13. “Human Comedy” by Balzac.
History of creation, composition, main themes

Balzac Honore de (May 20, 1799, Tours - August 18, 1850, Paris), French writer. The epic “Human Comedy” of 90 novels and stories is connected by a common concept and many characters: the novel “The Unknown Masterpiece” (1831), “ Shagreen leather"(1830-31), "Eugenie Grandet" (1833), "Père Goriot" (1834-1835), "Cesar Birotteau" (1837), "Lost Illusions" (1837-1843), "Cousin Betta" (1846) . Balzac's epic is a realistic picture of French society that is grandiose in scope.

Origin. The writer's father, Bernard François Balssa (who later changed his last name to Balzac), came from a wealthy peasant family, and served in the military supply department. Taking advantage of the similarity of surnames, Balzac at the turn of the 1830s. began to trace his origins back to the noble family of Balzac d'Antregues and arbitrarily added the noble particle "de" to his surname. Balzac's mother was 30 years younger than her husband and cheated on him; the writer's younger brother Henri, his mother's "favorite", was the illegitimate son of the owner of a neighboring castle. Many researchers believe that Balzac the novelist’s attention to the problems of marriage and adultery is explained not least by the atmosphere that reigned in his family.

Biography.

In 1807-1813 Balzac was a boarder at a college in the city of Vendôme; the impressions of this period (intensive reading, a feeling of loneliness among classmates who were distant in spirit) were reflected in the philosophical novel “Louis Lambert” (1832-1835). In 1816-1819 he studied at the School of Law and served as a clerk in the office of a Parisian solicitor, but then refused to continue his legal career. 1820-1829 - years of searching for oneself in literature. Balzac published action-packed novels under various pseudonyms and composed morally descriptive “codes” of social behavior. The period of anonymous creativity ends in 1829, when the novel “The Chouans, or Brittany in 1799” is published. At the same time, Balzac was working on short stories from modern French life, which, since 1830, have been published in editions under the general title “Scenes of Private Life.” These collections, as well as philosophical novel“Shagreen Skin” (1831) brought Balzac great fame. The writer is especially popular among women, who are grateful to him for his insight into their psychology (in this Balzac was helped by his first lover, a married woman 22 years older than him, Laura de Bernis). Balzac receives enthusiastic letters from readers; one of these correspondents, who wrote him a letter in 1832 signed “Foreigner,” was the Polish countess, a Russian subject, Evelina Ganskaya (née Rzhevuskaya), who 18 years later became his wife. Despite the enormous success that Balzac’s novels enjoyed in the 1830s and 1840s ., his life was not calm. The need to pay off debts required intense work; Every now and then Balzac started commercial adventures: he went to Sardinia, hoping to buy a silver mine there cheaply, bought a country house, which he did not have enough money to maintain, and twice founded periodicals that did not have commercial success. Balzac died six months after his main dream came true, and he finally married the widowed Evelina Ganskaya.

"Human Comedy". Aesthetics.

Balzac's extensive legacy includes a collection of frivolous short stories in the "Old French" spirit "Naughty Tales" (1832-1837), several plays and a huge number of journalistic articles, but his main creation is "The Human Comedy". Balzac began combining his novels and stories into cycles back in 1834. In 1842, he began to publish a collection of his works under the name “Human Comedy”, within which he distinguished sections: “Etudes on Morals”, “Philosophical Etudes” and “Analytical Etudes”. All works are united not only by “through” characters, but also by an original concept of the world and man. Following the example of naturalists (primarily E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire), who described animal species that differed from each other in external characteristics formed by the environment, Balzac set out to describe social species. He explained their diversity by different external conditions and differences in characters; Each of the people is ruled by a certain idea, passion. Balzac was convinced that ideas are material forces, peculiar fluids, no less powerful than steam or electricity, and therefore an idea can enslave a person and lead him to death, even if his social position is favorable. The story of all Balzac's main characters is the story of a clash between the passion that controls them and social reality. Balzac is an apologist for will; only if a person has a will, his ideas become an effective force. On the other hand, realizing that the confrontation of egoistic wills is fraught with anarchy and chaos, Balzac relies on the family and monarchy - social institutions that cement society.

"Human Comedy".

Themes, plots, heroes. The struggle of individual will with circumstances or another equally strong passion forms the plot basis of all the most significant works of Balzac. “Shagreen Skin” (1831) is a novel about how a person’s selfish will (materialized in a piece of skin that decreases with each fulfilled desire) devours his life. “The Search for the Absolute” (1834) is a novel about the search for the philosopher’s stone, to which the natural scientist sacrifices the happiness of his family and his own. “Père Goriot” (1835) is a novel about fatherly love, “Eugenie Grande” (1833) is about the love of gold, “Cousin Betta” (1846) is about the power of revenge that destroys everything around. The novel “A Thirty-Year-Old Woman” (1831-1834) is about love, which has become the lot of a mature woman (the concept of “a woman of Balzac’s age”, which has become entrenched in the mass consciousness, is connected with this theme of Balzac’s work).

In society, as Balzac sees and portrays it, either strong egoists achieve the fulfillment of their desires (such as Rastignac, a cross-cutting character who first appears in the novel “Père Goriot”), or people inspired by love for their neighbor (the main characters of the novels “The Country Doctor”, 1833, “The Country Priest”, 1839); weak, weak-willed people, such as the hero of the novels “Lost Illusions” (1837-1843) and “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans” (1838-1847) by Lucien de Rubempre, do not withstand the tests and die.

French epic of the 19th century. Each work of Balzac is a kind of “encyclopedia” of one or another class, one or another profession: “The History of the Greatness and Fall of Caesar Birotteau” (1837) - a novel about trade; “The Illustrious Gaudissart” (1833) - a short story about advertising; “Lost Illusions” is a novel about journalism; "The Bankers' House of Nucingen" (1838) - a novel about financial scams.

Balzac painted in the “Human Comedy” an extensive panorama of all aspects of French life, all layers of society (thus, “Etudes on Morals” included “scenes” of private, provincial, Parisian, political, military and rural life), on the basis of which later researchers began classify his work as realism. However, for Balzac himself, what was more important was an apology for will and a strong personality, which brought his work closer to romanticism.

Father Goriot

Father Goriot (Le Pere Goriot) - Novel (1834-1835)

The main events take place in the boarding house of the “mother” of Voke. At the end of November 1819, there were seven permanent “freeloaders” here: on the second floor - the young lady Victorine Taillefer with a distant relative Madame Couture; on the third - a retired official Poiret and a mysterious middle-aged gentleman named Vautrin; on the fourth - the old maid Mademoiselle Michonot, the former grain merchant Goriot and the student Eugene de Rastignac, who came to Paris from Angoulême. All the residents unanimously despise Father Goriot, who was once called “Monsieur”: having settled with Madame Vauquer in 1813, he took the best room on the second floor - then he clearly had money, and the hostess hoped to end her widowhood. She even included some costs for the common table, but the “noodle maker” did not appreciate her efforts. Voke's disappointed mother began to look askance at him, and he fully lived up to the bad expectations: two years later he moved to the third floor and stopped heating in the winter. The eagle-eyed servants and residents very soon guessed the reason for this fall: lovely young ladies occasionally secretly visited Father Goriot - apparently the old libertine was squandering his fortune on his mistresses. True, he tried to pass them off as his daughters - a stupid lie that only amused everyone. By the end of the third year, Goriot moved to the fourth floor and began to wear cast-offs.

Meanwhile, the measured life at home in Voke begins to change. Young Rastignac, intoxicated by the splendor of Paris, decides to penetrate high society. Of all his rich relatives, Eugene can only count on the Viscountess de Beauseant. Having sent her a letter of recommendation from his old aunt, he receives an invitation to the ball. The young man longs to get close to some noble lady, and his attention is attracted by the brilliant Countess Anastasi de Resto. The next day, he tells his dinner companions about her at breakfast, and learns amazing things: it turns out that old Goriot knows the countess and, according to Vautrin, recently paid her overdue bills to the moneylender Gobsek. From this day on, Vautrin begins to closely monitor all the actions of the young man.

