《交际花盛衰记》讲述了巴黎交际花埃丝黛简短、奇特，却注定悲剧的一生。她对诗人吕西安一往情深，渴望过幸福贞洁的生活。然而，交际花的身世和地位使她与沉浮在上流社会的吕西安隔着一条无法逾越的社会天堑。小说根植于社会现实，通过深刻细致的观察和典型形象的塑造，给人以强烈的真实感。其中塑造的一大批贵族、野心家、教士、银行家、妓女、犯人、警察等，再现了那个色彩斑斓却又冷酷无情的社会。
媒体推荐
我刚开始读书时，就感受到巴尔扎克作品的魅力，景仰之余，爱不释卷。巴尔扎克动荡不安和伟大的一生，至今还得在他的浩瀚宏伟的巨著中追忆。
--【法]亨利特罗亚
在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者之一。
--【法】雨果
Honoré de Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, translated either as The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans or as The Harlot High and Low, was published in four parts from 1838-1847. It continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré, who was a main character in Illusions perdues, a preceding Balzac novel. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes forms part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine.
Plot summary
Lucien de Rubempré and "Abbé Herrera" (Vautrin) have made a pact, in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. Esther Van Gobseck throws a wrench into Vautrin's best-laid plans, however, because Lucien falls in love with her and she with him. Instead of forcing Lucien to abandon her, he allows Lucien this secret affair, but also makes good use of it. For four years, Esther remains locked away in a house in Paris, taking walks only at night. One night, however, the Baron de Nucingen spots her and falls deeply in love with her. When Vautrin realizes that Nucingen's obsession is with Esther, he decides to use her powers to help advance Lucien.
The plan is the following: Vautrin and Lucien are 60,000 francs in debt because of the lifestyle that Lucien has had to maintain. They also need one million francs to buy the old Rubempré land back, so that Lucien can marry Clotilde, the rich but ugly daughter of the Grandlieu's. Esther will be the tool they use to get as much money as possible out of the impossibly rich Nucingen. Things don't work out as smoothly as Vautrin would have liked, however, because Esther commits suicide after giving herself to Nucingen for the first and only time (after making him wait for months). Since the police have already been suspicious of Vautrin and Lucien, they arrest the two on suspicion of murder over the suicide. This turn of events is particularly tragic because it turns out that only hours before, Esther had actually inherited a huge amount of money from an estranged family member. If only she had held on, she could have married Lucien herself.
Lucien, ever the poet, doesn't do well in prison. Although Vautrin actually manages to fool his interrogators into believing that he might be Carlos Herrera, a priest on a secret mission for the Spanish king, Lucien succumbs to the wiles of his interviewer. He tells his interrogator everything, including Vautrin's true identity. Afterwards he regrets what he has done and hangs himself in his cell.
His suicide, like Esther's, is badly timed. In an effort not to compromise the high society ladies who were involved with him, the justices had arranged to let Lucien go. But when he kills himself, things get more sticky and the maneuverings more desperate. It turns out that Vautrin possesses the very compromising letters sent by these women to Lucien, and he uses them to negotiate his release. He also manages to save and help several of his accomplices along the way, helping them to avoid a death sentence or abject poverty.
At the end of the novel, Vautrin actually becomes a member of the police force before retiring in 1845. The nobility that was so fearful for its reputation moves on to other affairs.
Main characters
* Esther Van Gobseck, former courtesan and lover of Lucien, assigned to seducing Nucingen. Commits suicide after sleeping with Nucingen for money.
* Lucien de Rubempré, ambitious young man protected by Vautrin, trying to marry Clotilde de Grandlieu. Commits suicide in prison.
* Vautrin, escaped convict with the alias Carlos Herrera, real name Jacques Collin, nickname Trompe-la-Mort. Has a weakness for pretty young men, tries to help Lucien move up in society in every evil way possible.
* Baron de Nucingen, obsessed with Esther and the target of Vautrin's money machinations.
* Jacqueline Collin, aunt of Vautrin, alias of Asie. Charged with watching over Esther and helping Vautrin in his various schemes.
* Clotilde de Grandlieu, target of Lucien's affections, key to his advancement in society. But he cannot marry her unless he buys back his family's ancient land, worth one million francs. Her father prevents the marriage after finding out that the money, which actually came from Esther, did not really come from an inheritance (from Lucien's father), like Lucien was saying.
* Comtesse de Sérizy and Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, former lovers of Lucien of whom Vautrin possesses very compromising letters.
* Camusot de Marville, Comte de Granville, judge and magistrate respectively. Try to work out the case of Vautrin and Lucien without compromising the women involved.
* Peyrade, Contenson, Corentin, Bibi-Lupin, spies of various sorts associated with the police. Try to get Vautrin for various personal reasons.
媒体推荐
我刚开始读书时，就感受到巴尔扎克作品的魅力，景仰之余，爱不释卷。巴尔扎克动荡不安和伟大的一生，至今还得在他的浩瀚宏伟的巨著中追忆。
--【法]亨利特罗亚
在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者之一。
--【法】雨果
Honoré de Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, translated either as The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans or as The Harlot High and Low, was published in four parts from 1838-1847. It continues the story of Lucien de Rubempré, who was a main character in Illusions perdues, a preceding Balzac novel. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes forms part of Balzac's La Comédie humaine.
Plot summary
Lucien de Rubempré and "Abbé Herrera" (Vautrin) have made a pact, in which Lucien will arrive at success in Paris if he agrees to follow Vautrin's instructions on how to do so. Esther Van Gobseck throws a wrench into Vautrin's best-laid plans, however, because Lucien falls in love with her and she with him. Instead of forcing Lucien to abandon her, he allows Lucien this secret affair, but also makes good use of it. For four years, Esther remains locked away in a house in Paris, taking walks only at night. One night, however, the Baron de Nucingen spots her and falls deeply in love with her. When Vautrin realizes that Nucingen's obsession is with Esther, he decides to use her powers to help advance Lucien.
The plan is the following: Vautrin and Lucien are 60,000 francs in debt because of the lifestyle that Lucien has had to maintain. They also need one million francs to buy the old Rubempré land back, so that Lucien can marry Clotilde, the rich but ugly daughter of the Grandlieu's. Esther will be the tool they use to get as much money as possible out of the impossibly rich Nucingen. Things don't work out as smoothly as Vautrin would have liked, however, because Esther commits suicide after giving herself to Nucingen for the first and only time (after making him wait for months). Since the police have already been suspicious of Vautrin and Lucien, they arrest the two on suspicion of murder over the suicide. This turn of events is particularly tragic because it turns out that only hours before, Esther had actually inherited a huge amount of money from an estranged family member. If only she had held on, she could have married Lucien herself.
Lucien, ever the poet, doesn't do well in prison. Although Vautrin actually manages to fool his interrogators into believing that he might be Carlos Herrera, a priest on a secret mission for the Spanish king, Lucien succumbs to the wiles of his interviewer. He tells his interrogator everything, including Vautrin's true identity. Afterwards he regrets what he has done and hangs himself in his cell.
His suicide, like Esther's, is badly timed. In an effort not to compromise the high society ladies who were involved with him, the justices had arranged to let Lucien go. But when he kills himself, things get more sticky and the maneuverings more desperate. It turns out that Vautrin possesses the very compromising letters sent by these women to Lucien, and he uses them to negotiate his release. He also manages to save and help several of his accomplices along the way, helping them to avoid a death sentence or abject poverty.
At the end of the novel, Vautrin actually becomes a member of the police force before retiring in 1845. The nobility that was so fearful for its reputation moves on to other affairs.
Main characters
* Esther Van Gobseck, former courtesan and lover of Lucien, assigned to seducing Nucingen. Commits suicide after sleeping with Nucingen for money.
* Lucien de Rubempré, ambitious young man protected by Vautrin, trying to marry Clotilde de Grandlieu. Commits suicide in prison.
* Vautrin, escaped convict with the alias Carlos Herrera, real name Jacques Collin, nickname Trompe-la-Mort. Has a weakness for pretty young men, tries to help Lucien move up in society in every evil way possible.
* Baron de Nucingen, obsessed with Esther and the target of Vautrin's money machinations.
* Jacqueline Collin, aunt of Vautrin, alias of Asie. Charged with watching over Esther and helping Vautrin in his various schemes.
* Clotilde de Grandlieu, target of Lucien's affections, key to his advancement in society. But he cannot marry her unless he buys back his family's ancient land, worth one million francs. Her father prevents the marriage after finding out that the money, which actually came from Esther, did not really come from an inheritance (from Lucien's father), like Lucien was saying.
* Comtesse de Sérizy and Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, former lovers of Lucien of whom Vautrin possesses very compromising letters.
* Camusot de Marville, Comte de Granville, judge and magistrate respectively. Try to work out the case of Vautrin and Lucien without compromising the women involved.
* Peyrade, Contenson, Corentin, Bibi-Lupin, spies of various sorts associated with the police. Try to get Vautrin for various personal reasons.
巴尔扎克在《幻灭》中描写未来的大作家德·阿泰兹时，说过这样一句话：“他要像莫里哀那样，先成为深刻的哲学家，再写喜剧。”看来，这正是《人间喜剧》的作者对自己提出的要求。而且他也和德·阿泰兹一样，在巴黎的六层阁楼上受过饥饿和寒冷的折磨，在人类知识的宝藏中耐心地挖掘过，在“毒气熏蒸”的巴黎社会中生活过、搏斗过、感受过。
人们常说《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是巴尔扎克的代表作。实际上，在表现作家本人的思想感情和直接的生活体验方面，《幻灭》比其他小说具有更大的代表性。书中几个主要人物的遭遇，大部分取自作家本人的经历，他们的激情、幻想和苦难，他几乎全都亲自体尝过。他把自己二十年的奋斗历程分别给了三个不同类型的青年：他在大卫·赛夏的故事里，倾诉了自己经营印刷所、铸字厂和受债务迫害的惨痛经验；在吕西安的遭遇里，溶入了自己在文坛和新闻出版界的沉浮；他把自己从生活和创作中总结出的各种信念和主张给了德·阿泰兹；同时让卢斯托和伏脱冷充当了他剖析社会的代言人。可以想见，作家对这部作品是倾注了极大热情的。他在给韩斯卡夫人的信中，曾将《幻灭》称作“我的作品中居首位的著作”①，声称这部小说“充分地表现了我们的时代”②。在《幻灭》第三部初版序言中，巴尔扎克明确宣称这是“风俗研究”中“迄今最为重要的一部著作”。
《幻灭》的中心内容，是两个有才能、有抱负的青年理想破灭的故事。主人公吕西安是一位诗人，在外省颇有些名气。他带着满脑子幻想来到巴黎，结果在巴黎新闻界恶劣风气的影响下，离开了严肃的创作道路，变成无耻的报痞文氓，最后在党派倾轧、文坛斗争中身败名裂。他的妹夫大卫·赛夏是个埋头苦干的发明家，因为敌不过同行的阴险算计，被迫放弃发明专利，从此弃绝了科学研究的理想。
作者将这两个青年的遭遇与整整一代青年的精神状态，与整个社会生活，特别是巴黎生活的影响紧紧联系在一起，使之具有了普遍意义。在巴尔扎克笔下，十九世纪的巴黎好比希腊神话中的塞壬女仙，不断地吸引着和毁灭着外省的青年。
“巴黎就像一座盅惑人的碉堡，所有的外省青年都准备向它进攻……在这些才能、意志和成就的较量中，有着三十年来一代青年的惨史。”③
--------
①巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1843年3月2日）。
②巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1842年12 月21日）。
③巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第三部初版序言（1843）。
在这儿，巴黎显然是作为资本主义生活法则的表征出现的。随着封建所有制的解体，等级门阀观念的削弱，凭借个人才智到社会上寻求发迹的机会，已成为法国青年的普遍幻想，也是家家户户对那些稍有天赋的孩子必然抱有的期望。所以巴尔扎克不无嘲讽地写道：“拿破仑的榜样，使多少平凡的人狂妄自大，成为十九世纪的致命伤。”这种幻想是历史发展的必然产物，也反映了时代的进步。因为在封建时代，每个人的身分地位是早已划定了的，只有资本主义自由竞争，以及与自由竞争相适应的社会制度和政治制度产生以后，才给个人的发展提供了可能。
巴黎是法国政治、经济、文化的中心，是十八世纪末叶资产阶级革命的发源地。资产阶级的意识形态，必然以巴黎为圆心向外省扩散；巴黎的财富、权力，对外省青年必然具有无法抗拒的魅力。人人都想到巴黎去碰运气，如此便形成各种人才云集巴黎、互相竞争角逐的局面。竞争者是如此之多，真正能爬上显赫地位的又如此之少，这就必然挑起无穷无尽极其残酷的斗争，由此产生一首首个人奋斗的诗篇，一出出理想破灭的悲剧，同时也产生了十九世纪文学中的一个普遍的主题——个人与社会的对抗。巴尔扎克的哲理深度在于：他不仅意识到时代给个人的发展提供了可能，刺激了青年一代的美妙幻想；同时看到了社会还包含着那么多阻碍个人发展的因素，看到了物的统治使多少人才遭受摧残，多少理想归于幻灭。这种理想与现实的矛盾，个人发展的可能性与阻碍可能性转化为现实性的社会环境的矛盾，构成了小说的悲剧冲突。
既然冲突主要是在个人与环境之间展开，对主人公不幸命运的描绘，必然与对整个社会的批判揭露交织在一起。作者并不是孤立地塑造人物，而是将人物放在历史的框架内，让整个社会在他周围活动着，呼吸着，影响着他的思想，制约着他的行动。人物在生活的波涛中沉浮，距离自己最初的目标愈来愈远，终于被卷进危险的深渊。《幻灭》好像一幅巨型壁画，展示了法国大革命以后从外省到巴黎的广阔图景，描绘出王政复辟时期种种最富特征意义的现象：一方面，贵族的高贵姓氏和显赫地位仍然强烈地吸引着爱慕虚荣的青年；另一方面，资产者的财富已成为控制和奴役一切的力量，在野的资产阶级自由党在社会上比执政的保王党更有势力。这两大阶级的争夺，牵动着文坛上两派势力的斗争，也支配着吕西安的思想和命运。在这里，作者敏锐地指出了在复辟时期还处于萌芽状态的资本集中现象，描绘出工商业的竞争、同行间的倾轧和吞并是以何等阴险毒辣的方式在进行。大卫·赛夏就是在这类斗争中受围猎的一个牺牲品。在这些不同的角斗场上，作者勾勒了众多的不同阶层、不同身分的人物……总之，《幻灭》好比社会的缩影，集中了法国社会在新旧交替时期的种种怪现象。其中最富时代特色的现象之一，就是刚起步不久的新闻界。
在十九世纪的法国文学中，正面揭露新闻界内幕的作品，巴尔扎克的《幻灭》属于最早的，也是写得最大胆的一部。他撕开报界这座圣殿的帷幕，让人们看到这是个拿灵魂作交易的铺子。他一桩一件列举新闻界那些见不得人的勾当，惹得新闻界的首脑和文艺界的“执政”们暴跳如雷。在巴尔扎克看来，报界既是现代社会恶劣风气的集中而露骨的表现，也是进一步毒化社会风气的大痈疽，正是报界这股邪恶的势力，“扼杀了大量的青春和才能”①，把无数吕西安式的青年引向毁灭。
--------
①巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第二部初版序言。
《幻灭》的主人公吕西安不是英雄（当然也不是坏蛋），而是一个中间人物。作者是把他作为思想性格有严重弱点，而又有相当天赋的一类青年来刻画的。这是十九世纪上半期法国社会的典型环境中的一种典型性格。他聪明，有才华，但是自私、虚荣，野心很大而又意志薄弱，总想抄近路一步登天，没有毅力在真学问上下功夫。所以他经不起浮华世界的引诱，不可避免地走向了堕落。对这样一个人物，作者的态度是既有批判，也有同情。对于他的错误和失败，作者既不完全归咎于社会，也不完全归咎于个人。社会环境的恶劣影响，正是通过吕西安自身的弱点起作用的。
吕西安到巴黎以后，面前清清楚楚摆着两条路。一是德·阿泰兹和他的小团体的道路，这条路艰苦、漫长，然而清白可靠。要走这条路，吕西安缺的是坚强的意志和恒心。另一条就是斐诺已经取得成功、卢斯托正尾随其后的道路，这条路肮脏、危险，然而表面看来是名利双收的捷径。要走这条路，吕西安却又缺乏作恶的魄力和本领。因此吕西安两条路都走不通。
大卫·赛夏是与吕西安完全不同类型的一个青年。他正直宽厚、淳朴善良。他没有什么向上爬的野心，但并非没有才能或抱负。他用全副精力从事一项科学发明，想为他所爱的人挣起一份家业，他不乏恒心与毅力，却仍遭到惨败，原因是他的心地过于单纯，对现实缺乏透彻的理解，不像德·阿泰兹等人对人对事都有极冷静的分析。他在虎狼成群的社会里毫无自卫的准备；出没在生存竞争的枪林弹雨中却不穿铠甲，不戴头盔。因此他当科学家绰绰有余，作买卖必定亏本，竞争中必定一败涂地。
德·阿泰兹是理想化了的巴尔扎克。小团体的道路正是作者为自己选择的生活道路。他相信，尽管社会环境险恶，只要有坚定的意志和恒久的努力，仍然可以开拓自我，战胜激流险滩，到达胜利的彼岸。所以，《幻灭》一书所描写的虽是理想的破灭，却并不给人以悲观的印象。因为作者在揭露黑暗的同时，也着力刻画了一些追求正义者、自强不息者，时刻让读者感觉到有一股不与恶浊环境同流合污的对抗力量，也就是说，巴尔扎克认为：人是可以与社会较量的。
艾 珉
一九九二年七月
书摘： “好吧，那么我对今天的戏就按照我的印象来报导，”吕西安气愤愤的说。
年轻的女主角对舞台监督说：“你好糊涂！他是柯拉莉的情人啊。”
舞台监督立刻回过身来招呼吕西安：“先生，我去报告经理。”
可见报纸在小事情上也显出无边的威力，使吕西安的虚荣心感到满足。经理出来和德·雷托雷公爵和舞蹈明星蒂丽娅商量，要求把吕西安安插在他们紧靠前台的包厢里。公爵见是吕西安，答应了。
年轻的雷托雷提到夏特莱男爵和德·巴日东太太，说道：
“两个人被你摆布得好苦啊。”
吕西安道：“再看明天吧。到此为止，都是我的朋友们出场，只能算轻装的步兵，今晚我才亲自放炮。明天你就知道为什么我们取笑波特莱。文章的题目叫做《从一八一一年的波特莱到一八二一年的波特莱》。在不认恩主，向波旁家卖身投靠的人里头，夏特莱是个典型。我的本事要他们完全领教过了，再上德·蒙柯奈太太家。”
吕西安和青年公爵谈话之间尽量卖弄才华，急于向这位爵爷证明，德·埃斯巴太太和德·巴日东太太瞧他不起是有眼无珠，大错特错。可是他终于显了原形：他想自称为德·吕邦泼雷，而德·雷托雷公爵偏偏捉弄他，叫他沙尔东。
公爵说：“你应该做保王党。你已经显出你的才气，现在要表示你识时务了。要得到王上的诏书准许你改用母系的姓，唯一的办法是先为宫廷出一番力，再要求这个恩典。自由党永远不能使你成为伯爵！真正可怕的力量，报刊，早晚要被政府压倒的。报刊非加以箝制不可，这件事已经拖延太久了。言论自由此刻到了最后阶段，你该尽量利用，造成你的声势。再过几年，在法国用姓氏和头衔做资本，比才干更可靠。有了这两样，一切都不成问题：才智，门第，美貌，要什么有什么。你此刻做自由党，目的只应该是将来投靠保王党的时候多沾一些便宜。”
公爵告诉吕西安，他在佛洛丽纳的半夜餐席上遇到的公使，要请他吃饭，希望他不要拒绝。吕西安被公爵的议论打动了；几个月之前以为永远走不进去的上流社会向他开了门，更使他喜出望外。他暗暗赞叹笔杆子的力量。报刊，才智，竟是现代社会的敲门砖。吕西安心上想，说不定卢斯托正在后悔，不该把他引进庙堂；吕西安为自己打算，已经觉得需要筑起壁垒，把从外省赶到巴黎来的野心家拦在外面。他不敢问自己，倘若有个诗人象他当初投奔艾蒂安那样来找他，他会采取什么态度。吕西安心事重重的神气瞒不过年轻的公爵，原因也被他猜着了；因为公爵向这个缺乏意志而欲望不小的野心家揭露了政治舞台的远景，正如早先记者们象魔鬼把耶稣带到圣殿的顶上①，让吕西安看到文坛和文坛的财富。吕西安不知道被他的小报伤害的一些人正在设计划策对付他，其中也有德·雷托雷公爵参加。公爵向德·埃斯巴太太圈子里的人提到吕西安的才气，叫他们听着吃惊。他受德·巴日东太太委托，做一番试探工作，本来希望在昂必居喜剧院遇到吕西安。其实上流社会也罢，新闻记者也罢，都谈不到深谋远虑，别以为他们的陷阱经过什么周密的安排。他们并没定下方案，奸诈的权术也不过做到哪里是哪里，主要是始终存着心，随机应变，不管好事坏事，都准备利用，但等对方在情欲播弄之下自己送上门来。在佛洛丽纳家吃消夜那天，青年公爵就摸清吕西安的性格，刚才便觑准他的虚荣心进攻，同时借他来练练自己的外交手腕。
--------
①魔弹试探耶稣，忽而带他到旷野里，忽而带往殿堂顶上，忽而带上高山。见《新约·马太福音》第四章。
散了戏，吕西安赶往圣菲阿克街写剧评，有心写得泼辣，尖刻，想试试自己的力量。那出戏比上回全景剧场的那一出高明；可是他想知道是否真象人家说的，能够把一本好戏压下去，把一本坏戏捧出来。第二天他和柯拉莉吃着中饭，翻开报纸；他跟昂必居喜剧院捣乱的事已经先和柯拉莉说了。吕西安念了他攻击德·巴日东太太和夏特莱的文章，然后很奇怪的发现，他的剧评一夜之间忽然变得非常缓和，除掉他极风趣的分析原封不动之外，结论竟是赞美。这出戏尽可使剧院大大的赚一笔。吕西安的气恼简直没法形容，决意向卢斯托抗议。他已经以为人家少不了他了，他不愿意做傻子，听人支配，受人宰割。吕西安为了肯定自己的势力，替道里阿和斐诺的杂志写好一篇文章，把批评拿当作品的议论归纳起来，做一番比较。答应给小报长期执笔的小品，也乘兴写了一篇。年轻的记者都有一股热情，写稿很认真，往往很冒失的拿出自己的全部精华。全景剧场的经理贴了一出新排的喜剧，让佛洛丽纳和柯拉莉当晚轮空。吃消夜之前还要赌钱。吕西安看过新戏彩排，预先写好评论，免得临时闹稿荒；卢斯托上门来拿稿子。小报靠吕西安写的巴黎花絮风行一时；吕西安把才写的一个有趣的短篇念给卢斯托听了，卢斯托亲着他两颊，说他真是新闻界的天使。
“那么干吗你忽发奇想，要改我的稿子呢？”吕西安问。他写那篇精彩的文章原是想发泄他的怨气的。
“我改你稿子？”卢斯托叫起来。
“那么谁改的？”
艾蒂安笑道：“朋友，你还不懂生意经。昂必居订我们二十份报，实际只送去九份，就是经理，乐队指挥，舞台监督，他们的情妇，另外还有三个股东。大街上的戏院每家都用这个方式报效我们报馆八百法郎。白送斐诺的包厢也抵得这个数目，演员和编剧订的报还不算在内。坏蛋斐诺在大街上捞到八千法郎。小戏院如此，大戏院可想而知！你明白没有？咱们不能不尽量客气。”
“我明白了，我不能照我的心思写稿子……”
卢斯托道：“那跟你有什么相干，只要你油水捞饱就行了。再说，你对戏院有什么过不去呢？要砸掉昨天的戏，总得有个理由。为破坏而破坏，只能损害报纸。按照是非曲直去打击人，报纸还有什么作用？可是经理招待不周吗？”（第2部第28章）
Plot summary
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 Angoulême, he is impoverished, impatient, handsome and ambitious. His widowed mother, his sister Ève and his best friend, David Séchard, do nothing to lessen his high opinion of his own talents, for it is an opinion they share.
