Exactly how steamy is this story?
R
This is a no-brainer, are we right? Thérèse and Laurent share an unquenchable animal lust for each other, and there are multiple scenes of sexuality throughout the novel. At the time of its publication, critics even accused the novel of containing pornography.
But, as we know, Zola claims in his Preface that he merely treated his characters the way that a painter would treat a nude model. In other words, he studies them without desire, in order to portray them as realistically as possible.
Zola goes on to argue that he was only interested in sex in scientific terms. None of that changes the fact that the book contains some seriously steamy scenes. So prepare for some titillating action, friends.