The first attempt to make a social acquaintance turns into humiliation for Rastignac: he came to the countess on foot, causing contemptuous grins from the servants, was unable to immediately find the living room, and the mistress of the house made it clear to him that she wanted to be left alone with Count Maxime de Tray. The enraged Rastignac is filled with wild hatred for the arrogant handsome man and vows to triumph over him. To top off all the troubles, Eugene makes a mistake by mentioning the name of Father Goriot, whom he accidentally saw in the courtyard of the count's house. The dejected young man goes to visit the Viscountess de Beauseant, but chooses the most inopportune moment for this: his cousin is in for a heavy blow - the Marquis d'Ajuda-Pinto, whom she passionately loves, intends to break up with her for the sake of a profitable marriage. The Duchess de Langeais is pleased to convey this news to her “best friend.” The Viscountess hastily changes the topic of conversation, and the mystery that was tormenting Rastignac is immediately resolved: Anastasi de Resto's maiden name was Goriot. This pathetic man also has a second daughter, Delphine, the wife of the banker de Nucingen. Both beauties actually renounced their old father, who gave them everything. The Viscountess advises Rastignac to take advantage of the rivalry between the two sisters: unlike Countess Anastasi, Baroness Delphine is not accepted in high society - for an invitation to the Viscountess de Beauseant's house, this woman will lick all the dirt on the surrounding streets.

Returning to the boarding house, Rastignac announces that from now on he is taking Father Goriot under his protection. He writes a letter to his family, begging them to send him one thousand two hundred francs - this is an almost unbearable burden for the family, but the young ambitious man needs to acquire a fashionable wardrobe. Vautrin, having guessed Rastignac's plans, invites the young man to pay attention to Quiz Taillefer. The girl vegetates in a boarding school because her father, a wealthy banker, does not want to know her. She has a brother: it is enough to remove him from the stage for the situation to change - Quiz will become the sole heir. Vautrin takes upon himself the elimination of young Taillefer, and Rastignac will have to pay him two hundred thousand - a mere trifle compared to the million-dollar dowry. The young man is forced to admit that this terrible man said in a rude manner the same thing that the Viscountess de Beauseant said. Instinctively sensing the danger of the deal with Vautrin, he decides to gain the favor of Delphine de Nucingen. In this he is helped in every possible way by Father Goriot, who hates both sons-in-law and blames them for the misfortunes of his daughters. Eugene meets Delphine and falls in love with her. She reciprocates his feelings, for he rendered her a valuable service by winning seven thousand francs: the banker’s wife cannot pay off her debt - her husband, having pocketed a dowry of seven hundred thousand, left her practically penniless.

Rastignac begins to lead the life of a social dandy, although he still has no money, and the tempter Vautrin constantly reminds him of Victoria's future millions. However, clouds are gathering over Vautrin himself: the police suspect that under this name is hiding the escaped convict Jacques Collin, nicknamed Deception-Death - to expose him, the help of one of the “freeloaders” of the Vauquer boarding house is needed. For a substantial bribe, Poiret and Michonot agree to play the role of detectives: they must find out whether Vautrin has a mark on his shoulder.

The day before the fateful denouement, Vautrin informs Rastignac that his friend Colonel Francessini challenged Taillefer the son to a duel. At the same time, the young man learns that Father Goriot wasted no time: he rented a lovely apartment for Eugene and Delphine and instructed the lawyer Derville to put an end to the excesses of Nucingen - from now on, his daughter will have thirty-six thousand francs an annual income. This news puts an end to Rastignac's hesitation - he wants to warn the Taillefers' father and son, but the prudent Vautrin gives him wine laced with sleeping pills. The next morning they perform the same trick on him: Michono mixes a drug in his coffee that causes a rush of blood to the head; the unconscious Vautrin is undressed, and the brand appears on his shoulder after clapping his hand.

Further events happen quickly, and Mother Voke loses all her guests overnight. First they come for Victorina Taillefer: the father calls the girl to his place, because her brother was mortally wounded in a duel. Then the gendarmes burst into the boarding house: they were given orders to kill Vautrin at the slightest attempt to resist, but he demonstrates the greatest composure and calmly surrenders to the police. Imbued with involuntary admiration for this “genius of hard labor”, the students dining at the boarding house expel the volunteer spies - Michono and Poiret. And Father Goriot shows Rastignac new apartment, begging for one thing - to let him live on the floor above, next to his beloved Delphine. But all the old man's dreams are destroyed. Pressed against the wall by Derville, Baron de Nucingen confesses that his wife's dowry is invested in financial fraud. Goriot is horrified: his daughter is in the complete power of a dishonest banker. However, Anastasi’s situation is even worse: saving Maxime de Tray from debtor’s prison, she pawns the family diamonds to Gobsek, and Count de Resto finds out about this. She needs another twelve thousand, and her father spent the last of his money on an apartment for Rastignac. The sisters begin to shower each other with insults, and in the midst of their quarrel the old man falls down as if knocked down - he was struck.

Père Goriot dies on the day when the Viscountess de Beauseant gives her last ball - unable to survive the separation from the Marquis d'Ajuda, she leaves the world forever. Having said goodbye to this amazing woman, Rastignac hurries to the old man, who calls in vain for his daughters. The unfortunate father is buried with his last pennies by poor students - Rastignac and Bianchon. Two empty carriages with coats of arms escort the coffin to the Père Lachaise cemetery. From the top of the hill, Rastignac looks at Paris and vows to succeed at any cost - and first goes to dine with Delphine de Nucingen.

Balzac comes from simple peasant background. But thanks to my father’s career, I had the opportunity to study. The author recognized the monarchy as a social structure and opposed the republican structure. Because I thought that the bourgeoisie was selfish and cowardly, and even more so could not rule the country. In her writing, she uses the principle of micrography, which examines gray everyday days under a magnifying glass.

The idea of ​​the Cheka appeared in the 30s. Goal: to write a history of the morals of French society and by 1841 most of the novels had been published. Unusual name was suggested by Dante's divine comedy and conveys an ironic and negative character towards the bourgeoisie.

The Cheka has its own structure. 143 novels were written, but 195 were conceived

1) sketches about morals

2)philosophical studies

3) analytical studies.

The first group is the most developed. According to the writer, this group represents the overall picture of modern society. This part is divided into scenes (6 pieces): private life, provincial life, Parisian life, military life, political life, rural life.

Philosophical studies were about issues of science, art, philosophical problems that are associated with human destiny, issues of religion.

Analytical studies of the causes of the state of modern society (2 novels) “Physiology of marriage” “minor adversities of married life”

In the preface to the cycle, B. indicates the task and historical nature of the work. The artist’s task is not only to see certain phenomena, but also to comprehend social life as a single chain of interconnected phenomena.

At the same time, find an explanation for human characters in the laws of social struggle and give a critical assessment to the depiction of phenomena. According to B., this cycle should show the social reality of life. The novel is based on the history of the human heart, or national relations, while not fictitious facts, but what happens in real life. as it really is. The work is historical in nature, and says that French society is history, and about its secretary. B. says that he wants to write history forgotten by historians, the history of morals.

Artistic principles.

1. you should not copy nature, but give a real, truthful image.

2. the type of hero must be collective, conveying the characteristic features of those who are more or less similar to him. He is the example of the race. The hero is often given in the process of formation, being under the influence of people. Going through trials, he loses illusions. This shows that the fall of a person can happen despite his personal will.

3.Genre: social novel. The social world with its internal conventions

B uses a complex structure. An acute dramatic plot, but the events have a realistic motivation. There is no single main character, it covers more than 3,000 thousand characters whose destinies are intertwined. Very often, the basis of a separate novel is the story of a little man. However, it is not idealized and does not reflect the views of the author.

The narrative consists of dialogues and descriptions, which in turn are very detailed. The story of the heroes, as a rule, does not end at the end of one novel, but moves on to other stories, novels. The interconnection of these “returning” heroes holds the fragments of the Cheka together.

The heroes of the Cheka are, to one degree or another, exceptional individuals and unique in the liveliness of their character. And they are all unique, thus typical and individual are interconnected in the characters.

