Editing Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (section)

== Relation to the other ''Rougon-Macquart'' novels ==

Zola's plan for the ''Rougon-Macquart'' novels was to show how [[heredity]] and environment worked on members of one family over the course of the Second Empire. All of the descendants of Adelaïde Fouque (Tante Dide), Eugène's grandmother, demonstrate what today would be called [[Obsessive-compulsive disorder|obsessive-compulsive]] behaviors to varying degrees. Eugène is obsessed with power and controlling the lives of others, as Zola makes clear in chapter 6:

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"With him it was love of power for sheer power's sake, a love, what is more, untrammelled by any craving for personal glory or wealth or honours. Shockingly ignorant and terribly mediocre in all but the management of other men, it was only by his need to dominate others that he really rose to any height. He loved the mere effort of it, and worshipped his own ability." (trans. Alec Brown) ["C'était, chez lui, un amour du pouvoir pour le pouvoir, dégagé des appétits de vanité, de richesses, d'honneurs. D'une ignorance crasse, d'une grande médiocrité dans toutes les choses étrangères au maniement des hommes, il ne devenait véritablement supérieur que par ses besoins de domination. Là, il aimait son effort, il idolâtrait son intelligence."]
</blockquote>

Eugène also resembles his avaricious parents Pierre and Félicité. Their desire for power over their hometown of Plassans becomes in Eugène a desire for power on a national scale. (In this, he shows an affinity to his brothers Aristide, who lusts for money, and Pascal, who thirsts for knowledge.) Zola also strongly suggests that the corrupt environment of Second Empire politics and society is what allows Eugène's personality and desire for power to be nurtured and fulfilled.

In ''La conquête de Plassans'' (set in 1864-1865), Eugène is the unnamed "friend" who sends Abbé Faujas to Plassans to solidify support for the Emperor there.

In ''[[L'Argent|L'argent]]'' (which opens in 1864), Eugène's refusal to help his brother Aristide after a financial setback by the latter is the catalyst for the novel, spurring Aristide to ruthless and unethical speculations that eventually lead to the financial ruination of thousands. To disassociate himself from the scandal and to keep Aristide from prison, Eugène arranges for his brother's exile to [[Belgium]].

In ''Le docteur Pascal'' (set in 1872), Zola tells us that Eugène becomes a deputy in the legislative assembly and remains a staunch defender of the Emperor and the Empire after the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. He has no children.