Even as Part I of Illusions perdues, Les Deux poètes (The Two Poets), begins, Lucien has already written a historical novel and a sonnet sequence, whereas David is a scientist. But both, according to Balzac, are "poets" in that they creatively seek truth. Theirs is a fraternity of poetic aspiration, whether as scientist or writer: thus, even before David marries Ève, the two young men are spiritual brothers.
Lucien is introduced into the drawing-room of the leading figure of Angoulême high society, Mme de Bargeton, who rapidly becomes infatuated with him. It is not long before the pair flee to Paris where Lucien adopts his maternal patronymic of de Rubempré and hopes to make his mark as a poet. Mme de Bargeton, on the other hand, recognises her mésalliance and, though remaining in Paris, severs all ties with Lucien, abandoning him to a life of destitution.
In Part II, Un Grand homme de province à Paris, Lucien is contrasted both with the journalist Lousteau and the high-minded writer Daniel d’Arthez. Jilted by Mme de Bargeton for the adventurer Sixte du Châtelet, he moves in a social circle of high-class actress-prostitutes and their journalist lovers: soon he becomes the lover of Coralie. As a literary journalist he prostitutes his talent. But he still harbours the ambition of belonging to high society and longs to assume by royal warrant the surname and coat of arms of the de Rubemprés. He therefore switches his allegiance from the liberal opposition press to the one or two royalist newspapers that support the government. This act of betrayal earns him the implacable hatred of his erstwhile journalist colleagues, who destroy Coralie’s theatrical reputation. In the depths of his despair he forges his brother-in-law’s name on three promissory notes. This is his ultimate betrayal of his integrity as a person. After Coralie’s death he returns in disgrace to Angoulême, stowed away behind the Châtelets’ carriage: Mme de Bargeton has just married du Châtelet, who has been appointed prefect of that region.
Meanwhile, at Angoulême David Séchard is betrayed on all sides but is supported by his loving wife. He invents a new and cheaper method of paper production: thus, at a thematic level, the commercialization of paper-manufacturing processes is very closely interwoven with the commercialization of literature. Lucien’s forgery of his brother-in-law’s signature almost bankrupts David, who has to sell the secret of his invention to business rivals. He is about to commit suicide when he is approached by a sham Jesuit priest, the Abbé Carlos Herrera: this, in another guise, is the escaped convict Vautrin whom Balzac had already presented in Le Père Goriot. Herrera takes Lucien under his protection and they drive off to Paris, there to begin a fresh assault on the capital.
Fundamental themes of the work
The novel has four main themes.
(1) The lifestyle of the provinces is juxtaposed with that of the metropolis, as Balzac contrasts the varying tempos of life at Angoulême and in Paris, the different standards obtaining in those cities, and their different perceptions.
(2) Balzac explores the artistic life of Paris in 1821-22, and furthermore the nature of the artistic life generally. Lucien, who was already a not quite published author when the novel begins, fails to get that early literary work published whilst he is in Paris and during his time in the capital writes nothing of any consequence. Daniel d’Arthez, on the other hand, does not actively seek literary fame: it comes to him because of his solid literary merit.
(3) Balzac denounces journalism, presenting it as the most pernicious form of intellectual prostitution.
(4) Balzac affirms the duplicity – and two-facedness – of all things, both in Paris and at Angoulême: e.g., the character of Lucien de Rubempré, who even has two surnames; David Séchard’s ostensible friend, the notary Petit-Claud, who operates against his client, not for him; the legal comptes (accounts) which are contes fantastiques (fantastic tales); the theatre which lives by make-believe; high society likewise; the Abbé Carlos Herrera who is a sham priest, and in fact a criminal; the Sin against the Holy Ghost, whereby Lucien abandons his true integrity as a person, forging his brother-in-law’s signature and even contemplating suicide.
Narrative strategies
(1) Although Illusions perdues is a commentary upon the contemporary world, Balzac is tantalizingly vague in his delineation of the historico-political background. His delineation of the broader social background is far more precise.
(2) Illusions perdues is remarkable for its innumerable changes of tempo. However, even the change of tempo from Part II to Part III is but a superficial point of contrast between life as it is lived in the capital and life in the provinces. Everywhere the same laws of human behaviour apply. A person’s downfall may come from the rapier thrust of the journalist or from the slowly strangling machinations of the law.
(3) Most notably in La Cousine Bette Balzac was one of the first novelists to employ the technique of in medias res. In Illusions perdues there is an unusual example of this, Part II of the novel serving as the prelude to the extended flashback which follows in Part III.
(4) Illusions perdues is also full of the "sublimities and degradations", "excited emphasis" and "romantic rhetoric" to which F.R. Leavis[1] has objected in Le Père Goriot. Characters and viewpoints are polarized. There is the strong and perhaps somewhat artificial contrast between Lucien and David, art and science, Lousteau and d’Arthez, journalism and literature, Paris and the provinces, etc. And this polarization reaches the point of melodrama as Balzac appears to draw moral distinctions between "vice" and "virtue". Coralie is the Fallen Woman, Ève an Angel of strength and purity. Yet Balzac also describes Coralie’s love for Lucien as a form of redemptive purity, an "absolution" and a "benediction". Thus, through what structurally is melodrama, he underlines what he considers to be the fundamental resemblance of opposites.
(5) Introduced into narrative fiction by the Gothic novel (The Castle of Otranto, The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk), melodrama was widespread in literature around the time when Illusions perdues was written. Jane Austen satirizes it in Northanger Abbey. Eugène Sue made regular use of it. Instances in Illusions perdues are the use of improbable coincidence; Lucien, in an endeavour to pay Coralie’s funeral expenses, writing bawdy love-songs when her body is hardly yet cold; and the deus ex machina (or Satanas ex machina?) in the form of Herrera’s appearance at the end of the novel.
(6) Like all the major works of the Comédie humaine, Illusions perdues pre-eminently focuses on the social nexus. Within the nexus of love, in her relationship with Lucien, Coralie is life-giving: her love has a sacramental quality. However, in an environment of worldly manœuvring her influence upn him is fatal. She is, in other words, both a Fallen and a Risen Woman; all depends upon the nexus within which she is viewed. In the unpropitious environment of Angoulême Mme de Bargeton is an absurd bluestocking; transplanted to Paris, she undergoes an immediate "metamorphosis", becoming a true denizen of high society – and rightfully, in Part III, the occupant of the préfecture at Angoulême. As to whether Lucien’s writings have any value, the social laws are paramount: this is a fact which he does not realize until it is too late.
(7) A parallel ambiguity is present in the character of the epicene Lucien de Rubempré. Mme de Bargeton finds no fault with his amorous competence, nor does Coralie. Yet, partly because of his existential circumstances and also because of the narrative context in which Balzac places him, it appears that Lucien is fundamentally homosexual. This, incidentally, is almost the first appearance of homosexuality in modern literature.
(8) Illusions perdues is, according to Donald Adamson, "a revelation of the secret workings of the world, rather than a Bildungsroman illuminating the development of character"[2].
The success of this novel inspired Balzac to write a four-part sequel, Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. Illusions perdues and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes form part of the Comédie humaine, the series of novels and short stories written by Balzac depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and July Monarchy (1815-1848).
人们常说《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是巴尔扎克的代表作。实际上，在表现作家本人的思想感情和直接的生活体验方面，《幻灭》比其他小说具有更大的代表性。书中几个主要人物的遭遇，大部分取自作家本人的经历，他们的激情、幻想和苦难，他几乎全都亲自体尝过。他把自己二十年的奋斗历程分别给了三个不同类型的青年：他在大卫·赛夏的故事里，倾诉了自己经营印刷所、铸字厂和受债务迫害的惨痛经验；在吕西安的遭遇里，溶入了自己在文坛和新闻出版界的沉浮；他把自己从生活和创作中总结出的各种信念和主张给了德·阿泰兹；同时让卢斯托和伏脱冷充当了他剖析社会的代言人。可以想见，作家对这部作品是倾注了极大热情的。他在给韩斯卡夫人的信中，曾将《幻灭》称作“我的作品中居首位的著作”①，声称这部小说“充分地表现了我们的时代”②。在《幻灭》第三部初版序言中，巴尔扎克明确宣称这是“风俗研究”中“迄今最为重要的一部著作”。
《幻灭》的中心内容，是两个有才能、有抱负的青年理想破灭的故事。主人公吕西安是一位诗人，在外省颇有些名气。他带着满脑子幻想来到巴黎，结果在巴黎新闻界恶劣风气的影响下，离开了严肃的创作道路，变成无耻的报痞文氓，最后在党派倾轧、文坛斗争中身败名裂。他的妹夫大卫·赛夏是个埋头苦干的发明家，因为敌不过同行的阴险算计，被迫放弃发明专利，从此弃绝了科学研究的理想。
作者将这两个青年的遭遇与整整一代青年的精神状态，与整个社会生活，特别是巴黎生活的影响紧紧联系在一起，使之具有了普遍意义。在巴尔扎克笔下，十九世纪的巴黎好比希腊神话中的塞壬女仙，不断地吸引着和毁灭着外省的青年。
“巴黎就像一座盅惑人的碉堡，所有的外省青年都准备向它进攻……在这些才能、意志和成就的较量中，有着三十年来一代青年的惨史。”③
--------
①巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1843年3月2日）。
②巴尔扎克：《致外国女子的信》（1842年12 月21日）。
③巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第三部初版序言（1843）。
在这儿，巴黎显然是作为资本主义生活法则的表征出现的。随着封建所有制的解体，等级门阀观念的削弱，凭借个人才智到社会上寻求发迹的机会，已成为法国青年的普遍幻想，也是家家户户对那些稍有天赋的孩子必然抱有的期望。所以巴尔扎克不无嘲讽地写道：“拿破仑的榜样，使多少平凡的人狂妄自大，成为十九世纪的致命伤。”这种幻想是历史发展的必然产物，也反映了时代的进步。因为在封建时代，每个人的身分地位是早已划定了的，只有资本主义自由竞争，以及与自由竞争相适应的社会制度和政治制度产生以后，才给个人的发展提供了可能。
巴黎是法国政治、经济、文化的中心，是十八世纪末叶资产阶级革命的发源地。资产阶级的意识形态，必然以巴黎为圆心向外省扩散；巴黎的财富、权力，对外省青年必然具有无法抗拒的魅力。人人都想到巴黎去碰运气，如此便形成各种人才云集巴黎、互相竞争角逐的局面。竞争者是如此之多，真正能爬上显赫地位的又如此之少，这就必然挑起无穷无尽极其残酷的斗争，由此产生一首首个人奋斗的诗篇，一出出理想破灭的悲剧，同时也产生了十九世纪文学中的一个普遍的主题——个人与社会的对抗。巴尔扎克的哲理深度在于：他不仅意识到时代给个人的发展提供了可能，刺激了青年一代的美妙幻想；同时看到了社会还包含着那么多阻碍个人发展的因素，看到了物的统治使多少人才遭受摧残，多少理想归于幻灭。这种理想与现实的矛盾，个人发展的可能性与阻碍可能性转化为现实性的社会环境的矛盾，构成了小说的悲剧冲突。
既然冲突主要是在个人与环境之间展开，对主人公不幸命运的描绘，必然与对整个社会的批判揭露交织在一起。作者并不是孤立地塑造人物，而是将人物放在历史的框架内，让整个社会在他周围活动着，呼吸着，影响着他的思想，制约着他的行动。人物在生活的波涛中沉浮，距离自己最初的目标愈来愈远，终于被卷进危险的深渊。《幻灭》好像一幅巨型壁画，展示了法国大革命以后从外省到巴黎的广阔图景，描绘出王政复辟时期种种最富特征意义的现象：一方面，贵族的高贵姓氏和显赫地位仍然强烈地吸引着爱慕虚荣的青年；另一方面，资产者的财富已成为控制和奴役一切的力量，在野的资产阶级自由党在社会上比执政的保王党更有势力。这两大阶级的争夺，牵动着文坛上两派势力的斗争，也支配着吕西安的思想和命运。在这里，作者敏锐地指出了在复辟时期还处于萌芽状态的资本集中现象，描绘出工商业的竞争、同行间的倾轧和吞并是以何等阴险毒辣的方式在进行。大卫·赛夏就是在这类斗争中受围猎的一个牺牲品。在这些不同的角斗场上，作者勾勒了众多的不同阶层、不同身分的人物……总之，《幻灭》好比社会的缩影，集中了法国社会在新旧交替时期的种种怪现象。其中最富时代特色的现象之一，就是刚起步不久的新闻界。
在十九世纪的法国文学中，正面揭露新闻界内幕的作品，巴尔扎克的《幻灭》属于最早的，也是写得最大胆的一部。他撕开报界这座圣殿的帷幕，让人们看到这是个拿灵魂作交易的铺子。他一桩一件列举新闻界那些见不得人的勾当，惹得新闻界的首脑和文艺界的“执政”们暴跳如雷。在巴尔扎克看来，报界既是现代社会恶劣风气的集中而露骨的表现，也是进一步毒化社会风气的大痈疽，正是报界这股邪恶的势力，“扼杀了大量的青春和才能”①，把无数吕西安式的青年引向毁灭。
--------
①巴尔扎克：《幻灭》第二部初版序言。
《幻灭》的主人公吕西安不是英雄（当然也不是坏蛋），而是一个中间人物。作者是把他作为思想性格有严重弱点，而又有相当天赋的一类青年来刻画的。这是十九世纪上半期法国社会的典型环境中的一种典型性格。他聪明，有才华，但是自私、虚荣，野心很大而又意志薄弱，总想抄近路一步登天，没有毅力在真学问上下功夫。所以他经不起浮华世界的引诱，不可避免地走向了堕落。对这样一个人物，作者的态度是既有批判，也有同情。对于他的错误和失败，作者既不完全归咎于社会，也不完全归咎于个人。社会环境的恶劣影响，正是通过吕西安自身的弱点起作用的。
吕西安到巴黎以后，面前清清楚楚摆着两条路。一是德·阿泰兹和他的小团体的道路，这条路艰苦、漫长，然而清白可靠。要走这条路，吕西安缺的是坚强的意志和恒心。另一条就是斐诺已经取得成功、卢斯托正尾随其后的道路，这条路肮脏、危险，然而表面看来是名利双收的捷径。要走这条路，吕西安却又缺乏作恶的魄力和本领。因此吕西安两条路都走不通。
大卫·赛夏是与吕西安完全不同类型的一个青年。他正直宽厚、淳朴善良。他没有什么向上爬的野心，但并非没有才能或抱负。他用全副精力从事一项科学发明，想为他所爱的人挣起一份家业，他不乏恒心与毅力，却仍遭到惨败，原因是他的心地过于单纯，对现实缺乏透彻的理解，不像德·阿泰兹等人对人对事都有极冷静的分析。他在虎狼成群的社会里毫无自卫的准备；出没在生存竞争的枪林弹雨中却不穿铠甲，不戴头盔。因此他当科学家绰绰有余，作买卖必定亏本，竞争中必定一败涂地。
德·阿泰兹是理想化了的巴尔扎克。小团体的道路正是作者为自己选择的生活道路。他相信，尽管社会环境险恶，只要有坚定的意志和恒久的努力，仍然可以开拓自我，战胜激流险滩，到达胜利的彼岸。所以，《幻灭》一书所描写的虽是理想的破灭，却并不给人以悲观的印象。因为作者在揭露黑暗的同时，也着力刻画了一些追求正义者、自强不息者，时刻让读者感觉到有一股不与恶浊环境同流合污的对抗力量，也就是说，巴尔扎克认为：人是可以与社会较量的。
艾 珉
一九九二年七月
书摘： “好吧，那么我对今天的戏就按照我的印象来报导，”吕西安气愤愤的说。
年轻的女主角对舞台监督说：“你好糊涂！他是柯拉莉的情人啊。”
舞台监督立刻回过身来招呼吕西安：“先生，我去报告经理。”
可见报纸在小事情上也显出无边的威力，使吕西安的虚荣心感到满足。经理出来和德·雷托雷公爵和舞蹈明星蒂丽娅商量，要求把吕西安安插在他们紧靠前台的包厢里。公爵见是吕西安，答应了。
年轻的雷托雷提到夏特莱男爵和德·巴日东太太，说道：
“两个人被你摆布得好苦啊。”
吕西安道：“再看明天吧。到此为止，都是我的朋友们出场，只能算轻装的步兵，今晚我才亲自放炮。明天你就知道为什么我们取笑波特莱。文章的题目叫做《从一八一一年的波特莱到一八二一年的波特莱》。在不认恩主，向波旁家卖身投靠的人里头，夏特莱是个典型。我的本事要他们完全领教过了，再上德·蒙柯奈太太家。”
吕西安和青年公爵谈话之间尽量卖弄才华，急于向这位爵爷证明，德·埃斯巴太太和德·巴日东太太瞧他不起是有眼无珠，大错特错。可是他终于显了原形：他想自称为德·吕邦泼雷，而德·雷托雷公爵偏偏捉弄他，叫他沙尔东。
