La Comédie Humaine (English)

At the Sign of the Cat and Racket is a novella by Honoré de Balzac, first published in 1830. It is the first work in the Scènes de la vie privée, a selection of writings which make up the first volume of Balzac's La Comédie humaine. It tells the story of the relationship between the lofty artist Théodore de Sommervieux and Augustine Guillaume, the down-to-earth daughter of a cloth merchant.

The Ball at Sceaux is the second work in Balzac's La Comédie humaine published by Hawthorne Classics. The novella tells the story of young Émilie de Fontaine who, despite ambitions of a lofty match, falls in love with the mysterious Maximilien Longueville.

Letters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac is an engaging epistolary novel that provides a profound exploration of two women's lives in early 19th-century France. The book unfolds through intimate letters exchanged between two close friends - Louise de Chaulieu and Renée de Maucombe. Through their correspondence, Balzac deftly explores their transition from the confines of the convent school to the complexities of adulthood, marriage, and society. This tale is a stunning portrayal of female friendship, the dynamics of love, and the societal constraints of their time. Both women follow different paths in life, with Louise pursuing a path of romantic passion and Renée embodying the virtues of duty and motherhood. Their differing views and experiences of love and life present a fascinating dichotomy, offering the reader a deep dive into their innermost thoughts and emotions. Balzac's nuanced depiction of their individual journeys illuminates the human condition, creating a captivating narrative that is both a love story and a social commentary. Letters of Two Brides is a remarkable exploration of the enduring themes of love, friendship, and the choices we make.

Pere Goriot' is the tragic story of a father whose obsessive love for his two daughters leads to his financial and personal ruin. Interwoven with this theme is that of the impoverished young aristocrat, Rastignac, come to Paris from the provinces to make his fortune, who befriends Goriot and becomes involved with the daughters. The story is set against the background of a whole society driven by social ambition and lust for money.

Edith Wharton's "Madame de Treymes" is a remarkable example of the form. It is the story of the tactical defeat but moral victory of an honest and upstanding American in his struggle to win a wife from a tightly united but feudally minded French aristocratic family. He loses, but they cheat... In a masterpiece of brevity, Wharton dramatizes the contrast between the two opposing forces: the simple and proper old brownstone New York, low in style but high in principle, and the achingly beautiful but decadent Saint-Germain district of Paris. The issue is seamlessly joined.

A kind-hearted and idealistic youth enters the grasping Parisian society of the 1820s, where his education in the realities and costs of city life begin among the residents of a shabby but respectable boardinghouse. Père Goriot - one of the outstanding novels in The Human Comedy, Balzac's panoramic study of Parisian life - features richly detailed settings, a skillfully related plot, and a vibrant cast of characters. Acclaimed by critic Leslie Stephen as "the modern King Lear," it offers a timeless view of the tragedies behind the prosaic details of everyday life. Translated by Ellen Marriage.

Considered to be one of Balzac's most important works, "Pere Goriot" is the story of its title character Jean-Joachim Goriot, a mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin, and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac. We are introduced to the characters at Maison Vauquer, a boarding house owned by the widow Madame Vauquer. Central to the theme of the book is the struggle to achieve upper-class status in society. Rastignac is eager to achieve this upper-class standing but is unfamiliar to the ways of Parisian society. Vautrin tries to convince Rastignac to pursue an unmarried woman named Victorine, a dubious suggestion which involves the disposal of her brother who blocks access to the woman's fortune. The failings to achieve this upper-class status are exemplified by Goriot who has bankrupted himself in supporting his two well-married daughters, who despite the fact reject him. A classic and tragic story, "Pere Goriot" is one of the most pivotal works in Balzac's sweeping novel sequence "La Comedie Humaine", which endeavors to depict the social panoramic of the human condition. This edition follows the translation of Ellen Marriage, includes an introduction by R. L. Sanderson, and a biographical afterword.