The first work created by B. in accordance with the general plan of his epic is “Père Goriot.” The first work created by Balzac in accordance with the general plan of his epic was “Père Goriot” (1834

If the life stories of his daughters are initially connected with Goriot - Anastasi, who became the wife of the nobleman de Restaud, and Delphine, who married the banker Nucingen, then with Rastignac new storylines enter into the novel: the Viscountess de Beauseant (who opens the doors of the aristocratic suburb of Paris to the young provincial and the cruelty of the laws under which it lives), “Napoleon of hard labor” by Vautrin (in his own way continuing the “training” of Rastignac, tempting him with the prospect of quick enrichment through a crime committed by someone else), medical student Bianchon (rejecting the philosophy of immoralism), and finally, Victorine Taillefer (who would have brought Rastignac a million-dollar dowry if, after the violent death of her brother, she had become the sole heir of the banker Taillefer).

In “Père Goriot,” each of the heroes has his own story, the completeness or brevity of which depends on the role assigned to him in the plot of the novel. And if Goriot’s life path finds a tragic conclusion here, then the stories of all the other characters remain fundamentally unfinished, since the author already assumes the “return” of these characters in other works of the “Human Comedy”. The principle of the “return” of characters is not only the key that opens the way to the future world of Balzac’s epic. It allows the author to include into his beginning literary life, “The Human Comedy,” works that had already been published, in particular “Gobsek,” where the story of Anastasi Resto was told, “The Abandoned Woman” with her heroine de Beauseant, who left high society.

The first work created in accordance with the plan of the Cheka “Père Goriot” 1834

Starting the novel, B frames Goriot's story with many additional plot lines, among them the first to appear is the line of Eugene Rasgnac, a Parisian student brought together by Goriot by staying at Madame Vauquer's boarding house. It is in the perception of Eugene that the tragedy of Father Goriot is presented, who himself is not able to comprehend everything on his own.

However, Rasgnac is not limited to the role of a simple witness-analyst. The theme of the fate of the younger generation of the nobility, which was included with him in the novel, turns out to be so important that the hero becomes no less important a figure than Goriot himself.

If Goriot was initially associated with the life stories of his daughters - Anastasi, who became the wife of the nobleman de Resto, and Delphine, who married the banker Nucingen, then with Rastignac new storylines enter into the novel: the Viscountess de Beauseant (who opened the doors of the aristocracy and their cruelty to the young provincial morals), medical student Bianchonape and Quiz Taillefer (who would have brought Rasgnac a million-dollar dowry if, after the violent death of her brother, she had become the only heir) Thus, a whole system of characters is formed, directly or indirectly connected with Goriot’s father. Each of the heroes has his own story, the completeness or brevity of which depends on the role assigned to the plot of the novel. And if the path of Gorio’s life finds a tragic conclusion here, then the stories of all the other characters remain fundamentally incomplete.

The tragedy of Father Goriot is presented as a manifestation of the general principles that determine the life of post-revolutionary France. The daughters, idolized by the old man, who, having received everything he could give them, completely tormented their father with worries and troubles, not only left him to die alone in the boarding house, and did not even come to his funeral. The tragedy unfolding before Rasgnak's eyes becomes perhaps the most bitter lesson for a young man trying to understand the world.

The narrative opens with an extensive exposition; it describes in detail the main scene of action - Madame Vauquer's boarding house, its location, and internal structure. The hostess, her servants, and the boarders living are also fully described here. Each of them is immersed in their own worries, almost not paying attention to their neighbors in the house. After a detailed exposition, events pick up a rapid pace: a collision transforms into a conflict, the conflict exposes irreconcilable contradictions to the limit, and disaster becomes inevitable. It occurs almost simultaneously for all characters. Vautrin is exposed and captured by the police, Viscountess de Beauseant leaves high society forever, finally convinced of the betrayal of her lover. Anastasi Resto is ruined and abandoned by the high-society pirate Maxime de Traille, Goriot dies, Madame Voke's boarding house is empty, having lost almost all its guests.

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Honore de Balzac

Human Comedy

EVGENIYA GRANDE

Father Goriot

Honore de Balzac

EVGENIYA GRANDE

Translation from French by Yu. Verkhovsky. OCR & SpellCheck: Zmiy

The story “Gobsek” (1830), the novels “Eugenia Grande” (1833) and “Père Goriot” (1834) by O. Balzac, which are part of the “Human Comedy” cycle, belong to the masterpieces of world literature. In all three works, the writer with enormous artistic power exposes the vices of bourgeois society and shows the harmful impact of money on the human personality and human relationships.

Your name, the name of the one whose portrait

the best decoration of this work, yes

will be here like a green branch

blessed box, torn

no one knows where, but undoubtedly

sanctified religion and renewed in

constant freshness by the pious

hands for storage at home.

De Balzac

There are houses in some provincial towns that, by their mere appearance, evoke sadness, similar to that evoked by the gloomiest monasteries, the grayest steppes or the most dismal ruins. In these houses there is something of the silence of the monastery, the desolation of the steppes and the decay of ruins. Life and movement in them are so calm that to a stranger they would have seemed uninhabited if he had not suddenly met his eyes with the dull and cold gaze of a motionless creature, whose semi-monastic face appeared above the windowsill at the sound of unfamiliar steps. These characteristic features of melancholy mark the appearance of a dwelling located in the upper part of Saumur, at the end of a crooked street that rises up the mountain and leads to the castle. On this street, now sparsely populated, it is hot in summer, cold in winter, dark in places even during the day; It is remarkable for the sonority of its pavement made of small cobblestones, constantly dry and clean, the narrowness of the winding path, the silence of its houses belonging to the old city, above which the ancient city fortifications rise. Three centuries old, these buildings, although wooden, are still strong, and their heterogeneous appearance contributes to the originality that attracts the attention of lovers of antiquities and people of art to this part of Saumur. It is difficult to pass by these houses without admiring the huge oak beams, the ends of which, carved with intricate figures, crown the lower floor of most of these houses with black bas-reliefs. The cross-beams are covered with slate and appear in bluish stripes on the decrepit walls of the building, topped by a wooden peaked roof, sagging with age, with rotten shingles, warped by the alternating action of rain and sun. Here and there you can see window sills, worn, darkened, with barely noticeable fine carvings, and it seems that they cannot withstand the weight of a dark clay pot with bushes of carnations or roses grown by some poor worker. Next, what will catch your eye is the pattern of huge nail heads driven into the gates, on which the genius of our ancestors inscribed family hieroglyphs, the meaning of which no one can guess. Either a Protestant expressed his confession of faith here, or some member of the League cursed Henry IV. A certain townsman carved here the heraldic signs of his eminent citizenship, his long-forgotten glorious title of merchant foreman. Here is the entire history of France. Side by side with the rickety house, the walls of which are covered with rough plaster, immortalizing the work of an artisan, rises the mansion of a nobleman, where, in the very middle of the stone arch of the gate, traces of the coat of arms, broken by the revolutions that have shaken the country since 1789, are still visible. On this street, the lower floors of merchant houses are not occupied by shops or warehouses; admirers of the Middle Ages can find here the storehouse of our fathers in all its frank simplicity. These low, spacious rooms, without shop windows, without elegant exhibitions, without painted glass, are devoid of any decoration, internal or external. Heavy Entrance door it is roughly upholstered with iron and consists of two parts: the upper one leans inward, forming a window, and the lower one, with a bell on a spring, opens and closes every now and then. Air and light penetrate into this semblance of a damp cave either through a transom cut out above the door, or through an opening between the arch and a low counter-high wall - there strong internal shutters are fixed in grooves, which are removed in the mornings and put on in the evenings. place and close it with iron bolts. Goods are displayed on this wall. And here they don’t show off. Depending on the type of trade, the samples consist of two or three tubs filled to the brim with salt and cod, several bales of sailing cloth, ropes, copper utensils suspended from the ceiling beams, hoops placed along the walls, several pieces of cloth on shelves . Sign in. A neat young girl, bursting with health, wearing a snow-white headscarf, with red hands, leaves her knitting and calls her mother or father. One of them comes out and sells what you need - for two sous or for twenty thousand goods, while remaining indifferent, kind or arrogant, depending on their character. You will see a merchant of oak boards sitting at his door and fiddling with his thumbs, talking with his neighbor, and in appearance he only has unsightly planks for barrels and two or three bundles of shingles; and on the landing stage his forestry yard supplies all the Angevin coopers; he calculated down to a single plank how many barrels he would handle if the grape harvest was good: the sun - and he is rich, rainy weather - he is ruined; on the same morning wine barrels cost eleven francs or fall to six livres. In this region, as in Touraine, the vicissitudes of the weather dominate commercial life. Grape growers, landowners, timber merchants, coopers, innkeepers, shipbuilders - all lie in wait for the sun's ray; when they go to bed in the evening, they tremble, lest they find out in the morning that it was freezing at night; they are afraid of rain, wind, drought and want moisture, warmth, clouds - whatever suits their needs. There is a continuous duel between heaven and earthly self-interest. The barometer alternately saddens, enlightens, and illuminates with joyful faces. From end to end of this street, the ancient Grand Rue de Saumur, the words “Golden Day!” fly from porch to porch. And everyone answers to their neighbor. “Louis d'or are pouring from the sky,” realizing that it was a ray of sunshine or rain that arrived on time. In the summer on Saturdays, from noon onwards you won’t be able to buy a penny’s worth of goods from these honest merchants. Everyone has their own vineyard, their own farm, and every day they go out of town for two days. Here, when everything is calculated - buying, selling, profit - the traders have ten hours out of twelve left for picnics, for all sorts of gossip, incessant spying on each other. The housewife cannot buy a partridge without the neighbors then asking her husband if the bird was roasted successfully. A girl cannot stick her head out of the window without being seen from all sides by groups of idle people. Here, after all, everyone’s spiritual life is in plain sight, just like all the events taking place in these impenetrable, gloomy and silent houses. Almost the entire life of ordinary people is spent in the free air. Each family sits down on its porch, has breakfast, lunch, and quarrels. Anyone who walks down the street is looked at from head to toe. And in the old days, as soon as a stranger appeared in a provincial town, they began to ridicule him at every door. From here - funny stories, hence the nickname mockingbirds given to the inhabitants of Angers, who were especially distinguished in these gossip.

