Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies' Delight)Set in one of the new Paris department stores, this poem of modern activity charts the mutual beginnings of the capitalist economy and bourgeois society. At the centre of the novel is Octave Mouret, who rises through charm, drive, and effort to become the director of this mighty shopping emporium. Mouret is a man who is aware of the power of his position and seeks to exploit the desire his luxuriantly displayed merchandise arouses in the ladies who