ABSTRACT

In the sixth Rougon-Macquart novel, Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (1876), Emile Zola examines the climate of political corruption characteristic of the Second Empire, whereby transfers of power and influence depend on shady deals and hastily made alliances. The recurring references to the redingote grise simultaneously represent a reflexive commentary on the uses which the Zolian text makes of excessive or unexpected references to clothing. This chapter discusses the items of clothing which work to aid, hinder or comment on the art of the Naturalist. A network, or patchwork, of such items of clothing can be identified throughout the Rougon-Macquart series and when read as a whole, this 'texte-patchwork' testifies to the supreme signifying power of clothing within the Naturalist text. In the Zolian universe, fabrics, especially silk and satin, are almost necessarily implicated in the many erotic, often illicit, encounters between protagonists which form an integral part of the plots of most Rougon-Macquart novels.