dark, ardent orbs had met. And small drops of
perspiration pearled at the roots of the hair of Therese, while
chilly puffs of breath gave imperceptible shivers to the skin of
Laurent.” [Chapter 6]
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23. Conclusions
• In retrospection, Baudelaire and Zola
succeeded in their premise: be it
personification or animism, both works
portray some of the most intriguing social and
moral dilemmas of their time.
• In its element, while Therese Raquin captures
the soul of its sombre French setting,
Baudelaire’s visions are projections of the
people around him, on an abstract medium.
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