公爵说：“你应该做保王党。你已经显出你的才气，现在要表示你识时务了。要得到王上的诏书准许你改用母系的姓，唯一的办法是先为宫廷出一番力，再要求这个恩典。自由党永远不能使你成为伯爵！真正可怕的力量，报刊，早晚要被政府压倒的。报刊非加以箝制不可，这件事已经拖延太久了。言论自由此刻到了最后阶段，你该尽量利用，造成你的声势。再过几年，在法国用姓氏和头衔做资本，比才干更可靠。有了这两样，一切都不成问题：才智，门第，美貌，要什么有什么。你此刻做自由党，目的只应该是将来投靠保王党的时候多沾一些便宜。”
公爵告诉吕西安，他在佛洛丽纳的半夜餐席上遇到的公使，要请他吃饭，希望他不要拒绝。吕西安被公爵的议论打动了；几个月之前以为永远走不进去的上流社会向他开了门，更使他喜出望外。他暗暗赞叹笔杆子的力量。报刊，才智，竟是现代社会的敲门砖。吕西安心上想，说不定卢斯托正在后悔，不该把他引进庙堂；吕西安为自己打算，已经觉得需要筑起壁垒，把从外省赶到巴黎来的野心家拦在外面。他不敢问自己，倘若有个诗人象他当初投奔艾蒂安那样来找他，他会采取什么态度。吕西安心事重重的神气瞒不过年轻的公爵，原因也被他猜着了；因为公爵向这个缺乏意志而欲望不小的野心家揭露了政治舞台的远景，正如早先记者们象魔鬼把耶稣带到圣殿的顶上①，让吕西安看到文坛和文坛的财富。吕西安不知道被他的小报伤害的一些人正在设计划策对付他，其中也有德·雷托雷公爵参加。公爵向德·埃斯巴太太圈子里的人提到吕西安的才气，叫他们听着吃惊。他受德·巴日东太太委托，做一番试探工作，本来希望在昂必居喜剧院遇到吕西安。其实上流社会也罢，新闻记者也罢，都谈不到深谋远虑，别以为他们的陷阱经过什么周密的安排。他们并没定下方案，奸诈的权术也不过做到哪里是哪里，主要是始终存着心，随机应变，不管好事坏事，都准备利用，但等对方在情欲播弄之下自己送上门来。在佛洛丽纳家吃消夜那天，青年公爵就摸清吕西安的性格，刚才便觑准他的虚荣心进攻，同时借他来练练自己的外交手腕。
--------
①魔弹试探耶稣，忽而带他到旷野里，忽而带往殿堂顶上，忽而带上高山。见《新约·马太福音》第四章。
散了戏，吕西安赶往圣菲阿克街写剧评，有心写得泼辣，尖刻，想试试自己的力量。那出戏比上回全景剧场的那一出高明；可是他想知道是否真象人家说的，能够把一本好戏压下去，把一本坏戏捧出来。第二天他和柯拉莉吃着中饭，翻开报纸；他跟昂必居喜剧院捣乱的事已经先和柯拉莉说了。吕西安念了他攻击德·巴日东太太和夏特莱的文章，然后很奇怪的发现，他的剧评一夜之间忽然变得非常缓和，除掉他极风趣的分析原封不动之外，结论竟是赞美。这出戏尽可使剧院大大的赚一笔。吕西安的气恼简直没法形容，决意向卢斯托抗议。他已经以为人家少不了他了，他不愿意做傻子，听人支配，受人宰割。吕西安为了肯定自己的势力，替道里阿和斐诺的杂志写好一篇文章，把批评拿当作品的议论归纳起来，做一番比较。答应给小报长期执笔的小品，也乘兴写了一篇。年轻的记者都有一股热情，写稿很认真，往往很冒失的拿出自己的全部精华。全景剧场的经理贴了一出新排的喜剧，让佛洛丽纳和柯拉莉当晚轮空。吃消夜之前还要赌钱。吕西安看过新戏彩排，预先写好评论，免得临时闹稿荒；卢斯托上门来拿稿子。小报靠吕西安写的巴黎花絮风行一时；吕西安把才写的一个有趣的短篇念给卢斯托听了，卢斯托亲着他两颊，说他真是新闻界的天使。
“那么干吗你忽发奇想，要改我的稿子呢？”吕西安问。他写那篇精彩的文章原是想发泄他的怨气的。
“我改你稿子？”卢斯托叫起来。
“那么谁改的？”
艾蒂安笑道：“朋友，你还不懂生意经。昂必居订我们二十份报，实际只送去九份，就是经理，乐队指挥，舞台监督，他们的情妇，另外还有三个股东。大街上的戏院每家都用这个方式报效我们报馆八百法郎。白送斐诺的包厢也抵得这个数目，演员和编剧订的报还不算在内。坏蛋斐诺在大街上捞到八千法郎。小戏院如此，大戏院可想而知！你明白没有？咱们不能不尽量客气。”
“我明白了，我不能照我的心思写稿子……”
卢斯托道：“那跟你有什么相干，只要你油水捞饱就行了。再说，你对戏院有什么过不去呢？要砸掉昨天的戏，总得有个理由。为破坏而破坏，只能损害报纸。按照是非曲直去打击人，报纸还有什么作用？可是经理招待不周吗？”（第2部第28章）
Plot summary
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 Angoulême, he is impoverished, impatient, handsome and ambitious. His widowed mother, his sister Ève and his best friend, David Séchard, do nothing to lessen his high opinion of his own talents, for it is an opinion they share.
Even as Part I of Illusions perdues, Les Deux poètes (The Two Poets), begins, Lucien has already written a historical novel and a sonnet sequence, whereas David is a scientist. But both, according to Balzac, are "poets" in that they creatively seek truth. Theirs is a fraternity of poetic aspiration, whether as scientist or writer: thus, even before David marries Ève, the two young men are spiritual brothers.
Lucien is introduced into the drawing-room of the leading figure of Angoulême high society, Mme de Bargeton, who rapidly becomes infatuated with him. It is not long before the pair flee to Paris where Lucien adopts his maternal patronymic of de Rubempré and hopes to make his mark as a poet. Mme de Bargeton, on the other hand, recognises her mésalliance and, though remaining in Paris, severs all ties with Lucien, abandoning him to a life of destitution.
In Part II, Un Grand homme de province à Paris, Lucien is contrasted both with the journalist Lousteau and the high-minded writer Daniel d’Arthez. Jilted by Mme de Bargeton for the adventurer Sixte du Châtelet, he moves in a social circle of high-class actress-prostitutes and their journalist lovers: soon he becomes the lover of Coralie. As a literary journalist he prostitutes his talent. But he still harbours the ambition of belonging to high society and longs to assume by royal warrant the surname and coat of arms of the de Rubemprés. He therefore switches his allegiance from the liberal opposition press to the one or two royalist newspapers that support the government. This act of betrayal earns him the implacable hatred of his erstwhile journalist colleagues, who destroy Coralie’s theatrical reputation. In the depths of his despair he forges his brother-in-law’s name on three promissory notes. This is his ultimate betrayal of his integrity as a person. After Coralie’s death he returns in disgrace to Angoulême, stowed away behind the Châtelets’ carriage: Mme de Bargeton has just married du Châtelet, who has been appointed prefect of that region.
Meanwhile, at Angoulême David Séchard is betrayed on all sides but is supported by his loving wife. He invents a new and cheaper method of paper production: thus, at a thematic level, the commercialization of paper-manufacturing processes is very closely interwoven with the commercialization of literature. Lucien’s forgery of his brother-in-law’s signature almost bankrupts David, who has to sell the secret of his invention to business rivals. He is about to commit suicide when he is approached by a sham Jesuit priest, the Abbé Carlos Herrera: this, in another guise, is the escaped convict Vautrin whom Balzac had already presented in Le Père Goriot. Herrera takes Lucien under his protection and they drive off to Paris, there to begin a fresh assault on the capital.
Fundamental themes of the work
The novel has four main themes.
(1) The lifestyle of the provinces is juxtaposed with that of the metropolis, as Balzac contrasts the varying tempos of life at Angoulême and in Paris, the different standards obtaining in those cities, and their different perceptions.
(2) Balzac explores the artistic life of Paris in 1821-22, and furthermore the nature of the artistic life generally. Lucien, who was already a not quite published author when the novel begins, fails to get that early literary work published whilst he is in Paris and during his time in the capital writes nothing of any consequence. Daniel d’Arthez, on the other hand, does not actively seek literary fame: it comes to him because of his solid literary merit.
(3) Balzac denounces journalism, presenting it as the most pernicious form of intellectual prostitution.
(4) Balzac affirms the duplicity – and two-facedness – of all things, both in Paris and at Angoulême: e.g., the character of Lucien de Rubempré, who even has two surnames; David Séchard’s ostensible friend, the notary Petit-Claud, who operates against his client, not for him; the legal comptes (accounts) which are contes fantastiques (fantastic tales); the theatre which lives by make-believe; high society likewise; the Abbé Carlos Herrera who is a sham priest, and in fact a criminal; the Sin against the Holy Ghost, whereby Lucien abandons his true integrity as a person, forging his brother-in-law’s signature and even contemplating suicide.
Narrative strategies
(1) Although Illusions perdues is a commentary upon the contemporary world, Balzac is tantalizingly vague in his delineation of the historico-political background. His delineation of the broader social background is far more precise.
(2) Illusions perdues is remarkable for its innumerable changes of tempo. However, even the change of tempo from Part II to Part III is but a superficial point of contrast between life as it is lived in the capital and life in the provinces. Everywhere the same laws of human behaviour apply. A person’s downfall may come from the rapier thrust of the journalist or from the slowly strangling machinations of the law.
(3) Most notably in La Cousine Bette Balzac was one of the first novelists to employ the technique of in medias res. In Illusions perdues there is an unusual example of this, Part II of the novel serving as the prelude to the extended flashback which follows in Part III.
(4) Illusions perdues is also full of the "sublimities and degradations", "excited emphasis" and "romantic rhetoric" to which F.R. Leavis[1] has objected in Le Père Goriot. Characters and viewpoints are polarized. There is the strong and perhaps somewhat artificial contrast between Lucien and David, art and science, Lousteau and d’Arthez, journalism and literature, Paris and the provinces, etc. And this polarization reaches the point of melodrama as Balzac appears to draw moral distinctions between "vice" and "virtue". Coralie is the Fallen Woman, Ève an Angel of strength and purity. Yet Balzac also describes Coralie’s love for Lucien as a form of redemptive purity, an "absolution" and a "benediction". Thus, through what structurally is melodrama, he underlines what he considers to be the fundamental resemblance of opposites.
(5) Introduced into narrative fiction by the Gothic novel (The Castle of Otranto, The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk), melodrama was widespread in literature around the time when Illusions perdues was written. Jane Austen satirizes it in Northanger Abbey. Eugène Sue made regular use of it. Instances in Illusions perdues are the use of improbable coincidence; Lucien, in an endeavour to pay Coralie’s funeral expenses, writing bawdy love-songs when her body is hardly yet cold; and the deus ex machina (or Satanas ex machina?) in the form of Herrera’s appearance at the end of the novel.
(6) Like all the major works of the Comédie humaine, Illusions perdues pre-eminently focuses on the social nexus. Within the nexus of love, in her relationship with Lucien, Coralie is life-giving: her love has a sacramental quality. However, in an environment of worldly manœuvring her influence upn him is fatal. She is, in other words, both a Fallen and a Risen Woman; all depends upon the nexus within which she is viewed. In the unpropitious environment of Angoulême Mme de Bargeton is an absurd bluestocking; transplanted to Paris, she undergoes an immediate "metamorphosis", becoming a true denizen of high society – and rightfully, in Part III, the occupant of the préfecture at Angoulême. As to whether Lucien’s writings have any value, the social laws are paramount: this is a fact which he does not realize until it is too late.
(7) A parallel ambiguity is present in the character of the epicene Lucien de Rubempré. Mme de Bargeton finds no fault with his amorous competence, nor does Coralie. Yet, partly because of his existential circumstances and also because of the narrative context in which Balzac places him, it appears that Lucien is fundamentally homosexual. This, incidentally, is almost the first appearance of homosexuality in modern literature.
(8) Illusions perdues is, according to Donald Adamson, "a revelation of the secret workings of the world, rather than a Bildungsroman illuminating the development of character"[2].
The success of this novel inspired Balzac to write a four-part sequel, Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. Illusions perdues and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes form part of the Comédie humaine, the series of novels and short stories written by Balzac depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and July Monarchy (1815-1848).
《幽谷百合》是法国著名作家巴尔扎克最优秀的小说之一，是法国文学宝库中一颗璀璨的明珠。
青年贵族费利克斯追求莫瑟夫伯爵夫人。伯爵夫人的丈夫暴戾，家庭生活缺少乐趣。他的介入，掀起她感情上的波澜。她忍受着内心的痛苦，对丈夫保持忠贞。费利克斯后去巴黎，经不起贵妇迪特利小姐的诱惑，坠入情网。伯爵夫人得悉，悲痛欲绝，把死当做是天主的恩赐。弥留之际，费利克斯赶到，她在临终时给他的信中吐露了隐衷。这是一曲哀婉动人的爱情悲歌。在古堡发生的故事中，让我们看到了时代变幻的风云。百日政变的影响、宫廷的变化、老贵族的流亡生活、年轻贵族巴黎发迹等等，无一不打上深深的时代印记。
影片《幽谷百合》根据法国著名的批判现实主义文学巨匠巴尔扎克的同名小说改编。
这是一曲哀婉动人的爱情悲歌。青年贵族费利克斯在一次舞会上偶遇莫瑟夫伯爵夫人，立刻被她的美貌和高贵的气质所吸引。费利克斯回家乡疗养时，再度与伯爵夫人相遇，对她产生了真挚的爱情。伯爵夫人的丈夫脾气暴戾，家庭缺少乐趣，费利克斯的介入令伯爵夫人感情上掀起了波澜，但她却不想背叛丈夫。两人之间柏拉图式的精神之恋，引起了英国女贵族杜德莱勋爵夫人的好奇，费利克斯经不起诱惑，坠入情网，不能自拔。伯爵夫人得知悲痛欲绝，把死当做天主的恩赐，弥留之际，费利克斯赶到了……
Inspiration
Henriette de Mortsauf was modelled on Balzac's close friend Laure Antoinette de Berny (née Hinner), a woman 22-years his senior who greatly encouraged his early career.[1] Mme de Berny died shortly after reading the completed novel[2] — in which Henriette also dies.
青年贵族费利克斯追求莫瑟夫伯爵夫人。伯爵夫人的丈夫暴戾，家庭生活缺少乐趣。他的介入，掀起她感情上的波澜。她忍受着内心的痛苦，对丈夫保持忠贞。费利克斯后去巴黎，经不起贵妇迪特利小姐的诱惑，坠入情网。伯爵夫人得悉，悲痛欲绝，把死当做是天主的恩赐。弥留之际，费利克斯赶到，她在临终时给他的信中吐露了隐衷。这是一曲哀婉动人的爱情悲歌。在古堡发生的故事中，让我们看到了时代变幻的风云。百日政变的影响、宫廷的变化、老贵族的流亡生活、年轻贵族巴黎发迹等等，无一不打上深深的时代印记。
影片《幽谷百合》根据法国著名的批判现实主义文学巨匠巴尔扎克的同名小说改编。
这是一曲哀婉动人的爱情悲歌。青年贵族费利克斯在一次舞会上偶遇莫瑟夫伯爵夫人，立刻被她的美貌和高贵的气质所吸引。费利克斯回家乡疗养时，再度与伯爵夫人相遇，对她产生了真挚的爱情。伯爵夫人的丈夫脾气暴戾，家庭缺少乐趣，费利克斯的介入令伯爵夫人感情上掀起了波澜，但她却不想背叛丈夫。两人之间柏拉图式的精神之恋，引起了英国女贵族杜德莱勋爵夫人的好奇，费利克斯经不起诱惑，坠入情网，不能自拔。伯爵夫人得知悲痛欲绝，把死当做天主的恩赐，弥留之际，费利克斯赶到了……
Inspiration
Henriette de Mortsauf was modelled on Balzac's close friend Laure Antoinette de Berny (née Hinner), a woman 22-years his senior who greatly encouraged his early career.[1] Mme de Berny died shortly after reading the completed novel[2] — in which Henriette also dies.