Considered to be one of Balzac's most important works, "Old Goriot", or "Père Goriot", is the story of its title character Goriot; a mysterious criminal-in-hiding named Vautrin; and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac. We are introduced to the characters at Maison Vauquer, a boarding house owned by the widow Madame Vauquer. Central to the theme of the book is the struggle to achieve upper-class status in society. Rastignac is eager to achieve this upper-class standing but is unfamiliar to the ways of Parisian society. Vautrin tries to convince Rastignac to pursue an unmarried woman named Victorine, a dubious suggestion which involves the disposal of her brother who blocks the woman's fortune. The failings to achieve this upper-class status are exemplified by Goriot who has bankrupted himself to support his two well-married daughters, yet they reject him. A classic and tragic story, "Old Goriot" is one of the most pivotal works in Balzac's sweeping novel sequence "La Comédie Humaine", which endeavors to depict the effects of society on the entirety of the human condition.

Le Père Goriot is widely considered Balzac's most important novel. This is the story of the relationship between a doting father and his two adult daughters. Blinded by his love for his children, Père Goriot can not see their flaws and gives them everything they ask for even though the giving destroys him. A cautionary tale about the dangers of placing society and money before all else.

A Marriage Contract (French: Le Contrat de mariage) is an 1835 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac and included in the Scènes de la vie privée section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set in Bordeaux, it describes the marriage of a Parisian gentleman, Paul de Manerville, to the beautiful but spoiled Spanish heiress, Natalie Evangelista.

In 'Eugénie Grandet' we are told the story of a young girl whose life is complicated by her father's incessant greed. Here we see the sins of the father visited upon the daughter as she attempts to rebel against his attitudes. Fully realized characters abound in this truly moving book.

Depicting the fatal clash between material desires and the liberating power of human passions, Honore de Balzac's "Eugenie Grandet" is translated with an introduction by M.A. Crawford in "Penguin Classics". In a gloomy house in provincial Saumur, the miser Grandet lives with his wife and daughter, Eugenie, whose lives are stifled and overshadowed by his obsession with gold. Guarding his piles of glittering treasures and his only child equally closely, he will let no one near them. But when the arrival of her handsome cousin, Charles, awakens Eugenie's own desires, her passion brings her into a violent collision with her father that results in tragedy for all. "Eugenie Grandet" is one of the earliest and finest works in Balzac's Comedie humaine cycle, which portrays a society consumed by the struggle to amass wealth and achieve power. Here Grandet embodies both the passionate pursuit of money, and the human cost of avarice. M. A. Crawford's lucid translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing the irony and psychological insight of Balzac's characterization, the role of fate in the novel, its setting and historical background. Honore De Balzac (1799-1850) failed at being a lawyer, publisher, printer, businessman, critic and politician before, at the age of thirty, turning his hand to writing. His life's work, La Comedie humaine, is a series of ninety novels and short stories which offer a magnificent panorama of nineteenth-century life after the French Revolution. Balzac was an influence on innumerable writers who followed him, including Marcel Proust, Emile Zola, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe.

This is the question that fills the minds of the inhabitants of Saumur, the setting for Eugénie Grandet (1833), one of the earliest and most famous novels in Balzac's Comédie humaine. The Grandet household, oppressed by the exacting miserliness of Grandet himself, is jerked violently out of routine by the sudden arrival of Eugénie's cousin Charles, recently orphaned and penniless. Eugénie's emotional awakening, stimulated by her love for her cousin, brings her into direct conflict with her father, whose cunning and financial success are matched against her determination to rebel. Eugénie's moving story is set against the backdrop of provincial oppression, the vicissitudes of the wine trade, and the workings of the financial system in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It is both a poignant portrayal of private life and a vigorous fictional document of its age.

