Alexandrine Zola and Octave Mirbeau From a mild acquaintance to a friendship forged in the fire of the Affair

The paper aims to analyze the relationship between Alexandrine Zola, Emile’s spouse, and Octave Mirbeau who was alternately an admirer, a critic and a close friend of the author of the Rougon-Macquart series. Alexandrine and Mirbeau’s relationship changed following the ideological battles of the two writers; three stages can be distinguished in it, copying grosso modo those of the relationship Zola-Mirbeau. In the beginning, Mrs Zola played a background part, being just the host of the friendly meetings organised in Zola’s house and thus Mirbeau’s playfellow. Then, as Zola and Mirbeau split up, so did Mirbeau and Alexandrine. Finally, they became close friends during the Dreyfus affair: due to her steadfast attitude in this extreme crisis, she gained Mirbeau’s sympathy and admiration that lasted until his death.