Commodification of Women in Emile Zola's Nana

Abstract

Despite multiple other issues related to human condition, Emile Zola's Nanaespecially highlights how women in modern capitalistic society are commodified for the benefits of the male capitalists. In the novel, the title character, Nana who represents an innocent but young and beautiful woman in a modern capitalistic society, suffers a lot. She is acommodified woman in the hands of male capitalists who exploit her not only physically but also spiritually. Therefore, this research aims at bringing Nana's commodified plight into the limelight of literary analysis by critiquing the issue of commodification of women in Emile Zola's Nana from the perspective of the Marxist feminist criticism.