The ancient mansions of the old town are located at the top of the street, once inhabited by local nobles. The gloomy house where the events described in this story took place was just one of these dwellings, a venerable fragment of a bygone century, when things and people were distinguished by that simplicity that French morals are losing every day. Walking along this picturesque street, where every winding awakens memories of antiquity, and the general impression evokes an involuntary sad reverie, you notice a rather dark vault, in the middle of which the door of Monsieur Grandet’s house is hidden. It is impossible to understand the full meaning of this phrase without knowing the biography of Mr. Grande.

Monsieur Grandet enjoyed a special reputation in Saumur, which will not be fully understood by those who have not lived at least a short time in the province. M. Grandet, still called by some “Père Grandet,” although the number of such old men was noticeably decreasing, was in 1789 a simple cooper, but of great wealth, able to read, write and count. When the French Republic put the lands of the clergy on sale in the Saumur district, the cooper Grandet, who was then forty years old, had just married the daughter of a wealthy timber merchant. Having in hand his own cash and his wife's dowry, and only two thousand louis, Grandet went to the main city of the district, where, thanks to a bribe of two hundred doubloons offered by his father-in-law to the stern republican in charge of the sale of national property, he acquired for next to nothing, if not quite legally, then in a legal manner, the best vineyards in the area, an old abbey and several farms. The inhabitants of Saumur were not very revolutionary, and Father Grandet was considered a brave man, a republican, a patriot, a smart head committed to new ideas, while the cooper was simply committed to the vineyards. He was elected a member of the administrative department of the Saumur district, and there his peace-loving influence was felt both politically and commercially. In politics, he patronized former people and resisted with all his might the sale of emigrants' estates; in commerce. - he supplied the Republican armies with a thousand or two thousand barrels of white wine and managed to get him to be paid for them with magnificent meadows from the possessions of a nunnery, left for last sale. During the Consulate, the good-natured Grande became mayor, ruled well, and picked grapes even better; during the Empire he had already become Monsieur Grandet. Napoleon did not like Republicans; He replaced Mr. Grandet, who was known as a man who sported a red cap, with a large landowner who bore a surname with the particle “de,” the future Baron of the Empire. M. Grandet parted with municipal honors without the slightest regret. He had already managed to lay excellent roads “for the benefit of the city” that led to his own possessions. Grande's house and estates, valued very favorably for him based on the land list, were subject to moderate taxes. Thanks to the incessant care of the owner, his vineyards became the “head of the region” - a technical expression denoting vineyards that produce wine highest quality. He could have asked for the Cross of the Legion of Honor. This happened in 1806. M. Grandet was at that time fifty-seven years old, and his wife about thirty-six. Their only daughter, the fruit of legitimate love, was then ten years old. M. Grandet, whom Providence undoubtedly wished to reward for his official disgrace, this year received three inheritances one after another: from Madame de la Godiniere, née de la Berteliere, mother of Madame Grandet; then - from the old man de la Berteliere, the father of the late mother-in-law; and also from Madame Gentillet, the maternal grandmother, three inheritances, the size of which was unknown to anyone. The stinginess of these three old men turned into such a strong passion that for a long time they kept their money in chests to admire it secretly. The old man de la Berteliere called any placing of money into circulation extravagance, finding more joy in the contemplation of gold than in income from usury. The city of Saumur allegedly determined Mr. Grandet's savings based on his real estate. At that time Grande acquired that high title which our mad passion for equality will never destroy: he became the first taxpayer of the district. He had a hundred acres of vineyard, which productive years gave him from seven hundred to eight hundred barrels of wine. He also owned thirteen farms, an old abbey, where, out of frugality, he plastered the windows, vaults and stained glass windows, which preserved them; and also - one hundred and twenty-seven arpans of meadows, where three thousand poplars, planted in 1793, grew and increased in volume. Finally, the house where he lived was his property. This was how the size of his fortune was determined, obvious to everyone. As for his capital, only two persons could have a vague idea of ​​​​their size: one of these persons was the notary Cruchot, M. Grandet's permanent attorney for the placement of his capital in the growth; the other was M. de Grassin, the richest Saumur banker, in whose operations and profits the winemaker had a share by secret agreement. Although old Cruchot and M. de Grassin knew how to keep a secret - this inspires confidence in the provinces and reflects favorably on business - however, both of them very openly showed M. Grandet such great respect that observant people could guess the impressive size of the capital of the former the mayor due to the obsequious ingratiation of which he was the subject. In Saumur, everyone was sure that M. Grandet had a whole treasure hidden, that he had a cache full of louis d'or, and there at night he gave himself unspeakable pleasure, contemplating the pile of accumulated gold. The misers felt some kind of confidence in this, looking into the eyes of old Grandet, to whom the yellow metal seemed to transfer its colors. The look of a person accustomed to extracting huge profits from his capital, like the look of a sensualist, gambler or courtier, inevitably acquires some indefinable skills, expressing fugitive, greedy, mysterious movements of feelings that do not elude his fellow believers. This secret language forms, in a way, the Freemasonry of the passions. So, M. Grandet inspired everyone’s respect, like a man who never owed anyone anything, like an old cooper and an old winemaker, who determined with astronomical precision whether it was necessary to prepare a thousand barrels or only five hundred for the grape harvest; how a man who did not miss a single speculation, always had barrels for sale when the barrel was worth more than the wine itself, could hide all his new vintage wine in the cellars and wait for an opportunity to sell a barrel for two hundred francs, when small winemakers give up theirs for five gold. His famous collection of 1811, wisely hidden and slowly sold, brought him more than two hundred and forty thousand livres. In commerce, Mr. Grandet was like a tiger and a boa: he knew how to lie down, curl up into a ball, peer for a long time at his prey and rush at it; then he opened the mouth of his wallet, swallowed another share of the crown and calmly lay down, like a snake digesting food; He did all this dispassionately, coldly, methodically. When he walked through the streets, everyone looked at him with a feeling of respectful admiration and fear. Everyone in Saumur experienced the polite grip of his steel claws: such and such a notary Cruchot got money from him to buy an estate, but at eleven percent; to this M. de Grassin took into account the bill, but with a terrifying discount interest. There were rarely days when the name of Mr. Grandet was not mentioned either in the market or in the evenings in the conversations of ordinary people. For others, the old winemaker's wealth served as a source of patriotic pride. And more than one merchant, more than one innkeeper used to say to visitors with some boastfulness:

- Yes, sir, here we have two or three trading enterprises millionths. And as for Mr. Grandet, he doesn’t even know how to account for his own money.