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) produced a huge collection of novels, novellas and short stories, earning him recognition as a great master of the novel, as well as one of the creators of literary realism. He collected and arranged his works under the name "La Comédie humaine", which he then divided into eight major topics. "Eugénie Grandet" was placed in the section titled, "Scenes from Provincial Life". The story takes place in the French town of Saumur, where a miserly, but respected, man called old Grandet lives with his wife, servant, and daughter, Eugénie. Greedy and power-hungry, Grandet is a dominant force in the novel, as he is in his community and home. Unable to entirely overcome the genetic and learned behaviors inherited from her father, Eugénie Grandet is a wonderfully human character, and her ability to draw sympathy without imposing judgments on the reader is testimony to Balzac's artistic skill as a novelist.

Eugenie's father Felix is a former cooper who has become wealthy through both business ventures and inheritance. However, he is very miserly, and he, his wife, daughter and their servant Nanon live in a run-down old house which he is too miserly to repair. His banker des Grassins wishes Eugenie to marry his son Adolphe, and his lawyer Cruchot wishes Eugenie to marry his nephew President Cruchot des Bonfons, both parties eyeing the inheritance from Felix.

Listed by the British newspaper "The Guardian" as number 12 on a list of the 100 greatest novels of all-time, Honore de Balzac's "The Black Sheep" is another installment in his magnum opus "The Human Comedy." Agathe Rouget, who is born in Issoudun, is sent to be raised by her maternal relatives, the Descoings in Paris by her father Doctor Rouget. Agathe has two sons, Philippe and Joseph, with which the story is principally concerned. Philippe becomes a soldier in Napoleon's armies, while Joseph becomes an artist. Philippe, who is ironically his mother's favorite, is a hard drinker with a gambling problem that brings trouble to the family. The differences between the two brothers are brilliantly contrasted by Balzac as their true natures are revealed throughout the course of the work. As in the rest of "The Human Comedy" Balzac criticizes the value that is placed on wealth and beautifully illustrates the conflict that arises out of the ambition to achieve a place in the aristocratic society of France.

A fantastic novel by French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac.

The story of Lucien Chardon, a young poet from Angoulême who tries desperately to make a name for himself in Paris, is a brilliantly realistic and boldly satirical portrait of provincial manners and aristocratic life. Handsome and ambitious but naïve, Lucien is patronized by the beau monde as represented by Madame de Bargeton and her cousin, the formidable Marquise d'Espard, only to be duped by them. Denied the social rank he thought would be his, Lucien discards his poetic aspirations and turns to hack journalism; his descent into Parisian low life ultimately leads to his own death.

One of the most famous of Honore de Balzac's novels, "Lost Illusions" paints a faithful picture of the spectacular but superficial world of mid-19th century French society, and the indissoluble relationship between the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. Originally published serially from 1837 to 1843, the story features the main characters Lucien Chardon, a vain and naïve poet and journalist, and his friend and brother-in-law David Sechard, an innovative, hard-working young printer from the provincial Angouleme, with aspirations to revolutionize the production of paper and provide for his new family. The victim of a callous father and unscrupulous competitors, David finds himself in constant turmoil from the reckless exploits and betrayals of his friend Lucien. Lucien, in contrast, is full of grand dreams and aspirations and must leave for Paris as the result of a scandalous affair. He seeks fame and fortune in the city as a poet, while his impetuous actions wreak havoc for many at home. Readers will be drawn to the intertwined stories of these two men in a novel that exemplifies the eternal battles of love, ambition, greed, loyalty, vanity, and betrayal. This edition follows the translation of Ellen Marriage and includes a biographical afterword.

Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous, and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. Lost Illusions concerns Lucien de Rubempré, a young poet trying to make a name for himself, who becomes trapped in the morass of society's darkest contradictions that ultimately destroy him.

Lucien Chardon, the son of a lower middle-class father and an impoverished mother of remote aristocratic descent, is the pivotal figure of the entire work. Living at Angouleme, he is impoverished, impatient, handsome and ambitious. His widowed mother, his sister Eve and his best friend, David Sechard, do nothing to lessen his high opinion of his own talents, for it is an opinion they share.