悭吝精明的百万富翁有一位天真美丽的独生女儿，她爱上了一个破产落魄的亲戚，为了资助他“闯天下”，倾囊赠予全部积蓄，从而激怒爱财如命的父亲，父女间发生激烈冲突，胆小而贤惠的慈母从此一病不起；可在期待中丧失父亲，又白白浪费青春的痴情姑娘，最终等到的却是发财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》讲述的是老葛朗台的独生女儿天真美丽的欧也妮爱上了破产落魄的表弟夏尔。为了资助夏尔，她将父亲的金币全部赠给了他，这一举动激怒了老葛朗台，父女俩儿发生了激烈的冲突。一向胆小而贤淑的母亲因此一病不起，而欧也妮这个痴情的姑娘最终等到的却是发了小财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》是巴尔扎克讽刺作品中最具有活力的一部力作。小说中，老葛朗台与传统的守财奴的形象不大一样，它不仅热衷于守财，更善于发财，他精于算计，能审时度势，平时不动声色，看准时机一定会果断出击。索漠城里，谁都尝到过他的厉害，但他们反倒更敬佩他了，把他看成索漠城的光荣，这是因为金钱在当时社会具有无边的魅力。老葛朗台死后，虽然欧也妮.葛朗台有了一大笔遗产和收入，可是她和以前一样，过着俭朴的生活。她也是精打细算地，积攒了许多年的家产，有人说她和她的父亲一样吝啬。可是，她把钱用到了慈善机构和教育上。她和她的爸爸形成了鲜明的对照。
这本书浓缩之后可能就是一句人生格言，或者，是富含着哲理的一句话，不过他很重要。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》这部小说揭露了当时资产阶级社会中赤裸裸的金钱关系，我读了这本书受益无穷，我十分喜欢它。
Plot Summary
Eugenie Grandet is set in the town of Saumur. 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. The two families constantly visit the Grandets to get Felix's favour, and Felix in turn plays them off against each other for his own advantage.
One day in 1819, Felix's nephew Charles Grandet arrives from Paris unexpectedly at their home having been sent there by his father Guillaume. Charles does not realise that his father has gone bankrupt and plans to takes his own life. Guillaume reveals this to his brother Felix in a confidential letter which Charles has carried.
Charles is a spoilt, and indolent young man, who is having an affair with an older woman. His father's ruin and suicide are soon published in the newspaper, and his uncle Felix reveals his problems to him. Felix considers Charles to be a burden, and plans to send him off overseas to make his own fortune. However, Eugenie and Charles fall in love with each other, and hope to eventually marry. She gives him some of her own money to help with his trading ventures.
Meanwhile Felix hatches a plan to profit from his brother's ruin. He announces to Cruchot des Bonfons that he plans to liquidate his brother's business, and so avoid a declaration of bankruptcy, and therefore save the family honour. Cruchot des Bonfons volunteers to go Paris to make the arrangements provided that Felix pays his expenses. The des Grassins then visit just as they are in the middle of discussions, and the banker des Grassins volunteers to do Felix's bidding for free. So Felix accepts des Grassins offer instead of Cruchot des Bonfons. The business is liquidated, and the creditors get 46% of their debts, in exchange for their bank bills. Felix then ignores all demands to pay the rest, whilst selling the bank bills at a profit.
By now Charles has left to travel overseas. He entrusts Eugenie with a small gold plated cabinet which contains pictures of his parents.
Later Felix is angered when he discovers that Eugenie has given her money (all in gold coins) to Charles. This leads to his wife falling ill, and his daughter being confined to her room. Eventually they are reconciled, and Felix reluctantly agrees that Eugenie can marry Charles.
In 1827 Charles returns to France. By now both of Eugenie's parents have died. However Charles is no longer in love with Eugenie. He has become very wealthy through his trading, but he has also become extremely corrupt. He becomes engaged to the daughter of an impoverished aristocratic family, in order to make himself respectable. He writes to Eugenie to announce his marriage plans, and to break off their engagement. He also sends a cheque to pay off the money that she gave him. Eugenie is heartbroken, especially when she discovers that Charles had been back in France for a month when he wrote to her. She sends back the cabinet.
Eugenie then decides to become engaged to Cruchot des Bonfons on two conditions. One is that she remains a virgin, and the other is that he agrees to go to Paris to act for her to pay off all the debts due Guillaume Grandet's creditor's. Bonfons de Cruchot carries out the debt payment in full. This comes just in time for Charles who finds that his future father-in-law objects to letting his daughter marry the son of a bankrupt. When Charles meets Bonfons de Cruchot, he discovers that Eugenie is in fact far wealthier than he is. During his brief stay at Saumur, he had assumed from the state of their home that his relatives were poor.
Bonfons de Cruchot marries Eugenie hopeful of becoming fabulously wealthy. However he dies young, and at the end of the book Eugenie is a very wealthy widow having now inherited her husband's fortune. However she is also very unhappy, and tells her servant Nanon "You are the only one who loves me". She lives in the miserly way in which she was brought up, though without her father's obsession for gold.
Adaptations
Adaptation for cinema:
* 1921 - The Conquering Power - by Rex Ingram - starring Alice Terry (Eugénie), Rudolph Valentino (Charles), Ralph Lewis (Father), Carrie Daumery (Mother), Bridgetta Clark (Mrs Des Grassins)
* 1946 - Eugenia Grandet - by Mario Soldati - starring Alida Valli
* 1965 - Eugenie Grandet - by Rex Tucker - starring Valerie Gearon (Eugénie), Mary Kerridge (Madame des Grassins), Beatrix Lehmann (Madame Grandet), Jonathan Cecil (Adolphe)
* 1993 - Eugénie Grandet, by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe; starring: Alexandra London (Eugénie), Jean Carmet (Father Grandet), Dominique Labourier (Mother Grandet), Claude Jade (Lucienne des Grassins).
《欧也妮.葛朗台》讲述的是老葛朗台的独生女儿天真美丽的欧也妮爱上了破产落魄的表弟夏尔。为了资助夏尔，她将父亲的金币全部赠给了他，这一举动激怒了老葛朗台，父女俩儿发生了激烈的冲突。一向胆小而贤淑的母亲因此一病不起，而欧也妮这个痴情的姑娘最终等到的却是发了小财归来的负心汉。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》是巴尔扎克讽刺作品中最具有活力的一部力作。小说中，老葛朗台与传统的守财奴的形象不大一样，它不仅热衷于守财，更善于发财，他精于算计，能审时度势，平时不动声色，看准时机一定会果断出击。索漠城里，谁都尝到过他的厉害，但他们反倒更敬佩他了，把他看成索漠城的光荣，这是因为金钱在当时社会具有无边的魅力。老葛朗台死后，虽然欧也妮.葛朗台有了一大笔遗产和收入，可是她和以前一样，过着俭朴的生活。她也是精打细算地，积攒了许多年的家产，有人说她和她的父亲一样吝啬。可是，她把钱用到了慈善机构和教育上。她和她的爸爸形成了鲜明的对照。
这本书浓缩之后可能就是一句人生格言，或者，是富含着哲理的一句话，不过他很重要。
《欧也妮.葛朗台》这部小说揭露了当时资产阶级社会中赤裸裸的金钱关系，我读了这本书受益无穷，我十分喜欢它。
Plot Summary
Eugenie Grandet is set in the town of Saumur. 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. The two families constantly visit the Grandets to get Felix's favour, and Felix in turn plays them off against each other for his own advantage.
One day in 1819, Felix's nephew Charles Grandet arrives from Paris unexpectedly at their home having been sent there by his father Guillaume. Charles does not realise that his father has gone bankrupt and plans to takes his own life. Guillaume reveals this to his brother Felix in a confidential letter which Charles has carried.
Charles is a spoilt, and indolent young man, who is having an affair with an older woman. His father's ruin and suicide are soon published in the newspaper, and his uncle Felix reveals his problems to him. Felix considers Charles to be a burden, and plans to send him off overseas to make his own fortune. However, Eugenie and Charles fall in love with each other, and hope to eventually marry. She gives him some of her own money to help with his trading ventures.
Meanwhile Felix hatches a plan to profit from his brother's ruin. He announces to Cruchot des Bonfons that he plans to liquidate his brother's business, and so avoid a declaration of bankruptcy, and therefore save the family honour. Cruchot des Bonfons volunteers to go Paris to make the arrangements provided that Felix pays his expenses. The des Grassins then visit just as they are in the middle of discussions, and the banker des Grassins volunteers to do Felix's bidding for free. So Felix accepts des Grassins offer instead of Cruchot des Bonfons. The business is liquidated, and the creditors get 46% of their debts, in exchange for their bank bills. Felix then ignores all demands to pay the rest, whilst selling the bank bills at a profit.
By now Charles has left to travel overseas. He entrusts Eugenie with a small gold plated cabinet which contains pictures of his parents.
Later Felix is angered when he discovers that Eugenie has given her money (all in gold coins) to Charles. This leads to his wife falling ill, and his daughter being confined to her room. Eventually they are reconciled, and Felix reluctantly agrees that Eugenie can marry Charles.
In 1827 Charles returns to France. By now both of Eugenie's parents have died. However Charles is no longer in love with Eugenie. He has become very wealthy through his trading, but he has also become extremely corrupt. He becomes engaged to the daughter of an impoverished aristocratic family, in order to make himself respectable. He writes to Eugenie to announce his marriage plans, and to break off their engagement. He also sends a cheque to pay off the money that she gave him. Eugenie is heartbroken, especially when she discovers that Charles had been back in France for a month when he wrote to her. She sends back the cabinet.
Eugenie then decides to become engaged to Cruchot des Bonfons on two conditions. One is that she remains a virgin, and the other is that he agrees to go to Paris to act for her to pay off all the debts due Guillaume Grandet's creditor's. Bonfons de Cruchot carries out the debt payment in full. This comes just in time for Charles who finds that his future father-in-law objects to letting his daughter marry the son of a bankrupt. When Charles meets Bonfons de Cruchot, he discovers that Eugenie is in fact far wealthier than he is. During his brief stay at Saumur, he had assumed from the state of their home that his relatives were poor.
Bonfons de Cruchot marries Eugenie hopeful of becoming fabulously wealthy. However he dies young, and at the end of the book Eugenie is a very wealthy widow having now inherited her husband's fortune. However she is also very unhappy, and tells her servant Nanon "You are the only one who loves me". She lives in the miserly way in which she was brought up, though without her father's obsession for gold.
Adaptations
Adaptation for cinema:
* 1921 - The Conquering Power - by Rex Ingram - starring Alice Terry (Eugénie), Rudolph Valentino (Charles), Ralph Lewis (Father), Carrie Daumery (Mother), Bridgetta Clark (Mrs Des Grassins)
* 1946 - Eugenia Grandet - by Mario Soldati - starring Alida Valli
* 1965 - Eugenie Grandet - by Rex Tucker - starring Valerie Gearon (Eugénie), Mary Kerridge (Madame des Grassins), Beatrix Lehmann (Madame Grandet), Jonathan Cecil (Adolphe)
* 1993 - Eugénie Grandet, by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe; starring: Alexandra London (Eugénie), Jean Carmet (Father Grandet), Dominique Labourier (Mother Grandet), Claude Jade (Lucienne des Grassins).
巴尔扎克从1829年开始创作《人间喜剧》，到1848年，其间经过20年。从创作发展道路看，大约可分为三个阶段：①1829～1835年，是他的创作走上成熟的时期，这期间，一共写了40多部，大都是中、短篇小说。《欧也妮·葛朗台》和《高老头》是这一时期的代表作。前者真实、生动地再现了19世纪初期法国的外省生活，塑造了在法国大革命变动中发迹的资产阶级人物，特别是刻画了一个狡狯、贪婪、吝啬的暴发户的典型形象，揭露了资本主义社会人与人之间的金钱关系；后者是巴尔扎克最知名的作品，深刻反映了复辟王朝的社会状况，以高老头的父爱反衬出金钱的罪恶，尤其刻画了资产阶级个人野心家的典型。②1836～1842年共写了30多部作品。其中最重要的是《幻灭》，它深刻反映了复辟王朝时期尖锐的阶级对立和党派斗争，还描写了经济领域的自由竞争吞并现象。③1843～1848年。当时正是七月王朝末期，阶级斗争十分尖锐，社会腐败日益明显，因而，七月王朝的现实便成为他作品中正面描写的重大题材。代表作《农民》是一部直接描写农村阶级斗争的长篇小说。它通过复辟王朝时期农村中资产阶级联合农民同返回农村的贵族地主进行较量，终于把贵族赶走的过程，深刻反映了当时法国农村发生的变化。这一阶段另一部代表作《贝姨》通过对好色的于洛男爵和暴发户克勒凡的刻画，及对七月王朝社会现象的广阔细致的描绘，抨击了七月王朝腐朽的本质。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
《人间喜剧》共包括90多部长篇、中篇、短篇小说，出现了2400多个人物，触及到社会各阶层，包括资产者、贵族、野心家、政治家、司法人员、军人、教士、艺术家、农民、工人、科学家、职员、警探等，被称为“社会百科全书”，为世界文学史所罕见。恩格斯认为《人间喜剧》是一部伟大的作品，称赞作者“提供了一部法国‘社会’特别是巴黎‘上流社会’的卓越的现实主义历史”。恩格斯还说,巴尔扎克的“伟大作品是对上流社会必然崩溃的一曲无尽的挽歌,他的全部同情都在注定要灭亡的那个阶级方面。但是，尽管如此,当他让他所深切同情的那些贵族男女行动的时候,他的嘲笑是空前尖刻,他的讽刺是空前辛辣的”。
《苏城舞会》-作品介绍
作品幽默地描写了美丽而又聪慧的爱米莉小姐，因为一个神情喜欢上了一个陌生男子，甚至把他夸张想象成了亚力山大、拜仑、其它伟大的人物，但却因为荒唐的传统观念和陈腐的成见竟在一瞬之间毁掉了她梦寐以求的幸福，酿成了一生令人欲哭无泪的爱情悲剧。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
老贵族德·封丹纳伯爵对王室忠心耿耿，但在现实生活中却表现得十分实际。他让三个儿子和两个女儿都与资产者新贵联姻，为的是弥补自己财力的空虚，表现出他对江河日下的命运的清醒认识。三女爱米莉虽是最年轻的一个，但其观念之陈腐既甚于兄姐，也甚于老父。她虚荣而固执的认为一位巴黎女子，可以跑到沙漠里去住帐篷，但是绝不会坐到店铺的柜台里。决不屈尊下嫁的门阀之见酿成了她的婚姻悲剧，使她失去了爱情的幸福，也失去了她所追求的虚荣。而审时度势，善于顺应潮流，且有务实精神的贵族后裔马克西米利安，却成了政治舞台和经济生活中的佼佼者。巴尔扎克对封建传统观念的嘲弄是辛辣的，对社会情势的把握是准确的。最后爱米莉看着旧日爱人出神的时候,输掉了牌局,德·佩塞波里主教和蔼地说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”一语双关,指爱米莉因为分神出错了牌，打错了红心王；又讽刺她因为门第偏见和虚荣错失了自己最爱的人，同时也错失了自己最向往的虚荣生活。
《苏城舞会》巴尔扎克
《苏城舞会》发表于七月革命前夕的1829年，尚属巴尔扎克的试笔之作，但作者形象地刻画了复辟时期贵族的尴尬地位。随着贵族阶级经济力量的衰落, 比较明智的贵族不断改变着以往根深蒂固的封建意识,纷纷与资产阶级联姻,以维持和加强自我在经济上和政治上的实力地位。《苏城舞会》中的封丹纳伯爵就是这样的识时务者，封丹纳伯爵虽然出身于古老的贵族世家，但他看到了贵族不可避免的衰亡命运因而赞同儿子、女儿与资产者结亲。巴尔扎克写出了社会风气的变化，对门阀的尊崇让位于对金钱的膜拜，资产阶级妇女取代了贵妇人，活跃在上流社会中。巴尔扎克的阶级同情,是在注定要灭亡的贵族一边的,然而他同情的泪水挡不住他现实主义的目光, 他不得不违背自己的阶级同情和政治偏爱,如泣如诉地描绘了他心爱的贵族阶级的必然没落而不配有更好的命运。
《苏城舞会》-作品引用
爱米莉是巴黎贵族世家德.封丹纳伯爵的女儿。她不仅长得美丽，而且才华出众。在社交界里，她被骄傲的女皇。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
这年夏季，德.封丹纳一家来到苏城避暑。每逢星期日，这儿都举行盛大的露天舞会。爱米莉别出心裁地把自己打扮成一个村姑去参加舞会。在舞会上，爱米莉偶然发现一个青年，她被他漂亮的外表所吸引，并从他潇洒的风度和华丽的服饰断定：“他肯定是贵族。”后来她认识了她眼中的贵族——龙格威并且两人情投意合。
在回去时她鼓足勇气问道：“你是贵族吗？”
龙格威面色阴沉，他说：“我爱你。难道还有别的比这更重要吗？”他那坚定的口气和目光使她羞愧得低下了头。
后爱米莉走进市中心的一家布店，一个意想不到的场面惊得她瞠目结舌：龙格威坐在柜台里，正用商人熟练的动作数着金币。
龙格威看见爱米莉，惶惑不安地来到她面前说：“小姐，这种生意上麻烦弄得人不可开交。我希望你能理解......”