In 1816, the most skillful accountants of Saumur estimated the land holdings of old Grandet at almost four million; but since, according to the average calculation, he should have received one hundred thousand francs annually from his possessions during the period from 1793 to 1817, it could be assumed that he had in cash an amount almost equal to the value of his real estate. And when, after a game of Boston or some conversation about the vineyards, the conversation came up about M. Grand, smart people said:

- Papa Grande?.. Papa Grande has six or seven million faithful.

-You are more dexterous than me. “I was never able to find out the total amount,” answered M. Cruchot or M. de Grassin, if they heard such a conversation.

When a visiting Parisian spoke of the Rothschilds or M. Lafitte, the Saumur residents asked if they were as rich as M. Grandet. If the Parisian answered positively with a disdainful smile, they looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. Such a huge fortune cast a golden veil over all the actions of this man. Previously, some of the oddities of his life gave rise to ridicule and jokes, but now the ridicule and jokes have dried up. Whatever Mr. Grandet did, his authority was unquestionable. His speech, clothes, gestures, the blinking of his eyes were the law for the entire neighborhood, where everyone, having previously studied him, as a naturalist studies the actions of instinct in animals, could learn all the deep and silent wisdom of his most insignificant movements.

“It will be a harsh winter,” people said, “Père Grandet put on fur gloves.” The grapes need to be harvested.

- Papa Grande takes a lot of barrel boards - there will be wine this year.

Mr. Grandet never bought meat or bread. His sharecropping farmers brought him a sufficient supply of capons, chickens, eggs, butter and wheat every week. He had a mill; The tenant was obliged, in addition to the contractual payment, to come for a certain amount of grain, grind it and bring flour and bran. The huge Nanetta, his only servant, although she was no longer young, baked bread for the family every Saturday. Mr. Grandet negotiated with his tenants, gardeners, to supply him with vegetables. As for the fruits, he collected so much of them that he sent a significant part to sell to the market. For firewood, he cut dead wood in his hedges or used old, half-rotten stumps, uprooting them along the edges of his fields; his farmers brought him wood already cut to the city free of charge, out of courtesy they put it in the barn and received verbal gratitude. He spent money, as everyone knew, only on consecrated bread, on clothes for his wife and daughter and on paying for their chairs in church, on lighting, on Nanette’s salary, on tinning pots, on taxes, on repairs of buildings and expenses for his enterprises . He had six hundred arpans of wood, recently purchased; Grande entrusted his supervision to the neighbor's watchman, promising him a reward for this. Only after acquiring forest land did they begin to serve game to his table. He was extremely simple in his manners, spoke little and usually expressed his thoughts in short instructive phrases, pronouncing them in an insinuating voice. Since the Revolution, when Grandet had attracted attention, he began to stutter in the most tiresome manner whenever he had to speak for a long time or endure an argument. The tongue-tiedness, the incoherence of speech, the stream of words in which he drowned his thoughts, the obvious lack of logic attributed to lack of education - all this was emphasized by him and will be properly explained by some of the incidents of this story. However, four phrases, as precise as algebraic formulas, usually helped him think and resolve all sorts of difficulties in life and trade: “I don’t know. I can not. Don't want. Let's see". He never said yes or no and never wrote. If they told him anything, he listened calmly, supporting his chin with his right hand and resting his elbow on the palm of his left hand, and about each matter he formed an opinion that he never changed. He thought for a long time about even the smallest transactions. When, after a cunning conversation, the interlocutor, confident that he had him in his hands, revealed to him the secret of his intentions, Grande replied:

“I can’t decide anything until I consult with my wife.”

His wife, reduced by him to complete slavery, was the most convenient screen for him in business. He never visited anyone or invited anyone to his place, not wanting to have dinner parties; never made any noise and seemed to economize on everything, even on movements. He did not touch anything with strangers out of an ingrained respect for property. Nevertheless, despite the insinuation of his voice, despite his cautious demeanor, the expressions and habits of a cooper broke out in him, especially when he was at home, where he restrained himself less than in any other place. In appearance, Grandet was a man five feet tall, stocky, dense, with calves twelve inches in circumference, knobby joints and broad shoulders; his face was round, clumsy, pockmarked; the chin is straight, the lips are without any bend, and the teeth are very white; the expression of the eyes is calm and predatory, which people attribute to the basilisk; a forehead speckled with transverse wrinkles, not without characteristic bumps, hair - reddish with gray - gold and silver, as some of the youth said, not yet knowing what it meant to make fun of M. Grandet. On his nose, which was thick at the end, there was a bump with blood veins, which the people, not without reason, considered a sign of deceit. This face betrayed the dangerous cunning, cold honesty, and selfishness of a man accustomed to concentrating all his feelings on the pleasures of miserliness; only one creature was at least a little dear to him - his daughter Eugene, his only heir. His demeanor, his manners, his gait—everything in him testified to the self-confidence that the habit of success in all one’s undertakings gives. Mr. Grandet, seemingly of an accommodating and gentle disposition, was distinguished by an iron character. He was always dressed the same and in appearance was still the same as in 1791. His rough shoes were tied with leather laces; at all times of the year he wore felted woolen stockings, short trousers of thick brown cloth with silver buckles, a velvet double-breasted vest with yellow and dark brown stripes, a spacious, always tightly buttoned long-skirted chestnut-colored frock coat, a black tie and a Quaker hat. The gloves, as strong as those worn by gendarmes, served him for twenty months, and in order not to get dirty, he put them on the brim of his hat with his usual movement, always in the same place. Saumur knew nothing more about this man.

Of all the town's inhabitants, only six enjoyed the right to visit Mr. Grande's house. The most significant of the first three was M. Cruchot's nephew. From the day of his appointment as chairman of the Saumur court of first instance, this young man added de Bonfon to the surname Cruchot and tried with all his might to ensure that Bonfon prevailed over Cruchot. He had already signed his name: C. de Bonfon. The stupid plaintiff, who called him “Mr. Cruchot,” soon realized at the court hearing about his mistake. The judge made peace with those who called him “Monsieur President,” and distinguished with the most favorable smiles the flatterers who called him “Monsieur de Bonnefon.” The chairman was thirty-three years old; he owned the Bonfon estate; (Boni fontis), which gave seven thousand livres of income; he was expecting an inheritance after his uncle, a notary, and after his other uncle, Abbot Cruchot, a high-ranking member of the chapter of Saint-Martin de Tours, both of whom were considered quite rich. These three Cruchots, supported by a fair number of relatives, connected with twenty families in the city, formed a kind of party, as the Medici once did in Florence; and like the Medici, Cruchot had his Pazzi. Madame de Grassin, the parent of a twenty-three-year-old son, religiously came to Madame Grandet to make her a game of cards, hoping to marry her dear Adolphe to Mademoiselle Eugenie. The banker de Grassin actively contributed to the machinations of his wife with constant services, which he secretly provided to the old miser, and always appeared on the battlefield on time. These three de Grassins also had their adherents, their relatives, their loyal allies.

