Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Zola's intention in Thérèse Raquin is to turn literature into science. Do you think this is possible? Can us readers interpret a novel as if it were a scientific experiment?
- Do you agree with critics of Thérèse Raquin that the novel is unnecessarily pornographic? What do the saucy scenes and violence add to the story, and to its themes?
- Do you feel that the ending of the novel contains a moral message, a message of right vs. wrong?
- Do Thérèse and Laurent really love each other? Or do they only lust after each other?
- How do you interpret the appearance of supernatural elements—Camille's ghost, Laurent's scar, François the cat—in this novel? If Zola claims that Thérèse Raquin is purely scientific, then why are these seemingly "unscientific" elements in the book?
- What are the roles of language and communication in the novel? What do you make of Madame Raquin's stroke, and concomitant loss of her ability to speak, in the second half of the novel?