Work, gender and class in Au Bonheur des dames by Émile Zola

In this article I propose a reading of Au Bonheur des dames by Émile Zola, attentive to the representations built around progress and transformations in nineteenth-century European urban life. A study of the char-acters and their associations will be developed, understanding the store as more than a mere stage, but as a great protagonist, the heart of the meta-morphosis of social and material life. They are successful and exclusive, spaces for the “career open to talent”, not only for the bourgeoisie but also for trade workers who, unlike the industrialists, could achieve success with employers. Finally, I make brief reference to the series The Paradise, as a rewrite in the in the 21st century of Zola’s novel.