“Sin became a luxury, a flower set in her hair, a diamond fastened on her brow.”
In this quote by Émile Zola, the concept of sin is portrayed as something alluring and beautiful. The comparison of sin to a luxurious accessory like a flower in one's hair or a diamond on one's brow suggests that sin can be seductive and even glamorous. By framing sin in this way, Zola may be commenting on the allure of temptation and how easily it can draw people in despite its destructive nature. This quote challenges traditional notions of sin as something ugly or immoral, instead highlighting its potentially attractive qualities.
In Émile Zola's quote, sin is depicted as something extravagant and alluring, almost like a fashion statement. This perspective on sin can be seen as relevant in modern society, where individuals often glamorize and trivialize immoral behavior. Whether it is through the glorification of material wealth, the pursuit of social status, or the normalization of certain vices, the idea of sin as a luxurious indulgence remains prevalent. This notion challenges us to consider how easily we may be swayed by temptation and the importance of maintaining moral integrity in a world that often blurs the lines between right and wrong.
"“Sin became a luxury, a flower set in her hair, a diamond fastened on her brow.” - Émile Zola"
“Élodie, who was rising fifteen, lifted her anaemic, puffy, virginal face with its wispy hair; she was so thin-blooded that good country air seemed only to make her more sickly.”
“Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Renée was wrapped in the powerful bridals of the earth that gave birth to these dark growths, these colossal stamina; and the acrid birth-throes of this hotbed, of this forest growth, of this mass of vegetation aglow with the entrails that nourished it, surrounded her with disturbing odours. At her feet was the steaming tank, its tepid water thickened by the sap from the floating roots, enveloping her shoulders with a mantle of heavy vapours, forming a mist that warmed her skin like the touch of a hand moist with desire. Overhead she could smell the palm trees, whose tall leaves shook down their aroma. And more than the stifling heat, more than the brilliant light, more than the great dazzling flowers, like faces laughing or grimacing between the leaves, it was the odours that overwhelmed her. An indescribable perfume, potent, exciting, composed of a thousand different perfumes, hung about her; human exudation, the breath of women, the scent of hair; and breezes sweet and swooningly faint were blended with breezes coarse and pestilential, laden with poison. But amid this strange music of odours, the dominant melody that constantly returned, stifling the sweetness of the vanilla and the orchids' pungency, was the penetrating, sensual smell of flesh, the smell of lovemaking escaping in the early morning from the bedroom of newlyweds.”
“She [Sidonie Rougon] never spoke of her husband, nor of her childhood, her family, or her personal concerns. There was only one thing she never sold, and that was herself.”
“There Albine lay, panting, exhausted by love, her hands clutched closer and closer to her heart, breathing her last. She parted her lips, seeking the kiss which should obliterate her, and then the hyacinths and tuberoses exhaled their incense, wrapping her in a final sigh, so profound that it drowned the chorus of roses, and in this culminating gasp of blossom, Albine was dead.”
“It was at times like this that one of those waves of bestiality ran through the mine, the sudden lust of the male that came over a miner when he met one of these girls on all fours, with her rear in the air and her buttocks busting out of her breeches.”
“Hélène, her eyes once more raised and remote, was deep in a dream. She was Lady Rowena, she was in love, with the deep peaceful passion of a noble soul. This spring morning, the loveliness of the great city, the first wallflowers scenting her lap, had little by little melted her heart.”