On Cruchot's side, the old abbot, Talleyrand of this family, relying on his notary brother, cheerfully challenged the position of the banker and tried to save a rich inheritance for his nephew, the chairman of the court. The secret battle between Cruchot and the Grassins, in which the prize was the hand of Eugenie Grandet, passionately occupied various circles of Saumur society. Will Mademoiselle Grandet marry Monsieur Chairman or Monsieur Adolphe de Grassin? Some resolved this problem in the sense that Mr. Grandet would not give up his daughter for either one or the other. The former cooper, consumed by ambition, they said, was looking for a son-in-law of some peer of France, whose three hundred thousand livres of income would force him to make peace with all the past, present and future barrels of the Grandet house. Others objected that the de Grassins were both of noble birth and very rich, that Adolphe was a very nice gentleman, and unless Eugenia was wooed by the nephew of the pope himself, such a union would have to satisfy a man who came from a low rank, a former cooper, whom all I saw Saumur with a skobel in his hands and, moreover, wearing a red cap at one time. The most judicious pointed out that for M. Cruchot de Bonnefon the doors of the house were open at all times, while his rival was received only on Sundays. Some argued that Madame de Grassin was more closely connected than Cruchot with the ladies of the Grandet family, had the ability to instill certain thoughts in them, and therefore would sooner or later achieve her goal. Others objected that Abbot Cruchot was the most insinuating man in the world and that a woman against a monk was an equal game. “Two boots are a pair,” said a certain Saumur wit.

Local old-timers, more knowledgeable, believed that Grandet was too cautious and would not let the wealth out of the hands of the family; Eugenie Grandet of Saumur would marry the son of Parisian Grandet, a wealthy wholesale wine merchant. To this both the Cruchotinists and the Grassenists responded:

“First of all, in thirty years the brothers haven’t seen each other twice. And then the Parisian Grande aims high for his son. He is the mayor of his district, a deputy, a colonel of the National Guard, and a member of the commercial court. He does not recognize the Saumur Grandets and intends to become related to the family of some duke by the grace of Napoleon.

What they didn’t say about the heiress of this fortune, she was judged and paraded for twenty leagues all around and even on stagecoaches from Angers to Blois inclusive! At the beginning of 1819, the Cruchotins clearly gained an advantage over the Grassenists. Just then the Froifon estate was put up for sale, remarkable for its park, delightful castle, farms, rivers, ponds, forests - an estate worth three million; the young Marquis de Froifon needed money and decided to realize his real estate. Notary Cruchot, Chairman Cruchot and Abbot Cruchot, with the help of their followers, managed to prevent the sale of the estate in small plots. The notary made a very profitable deal with the marquis, assuring him that while it would be necessary to conduct endless litigation with individual buyers before they paid for the plots, it would be much better to sell the entire estate to Mr. Grandet, a wealthy man and, moreover, ready to pay in cash. The beautiful marquisate of Froifon was carried into the throat of M. Grandet, who, to the great surprise of all Saumur, after the necessary formalities, taking into account interest, paid for the estate in cash. This event caused a stir in both Nantes and Orleans. Monsieur Grandet went to see his castle, taking advantage of the opportunity - in a cart that was returning there. Having cast a master's eye over his possessions, he returned to Saumur, confident that the money he had spent would yield five percent, and having set himself the bold idea of ​​rounding out the Marquisate of Froifon by annexing all his possessions. Then, in order to replenish his almost empty treasury, he decided to completely cut down his groves and forests, and also sell the poplars in his meadows.

Now it is easy to understand the full meaning of the words: “Mr. Grandet’s house” - a gloomy, cold, silent house, located in a high part of the city and covered with the ruins of the fortress wall. The two pillars and the deep arch under which the gate was located were, like the whole house, built of sandstone - a white stone that abounds on the Loire coast, so soft that its strength is barely enough to last an average of two hundred years. Many uneven, oddly located holes - a consequence of the changeable climate - gave the arch and doorposts of the entrance a characteristic French architecture looking as if they had been eaten away by worms, and somewhat resembling a prison gate. Above the arch stood an oblong bas-relief made of strong stone, but the allegorical figures carved on it - the four seasons - had already weathered and completely blackened. A cornice protruded above the bas-relief, on which grew several plants that had accidentally found their way there - yellow wallflowers, dodder, bindweed, plantain and even a young cherry tree, already quite tall. The massive oak gate, dark, shriveled, cracked at all ends, dilapidated in appearance, was firmly supported by a system of bolts that made up symmetrical patterns. In the middle of the gate, in the gate, a small square hole was cut, covered with a fine grating with iron bars browned with rust, and it served, so to speak, as the basis for the existence of a door knocker, attached to it with a ring and striking the curved, flattened head of a large nail. This oblong hammer, one of those that our ancestors called “Jacmart,” looked like a bold exclamation mark; examining it carefully, an antiquarian would find in it some signs of the characteristic clownish physiognomy that he once portrayed; it was worn out from using the hammer for a long time. Looking through this lattice window, intended in the days civil wars to recognize friends and enemies, the curious could see a dark greenish vault, and in the depths of the courtyard several dilapidated steps along which they ascended to the garden, picturesquely fenced with thick walls oozing with moisture and completely covered with skinny tufts of greenery. These were the walls of the city fortifications, above which the gardens of several neighboring houses rose on earthen ramparts.

On the lower floor of the house, the most important room was the hall, the entrance to which was located under the arch of the gate. Few people understand the importance of the hall to the small families of Anjou, Touraine and Berry. The hall is at the same time an entrance hall, a living room, an office, a boudoir and a dining room, and is the main place home life, its focus; the local barber came here twice a year to cut M. Grandet’s hair; farmers, a parish priest, a sub-prefect, and a miller's assistant were received here. This room, with two windows facing the street, had a plank floor; from top to bottom it was covered with gray panels with ancient ornaments; the ceiling consisted of exposed beams, also painted in grey colour , with gaps plugged with white yellowed tow. The mantel of the fireplace, made of rough-carved white stone, was decorated with an old brass clock inlaid with horn arabesques; there was also a greenish mirror on it, the edges of which were beveled to show its thickness; they were reflected as a light strip in an antique dressing table, set in a steel frame with gold notching. A pair of gilded copper girandoles, placed at the corners of the fireplace, had two purposes: if you remove the roses that served as rosettes, a large branch of which was attached to a stand of bluish marble, trimmed with old copper, then this stand could serve as a candlestick for small family receptions. Scenes from La Fontaine's fables were woven onto the upholstery of the antique-shaped chairs, but this had to be known in advance in order to make out their plots - it was so difficult to see the faded colors and images worn to holes. At the four corners of the hall there were corner cupboards like sideboards with greasy shelves on the sides. In the partition between the two windows there was an old card table, the top of which was a chessboard. Above the table hung an oval barometer with a black rim, decorated with bands of gilded wood, but so infested with flies that one could only guess at the gilding. On the wall opposite the fireplace were two portraits which were supposed to represent Madame Grandet's grandfather, old M. de la Berteliere, in the uniform of a lieutenant of the French Guards, and the late Madame Gentillet in the costume of a shepherdess. The two windows had red grodetour curtains, tied with silk cords with tassels at the ends. This luxurious furnishings, so little in keeping with Grandet's habits, was acquired by him along with the house, as well as a dressing table, a clock, furniture with tapestry upholstery and rosewood corner cabinets. At the window nearest the door was a straw chair with legs propped up so that Madame Grandet could see passers-by. A simple cherry wood work table occupied the entire niche of the window, and Eugenia Grande’s small chair stood close by. For fifteen years, from April to November, all the days of mother and daughter passed peacefully on this place in constant work; on the first of November they could move to their winter position - to the fireplace. Only from this day did Grande allow a fire to be built in the fireplace and order it to be extinguished on March 31st, not paying attention to the spring and autumn frosts. A foot warmer with hot coals from the kitchen stove, which Naneta the Hulk skillfully saved for her housewives, helped them endure the cold mornings or evenings in April and October. Mother and daughter sewed and mended linen for the whole family, both worked conscientiously all day long, like day laborers, and when Evgenia wanted to embroider a collar for her mother, she had to snatch time from the hours designated for sleep, deceiving her father, using secret candles. For a long time now, the miser had been paying out candles to his daughter and Nanetta, just as in the morning he distributed bread and food supplies for the day’s consumption.

“The Human Comedy” is a cycle of works by the cult French writer Honore de Balzac. This grandiose work became the most ambitious literary idea of ​​the 19th century. Balzac included in the cycle all the novels he wrote during his twenty-year creative career. Despite the fact that each component of the cycle is an independent literary work, “The Human Comedy” is a single whole, as Balzac said, “my great work... about man and life."

