Thérèse Raquin is an 1868 novel by French writer Émile Zola, first
published in serial form in the literary magazine L'Artiste in 1867. It
was Zola's third novel, though the first to earn wide fame. The novel's
adultery and murder were considered scandalous and famously described as
"putrid" in a review in the newspaper Le Figaro. Thérèse Raquin tells
the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by an
overbearing aunt, who may seem to be well-intentioned but in many ways
is deeply selfish. Thérèse's husband, Camille, is sickly and egocentric
and when the opportunity arises, Thérèse enters into a turbulent and
sordidly passionate affair with one of Camille's friends, Laurent. In
his preface, Zola explains that his goal in this novel was to "study
temperaments and not characters". Because of this detached and
scientific approach, Thérèse Raquin is considered an example of
naturalism. Thérèse Raquin was first adapted for the stage as an 1873
play written by Zola himself. It has since then been adapted numerous
times as films, TV mini-series, musicals and an opera, among others.