Claude is the main character in Zola’s The Masterpiece; he
was a shy guy who liked painting but disliked women. One day Claude met
Christine, fell madly in love with her, then married her. But it turned out
that Claude could not control more than one passion at the same time; that when
he was enjoying his love with Christine, he could not drag himself to produce any
serious painting. Then, when Christine offered herself to model for his
painting, Claude began to stay away from his wife, and began fallen in love with
his painting—or in this case, the woman in his painting. Seems that, in Claude,
one passion would dominate another; but it was a madness which dominated Claude
to his end.
I am still wondering whether it’d be much better if Claude
has never been in love with Christine at all, or it would be all the same
whether he married her or not, because the madness was already there? Maybe
Claude was right after all for not liking women, maybe that way he could focus
only on painting. But would have it altered his future to the better? I don’t
know, maybe not…..
Claude seems to be a man with an unbalanced emotion. He was,
in fact, a talented and skilled painter—all his friends admitted that—and he
was genius too. Claude with several of his friends—young painters—started a new
generation of impressionism. He had set a new style of painting, and although
his paintings kept being refused by the Salon (a public exhibition which
influenced the public taste of arts), many young artists followed his example in
putting natures in their paintings. But strangely, he who had set the style,
could never produce any single masterpiece till the end. Why? Again….I put the
blame to his unbalanced emotion.
It’s a pity to see such a talented young man must meet a sad
end. Claude was always very kind to his friends, and in a way he still loved
Christine till the end. His only problem was he could not cope with himself, he
could not control his emotion—when his paintings were refused, he would be so
enraged, and when he poured out his feelings in painting, he became severely obsessed.
Claude did not possess self-control of himself, and at last his repeatedly
failure ruined him completely.
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| Bernard Fresson as Claude in L'oeuvre, 1967 |
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Great analysis! I think I do want to read this for my next Zola. It sounds like a very sad story, and, compared to the lives of some real-life artists and musicians, not necessarily unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marian. Actually this reminded me to 'Lust for Life', the history of Van Gogh. There's also a madness in him which could not be separated from his high eagerness in painting. The question is: is it the unbalanced emotion (which leads to madness) that makes one a great painter? Or is it the emotion that leads on to the madness? Interesting...
DeleteI'm currently reading about his brother Jacques in La Bête Humaine who is even more unbalanced. The body count continues to grow along the Paris-La Havre rail line. Not sure who will be left standing at the end in another 50 pages.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading it too right now! And yes, Jacques have started to have 'seizure' even from the beginning. This is more interesting than The Masterpiece, I'm going to end it on the weekend.
DeleteI had intended to read Germinal again (it's been years) but the ending of La Bête Humaine was so exciting I had to see if there is any mention of that last train in La Débâcle.
DeleteYeah, that intrigued me too. Now I don't know what to read next, La Debacle or Nana (speaking about Zoladdiction, eh?...)
DeleteGreat analysis. Just finished "The Masterpiece". I agree that it is painful that a talented artist ends in such a way. I think in addition to his obssession, Claude suffered from major depression. I think that Claude is a man who dedicated all his life to achieve one meaningful goal, which is art, a masterpiece. Marriage was not a goal in his life, neither a priority; Moreover, he dehumanized (objectified) Christine, to serve his artisti urges; even, his dead child became an object for one of his painting. Finally, I believe that his lack of flexibility help him reach this tragic end.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your analysis on Claude. Who do you think we should blame? His drunkard parents? The moral-corrupted society?
DeleteThe human behavior is complex and is affected by biological, psychologocial, social, and socio-cultural factors; therefore, I would blame all these factors. Moreover, in my background (Msc. in Health Psychology), we look at behaviors, including health behavior though the Biopsychosocial model; so we can look at the heredity, genetic factors, personal perception and personality traits, cognitive (thinking) and beliefs, and social (coping with stressors)if we want to understand a behavior. Finally, an individual is only a member in a system (family), that exist and deal with other systems; and what happen to a member of a system affects the enitre system.
DeleteWow, thanks for the analysis! Now I think I should have studied psychology in college back then... :D
DeleteThanks, Fanda :)
DeleteYes, studying psychology makes you read novels from a different perspective, and Zola was great in describing his characters and the impacts of their environement (family, neighbourhood, society, and culture) on them.
Best
Maan