The idea for this large-scale creation arose from Honore de Balzac in 1832, when the novel “Shagreen Skin” was completed and successfully published. Analyzing the works of Bonnet, Buffon, Leibniz, the writer drew attention to the development of animals as a single organism.

Drawing a parallel with the animal world, Balzac determined that society is like nature in that it creates as many human types as nature creates animal species. The material for human typology is the environment in which this or that individual is located. Just as in nature a wolf is different from a fox, a donkey from a horse, a shark from a seal, in society a soldier is different from a worker, a scientist from a slacker, an official from a poet.

The uniqueness of Balzac's design

In world culture, there are a lot of dry factographies devoted to the history of various countries and eras, but there is no work that would illuminate the history of the morals of society. Balzac undertook to explore the mores of French society in the 19th century (to be precise, the period from 1815 to 1848). He had to create a large work with two to three thousand characters typical for this particular era.

The idea was, of course, very ambitious, the publishers sarcastically wished the writer a “long life,” but this did not stop the great Balzac - along with talent, he had amazing endurance, self-discipline and efficiency. By analogy with " Divine Comedy“Dante, he calls his work “The Human Comedy,” emphasizing the realistic method of interpreting modern reality.

The structure of The Human Comedy

Honore de Balzac divided his “Human Comedy” into three structural and semantic parts. Visually, this composition can be depicted in the form of a pyramid. The largest part (also the foundation) is called “Etudes of Morals” and includes thematic subsections/scenes (private, provincial, military, village life and the life of Paris. “It was planned to include 111 works in “Etudes of Morals”, Balzac managed to write 71.

The second tier of the “pyramid” is “Philosophical Studies”, in which 27 works were planned and 22 were written.

The top of the “pyramid” is “Analytical Studies”. Of the five planned, the author managed to complete only two works.

In the preface to the first edition of The Human Comedy, Balzac deciphers the themes of each part of the Etudes of Morals. Thus, Scenes of Private Life depict childhood, youth and the delusions of these periods human life.

Balzac really likes to “spy” on the private lives of his characters and find the typical, epoch-making in the everyday life of the heroes appearing on the pages of his works. Accordingly, Scenes of Private Life has become one of the most extensive sections; it includes works written in the period from 1830 to 1844. These are “The House of the Cat Playing Ball”, “Ball in So”, “Memoirs of Two Young Wives”, “Vendetta”, “Imaginary Mistress”, “Thirty-Year-Old Woman”, “Colonel Chabert”, “Mass of the Atheist”, the cult “Father Goriot,” “Gobsek” and other works.”

Thus, the short novel “The House of the Cat Playing Ball” (alternative title “Glory and Woe”) tells the story of a young married couple - the artist Theodore de Somervier and the merchant daughter Augustine Guillaume. When the intoxication of love passes, Theodore realizes that his pretty wife is not able to appreciate his work, become a spiritual friend, comrade-in-arms, or muse. At this time, Augustine continues to naively and selflessly love her husband. She suffers greatly, seeing how her beloved moves away, how she finds solace in the company of another woman - the intelligent, educated, sophisticated Madame de Carigliano. No matter how hard the poor woman tries, she cannot save the marriage and return her husband’s love. One day, Augustine's heart cannot stand it - it is simply torn from grief and lost love.

The novel “Memoirs of Two Young Wives” is interesting. It is presented in the form of correspondence between two graduates of the monastery, friends Louise de Chaulier and Rene de Maukomb. Having left the walls of the holy monastery, one girl ends up in Paris, the other in the provinces. Line by line on the pages of girls' letters two absolutely different destinies.

The cult “Père Goriot” and “Gobsek” tell the story of the lives of two greatest misers - the “incurable father” Goriot, who morbidly adores his daughters, and the moneylender Gobsek, who does not recognize any ideals except the power of gold.

In contrast to private life, scenes of provincial life are devoted to maturity and its inherent passions, ambitions, interests, calculations, and ambition. This section includes ten novels. Among them are “Eugenia Grande”, “Museum of Antiquities”, “The Old Maid”, “Lost Illusions”.

Thus, the novel “Eugenia Grande” tells the story of the provincial life of the wealthy Grande family - a stingy tyrant father, an uncomplaining mother and their young beautiful daughter Eugenia. The novel was very much loved by the domestic public, was repeatedly translated into Russian and even filmed at a Soviet film studio in 1960.

In contrast to the provincial, Balzac creates Scenes of Parisian Life, where, first of all, the vices that the capital gives rise to are exposed. This section includes “Duchess de Langeais”, “Cesar Birotto”, “Cousin Betta”, “Cousin Pons” and others. Balzac's most famous "Parisian" novel is "The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans."

The work tells the tragic fate of the provincial Lucien de Rubempre, who made a brilliant career in Paris thanks to the patronage of Carlos Herrera, the abbot. Lucien is in love. His passion is the former courtesan Esther. An overbearing abbot forces a young protégé to give up his true love in favor of a more profitable party. Lucien cowardly agrees. This decision starts a chain of tragic events in the destinies of all the heroes of the novel.

Politics, war and the village

Politics stands apart from private life. Scenes tell about this unique sphere political life. In the section Scenes of Political Life, Balzac included four works:

• "A Case from the Time of Terror" about a group of disgraced monarchist aristocrats;
• "Dark Business" about the conflict between aristocratic supporters of the royal Bourbon dynasty and the Napoleon government;
• “Z. Marcas";
• "Deputy from Arsi" about “fair” elections in the provincial town of Arcy-sur-Aube.

Scenes of military life depict heroes in a state of highest moral and emotional stress, be it defense or conquest. This, in particular, included the novel “The Chouans,” which brought Balzac long-awaited fame after a series of literary failures and the collapse of the publishing business. "Chouans" is dedicated to the events of 1799, when the last major uprising of royalist rebels took place. The rebels, led by monarchist-minded aristocrats and clergy, were called Chouans.

Balzac called the atmosphere of rural life “the evening of a long day.” This section presents the purest characters that are formed in the embryo of other areas of human life. Scenes of Country Life includes four novels: The Peasants, The Country Doctor, The Country Priest, and The Lily of the Valley.

Deep dissection of characters, analysis of social engines of all life events and life itself in a battle with desire are shown in the second part of the “Human Comedy” - “Philosophical Studies”. They included 22 works written between 1831 and 1839. These are “Jesus Christ in Flanders”, “The Unknown Masterpiece”, “Cursed Child”, “Master Cornelius”, “The Red Hotel”, “Elixir of Longevity” and many others. The bestseller of Philosophical Studies is undoubtedly the novel Shagreen Skin.

The main character of "Shagreen Skin", the poet Raphael de Valentin, unsuccessfully tries to make a career in Paris. One day he becomes the owner of a magical artifact - a piece of shagreen, which fulfills any wish spoken out loud. Valentin immediately becomes rich, successful, loved. But soon the other side of magic is revealed to him - with each wish fulfilled, the shagreen decreases, and with it the life of Raphael himself. When the shagreen skin disappears, so will he. Valentin has to choose between a long existence in constant deprivation or a bright, but short life full of pleasures.

Analytical studies

The result of the monolithic “history of the morals of modern humanity” was “Analytical Studies”. In the preface, Balzac himself notes that this section is at the development stage, and therefore at this stage the author is forced to abandon meaningful comments.

For “Analytical Studies,” the writer planned five works, but completed only two: “The Physiology of Marriage,” written in 1929, and “Minor Troubles of Married Life,” published in 1846.

100 Great Books Demin Valery Nikitich

66. BALZAC “HUMAN COMEDY”

66. BALZAC

"HUMAN COMEDY"

Balzac is as vast as the ocean. This is a whirlwind of genius, a storm of indignation and a hurricane of passions. He was born in the same year as Pushkin (1799) - just two weeks earlier - but outlived him by 13 years. Both geniuses dared to look into such depths of the human soul and human relationships that no one before them was capable of. Balzac was not afraid to challenge Dante himself, calling his epic, by analogy with the main creation of the great Florentine, “The Human Comedy.” However, with equal justification it can also be called “Inhuman,” because only titanium is capable of creating such a grandiose combustion.