“这跟我毫无相干！”爱米莉说完转身便走。
龙格威多次求见，都遭到她的拒绝。她用最刻毒的言语来咒骂世上的一切商人。
即使舅公告诉爱米莉：龙格威出身贵族家庭，为了哥哥的前程，他放弃了财产和爵位的继承。他要靠自己的力量来生活，他是个有为的青年。爱米莉听了无动于衷。
在一个舞会上，龙格威来到她跟前，恳切地说：“爱米莉，丢掉那种过份的虚荣心吧！”爱米莉尖刻地答道：“我宁可跟情人到沙漠上去，也不愿陪他去坐柜台！”格威面色苍白，表情痛苦地说：“那我只得离开巴黎......”爱米莉不耐烦地打断他的话：“等你回来我也许已经同别人结婚了。”龙格威到意大利去了。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
由于爱米莉那种高傲的门第观念和好挑剔的性格，那些过去的追求者都成了她现在的敌人。社会舆论使她变得非常孤立。德.封丹纳的门庭显得空前冷落。随着年华的逝去，爱米莉的父母先后去世，舅公成了她唯一的保护人。爱米莉为了自己不成为老处女，只得同年迈的舅公结婚。在豪华的婚礼上，人们从她美丽的脸颊上看到一种失败的笑容。海军基地中将对年轻的夫人百般体贴。为了使她开心，他不停地举行着宴会。可是，表面的富丽堂皇永远无法填补爱米莉空虚的心灵。
二年之后，龙格威在一次公开宴会上出现。爱米莉听说龙格威的哥哥去世后，他不仅继承了父兄的遗产，而且得到了世袭议院贵族封号。事到如今，悔之晚矣！爱米莉全身哆嗦，她神志恍惚地打出一张牌，在座的主教讥讽地笑着说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”
《苏城舞会》-艺术价值
巴尔扎克善于通过环境描写再现时代风貌，他的作品富有时代气息，具有非凡的艺术魅力。他还把环境描写同人物塑造紧密结合起来，善于对人物外貌作精细描写，又擅长刻画人物的心理变化，并运用个性化的语言和夸张手法来充实和突出性格特征，使人物显得有血有肉。巴尔扎克的小说构思巧妙，结构多种多样而又具有独特的风格。他的不少作品还带有浓厚的浪漫色彩，大大丰富和发展了现实主义创作方法。他的创作方法和艺术技巧对后世的法国文学乃至世界文学产生了极其深远的影响。作为艺术巨匠的巴尔扎克，在他描写人物的多方面成就中，通过一系列具体而典型的细节描写来突出人物性格特点，这点则更可称道。这种对细节描写的逼真同样使人物更具真实感，更富感染力。
巴尔扎克的世界观充满了矛盾，并充分体现在其作品中。《苏城舞会》通过对小说主人公形象、命运的分析，探讨女性意识对作品主题及人物的影响，洞察和解读作家内心复杂而真实的潜隐思想。
The first edition of this novella was published in 1830 by Mame and Delaunay-Vallée in the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life). It was republished in 1835 by Madame Charles-Béchet, in 1839 in the Charpentier edition, and then in 1842 in the first volume of the Furne edition of la Comédie Humaine.
Analysis
In writing this novella Balzac seems to have been inspired by the fables of La Fontaine, especially La fille ("The Girl") and Héron ("The Heron"). There is also an allusion to La Fontaine in the choice of Émilie’s surname. The plot is similar to that of another of Balzac's works, La Vieille Fille (The Old Maid), the subject of which hesitates between several suitors and finishes by making do with the only one left.
A similar plot informs Aleksandr Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin, which was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832.
Plot
After having haughtily refused a number of suitors, under the pretext that they are not peers of France, Émilie de Fontaine falls in love with a mysterious young man who quietly appeared at the village dance at Sceaux. Despite his refined appearance and aristocratic bearing, the unknown (Maximilien Longueville) never tells his identity and seems interested in nobody but his sister, a sickly young girl. But he is not insensible to the attention Émilie gives him and he accepts the invitation of Émilie’s father, the Comte de Fontaine. Émilie and Maximilien soon fall in love. The Comte de Fontaine, concerned for his daughter, decides to investigate this mysterious young man, and he discovers him on the Rue du Sentier, a simple cloth merchant, which horrifies Émilie. Piqued, she marries a 70 year old uncle for his title of Vice Admiral, the Comte de Kergarouët.
Several years after her marriage, Émilie discovers that Maximilien is not a clothier at all, but in fact a Vicomte de Longueville who has become a Peer of France. The young man finally explains why he secretly tended a store: he did it in order to support his family, sacrificing himself for his sick sister and for his brother, who had departed the country.
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
《人间喜剧》共包括90多部长篇、中篇、短篇小说，出现了2400多个人物，触及到社会各阶层，包括资产者、贵族、野心家、政治家、司法人员、军人、教士、艺术家、农民、工人、科学家、职员、警探等，被称为“社会百科全书”，为世界文学史所罕见。恩格斯认为《人间喜剧》是一部伟大的作品，称赞作者“提供了一部法国‘社会’特别是巴黎‘上流社会’的卓越的现实主义历史”。恩格斯还说,巴尔扎克的“伟大作品是对上流社会必然崩溃的一曲无尽的挽歌,他的全部同情都在注定要灭亡的那个阶级方面。但是，尽管如此,当他让他所深切同情的那些贵族男女行动的时候,他的嘲笑是空前尖刻,他的讽刺是空前辛辣的”。
《苏城舞会》-作品介绍
作品幽默地描写了美丽而又聪慧的爱米莉小姐，因为一个神情喜欢上了一个陌生男子，甚至把他夸张想象成了亚力山大、拜仑、其它伟大的人物，但却因为荒唐的传统观念和陈腐的成见竟在一瞬之间毁掉了她梦寐以求的幸福，酿成了一生令人欲哭无泪的爱情悲剧。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
老贵族德·封丹纳伯爵对王室忠心耿耿，但在现实生活中却表现得十分实际。他让三个儿子和两个女儿都与资产者新贵联姻，为的是弥补自己财力的空虚，表现出他对江河日下的命运的清醒认识。三女爱米莉虽是最年轻的一个，但其观念之陈腐既甚于兄姐，也甚于老父。她虚荣而固执的认为一位巴黎女子，可以跑到沙漠里去住帐篷，但是绝不会坐到店铺的柜台里。决不屈尊下嫁的门阀之见酿成了她的婚姻悲剧，使她失去了爱情的幸福，也失去了她所追求的虚荣。而审时度势，善于顺应潮流，且有务实精神的贵族后裔马克西米利安，却成了政治舞台和经济生活中的佼佼者。巴尔扎克对封建传统观念的嘲弄是辛辣的，对社会情势的把握是准确的。最后爱米莉看着旧日爱人出神的时候,输掉了牌局,德·佩塞波里主教和蔼地说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”一语双关,指爱米莉因为分神出错了牌，打错了红心王；又讽刺她因为门第偏见和虚荣错失了自己最爱的人，同时也错失了自己最向往的虚荣生活。
《苏城舞会》巴尔扎克
《苏城舞会》发表于七月革命前夕的1829年，尚属巴尔扎克的试笔之作，但作者形象地刻画了复辟时期贵族的尴尬地位。随着贵族阶级经济力量的衰落, 比较明智的贵族不断改变着以往根深蒂固的封建意识,纷纷与资产阶级联姻,以维持和加强自我在经济上和政治上的实力地位。《苏城舞会》中的封丹纳伯爵就是这样的识时务者，封丹纳伯爵虽然出身于古老的贵族世家，但他看到了贵族不可避免的衰亡命运因而赞同儿子、女儿与资产者结亲。巴尔扎克写出了社会风气的变化，对门阀的尊崇让位于对金钱的膜拜，资产阶级妇女取代了贵妇人，活跃在上流社会中。巴尔扎克的阶级同情,是在注定要灭亡的贵族一边的,然而他同情的泪水挡不住他现实主义的目光, 他不得不违背自己的阶级同情和政治偏爱,如泣如诉地描绘了他心爱的贵族阶级的必然没落而不配有更好的命运。
《苏城舞会》-作品引用
爱米莉是巴黎贵族世家德.封丹纳伯爵的女儿。她不仅长得美丽，而且才华出众。在社交界里，她被骄傲的女皇。
《苏城舞会》爱米莉
这年夏季，德.封丹纳一家来到苏城避暑。每逢星期日，这儿都举行盛大的露天舞会。爱米莉别出心裁地把自己打扮成一个村姑去参加舞会。在舞会上，爱米莉偶然发现一个青年，她被他漂亮的外表所吸引，并从他潇洒的风度和华丽的服饰断定：“他肯定是贵族。”后来她认识了她眼中的贵族——龙格威并且两人情投意合。
在回去时她鼓足勇气问道：“你是贵族吗？”
龙格威面色阴沉，他说：“我爱你。难道还有别的比这更重要吗？”他那坚定的口气和目光使她羞愧得低下了头。
后爱米莉走进市中心的一家布店，一个意想不到的场面惊得她瞠目结舌：龙格威坐在柜台里，正用商人熟练的动作数着金币。
龙格威看见爱米莉，惶惑不安地来到她面前说：“小姐，这种生意上麻烦弄得人不可开交。我希望你能理解......”
“这跟我毫无相干！”爱米莉说完转身便走。
龙格威多次求见，都遭到她的拒绝。她用最刻毒的言语来咒骂世上的一切商人。
即使舅公告诉爱米莉：龙格威出身贵族家庭，为了哥哥的前程，他放弃了财产和爵位的继承。他要靠自己的力量来生活，他是个有为的青年。爱米莉听了无动于衷。
在一个舞会上，龙格威来到她跟前，恳切地说：“爱米莉，丢掉那种过份的虚荣心吧！”爱米莉尖刻地答道：“我宁可跟情人到沙漠上去，也不愿陪他去坐柜台！”格威面色苍白，表情痛苦地说：“那我只得离开巴黎......”爱米莉不耐烦地打断他的话：“等你回来我也许已经同别人结婚了。”龙格威到意大利去了。
《苏城舞会》苏城舞会
由于爱米莉那种高傲的门第观念和好挑剔的性格，那些过去的追求者都成了她现在的敌人。社会舆论使她变得非常孤立。德.封丹纳的门庭显得空前冷落。随着年华的逝去，爱米莉的父母先后去世，舅公成了她唯一的保护人。爱米莉为了自己不成为老处女，只得同年迈的舅公结婚。在豪华的婚礼上，人们从她美丽的脸颊上看到一种失败的笑容。海军基地中将对年轻的夫人百般体贴。为了使她开心，他不停地举行着宴会。可是，表面的富丽堂皇永远无法填补爱米莉空虚的心灵。
二年之后，龙格威在一次公开宴会上出现。爱米莉听说龙格威的哥哥去世后，他不仅继承了父兄的遗产，而且得到了世袭议院贵族封号。事到如今，悔之晚矣！爱米莉全身哆嗦，她神志恍惚地打出一张牌，在座的主教讥讽地笑着说：“美丽的夫人，您把‘红心王’打出去了，我赢了。不过，您不必吝惜输掉的钱，我都给我的修道院留着。”
《苏城舞会》-艺术价值
巴尔扎克善于通过环境描写再现时代风貌，他的作品富有时代气息，具有非凡的艺术魅力。他还把环境描写同人物塑造紧密结合起来，善于对人物外貌作精细描写，又擅长刻画人物的心理变化，并运用个性化的语言和夸张手法来充实和突出性格特征，使人物显得有血有肉。巴尔扎克的小说构思巧妙，结构多种多样而又具有独特的风格。他的不少作品还带有浓厚的浪漫色彩，大大丰富和发展了现实主义创作方法。他的创作方法和艺术技巧对后世的法国文学乃至世界文学产生了极其深远的影响。作为艺术巨匠的巴尔扎克，在他描写人物的多方面成就中，通过一系列具体而典型的细节描写来突出人物性格特点，这点则更可称道。这种对细节描写的逼真同样使人物更具真实感，更富感染力。
巴尔扎克的世界观充满了矛盾，并充分体现在其作品中。《苏城舞会》通过对小说主人公形象、命运的分析，探讨女性意识对作品主题及人物的影响，洞察和解读作家内心复杂而真实的潜隐思想。
The first edition of this novella was published in 1830 by Mame and Delaunay-Vallée in the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life). It was republished in 1835 by Madame Charles-Béchet, in 1839 in the Charpentier edition, and then in 1842 in the first volume of the Furne edition of la Comédie Humaine.
Analysis
In writing this novella Balzac seems to have been inspired by the fables of La Fontaine, especially La fille ("The Girl") and Héron ("The Heron"). There is also an allusion to La Fontaine in the choice of Émilie’s surname. The plot is similar to that of another of Balzac's works, La Vieille Fille (The Old Maid), the subject of which hesitates between several suitors and finishes by making do with the only one left.
A similar plot informs Aleksandr Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin, which was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832.
Plot
After having haughtily refused a number of suitors, under the pretext that they are not peers of France, Émilie de Fontaine falls in love with a mysterious young man who quietly appeared at the village dance at Sceaux. Despite his refined appearance and aristocratic bearing, the unknown (Maximilien Longueville) never tells his identity and seems interested in nobody but his sister, a sickly young girl. But he is not insensible to the attention Émilie gives him and he accepts the invitation of Émilie’s father, the Comte de Fontaine. Émilie and Maximilien soon fall in love. The Comte de Fontaine, concerned for his daughter, decides to investigate this mysterious young man, and he discovers him on the Rue du Sentier, a simple cloth merchant, which horrifies Émilie. Piqued, she marries a 70 year old uncle for his title of Vice Admiral, the Comte de Kergarouët.
Several years after her marriage, Émilie discovers that Maximilien is not a clothier at all, but in fact a Vicomte de Longueville who has become a Peer of France. The young man finally explains why he secretly tended a store: he did it in order to support his family, sacrificing himself for his sick sister and for his brother, who had departed the country.
一八二二年春初，巴黎的大夫们把一个病后复原的青年送到下诺曼底来，他害的是炎症，原因是用功过度，或者是生活放荡，漫没节制。他的康复要求绝对休息，饮食清淡，周围有寒冷空气和完全避免过度的感宫刺激。贝森的肥沃的田野和外省死气沉沉的生活，似乎最有利于他的恢复健康。于是他就到贝叶城住进他的一个表姐家；贝叶是一个美丽的城市，离海只有八公里，他的表姐过惯了隐居的生活，有一个亲戚或者朋友到来就喜不自胜，对他表示了特别热烈的欢迎。
除了少数特殊习俗。所有小城市都是相似的。这位名叫加斯东·德·尼埃耶男爵先生的巴黎青年，在他表姐圣瑟韦尔夫人家里，或者在她的一伙朋友家里，参加了几个晚会以后。不久就认识了这个僻静社会视为全城头面人物的人们。加斯东·德·尼埃耶把这些人视为永久不变的人物，任何一个观察家在从前组成法兰西的无数封建藩侯的首府里，都可以发现这些人物 。同时每个人都斥责别人的生活方式，尽力叫人相信他是这个社会中的一个例外，他曾经设法改革这个社会而没有成功。如果，这个新来的人不幸也说了几句批评的话，证实这些人彼此间互相指摘的意见是正确的。那么他马上就被视为无法无天的坏人，是个腐化堕落的巴黎人，跟通常所有的巴黎人一样。
加斯东·德·尼埃耶在这个小小天地里露脸的时候，事先他已经被贝叶城公共舆论不会有错的天平称过斤两。因为在这个小小社会里一切完全遵守礼节，生活里每件事都是协调的，没有半点事情能瞒过别人，所有爵位和领地的价值都有价格标明，跟报纸末页所登载的债券价格一样。他的表姐圣瑟韦尔夫人早已说过他的财产数字，他的未来希望，也展示过他的家谱，吹嘘过他的学识，他的礼貌和他的廉让。他所受到的欢迎是他理应受到的，他被不客气地接待为一个优秀的小贵族，因为他的年纪只有二十三岁；可是有几个年轻姑娘和几位母亲却对他另眼相看，允满温情。他在奥热山谷里拥有一万八千法朗的年地租，他的父亲早晚会遗留给他那座马内维尔古堡及其他部附属建筑物。至于他的所受教育，他的政治前程，他的人品，他的天才，都不成其为问题。他拥有的土地都十分肥沃，地租是有保证的；栽种的植物尤其优良，维修费用和捐税都由佃户负担；”苹果树都已经长了三十八年了；而他的父亲还在商量一笔交易，想把同他的花园连接的二百阿尔邦森林买下来，给花园围上围墙；这些优点是任何当部长的希望，任何人世的声誉都不能与之竞争的，不知是出于狡猾或是另有打算，圣瑟韦尔夫人没有提起加斯东的哥哥，加斯东自己也一字不提。这个哥哥患上肺病，似乎不久就要被人埋葬、哀哭而且遗忘了。开头加斯东·德·尼埃耶拿这些人物来作消遣，可以说，他把这些人物的尊容都描绘在他的画册里了，他把这些人物的有凌角的、多皱纹的、钩鼻的模样儿描绘得有趣而逼真，他注意到他们的服装和脸上肌肉的抽搐多么古怪而可笑；他非常喜欢听他们说话里的诺曼底方言，非常喜欢他们守旧的观念和粗野的性格。可是，在一段时间内习惯了这种松鼠在笼子里打转似的生活以后，他觉察到在这种停滞而不可改变的生活中缺乏对立的变化，同修道士关在修道院里没有什么两样，因而他就苦闷起来，虽然这种苦闷还不是烦恼和厌恶，但是这两者的效果都有了。经过这种过渡时期的轻微痛苦以后，一个人像植物一样移植到一个相反环境的过程就完成了，在这个新环境中他必须自行萎缩，过着一种生长不良的生活。事实上，如果没有任何东西把他拉出这个社会，他就会在不知不觉间适应了这个社会的生活习惯，他不再怕这个社会的空虚无聊，这种空虚无聊会侵袭他，把他完全消灭。加斯东的肺部早已习惯于呼吸这种空气了。他已经完全准备好要确认在这种无所用心、不动脑筋的日子里有一种麻木不仁的幸福，他开始忘记了那种精力不断更新的运动，忘记了他在巴黎曾经那么热爱过的能经常结出丰硕成果的脑力运用，他要永久留在这里，在这些化石中间僵化，像尤利西斯的伙伴们一样，在猪身里就满足了。有一天晚上，加斯东·德·尼埃耶在一家人家的客厅里，坐在一位老太太和本主教管区的一个代理主教之间。这所客厅的细木护壁板漆成灰色，地上铺着白土大方砖，挂着几张家里人的画像，摆着四张赌桌，十六个人围着赌桌一边闲谈，一边打惠斯特纸牌。他在那里什么也不想，只在消化他吃下去的美味晚餐，这种精美的晚餐就是外省日常生活的美好未来，他出乎意外发现自己正在赞同当地的生活习惯。他明白了为什么这些人继续使用昨天的旧纸牌，为什么他们在破旧的赌桌上洗牌，他们怎样才能做到既不为自己，也不为别人穿上好看的衣服。他猜到了有一种哲学思想隐藏在这种循环往复、千篇一律的生活里，在这种合乎逻辑的安静习惯里，在他们不识时髦豪华为何物里。总之，他几乎懂得了奢侈生活的无益。巴黎城，连同它的激情，它的风暴，它的欢乐，在他的心中已经变成了童年的回忆。他真心诚意地赞美一个年轻姑娘的红润的双手，谦卑和含羞的神态，虽然初看起来，他觉得她一脸蠢相，举止缺少风韵，全身令人厌恶，外貌尤其可笑。他已经无可救药了。从前他从外省到巴黎去，现在他又从巴黎火热的生活中回到外省的冷冰冰的生活里来，没有一句话可以震动他的耳膜，可以使他突然激动起来，如同一出沉闷歌剧的伴奏，突然出现一段奇特的乐章叫人兴奋一样。
“你昨天不是去看过德·鲍赛昂夫人吗？”一位老太太问这地区最豪华府第的主人。
“我是今天早上去看她的，”他回答。“我发觉她十分愁闷和痛苦，以至我没法子叫她答应明天来我家吃饭。”
“你是同尊夫人一起去的吗？”老太太大声问，露出惊异的神色。
“不错，是同内人一起去的，”贵族平静地回答。“德·鲍赛昂夫人不是勃艮弟家族的人吗？虽然只是女家方面的亲戚，可是这个姓把一切都洗刷了。内人很喜欢鲍赛昂子爵夫人，这位可怜的夫人孤单一个人已经过了这么长的日子了……”说着最后几句话的时候，德·尚皮涅勒侯爵冷冷地、平静地环顾周围听他说话而且端详着他的贵妇人；不过几乎不可能猜出他是同情德·鲍赛昂夫人的不幸遭遇呢，还是对她的贵族身份让步；也不知他以接待她为荣呢，还是他为了满足自尊心，要强迫当地的贵族和他们的夫人们去接见她。
在场的贵妇面面相觑，仿佛用眼睛来互相商量；于是最深沉的静寂笼罩着客厅，她们的态度看来是表示不同意这样做。“这位德·鲍赛昂夫人会不会就是那位跟笪瞿达—潘托先生恋爱而闹得满城风雨的那位呀？”加斯东问他旁边的那位女客。
在沿着库尔瑟勒楼房的围墙走着的时候，如果偶然听到了一个园丁的笨重的脚步声，加斯东的心就会由于希望和快乐而剧烈地跳动。
他很想写信给德·鲍赛昂夫人，可是对一个没有见过面而且与他不认识的女人，说些什么好呢？何况加斯东也不相信自己；他同许多还充满幻想的青年一样，不怕死，更害怕的是得不到对方的答复，因为这就是最可怕的蔑视，只要他一想起他的第一封情书完全有可能被扔进火里，他就战栗起来。他心里有千万种矛盾的思想在斗争着。可是到了最后，由于他多方幻想，假设了各种离奇的遭遇，又绞尽脑汁，他居然找到了一个可喜的计策，这种计策只要拼命想象，总是可以在想象出来的一大堆计策中找到的，它能告诉最天真的女人，一个男子热情关心她到了怎样的程度。社会上的怪现象在一个女人和她的情人间所制造出来的真正障碍，并不比东方诗人的的美妙神话故事中虚构出来的障碍少，而且他们虚构的最荒诞的形象也很少是过甚其词的。因此，在现实生活中就如同在童话世界里一样，女人总属于那个懂得到达她身边，而且能把她从受煎熬的环境里解救出来的男人所有。最穷苦的游方僧们如果爱上以了哈里发的女儿，他们两人间的距离，也决不会比加斯东和德·鲍赛昂夫人之间的距离更远。子爵夫人一点也不知道德·尼埃耶先生会在她的周围挖了一道封锁壕，而德·尼埃耶先生的爱情却随着障碍的扩大而加深，并且把遥远景物所具有的美感和魅力，都放在以他这位想象中的情人身上。
《被遗弃的女人》-创作背景
