Raw'ya (āshiqānah'hā-yi klāsīk 15): Persian 1401

The novel The Dream by Emile Zola is the 16th volume of the Rogen-Makar collection, the story of which takes place between 1860 and 1869. Roya is a simple love story about an orphan girl named Angelique who is adopted by a goldsmith couple named Mr. and Mrs. Hooper. Angelique is fascinated by the stories of saints and martyrs - especially St. Agnes and St. George. Her dream is to be rescued by a handsome prince and live happily ever after, just as the virgin martyrs tested their faith on earth before being saved and married to Jesus in heaven. Her dream comes true when she falls in love with Félicine Otcourt, the last of an old family of knights, heroes, and nobles in the service of Christ and France. Her father opposes their marriage for personal reasons that will be given later in the story. Angelique gets sick and... Although the dream looks similar to fairy tales, this work shows many of Zola's prominent themes, especially the conflict between heredity and environment, between spirituality and sensuality, and between the powerful and the weak. Angelique's dream is both reality and illusion at the same time, and this interplay provides the driving force of the novel. Above all, the novel is, as Zola himself described it, "a poem of passion" that demonstrates the dimensions of his poetic genius.