Pot-bouille

About “Pot-bouille”

Pot-Bouille is the tenth novel in Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series. It critiques the social norms of the bourgeoisie during the Second French Empire. The story takes place in a Parisian apartment building, a modern housing type at the time. The title, meaning "stew pot," symbolizes the mix of diverse and often uncomfortable characters living behind the building’s new, polished exterior. The novel explores the hidden tensions and moral contradictions within bourgeois society.