The Dreyfus Affair as Contained in "Vérité" by Emile Zola, "L'ile des Pingouns" by Anatole France and "Jean Barois" by Roger Martin du Gard

Abstract

Few causes celebres have had more profound and far reaching repercussions than the famous case of Alfred Dreyfus. During twelve years of active litigation from 1894 to 1906 and for many years thereafter the issues raised by his arrest, trial and eventual release provoked worldwide interest and moral concern. The impact of his case surpassed the simple bounds of judicial error founded on perjury to become a political, social and religious dispute of the first magnitude. No small part of the testimony of concern over Dreyfus comes to us through the efforts of intellectuals and in particular certain men of letters 'who were inspired to use the Dreyfus Affair as a backdrop or as a significant episode in a work of fiction. The purpose of this paper is to present a resume of the Dreyfus Affair so it can be related to the Affair as presented in Verite by Emile Zola, Jean Barois by Roger Martin du Gard, and L'Ile des Pingouins by Anatole France. After examining the relationships, the conclusions of the authors regarding the value of the Affair will be examined.