19世纪上半叶是法国资本主义建立的初期，拿破仑在1815年的滑铁卢战役中彻底败北，由此波旁王朝复辟，统治一直延续到1830年。由于查理十世的反动政策激怒了人民，七月革命仅仅三天便推倒了复辟王朝，开始了长达18年的七月王朝的统治，由金融资产阶级掌握了政权。《欧也妮·葛朗台》发表于1833年，也即七月王朝初期。刚过去的复辟王朝在人们的头脑中还记忆犹新。复辟时期，贵族虽然从国外返回了法国，耀武扬威，不可一世，可是他们的实际地位与法国大革命以前不可同日而语，因为资产阶级已经强大起来。刚上台的路易十八不得不颁布新宪法，实行君主立宪，向资产阶级做出让步，以维护摇摇欲坠的政权。资产阶级虽然失去了政治权力，却凭借经济上的实力与贵族相抗衡。到了复辟王朝后期，资产阶级不仅在城市，而且在贵族保持广泛影响的农村，都把贵族打得落花流水。复辟王朝实际上大势已去。巴尔扎克比同时代作家更敏锐，独具慧眼地观察到这个重大社会现象。
除了少数特殊习俗。所有小城市都是相似的。这位名叫加斯东·德·尼埃耶男爵先生的巴黎青年，在他表姐圣瑟韦尔夫人家里，或者在她的一伙朋友家里，参加了几个晚会以后。不久就认识了这个僻静社会视为全城头面人物的人们。加斯东·德·尼埃耶把这些人视为永久不变的人物，任何一个观察家在从前组成法兰西的无数封建藩侯的首府里，都可以发现这些人物 。同时每个人都斥责别人的生活方式，尽力叫人相信他是这个社会中的一个例外，他曾经设法改革这个社会而没有成功。如果，这个新来的人不幸也说了几句批评的话，证实这些人彼此间互相指摘的意见是正确的。那么他马上就被视为无法无天的坏人，是个腐化堕落的巴黎人，跟通常所有的巴黎人一样。
加斯东·德·尼埃耶在这个小小天地里露脸的时候，事先他已经被贝叶城公共舆论不会有错的天平称过斤两。因为在这个小小社会里一切完全遵守礼节，生活里每件事都是协调的，没有半点事情能瞒过别人，所有爵位和领地的价值都有价格标明，跟报纸末页所登载的债券价格一样。他的表姐圣瑟韦尔夫人早已说过他的财产数字，他的未来希望，也展示过他的家谱，吹嘘过他的学识，他的礼貌和他的廉让。他所受到的欢迎是他理应受到的，他被不客气地接待为一个优秀的小贵族，因为他的年纪只有二十三岁；可是有几个年轻姑娘和几位母亲却对他另眼相看，允满温情。他在奥热山谷里拥有一万八千法朗的年地租，他的父亲早晚会遗留给他那座马内维尔古堡及其他部附属建筑物。至于他的所受教育，他的政治前程，他的人品，他的天才，都不成其为问题。他拥有的土地都十分肥沃，地租是有保证的；栽种的植物尤其优良，维修费用和捐税都由佃户负担；”苹果树都已经长了三十八年了；而他的父亲还在商量一笔交易，想把同他的花园连接的二百阿尔邦森林买下来，给花园围上围墙；这些优点是任何当部长的希望，任何人世的声誉都不能与之竞争的，不知是出于狡猾或是另有打算，圣瑟韦尔夫人没有提起加斯东的哥哥，加斯东自己也一字不提。这个哥哥患上肺病，似乎不久就要被人埋葬、哀哭而且遗忘了。开头加斯东·德·尼埃耶拿这些人物来作消遣，可以说，他把这些人物的尊容都描绘在他的画册里了，他把这些人物的有凌角的、多皱纹的、钩鼻的模样儿描绘得有趣而逼真，他注意到他们的服装和脸上肌肉的抽搐多么古怪而可笑；他非常喜欢听他们说话里的诺曼底方言，非常喜欢他们守旧的观念和粗野的性格。可是，在一段时间内习惯了这种松鼠在笼子里打转似的生活以后，他觉察到在这种停滞而不可改变的生活中缺乏对立的变化，同修道士关在修道院里没有什么两样，因而他就苦闷起来，虽然这种苦闷还不是烦恼和厌恶，但是这两者的效果都有了。经过这种过渡时期的轻微痛苦以后，一个人像植物一样移植到一个相反环境的过程就完成了，在这个新环境中他必须自行萎缩，过着一种生长不良的生活。事实上，如果没有任何东西把他拉出这个社会，他就会在不知不觉间适应了这个社会的生活习惯，他不再怕这个社会的空虚无聊，这种空虚无聊会侵袭他，把他完全消灭。加斯东的肺部早已习惯于呼吸这种空气了。他已经完全准备好要确认在这种无所用心、不动脑筋的日子里有一种麻木不仁的幸福，他开始忘记了那种精力不断更新的运动，忘记了他在巴黎曾经那么热爱过的能经常结出丰硕成果的脑力运用，他要永久留在这里，在这些化石中间僵化，像尤利西斯的伙伴们一样，在猪身里就满足了。有一天晚上，加斯东·德·尼埃耶在一家人家的客厅里，坐在一位老太太和本主教管区的一个代理主教之间。这所客厅的细木护壁板漆成灰色，地上铺着白土大方砖，挂着几张家里人的画像，摆着四张赌桌，十六个人围着赌桌一边闲谈，一边打惠斯特纸牌。他在那里什么也不想，只在消化他吃下去的美味晚餐，这种精美的晚餐就是外省日常生活的美好未来，他出乎意外发现自己正在赞同当地的生活习惯。他明白了为什么这些人继续使用昨天的旧纸牌，为什么他们在破旧的赌桌上洗牌，他们怎样才能做到既不为自己，也不为别人穿上好看的衣服。他猜到了有一种哲学思想隐藏在这种循环往复、千篇一律的生活里，在这种合乎逻辑的安静习惯里，在他们不识时髦豪华为何物里。总之，他几乎懂得了奢侈生活的无益。巴黎城，连同它的激情，它的风暴，它的欢乐，在他的心中已经变成了童年的回忆。他真心诚意地赞美一个年轻姑娘的红润的双手，谦卑和含羞的神态，虽然初看起来，他觉得她一脸蠢相，举止缺少风韵，全身令人厌恶，外貌尤其可笑。他已经无可救药了。从前他从外省到巴黎去，现在他又从巴黎火热的生活中回到外省的冷冰冰的生活里来，没有一句话可以震动他的耳膜，可以使他突然激动起来，如同一出沉闷歌剧的伴奏，突然出现一段奇特的乐章叫人兴奋一样。
“你昨天不是去看过德·鲍赛昂夫人吗？”一位老太太问这地区最豪华府第的主人。
“我是今天早上去看她的，”他回答。“我发觉她十分愁闷和痛苦，以至我没法子叫她答应明天来我家吃饭。”
“你是同尊夫人一起去的吗？”老太太大声问，露出惊异的神色。
“不错，是同内人一起去的，”贵族平静地回答。“德·鲍赛昂夫人不是勃艮弟家族的人吗？虽然只是女家方面的亲戚，可是这个姓把一切都洗刷了。内人很喜欢鲍赛昂子爵夫人，这位可怜的夫人孤单一个人已经过了这么长的日子了……”说着最后几句话的时候，德·尚皮涅勒侯爵冷冷地、平静地环顾周围听他说话而且端详着他的贵妇人；不过几乎不可能猜出他是同情德·鲍赛昂夫人的不幸遭遇呢，还是对她的贵族身份让步；也不知他以接待她为荣呢，还是他为了满足自尊心，要强迫当地的贵族和他们的夫人们去接见她。
在场的贵妇面面相觑，仿佛用眼睛来互相商量；于是最深沉的静寂笼罩着客厅，她们的态度看来是表示不同意这样做。“这位德·鲍赛昂夫人会不会就是那位跟笪瞿达—潘托先生恋爱而闹得满城风雨的那位呀？”加斯东问他旁边的那位女客。
在沿着库尔瑟勒楼房的围墙走着的时候，如果偶然听到了一个园丁的笨重的脚步声，加斯东的心就会由于希望和快乐而剧烈地跳动。
他很想写信给德·鲍赛昂夫人，可是对一个没有见过面而且与他不认识的女人，说些什么好呢？何况加斯东也不相信自己；他同许多还充满幻想的青年一样，不怕死，更害怕的是得不到对方的答复，因为这就是最可怕的蔑视，只要他一想起他的第一封情书完全有可能被扔进火里，他就战栗起来。他心里有千万种矛盾的思想在斗争着。可是到了最后，由于他多方幻想，假设了各种离奇的遭遇，又绞尽脑汁，他居然找到了一个可喜的计策，这种计策只要拼命想象，总是可以在想象出来的一大堆计策中找到的，它能告诉最天真的女人，一个男子热情关心她到了怎样的程度。社会上的怪现象在一个女人和她的情人间所制造出来的真正障碍，并不比东方诗人的的美妙神话故事中虚构出来的障碍少，而且他们虚构的最荒诞的形象也很少是过甚其词的。因此，在现实生活中就如同在童话世界里一样，女人总属于那个懂得到达她身边，而且能把她从受煎熬的环境里解救出来的男人所有。最穷苦的游方僧们如果爱上以了哈里发的女儿，他们两人间的距离，也决不会比加斯东和德·鲍赛昂夫人之间的距离更远。子爵夫人一点也不知道德·尼埃耶先生会在她的周围挖了一道封锁壕，而德·尼埃耶先生的爱情却随着障碍的扩大而加深，并且把遥远景物所具有的美感和魅力，都放在以他这位想象中的情人身上。
《被遗弃的女人》-创作背景
19世纪上半叶是法国资本主义建立的初期，拿破仑在1815年的滑铁卢战役中彻底败北，由此波旁王朝复辟，统治一直延续到1830年。由于查理十世的反动政策激怒了人民，七月革命仅仅三天便推倒了复辟王朝，开始了长达18年的七月王朝的统治，由金融资产阶级掌握了政权。《欧也妮·葛朗台》发表于1833年，也即七月王朝初期。刚过去的复辟王朝在人们的头脑中还记忆犹新。复辟时期，贵族虽然从国外返回了法国，耀武扬威，不可一世，可是他们的实际地位与法国大革命以前不可同日而语，因为资产阶级已经强大起来。刚上台的路易十八不得不颁布新宪法，实行君主立宪，向资产阶级做出让步，以维护摇摇欲坠的政权。资产阶级虽然失去了政治权力，却凭借经济上的实力与贵族相抗衡。到了复辟王朝后期，资产阶级不仅在城市，而且在贵族保持广泛影响的农村，都把贵族打得落花流水。复辟王朝实际上大势已去。巴尔扎克比同时代作家更敏锐，独具慧眼地观察到这个重大社会现象。
巴尔扎克（1799~1850）是法国现实主义文学大师，他一生创作的91部长、中、短篇小说，全部收入《人间喜剧》中，除了广为人知的《欧也妮·葛朗台》、《高老头》等，还有《贝姨》、《都兰趣话》等。
《贝姨》是他的一部著名小说。本书的主人公贝姨，是一个生在乡下的姑娘，带着一身的乡里气息，由于美丽善良又得到高贵的堂姐的关切来到了法国巴黎城里，性格倔强的贝姨一方面满怀着对堂姐的妒忌，一方面又以自己好胜的忘我勤奋学习，成立了属于自己的家庭，然而时代社会的动荡万变和本性的顽固不得不又一次下贬成工人，接下来的故事并不会就此平淡度过，贝姨没有放弃和屈服于现状，为着自己的目标继续活着，坚强地拼搏，最终得到了他的满足——有了一份自己的事业。
贝姨是巴尔扎克笔下相当特殊的一个形象。小说以其命名，可见作家对她的重视。她为某种情欲所左右，但色调构成却十分复杂。集“丑”与“恶”于一身，是这个人物给读者的第一印象。作家为她勾画了一幅令人生厌、令人生畏的漫画像，又赋予她同样令人生厌、令人生畏的嫉妒心。这种仿佛与生俱来的怪癖心理，侵扰着她自己的灵魂，也破坏着别人的幸福；在与瓦莱丽的淫荡结合后，更形成为一种巨大的，甚至能“毁灭整个城市”的邪恶力量。 但是，贝姨的形象又远非“恶”的化身。
In the 1840s, a serial format known as the roman-feuilleton was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable feuilleton author in France. Writing quickly and with intense focus, Balzac produced La Cousine Bette, one of his longest novels, in two months. It was published in Le Constitutionnel at the end of 1846, then collected with a companion work, Le Cousin Pons, the following year.
The novel's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. The patriarch of the Hulot family, meanwhile, is consumed by his own sexual desire. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. Balzac based the character of Bette in part on his mother and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. At least one scene involving Baron Hulot was likely based on an event in the life of Balzac's friend, the novelist Victor Hugo.
La Cousine Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text. It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Valérie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes. A number of film versions of the story have been produced, including a 1971 BBC mini-series starring Margaret Tyzack and Dame Helen Mirren, and a 1998 feature film with Jessica Lange in the title role.
By 1846 Honoré de Balzac had achieved tremendous fame as a writer, but his finances and health were deteriorating rapidly. After writing a series of potboiler novels in the 1820s, he published his first book under his own name, Les Chouans, in 1829. He followed this with dozens of well-received novels and stories, including La Peau de chagrin (1831), Le Père Goriot (1835), and the two-volume Illusions perdues (1837 and 1839). Because of his lavish lifestyle and penchant for financial speculation, however, he spent most of his life trying to repay a variety of debts. He wrote tirelessly, driven as much by economic necessity as by the muse and black coffee. This regimen of constant work exhausted his body and brought reprimands from his doctor.[2]
As his work gained recognition, Balzac began corresponding with a Polish Baronness named Ewelina Hańska, who first contacted him through an anonymous 1832 letter signed "L'Étrangère". They developed an affectionate friendship in letters, and when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac sought her hand in marriage. He visited her often in Poland and Germany, but various complications prohibited their union. One of these was an affair Balzac had with his housekeeper, Louise Breugniot. As she became aware of his affection for Mme. Hanska, Breugniot stole a collection of their letters and used them to extort money from Balzac. Even after this episode, however, he grew closer to Mme. Hanska with each visit and by 1846 he had begun preparing a home to share with her. He grew hopeful that they could marry when she became pregnant, but she fell ill in December and suffered a miscarriage.[3]
The mid-nineteenth century was a time of profound transformation in French government and society. The reign of King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him to abdicate. He was replaced by Louis-Philippe, who named himself "King of the French", rather than the standard "King of France" – an indication that he answered more to the nascent bourgeoisie than the aristocratic Ancien Régime. The change in government took place while the economy in France was moving from mercantilism to industrial development. This opened new opportunities for individuals hoping to acquire wealth, and led to significant changes in social norms. Members of the aristocracy, for example, were forced to relate socially to the nouveau riche, usually with tense results. The democratic spirit of the French Revolution also affected social interactions, with a shift in popular allegiance away from the church and the monarchy.[4]
In the mid-nineteenth century, a new style of novel became popular in France. The serial format known as the roman-feuilleton presented stories in short regular installments, often accompanied by melodramatic plots and stock characters. Although Balzac's La Vielle fille (1836) was the first such work published in France,[5] the roman-feuilleton gained prominence thanks mostly to his friends Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas, père.[6] Balzac disliked their serial writing, however, especially Sue's socialist depiction of lower-class suffering.[7] Balzac wanted to dethrone what he called "les faux dieux de cette littérature bâtarde" ("the false gods of this bastard literature").[8] He also wanted to show the world that, despite his poor health and tumultuous career, he was "plus jeune, plus frais, et plus grand que jamais" ("younger, fresher, and greater than ever").[8] His first efforts to render a quality feuilleton were unsuccessful. Even though Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (published in segments from 1838 to 1847) was celebrated by critics, Balzac complained to Mme. Hanska that he was "doing pue Sue".[9] He tried again in 1844 with Modeste Mignon, but public reactions were mixed.[10] Two years later Balzac began a new project, determined to create something from his "own old pen again".[9]
Writing and publication
Balzac first visited the Château de Saché in 1832, when he wrote the autobiographical novel Louis Lambert.[11]
After resting for a week in June 1846 at the Château de Saché in Tours, Balzac returned to Paris and began working on a short story called "Le Parasite", which he eventually developed into the novel Le Cousin Pons. He intended from the start to pair it with another novel, collecting them under the title Les Parents pauvres ("The Poor Relations"). He based the second book on a story his sister Laure Surville had written called "La Cousine Rosalie" and published in 1844 in Le Journal des enfants.[12] Writing intensively, he produced the entire novel, named La Cousine Bette after the main character, in two months. This was a significant accomplishment owing to his bad health, but its length made Balzac's writing speed especially remarkable.[13] One critic calls the writing of Les Parents pauvres Balzac's "last explosion of creative energy".[14] Another suggests that this effort was "almost the last straw which broke down Balzac's gigantic strength".[15]
Balzac's usual mode of revision involved vast, complicated edits made to galley proofs he received from the printer. When creating La Cousine Bette, however, he submitted the work to his editor piece by piece, without viewing a single proof.[15] The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. He produced an average of eight pages each day, but was struck by the unexpected enormity of the story as it evolved.[16] Balzac was paid 12,836 francs for the series, which was later published with Le Cousin Pons as a twelve-volume book by Chiendowski and Pétion.[17] The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.[18]
Plot summary
While caring for him, Bette refers to Wenceslas Steinbock as "mon enfant ... un garçon qui se relève du cercueil" ("my child ... a son risen from the grave").[19]
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.")[20] At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the hand of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine. Mme. Hulot resists Crevel's advances, and he turns his attention elsewhere.