Perhaps the most famous of Balzac's novels, Lost Illusions paints a faithful picture of the spectacular but superficial world of contemporary society, and the indissoluble relationship between the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. Set in nineteenth century France, David Séchard is an innovative, hard-working young printer from Angoulême with aspirations to revolutionize the production of paper and provide for his new family. The victim of a callous father and unscrupulous competitors, David finds himself in constant turmoil from the reckless exploits of his friend and brother-in-law, Lucien Chardon. Lucien, a vain and naïve young poet, is drawn away to Paris as a result of a scandalous affair, where his impetuous actions wreak havoc for many back home. Follow the intertwined stories of these two men in a novel that exemplifies the eternal battles of love, ambition, greed, loyalty, vanity, and betrayal.

Originally published between: 1838-1847 "A Harlot High and Low" continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré from Honore de Balzac's preceding novel "Lost Illusions." Central to the tale is the pact made between Lucien and Vautrin in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. A love affair between the beautiful Esther van Gobseck and Lucien creates a conflict for their plans of bringing Lucien to his desired exaltation though. When Vautrin realizes that wealthy Baron de Nucingen has fallen in love with Esther he conspires to use the Baron's affection with Esther to help advance Lucien. What follows is a series of tragic consequences. Another chapter in Balzac's magnum opus, "The Human Comedy," "A Harlot High and Low" is at once a biting commentary of French aristocratic society and examination of the criminal underworld in which Vautrin is so very well at home.

Honoré de Balzac, a renowned French novelist and playwright, is known for his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society. Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature, and praised for his multifaceted characters, who are morally ambiguous.

Set in mid-19th century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family.

Cousin Bette (1846) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine sequence, the novel is recognized as being the author's last fully-realized work, and features several characters who appear elsewhere throughout his legendary series. It has inspired several film and television adaptations, as well as earned comparisons to Shakespeare's Othello and Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Bette Fischer, a 42-year-old woman whose bitterness at remaining unmarried-despite several proposals by men she deemed unworthy-drives her to ruin the reputations and lives of her extended family. After rescuing the young sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock from suicide, Bette develops a complex affection for the man. When he falls in love with Hortense, the daughter of Bette's cousin Adeline, she hatches a plan to gain revenge for this perceived personal slight. She recruits the young and beautiful Valérie Marneffe-an unhappily married woman-to seduce Adeline's husband, Baron Hector Hulot, whose uncontrolled desires and extensive vanity both test his family's loyalty and stretch their finances to the furthest possible limit. Cousin Bette is an intense psychological drama and character study that burns with the fire of Balzac's critique of French society. While exposing the depths of human immorality-particularly where money is made the center of personal relationships-Balzac manages to remind us that what makes us human is not what drives us apart, but the lengths to which we will go to cultivate love despite our basest impulses. To read Cousin Bette is to observe the hopes, flaws, and desires of the people of nineteenth century France, but to ultimately judge ourselves. This final masterpiece of Honoré de Balzac is a testament to the skill and dedication of one of history's finest literary minds. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac's Cousin Bette is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac is generally considered to be the writer's most famous novels, his last great work before his death. It is a classic novel of revenge, passion, and vices. Along with her friend Valérie, the title character Bette strategizes for the overwhelming destruction of men in general and her cousin-in-law Baron Hector Hulot specifically. Hulot sacrifices his family and fortune on a series of extramarital seductions, and when he becomes interested in Valérie, she and Bette concoct a plan that will cost the Hulot family their happiness. Bette's actions lead her entire family to self-destruct due to her insatiable rage and manipulative tactics. Balancing the immoral characters is the virtuous Adeline, Hulot's wife. Her moral nature and forgiving personality give the dysfunctional family a touch of decency. The story examines the typical moralistic themes that are mirrored in Balzac's earlier works. Also present are Balzac's uncensored opinions and depictions of society, contrasted with the stereotypes of men and women during the high points of French culture during the 19th century. Critics also praise the novel for its realism and use of historical content and accuracy. Some even consider it the original naturalist text, saying that the society and environment has a direct effect in shaping human character.

