ABSTRACT

Criticism of Au Bonheur des Dames has traditionally framed the novel’s Darwinian dynamics in terms of socioeconomic natural selection. We explore another facet of Darwinism in the novel: sexual selection. The urban modernity of Au Bonheur des Dames belies Zola’s concern with deep time. We consider courtship and seduction in the novel in the context of nineteenth-century theories of evolution. Darwin’s The Descent of Man revised the theory of natural selection to account for aesthetics in mate selection. With its focus on fashion and mating, Au Bonheur is a laboratory for Zola’s ideas about competition and display in human coupling.

摘要

传统上，对Au Bonheur des Dames的批评是从社会经济自然选择的角度来描写小说的达尔文动态。我们在小说中探索达尔文主义的另一个方面：性选择。Au Bonheur des Dames的城市现代化掩盖了Zola长期以来的关注。我们在19世纪的进化理论中考虑小说中的求爱和诱惑。达尔文（Darwin）的《人的后裔》（The Descent of Man）修改了自然选择理论，以考虑配偶选择的美学因素。Au Bonheur专注于时尚和交配，是Zola关于人类耦合的竞争和展示理念的实验室。