"Human Comedy" - common name, given by the writer himself, for an extensive series of his novels, novellas and short stories. Most of the works combined into the cycle were published long before Balzac found an acceptable unifying title for them. The writer himself spoke about his plan like this:

Calling “Human Comedy” a work begun almost thirteen years ago, I consider it necessary to explain its concept, tell about its origin, briefly outline the plan, and express all this as if I were not involved in it. "..."

The original idea of ​​“The Human Comedy” appeared before me like a kind of dream, like one of those impossible plans that you cherish but cannot grasp; This is how the mocking chimera reveals its feminine face, but immediately, spreading its wings, flies away into the world of fantasy. However, this chimera, like many others, is embodied: it commands, it is endowed with unlimited power, and one has to obey it. The idea for this work was born from a comparison of humanity with the animal world. “...” In this respect, society is like Nature. After all, Society creates from man, according to the environment in which he acts, as many diverse species as exist in the animal world. The difference between a soldier, a worker, an official, a lawyer, a loafer, a scientist, a statesman, a merchant, a sailor, a poet, a poor man, a priest is as significant, although more difficult to grasp, as that which distinguishes a wolf, a lion, an ass, crow, shark, seal, sheep, etc. Therefore, there are and will always exist species in human society, just like species in the animal kingdom.

Essentially, the above fragment from the famous Preface to the “Human Comedy” expresses Balzac’s credo, which reveals the secret of his creative method. He systematized human types and characters, how botanists and zoologists systematized plant and animal world. At the same time, according to Balzac, “in the great stream of life, Animality bursts into Humanity.” Passion is all of humanity. Man, the writer believes, is neither good nor evil, but is simply born with instincts and inclinations. All that remains is to reproduce as accurately as possible the material that Nature itself gives us.

Contrary to traditional canons and even formal logical rules of classification, the writer distinguishes three “forms of being”: men, women and things, that is, people and “the material embodiment of their thinking.” But, apparently, it was precisely this “despite” that allowed Balzac to create a unique world of his novels and stories, which cannot be confused with anything else. And Balzac’s heroes also cannot be confused with anyone. “Three thousand people of a certain era” - this is how the writer himself characterized them, not without pride.

The “human comedy,” as Balzac conceived it, has a complex structure. First of all, it is divided into three parts of different sizes: “Etudes on Morals”, “Philosophical Etudes” and “Analytical Etudes”. Essentially, everything important and great (with a few exceptions) is concentrated in the first part. This includes such brilliant works by Balzac as “Gobseck”, “Père Goriot”, “Eugenie Grande”, “Lost Illusions”, “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans”, etc. In turn, “Studies on Morals” are divided into “scenes” ": "Scenes of Private Life", "Scenes of Provincial Life", "Scenes of Parisian Life", "Scenes of Military Life" and "Scenes of Rural Life". Some cycles remained undeveloped: from the “Analytical Etudes” Balzac managed to write only “The Physiology of Marriage”, and from “Scenes of Military Life” - the adventure novel “The Chouans”. But the writer made grandiose plans - to create a panorama of all the Napoleonic wars (imagine the multi-volume War and Peace, but written from the French point of view).

Balzac claimed the philosophical status of his great brainchild and even singled out a special “philosophical part” in it, which included, among others, the novels “Louis Lambert”, “The Quest for the Absolute”, “The Unknown Masterpiece”, “The Elixir of Longevity”, “Seraphita” and the most famous from “philosophical studies” - “Shagreen skin”. However, with all due respect to Balzac’s genius, it should be said quite definitely that the writer did not turn out to be a great philosopher in the proper sense of the word: his knowledge in this traditional sphere of spiritual life, although extensive, is very superficial and eclectic. There is nothing shameful here. Moreover, Balzac created his own philosophy, unlike any other - the philosophy human passions and instincts.

Among the latter, the most important, according to Balzac's gradation, is, of course, the instinct of possession. Regardless of the specific forms in which it manifests itself: among politicians - in the thirst for power; for a businessman - in a thirst for profit; in a maniac - in a thirst for blood, violence, oppression; in a man - in the thirst of a woman (and vice versa). Of course, Balzac tapped the most sensitive chord of human motives and actions. This phenomenon in its various aspects is revealed in various works of the writer. But, as a rule, all aspects, as if in focus, are concentrated in any of them. Some are embodied in Balzac’s unique heroes, becoming their carriers and personifications. This is Gobsek - the main thing actor the story of the same name is one of the most famous works of world literature.

The name Gobsek is translated as Crookshanks, but it was in French vocalization that it became a common noun and symbolizes the thirst for profit for the sake of profit itself. Gobsek is a capitalist genius; he has an amazing instinct and ability to increase his capital, while mercilessly trampling human destinies and showing absolute cynicism and immorality. To the surprise of Balzac himself, this wizened old man turns out to be that fantastic figure who personifies the power of gold - this “spiritual essence of all current society.” However, without these qualities, capitalist relations cannot exist in principle - otherwise it will be a completely different system. Gobsek is a romantic of the capitalist element: what gives him true pleasure is not so much the receipt of the profit itself, but the contemplation of the fall and distortion human souls in all situations where he turns out to be the true ruler of people caught in the moneylender’s network.

But Gobsek is also a victim of a society where cleanliness reigns: he does not know what a woman’s love is, he has no wife and children, he has no idea what it means to bring joy to others. Behind him stretches a trail of tears and grief, broken destinies and deaths. He is very rich, but he lives from hand to mouth and is ready to gnaw out the throat of anyone for the smallest coin. He is the walking embodiment of mindless stinginess. After the death of a moneylender, in the locked rooms of his two-story mansion, a mass of rotten things and rotten supplies are discovered: while engaging in colonial scams towards the end of his life, he received in the form of bribes not only money and jewelry, but all sorts of delicacies, which he did not touch, and locked everything up for safekeeping. a feast of worms and mold.

Balzac's story is not a textbook on political economy. The writer recreates the ruthless world of capitalist reality through realistically depicted characters and the situations in which they operate. But without portraits and canvases painted by the hand of a brilliant master, our understanding of the real world itself would be incomplete and poor. Here, for example, is a textbook description of Gobsek himself:

My moneylender's hair was completely straight, always neatly combed and heavily streaked with gray - ash-gray. The facial features, motionless, impassive, like Talleyrand's, seemed cast from bronze. His eyes, small and yellow, like those of a ferret, and almost without eyelashes, could not stand bright light, so he protected them with the large visor of a tattered cap. The sharp tip of the long nose, pitted with mountain ash, looked like a gimlet, and the lips were thin, like those of alchemists and ancient old men in the paintings of Rembrandt and Metsu. This man spoke quietly, softly, and never got excited. His age was a mystery “...” It was some kind of human-automatic machine that was wound up every day. If you touch a woodlice crawling on paper, it will instantly stop and freeze; Likewise, this man suddenly fell silent during a conversation, waiting until the noise of the carriage passing under the windows died down, since he did not want to strain his voice. Following the example of Fontenelle, he banked vital energy, suppressing all human feelings. And his life flowed as silently as sand trickling in an ancient hourglass. Sometimes his victims became indignant, raised a frantic cry, then suddenly there was dead silence, like in a kitchen when a duck is slaughtered in it.

A few touches to the characterization of one hero. And Balzac had thousands of them - several dozen in each novel. He wrote day and night. And yet he did not manage to create everything he had in mind. The Human Comedy remained unfinished. She also burned the author himself. In total, 144 works were planned, but 91 were not written. If you ask the question: what figure in the Western XIX literature century is the largest, most powerful and inaccessible, there will be no difficulties with the answer. This is Balzac! Zola compared The Human Comedy to the Tower of Babel. The comparison is quite reasonable: indeed, there is something primordially chaotic and extremely grandiose in Balzac’s cyclopean creation. There is only one difference:

The Tower of Babel has collapsed, but the Human Comedy, built by the hands of a French genius, will stand forever.

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