Written as a companion piece to "Cousin Bette," "Cousin Pons" is another tale displaying Honore de Balzac's contempt for nineteenth-century French society. The aged musician Sylvain Pons has very little in his life. His only happiness comes from dining with his extended family and from admiring his antique collection. However, his distant relatives hold contempt for the meager Pons and disdain for his treasures. Yet, when the family discovers that Pons' prized collection is actually quite valuable, they begin to whittle away at the man and his possessions, slowing taking away the only prized things in his life. Serving as a tragic comedy, with "Cousin Pons," Balzac wanted to make a statement about how society can mistreat its citizens when the focus is on possessions rather than happiness. As is typical of most Balzac stories, there are very few redeeming characters; each person falls short of genuinely caring about each other. This story is found in "The Human Comedy," a large collection of interlinked short stories and novellas Balzac wrote describing life in the French Restoration period. While "The Human Comedy" is one of his finest works, Balzac is also a renowned playwright. His close examinations of French society are hailed as prime examples of realism and the social condition of all classes. In his works, rather than individuals causing their own strife, social problems are caused by class, money, and ambition.

Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. La Peau de chagrin belongs to the Etudes philosophiques group of Balzac's sequence of novels.

"The Wild Ass's Skin" is Honoré de Balzac's 1831 novel that tells the story of a young man, Raphaël de Valentin, who discovers a piece of shagreen, in this case a rough untanned piece of a wild ass's skin, which has the magical property of granting wishes. However the fulfillment of the wisher's desire comes at a cost, after each wish the skin shrinks a little bit and consumes the physical energy of the wisher. The Wild Ass's Skin is at once both a work of incredible realism, in the descriptions of Parisian life and culture at the time, and also a work of supernatural fantasy, in the desires that are fulfilled by the wild ass's skin. Balzac uses this fantastical device masterfully to depict the complexity of the human nature in civilized society.

A fascinating biography of Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici, Queen consort of France in the later part of the 16th century.

One of the fathers of Realism was the famed 19th century French writer Honore de Balzac. His works are best known for their shrewd, yet honest, interpretation of real life problems within the social classes of French society. He believed that explaining a character would not inform the reader about the character's personality; however, describing their home, possessions, and other details would tell the reader about the character's true nature. With that in mind, he wanted to mold his characters to be as realistic as possible. He did not rely on outdated tropes and stereotypes. His characters were neither wholly good nor wholly evil. Instead, they were motivated by their own personal interests and believed that they were truly doing the right thing. The most famous set of stories that he wrote are known as "La Comedie Humaine," or "The Human Comedy." The tales follow various characters throughout their lives in France. The story "The Unknown Masterpiece" is the tale of a painter looking for a model for his upcoming masterpiece. When the man finally finds a suitable woman to serve as the subject, he completes the painting almost immediately. Yet it is impossible to distinguish whether the painter is a genius or just mad, as the painting is only of a foot amidst a swirl of colors. Readers will be both entertained and informed by this and other tales in this collection of Balzac's stories.

In 1815 Mlle. Rose Marie Victoire Cormon, the old maid, turns 42. Despite her financial security and social status, she has still not managed to find a suitable man to marry. Mademoiselle Cormon is known to be socially awkward and seems oblivious to the usual signs that a man is interested in her. And still, at this age, she manages to attract the romantic interest of three very different men. Who is the best option for Mademoiselle Cormon? Are these men interested in her or simply in her financial standing? And, will Cormon even notice, as they each compete for her attention? A short and rapidly progressive romantic novel that will fascinate any reader. It is realistic in its portrayal of human intentions and the questions we ask ourselves, when faced with the prospect of love and marriage.

Five of the author's most highly regarded stories, newly translated, appear in this choice collection: the title story, an examination of the conflict between an artist's commitment to his work and his obligations to others; "An Episode During the Terror," a contrast of material poverty and spiritual riches; "Facino Cane" a cautionary tale of how a passion for gold led to a fall from grace. Included also are "The Revolutionary Conscript" and "A Passion in the Desert." Excellent introduction to Balzac's work.