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a deep but hidden resentment of her relatives' success. A peasant woman with none of the physical beauty of her cousin, Bette has rejected a series of marriage proposals from middle-class suitors, and remains unmarried at the age of 42. One day she comes upon a young unsuccessful Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, attempting suicide in the tiny apartment upstairs from her own. As she nourishes him back to health, she develops a maternal fondness for him. She also befriends Valérie, the wife of a War Department clerk named Marneffe; the two women form a bond of mutual affection and protection.
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Hulot's despair is quickly alleviated when he meets and falls in love with Valérie Marneffe. He showers her with gifts, and soon establishes a luxurious house for her and M. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department. These debts, compounded by the money he borrowed to lavish on Josépha, threaten the Hulot family's financial security. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers. Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's company, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. She works behind the scenes with Valérie to extract more money from Baron Hulot. Valérie also seduces Crevel and watches with delight as they vie for her attention. With Bette's help, Valérie turns to Steinbock and draws him into her bedroom. When Hortense learns of his infidelity, she leaves Steinbock and returns with their son to live with her mother Adeline. Valérie also proclaims her love to a Brazilian Baron named Henri Montès de Montéjanos, and swears devotion constantly to each of the five men.
When Baron Hulot marries the kitchen maid Agathe, his son Victorin concludes: "les enfants ne peuvent pas empêcher la folie des ancêtres en enfance" ("children cannot interfere with the insane acts of their parents in their second childhood").[21]
Baron Hulot's brother, known as "le maréchal" ("the Marshal"), hires Bette as his housekeeper, and they develop a mild affection. He learns of his brother's infidelities (and the difficulties they have caused Adeline, who refuses to leave her husband), and promises to marry Bette if she will provide details. She agrees eagerly, delighted at the prospect of finally securing an enviable marriage. While investigating his brother's behavior, however, the Marshal discovers Baron Hulot's scheme in Algiers. He is overwhelmed by the disgrace, and his health deteriorates. Bette's last hope for a brighter future dies with him.
When Valérie becomes pregnant, she tells each of her lovers (and her husband) that he is the father. She gives birth to a stillborn child, however, and her husband dies soon thereafter. Hulot and Crevel are ecstatic when they hear this news, each believing that he will become her only love once the official mourning period has passed. Valérie chooses Crevel for his comfortable fortune, and they quickly wed. This news outrages Baron Montès, and he devises a plot to poison the newlyweds. Crevel and Valérie die slowly, their bodies devoured by an exotic Brazilian toxin.
Victorin Hulot is later visited by the Prince of Wissembourg, who delivers news of economic good fortune. The Marshal, prior to his death, had made arrangements for repayment of the Baron's debts, as well as employment for Adeline in a Catholic charity. Baron Hulot has disappeared, and Adeline spends her free time searching for him in houses of ill repute. She eventually finds him living with a fifteen-year-old courtesan, and begs him to return to the family. He agrees, but as he climbs into the carriage, Hulot asks: "mais pourrai-je emmener la petite?" ("But can I take the girl?")[22] The Hulot home is reunited for a time, and Bette's fury at their apparent happiness hastens her death. One evening after the funeral, Adeline overhears Hulot seducing a kitchen maid named Agathe. On her deathbed, Adeline delivers her first rebuke to her husband: "[D]ans un moment, tu seras libre, et tu pourras faire une baronne Hulot." ("In a moment, you will be free, and you can make another Baronne Hulot.")[23] Soon after burying his wife, Hulot marries Agathe.
Characters and inspirations
The death of Marshal Hulot has been called "one of the most moving in all of Balzac".[24]
Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began La Cousine Bette, and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive back-stories and biographical depth. For example, Célestin Crevel first appeared in Balzac's 1837 novel César Birotteau, working for the title character. Having accumulated a considerable fortune in that book, Crevel spends his time in La Cousine Bette enjoying the spoils of his labor. Another important recurring character is Marshal Hulot, who first appeared as a colonel in Les Chouans. In the years between that story and La Cousine Bette, he became the Count of Forzheim; in a letter to the Constitutionnel, Balzac described how Marshal Hulot gained this title. The presence of Crevel and Marshal Hulot – among others – in La Cousine Bette allows a continuation of each character's life story, adding emphasis or complexity to earlier events.[25]
Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot. When he resurfaces in La Cousine Bette, he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Although Vautrin's presence in La Cousine Bette is brief, his earlier adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. For example, several scenes feature artists like Jean-Jacques Bixiou, who first appeared in 1837's Les Employés and in many other books thereafter. The world of Parisian nightlife is quickly brought to mind with the inclusion of several characters from Les Comédiens sans le savoir (1846), and Bianchon appears – as always – when a doctor is needed.[26]
Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction. It enables a depth of characterization that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. "When the characters reappear", notes the critic Samuel Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see."[27] Some readers, however, are intimidated by the depth created by these interdependent stories, and feel deprived of important context for the characters. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin".[28] The characterization in La Cousine Bette is considered especially skillful. Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters, says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work. Almost every example arises quite naturally out of the situation."[29] Biographer Noel Gerson calls the characters in La Cousine Bette "among the most memorable Balzac ever sketched".[30]
Bette Fischer
Lisbeth Fischer (Cousin Bette) is described as "maigre, brune ... les sourcils épais et réunis par un bouquet ... quelques verrues dans sa face longue et simiesque" ("lean, brown, with ... thick eyebrows joining in a tuft ... and some moles on her narrow simian face").[31]
Descriptions of Bette are often connected to savagery and animal imagery. Her name, for example, is a homophone in French for "bête" ("beast"). One passage explains that "elle ressemblait aux singes habillés en femmes" ("she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys in petticoats");[32] elsewhere her voice is described as having "une jalousie de tigre" ("tiger-like jealousy").[33] Her beastly rage comes to the surface with ferocity when she learns of Steinbock's engagement to Hortense:
La physionomie de la Lorraine était devenue terrible. Ses yeux noirs et pénétrants avaient la fixité de ceux des tigres. Sa figure ressemblait à celles que nous supposons aux pythonisses, elle serrait les dents pour les empêcher de claquer, et une affreuse convulsion faisait trembler ses membres. Elle avait glissé sa main crochue entre son bonnet et ses cheveux pour les empoigner et soutenir sa tête, devenue trop lourde; elle brûlait! La fumée de l'incendie qui la ravageait semblait passer par ses rides comme par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique.
The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption.[34]
When she learns that her cousin Adeline has been welcoming Steinbock into the Hulot home, Bette swears revenge: "Adeline! se dit Lisbeth, ô Adeline, tu me le payeras, je te rendrai plus laide que moi!" ("'Adeline!' muttered Lisbeth. 'Oh, Adeline, you shall pay for this! I will make you uglier than I am.'")[34] Her cruelty and lust for revenge lead critics to call her "demonic"[35] and "one of Balzac's most terrifying creations".[36] Because of her willingness to manipulate the people around her, Bette has been compared to Iago in William Shakespeare's play Othello.[37] Her fierce persona is attributed partly to her peasant background, and partly to her virginity, which provides (according to Balzac) "une force diabolique ou la magie noire de la volonté" ("diabolical strength, or the black magic of the Will").[38][39]
In a letter to Mme. Hanska, Balzac indicated that he based the character of Bette on three women from his life: his mother, Mme. Hanska's aunt Rosalie Rzewuska, and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. Balzac had a tumultuous relationship with his mother for most of his life, and he incorporated some of her personality (particularly her "obstinate persistence in living",[40] as one critic calls it) into Bette.[41] Rosalie Rzewuska disapproved of Mme. Hanska's relationship with Balzac; biographers agree that her cold determination was part of the author's recipe for Bette.[42] Elements taken from Marceline Desbordes-Valmore are more complex; she faced many setbacks in life and she and Balzac became friends after she left the theatre to take up poetry.[43]
Valérie Marneffe
Bette's co-conspirator in the destruction of the Hulot family is beautiful and greedy Valérie Marneffe, the unsatisfied wife of a War Department clerk. They develop a deep friendship, which many critics consider an example of lesbian affection.[44] Because of their relationship and similar goals, the critic Frederic Jameson says that "Valérie serves as a kind of emanation of Bette".[45]
Valérie Marneffe "attirait tous les regards, excitait tous les désirs, dans le cercle où elle rayonnait" ("attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she shone upon").[46]
Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him.[47] She explains bluntly that her position as a married woman provides subtleties and options unavailable to the common prostitute who has one set price; after Marneffe dies, Valérie jockeys for position between Hulot and Montés (while also sleeping with Steinbock), then discards them all to marry Crevel, who offers the most wealth. She amuses herself by mocking her lovers' devotion, and this wickedness – not to mention her gruesome demise – has led some critics to speculate that she is actually the focus of Balzac's morality tale.[48]
In one important scene, Valérie models for Steinbock as Delilah, standing victorious over the ruined Samson. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. Samson n'est rien, là. C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout." ("What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything.")[49]
Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Hanska is similar in some ways to Valérie's manipulation of Steinbock.[50] Critics also connect the pride and anguish felt by Balzac during Mme. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child.[51] Although he never ascribed to Mme. Hanska any of the traits in Valérie's treacherous character, he felt a devotion similar to that of Hulot. He once wrote to her: "je fais pour mon Eve toute les folies qu'un Hulot fait pour une Marneffe, je te donnerai mon sang, mon honneur, ma vie" ("I commit for [you] all the follies that a Hulot commits for Madame Marneffe; I give you my blood, my honor, my life").[52]
Hector and Adeline Hulot
Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family. As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without irony – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress.[53]
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy personified. Like her cousin Bette, she comes from a peasant background, but has internalized the ideals of 19th-century womanhood, including devotion, grace, and deference. She reveals in the first scene that she has known for years about her husband's infidelities, but refuses to condemn him. Adeline's forgiving nature is often considered a significant character flaw. Some suggest that she is partly to blame for Hulot's wandering affection. C.A. Prendergast, for example, calls her forgiveness "an inadequate and even positively disastrous response" to her situation.[54] He further suggests that Adeline, by choosing the role of quiet and dutiful wife, has excised from herself the erotic power to which the Baron is drawn. "[O]ne could at the very least offer the tentative speculation that Hulot's obsessional debauchery is in part the result of a certain poverty in Adeline, that the terrible logic of Hulot's excess is partially shaped by a crucial deficiency in his wife."[55] Others are less accusatory; Adeline's nearly infinite mercy, they say, is evidence of foolishness. Critic Herbert J. Hunt declares that she shows "more imbecility than Christian patience",[56] and David Bellos points out that, like her husband, she is driven by passion – albeit of a different kind: "Adeline's desire (for good, for the family, for Hector, for God) is so radically different from the motivating desires of the other characters that she seems in their context to be without desire...."[57]
Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars, and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself".[58] Balzac's friend Victor Hugo, meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins.[59]
Wenceslas Steinbock
"Quoique Steinbock eût vingt-neuf ans, il paraissait, comme certains blonds, avoir cinq ou six ans de moins ... cette jeunesse ... avait cédé sous les fatigues et les misères de l'exil" ("Though Steinbock was nine-and-twenty, like many fair men, he looked five or six years younger ... his youth ... had faded under the fatigue and stress of life in exile".)[60]
The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft".[61]
Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself. Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character (as he felt about most groups he observed). Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: "Soyez mon amie, dit-il avec une de ces démonstrations caressantes si familières aux Polonais, et qui les font accuser assez injustement de servilité." ("'Be my sweetheart,' he added, with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for which they are unjustly accused of servility.")[62][63]
Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Like Louis Lambert and Lucien Chardon in Illusions perdues, he is a brilliant man – just as Balzac considered himself to be. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide. Later, when he leaves Bette's circle of influence, he fails again. Thus he demonstrates Balzac's conviction that genius alone is useless without determination.[64] Bellos organizes Steinbock and Bette into a duality of weakness and strength; whereas the Polish artist is unable to direct his energies into productive work, Bette draws strength from her virginity and thus becomes powerful by denying the lust to which Steinbock falls prey.[65] Steinbock's drive is further eroded by the praise he receives for his art, which gives him an inflated sense of accomplishment. One critic refers to the artist's downfall as "vanity ... spoiled by premature renown".[66]
Style
If Balzac's goal was (as he claimed) to write a realist novel from his "own old pen" rather than mimic the style of Eugène Sue, history and literary criticism have declared him successful. William Stowe calls La Cousine Bette "a masterpiece of classical realism"[67] and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to War and Peace.[68] Some sections of the book are criticized for being melodramatic, and Balzac biographer V. S. Pritchett even refers to a representative excerpt as "bad writing".[69] Most critics, however, consider the moralistic elements of the novel deceptively complex, and some point out that the roman-feuilleton format required a certain level of titillation to keep readers engaged.[70] Others indicate that Balzac's interest in the theatre was an important reason for the inclusion of melodramatic elements.[71]
Émile Zola said that Balzac's fiction was "uniquement le compte-rendu brutal de ce que l'écrivain a observé" ("only the brutal report of what the writer has observed").[72]
Balzac's trademark realism begins on the first page of the novel, wherein Crevel is described wearing a National Guard uniform, complete with the Légion d'honneur. Details from the 1830s also appear in the novel's geographic locations. The Hulot family home, for example, is found in the aristocratic area of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Germain.[73] Bette's residence is on the opposite end of the social spectrum, in the impoverished residential area which surrounded the Louvre: "Les ténèbres, le silence, l'air glacial, la profondeur caverneuse du sol concourent à faire de ces maisons des espèces de cryptes, des tombeaux vivants." ("Darkness, silence, an icy chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living.")[74] Descriptions of her meager quarters are – as usual in Balzac's work – an acute reflection of her personality. The same is true of the Marneffe home at the outset: it contains "les trompeuses apparences de ce faux luxe" ("the illusory appearance of sham luxury"),[75] from the shabby chairs in the drawing-room to the dust-coated bedroom.[76]
Precise detail is not spared in descriptions of decay and disease, two vivid elements in the novel. Marneffe, for example, represents crapulence. His decrepit body is a symbol of society's weakness at the time, worn away from years of indulgence. The poison which kills Valérie and Crevel is also described in ghastly detail. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." ("She is losing her hair and teeth, her skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands are horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, and the flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors.")[77]
La Cousine Bette is unapologetic in its bleak outlook, and makes blunt connections between characters' origins and behavior. For these reasons, it is considered a key antecedent to naturalist literature. Novelist Émile Zola called it an important "roman expérimental" ("experimental novel"),[78] and praised its acute exploration of the characters' motivations.[79][80] Some critics note that La Cousine Bette showed an evolution in Balzac's style – one which he had little time to develop. Pointing to the nuance of plot and comprehensive narration style, Stowe suggests that the novel "might in happier circumstances have marked the beginning of a new, mature 'late Balzac'".[81]
Themes
Passion, vice, and virtue
Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is desire incarnate; his wandering libido bypasses concern for his wife, brother, children, finances, and even his own health. Bette, of course, is living vengeance, and Adeline desperately yearns for the happy home she imagined in the early years of marriage. Each character is driven by a fiery passion, which in most cases consumes the individual.[82] As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." ("Passion is martyrdom.")[83]
After acknowledging herself as Delilah, Valérie warns her guests: "Prenez garde à vos toupets, messieurs!" ("Take care of your wigs, gentlemen!")[84]
The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. As one critic says, "life's truths are viewed in their most atrocious form".[85] Mocking the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution while acknowledging her own malicious intent, Valérie says with regard to Delilah: "La vertu coupe la tête, le Vice ne vous coupe que les cheveux." ("Virtue cuts off your head; vice only cuts off your hair.")[84] Hulot is not intentionally cruel, but his actions are no less devastating to the people around him.[86]
On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. Hortense ridicules her aunt when Bette mentions her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock, providing a psychological catalyst for the ensuing conflict.[87] Victorin repeatedly expresses outrage at his father's philandering, yet crosses a significant moral boundary when he agrees to fund Mme. Nourrison's plan to eradicate Valérie. As one critic puts it, Victorin's decision marks a point in the novel where "the scheme of right versus wrong immediately dissolves into a purely amoral conflict of different interests and passions, regulated less by a transcendent moral law than by the relative capacity of the different parties for cunning and ruthlessness."[88] The cruelties of the Hulot children are brief but significant, owing as much to their obliviousness (intentional in the case of Victorin, who asks not to learn the details of Mme. Nourrison's scheme) as to malicious forethought.[89]
The question of Adeline's virtue is similarly complicated. Although she is forgiving to the point of absurdity, she is often considered more of a dupe than a martyr. Some have compared her to Balzac's title character in Le Père Goriot, who sacrifices himself for his daughters.[90] As Bellos puts it: "Adeline's complicity with Hector certainly makes her more interesting as a literary character, but it undermines her role as the symbol of virtue in the novel."[91] This complicity reaches an apex when she unsuccessfully attempts to sell her affections to Crevel (who has since lost interest) in order to repay her husband's debts. Her flirtation with prostitution is sometimes considered more egregious than Valérie's overt extortion, since Adeline is soiling her own dignity in the service of Baron Hulot's infidelity. For the remainder of the novel, Adeline trembles uncontrollably, a sign of her weakness.[92] Later, when she visits the singer Josépha (on whom her husband once doted), Adeline is struck by the splendor earned by a life of materialistic seduction. She wonders aloud if she is capable of providing the carnal pleasures Hulot seeks outside of their home.[93]
Ultimately, both vice and virtue fail. Valérie is devoured by Montés' poison, a consequence of her blithe attitude toward his emotion. Bette is unsuccessful in her effort to crush her cousin's family, and dies (as one critic puts it) "in the margins".[94] Adeline's Catholic mercy, on the other hand, fails to redeem her husband, and her children are similarly powerless – as Victorin finally admits on the novel's last page. Like Raphael de Valentin in Balzac's 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin, Hulot is left with nothing but "vouloir": desire, a force which is both essential for human existence and eventually apocalyptic.[95]
Gender and homoeroticism
