What social problem does L’Assommoir explore through Gervaise Macquart?

In the novel L’Assommoir (1877), Émile Zola explores the devastating effects of alcoholism within a working-class neighborhood. Through the rise and eventual decline of the protagonist, a laundress named Gervaise Macquart, Zola provides a powerful portrait of the social and economic struggles faced by the working class during the Second Empire.12

By focusing on Gervaise’s life, the narrative illustrates how environmental factors and the pervasive influence of alcohol contribute to the disintegration of individuals and families. Zola’s use of authentic slang and vivid descriptions of the urban milieu serves to highlight the harsh realities of this social environment, reinforcing his naturalist goal of examining the deterministic forces that shape human existence.12