steven ungar compares "nausea" with french novels of different periods, such as madame de la fayette's "la princesse de clèves" (1678), honoré de balzac's "le père goriot" (1835), andré malraux's "la condition humaine" (1933), and annie ernaux's "une femme" (1988), all of which have scenes with men and women faced with choices and "provide literary expressions to concerns with personal identity that vary over time more in detail than in essence."