Gender roles, especially the figure of the ideal woman, are central to La Cousine Bette. The four leading female characters (Bette, Valérie, Adeline, and Hortense) embody stereotypically feminine traits. Each pair of women revolves around a man, and they compete for his attention: Valérie and Adeline for Baron Hulot; Bette and Hortense for Wenceslas Steinbock. Balzac's study of masculinity is limited to the insatiable lust of Hulot and the weak-willed inconstancy of Steinbock, with the occasional appearance of Victorin as a sturdy patriarch in his father's absence.[96]
French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted lesbian relationships similar to (though more explicit than) that of Bette and Valérie, as in his 1893 painting "In Bed".[97]
Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),[98] with similar descriptions elsewhere. Her relationship and attitude toward Steinbock, moreover, hint at her masculinity. She commands him into submission, and even binds him with economic constraints by lending him the money to develop his sculpture. Her domination is tempered by maternal compassion, but the couple's relationship is compared to an abusive marriage: "Il fut comme une femme qui pardonne les mauvais traitements d'une semaine à cause des caresses d'un fugitif raccommodement." ("He was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake of a kiss and a brief reconciliation.")[99][100]
Bette's relationship with Valérie is layered with overtones of lesbianism. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")[101] by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" ("I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours!")[102] This affection may have been platonic, but neighbors of the Marneffes – along with many readers – suspect that their bond transcends friendship.[103] As with Steinbock, Bette and Valérie assume butch and femme roles; the narration even mentions "Le contraste de la mâle et sèche nature de la Lorraine avec la jolie nature créole de Valérie" ("The contrast between Lisbeth's dry masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness").[104] The homoeroticism evolves through the novel, as Bette feeds on Valérie's power to seduce and control the Hulot men. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure."[105]
Wealth and society
Balzac once wrote: "The worst fault of the July Revolution is that it did not allow Louis-Philippe three months of dictatorship in which to put the rights of the people and the throne on a secure basis."[106]
As with many of his novels, Balzac analyzes the influence of history and social status in La Cousine Bette. The book takes places between 1838 and 1846, when the reign of Louis-Philippe reflected and directed significant changes in the social structure. Balzac was a legitimist favoring the House of Bourbon, and idolized Napoleon Bonaparte as a paragon of effective absolutist power. Balzac felt that French society under the House of Orléans lacked strong leadership, and was fragmented by the demands of parliament. He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the nation, and that its absence heralded moral decay.[107]
Balzac demonstrated these beliefs through the characters' lives in La Cousine Bette. The conflict between Baron Hulot and the perfumer Crevel mirrors the animosity between the aristocracy of the Ancien Régime and the newly-developed bourgeoisie of traders and industrial entrepreneurs. Although he despised the socialist politics of Eugène Sue, Balzac worried that bourgeois desperation for financial gain drove people from life's important virtues. The characters – especially Bette, Valérie, and Crevel – are fixated on their need for money, and do whatever they must to obtain it.[108] As Crevel explains to Adeline: "Vous vous abusez, cher ange, si vous croyez que c'est le roi Louis-Philippe qui règne ... au-dessus de la Charte il y a la sainte, la vénérée, la solide, l'aimable, la gracieuse, la belle, la noble, la jeune, la toute-puissante pièce de cent sous!" ("You are quite mistaken, my angel, if you suppose that King Louis-Philippe rules us ... supreme above the Charter reigns the holy, venerated, substantial, delightful, obliging, beautiful, noble, ever-youthful, and all-powerful five-franc piece!")[109]
Themes of corruption and salvation are brought to the fore as Valérie and Crevel lie dying from the mysterious poison. When his daughter urges him to meet with a priest, Crevel angrily refuses, mocking the church and indicating that his social stature will be his salvation: "la mort regarde à deux fois avant de frapper un maire de Paris!" ("Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris.")[110] Valérie, meanwhile, makes a deathbed conversion and urges Bette to abandon her quest for revenge. Ever the courtesan, Valérie describes her new Christianity in terms of seduction: "je ne puis maintenant plaire qu'à Dieu! je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" ("I can please no one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation...!")[111]
Reception and adaptations
In 1921 actor Bette Davis, born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, chose Bette as her stage name in honor of Balzac's character.[112]
The critical reaction to La Cousine Bette was immediate and positive, which Balzac did not expect. Whether due to the intensity of its creation or the tumult of his personal life, the author was surprised by the praise he received. He wrote: "I did not realize how good La Cousine Bette is.... There is an immense reaction in my favour. I have won!"[113] The collected edition sold consistently well, and was reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the century. 20th-century critics remain enthusiastic in their praise for the novel; Saintsbury insists it is "beyond all question one of the very greatest of [Balzac's] works".[114] Biographer Graham Robb calls La Cousine Bette "the masterpiece of his premature old age".[115]
Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. Chief among these were disciples of the utopian theorist Charles Fourier; they disapproved of the "immorality" inherent in the novel's bleak resolution. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. They lambasted him for not commenting more on the characters' degenerate behavior – the same stylistic choice later celebrated by naturalist writers Émile Zola and Hippolyte Taine.[116]
Balzac's novel has been adapted several times for the screen. The first was in 1927, when French filmmaker Max DeRieux directed Alice Tissot in the title role.[117] Margaret Tyzack played the role of Bette in the five part serial Cousin Bette aired on the BBC, which also starred Helen Mirren as Valérie Marneffe.[118] The film Cousin Bette was released in 1998, directed by Des McAnuff. Jessica Lange starred in the title role, joined by Bob Hoskins as Crevel, and Elisabeth Shue as the singer Jenny Cadine. Screenwriters Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr changed the story significantly, and eliminated Valérie. The 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue. Stephen Holden of the New York Times commented that the movie "treats the novel as a thoroughly modern social comedy peopled with raging narcissists, opportunists and flat-out fools".[119][120]
La Cousine Bette was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay Stage Beauty (based on his stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty). The Antaeus Company in North Hollywood produced a workshop in 2008 and presented the world premiere of Cousin Bette in early 2010 in North Hollywood, California.[121] The adaptation retains many of the main characters but places Bette as the story's narrator.
《贝姨》是他的一部著名小说。本书的主人公贝姨，是一个生在乡下的姑娘，带着一身的乡里气息，由于美丽善良又得到高贵的堂姐的关切来到了法国巴黎城里，性格倔强的贝姨一方面满怀着对堂姐的妒忌，一方面又以自己好胜的忘我勤奋学习，成立了属于自己的家庭，然而时代社会的动荡万变和本性的顽固不得不又一次下贬成工人，接下来的故事并不会就此平淡度过，贝姨没有放弃和屈服于现状，为着自己的目标继续活着，坚强地拼搏，最终得到了他的满足——有了一份自己的事业。
贝姨是巴尔扎克笔下相当特殊的一个形象。小说以其命名，可见作家对她的重视。她为某种情欲所左右，但色调构成却十分复杂。集“丑”与“恶”于一身，是这个人物给读者的第一印象。作家为她勾画了一幅令人生厌、令人生畏的漫画像，又赋予她同样令人生厌、令人生畏的嫉妒心。这种仿佛与生俱来的怪癖心理，侵扰着她自己的灵魂，也破坏着别人的幸福；在与瓦莱丽的淫荡结合后，更形成为一种巨大的，甚至能“毁灭整个城市”的邪恶力量。 但是，贝姨的形象又远非“恶”的化身。
In the 1840s, a serial format known as the roman-feuilleton was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable feuilleton author in France. Writing quickly and with intense focus, Balzac produced La Cousine Bette, one of his longest novels, in two months. It was published in Le Constitutionnel at the end of 1846, then collected with a companion work, Le Cousin Pons, the following year.
The novel's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. The patriarch of the Hulot family, meanwhile, is consumed by his own sexual desire. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. Balzac based the character of Bette in part on his mother and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. At least one scene involving Baron Hulot was likely based on an event in the life of Balzac's friend, the novelist Victor Hugo.
La Cousine Bette is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical naturalist text. It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Valérie is also seen as an important exploration of homoerotic themes. A number of film versions of the story have been produced, including a 1971 BBC mini-series starring Margaret Tyzack and Dame Helen Mirren, and a 1998 feature film with Jessica Lange in the title role.
By 1846 Honoré de Balzac had achieved tremendous fame as a writer, but his finances and health were deteriorating rapidly. After writing a series of potboiler novels in the 1820s, he published his first book under his own name, Les Chouans, in 1829. He followed this with dozens of well-received novels and stories, including La Peau de chagrin (1831), Le Père Goriot (1835), and the two-volume Illusions perdues (1837 and 1839). Because of his lavish lifestyle and penchant for financial speculation, however, he spent most of his life trying to repay a variety of debts. He wrote tirelessly, driven as much by economic necessity as by the muse and black coffee. This regimen of constant work exhausted his body and brought reprimands from his doctor.[2]
As his work gained recognition, Balzac began corresponding with a Polish Baronness named Ewelina Hańska, who first contacted him through an anonymous 1832 letter signed "L'Étrangère". They developed an affectionate friendship in letters, and when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac sought her hand in marriage. He visited her often in Poland and Germany, but various complications prohibited their union. One of these was an affair Balzac had with his housekeeper, Louise Breugniot. As she became aware of his affection for Mme. Hanska, Breugniot stole a collection of their letters and used them to extort money from Balzac. Even after this episode, however, he grew closer to Mme. Hanska with each visit and by 1846 he had begun preparing a home to share with her. He grew hopeful that they could marry when she became pregnant, but she fell ill in December and suffered a miscarriage.[3]
The mid-nineteenth century was a time of profound transformation in French government and society. The reign of King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him to abdicate. He was replaced by Louis-Philippe, who named himself "King of the French", rather than the standard "King of France" – an indication that he answered more to the nascent bourgeoisie than the aristocratic Ancien Régime. The change in government took place while the economy in France was moving from mercantilism to industrial development. This opened new opportunities for individuals hoping to acquire wealth, and led to significant changes in social norms. Members of the aristocracy, for example, were forced to relate socially to the nouveau riche, usually with tense results. The democratic spirit of the French Revolution also affected social interactions, with a shift in popular allegiance away from the church and the monarchy.[4]
In the mid-nineteenth century, a new style of novel became popular in France. The serial format known as the roman-feuilleton presented stories in short regular installments, often accompanied by melodramatic plots and stock characters. Although Balzac's La Vielle fille (1836) was the first such work published in France,[5] the roman-feuilleton gained prominence thanks mostly to his friends Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas, père.[6] Balzac disliked their serial writing, however, especially Sue's socialist depiction of lower-class suffering.[7] Balzac wanted to dethrone what he called "les faux dieux de cette littérature bâtarde" ("the false gods of this bastard literature").[8] He also wanted to show the world that, despite his poor health and tumultuous career, he was "plus jeune, plus frais, et plus grand que jamais" ("younger, fresher, and greater than ever").[8] His first efforts to render a quality feuilleton were unsuccessful. Even though Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (published in segments from 1838 to 1847) was celebrated by critics, Balzac complained to Mme. Hanska that he was "doing pue Sue".[9] He tried again in 1844 with Modeste Mignon, but public reactions were mixed.[10] Two years later Balzac began a new project, determined to create something from his "own old pen again".[9]
Writing and publication
Balzac first visited the Château de Saché in 1832, when he wrote the autobiographical novel Louis Lambert.[11]
After resting for a week in June 1846 at the Château de Saché in Tours, Balzac returned to Paris and began working on a short story called "Le Parasite", which he eventually developed into the novel Le Cousin Pons. He intended from the start to pair it with another novel, collecting them under the title Les Parents pauvres ("The Poor Relations"). He based the second book on a story his sister Laure Surville had written called "La Cousine Rosalie" and published in 1844 in Le Journal des enfants.[12] Writing intensively, he produced the entire novel, named La Cousine Bette after the main character, in two months. This was a significant accomplishment owing to his bad health, but its length made Balzac's writing speed especially remarkable.[13] One critic calls the writing of Les Parents pauvres Balzac's "last explosion of creative energy".[14] Another suggests that this effort was "almost the last straw which broke down Balzac's gigantic strength".[15]
Balzac's usual mode of revision involved vast, complicated edits made to galley proofs he received from the printer. When creating La Cousine Bette, however, he submitted the work to his editor piece by piece, without viewing a single proof.[15] The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. He produced an average of eight pages each day, but was struck by the unexpected enormity of the story as it evolved.[16] Balzac was paid 12,836 francs for the series, which was later published with Le Cousin Pons as a twelve-volume book by Chiendowski and Pétion.[17] The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.[18]
Plot summary
While caring for him, Bette refers to Wenceslas Steinbock as "mon enfant ... un garçon qui se relève du cercueil" ("my child ... a son risen from the grave").[19]
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.")[20] At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the hand of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine. Mme. Hulot resists Crevel's advances, and he turns his attention elsewhere.
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a deep but hidden resentment of her relatives' success. A peasant woman with none of the physical beauty of her cousin, Bette has rejected a series of marriage proposals from middle-class suitors, and remains unmarried at the age of 42. One day she comes upon a young unsuccessful Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, attempting suicide in the tiny apartment upstairs from her own. As she nourishes him back to health, she develops a maternal fondness for him. She also befriends Valérie, the wife of a War Department clerk named Marneffe; the two women form a bond of mutual affection and protection.
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Hulot's despair is quickly alleviated when he meets and falls in love with Valérie Marneffe. He showers her with gifts, and soon establishes a luxurious house for her and M. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department. These debts, compounded by the money he borrowed to lavish on Josépha, threaten the Hulot family's financial security. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers. Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's company, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. She works behind the scenes with Valérie to extract more money from Baron Hulot. Valérie also seduces Crevel and watches with delight as they vie for her attention. With Bette's help, Valérie turns to Steinbock and draws him into her bedroom. When Hortense learns of his infidelity, she leaves Steinbock and returns with their son to live with her mother Adeline. Valérie also proclaims her love to a Brazilian Baron named Henri Montès de Montéjanos, and swears devotion constantly to each of the five men.
When Baron Hulot marries the kitchen maid Agathe, his son Victorin concludes: "les enfants ne peuvent pas empêcher la folie des ancêtres en enfance" ("children cannot interfere with the insane acts of their parents in their second childhood").[21]
Baron Hulot's brother, known as "le maréchal" ("the Marshal"), hires Bette as his housekeeper, and they develop a mild affection. He learns of his brother's infidelities (and the difficulties they have caused Adeline, who refuses to leave her husband), and promises to marry Bette if she will provide details. She agrees eagerly, delighted at the prospect of finally securing an enviable marriage. While investigating his brother's behavior, however, the Marshal discovers Baron Hulot's scheme in Algiers. He is overwhelmed by the disgrace, and his health deteriorates. Bette's last hope for a brighter future dies with him.
When Valérie becomes pregnant, she tells each of her lovers (and her husband) that he is the father. She gives birth to a stillborn child, however, and her husband dies soon thereafter. Hulot and Crevel are ecstatic when they hear this news, each believing that he will become her only love once the official mourning period has passed. Valérie chooses Crevel for his comfortable fortune, and they quickly wed. This news outrages Baron Montès, and he devises a plot to poison the newlyweds. Crevel and Valérie die slowly, their bodies devoured by an exotic Brazilian toxin.
Victorin Hulot is later visited by the Prince of Wissembourg, who delivers news of economic good fortune. The Marshal, prior to his death, had made arrangements for repayment of the Baron's debts, as well as employment for Adeline in a Catholic charity. Baron Hulot has disappeared, and Adeline spends her free time searching for him in houses of ill repute. She eventually finds him living with a fifteen-year-old courtesan, and begs him to return to the family. He agrees, but as he climbs into the carriage, Hulot asks: "mais pourrai-je emmener la petite?" ("But can I take the girl?")[22] The Hulot home is reunited for a time, and Bette's fury at their apparent happiness hastens her death. One evening after the funeral, Adeline overhears Hulot seducing a kitchen maid named Agathe. On her deathbed, Adeline delivers her first rebuke to her husband: "[D]ans un moment, tu seras libre, et tu pourras faire une baronne Hulot." ("In a moment, you will be free, and you can make another Baronne Hulot.")[23] Soon after burying his wife, Hulot marries Agathe.
Characters and inspirations
The death of Marshal Hulot has been called "one of the most moving in all of Balzac".[24]
Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began La Cousine Bette, and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive back-stories and biographical depth. For example, Célestin Crevel first appeared in Balzac's 1837 novel César Birotteau, working for the title character. Having accumulated a considerable fortune in that book, Crevel spends his time in La Cousine Bette enjoying the spoils of his labor. Another important recurring character is Marshal Hulot, who first appeared as a colonel in Les Chouans. In the years between that story and La Cousine Bette, he became the Count of Forzheim; in a letter to the Constitutionnel, Balzac described how Marshal Hulot gained this title. The presence of Crevel and Marshal Hulot – among others – in La Cousine Bette allows a continuation of each character's life story, adding emphasis or complexity to earlier events.[25]
Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot. When he resurfaces in La Cousine Bette, he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Although Vautrin's presence in La Cousine Bette is brief, his earlier adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. For example, several scenes feature artists like Jean-Jacques Bixiou, who first appeared in 1837's Les Employés and in many other books thereafter. The world of Parisian nightlife is quickly brought to mind with the inclusion of several characters from Les Comédiens sans le savoir (1846), and Bianchon appears – as always – when a doctor is needed.[26]
Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction. It enables a depth of characterization that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. "When the characters reappear", notes the critic Samuel Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see."[27] Some readers, however, are intimidated by the depth created by these interdependent stories, and feel deprived of important context for the characters. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin".[28] The characterization in La Cousine Bette is considered especially skillful. Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters, says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work. Almost every example arises quite naturally out of the situation."[29] Biographer Noel Gerson calls the characters in La Cousine Bette "among the most memorable Balzac ever sketched".[30]
Bette Fischer
Lisbeth Fischer (Cousin Bette) is described as "maigre, brune ... les sourcils épais et réunis par un bouquet ... quelques verrues dans sa face longue et simiesque" ("lean, brown, with ... thick eyebrows joining in a tuft ... and some moles on her narrow simian face").[31]
Descriptions of Bette are often connected to savagery and animal imagery. Her name, for example, is a homophone in French for "bête" ("beast"). One passage explains that "elle ressemblait aux singes habillés en femmes" ("she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys in petticoats");[32] elsewhere her voice is described as having "une jalousie de tigre" ("tiger-like jealousy").[33] Her beastly rage comes to the surface with ferocity when she learns of Steinbock's engagement to Hortense:
La physionomie de la Lorraine était devenue terrible. Ses yeux noirs et pénétrants avaient la fixité de ceux des tigres. Sa figure ressemblait à celles que nous supposons aux pythonisses, elle serrait les dents pour les empêcher de claquer, et une affreuse convulsion faisait trembler ses membres. Elle avait glissé sa main crochue entre son bonnet et ses cheveux pour les empoigner et soutenir sa tête, devenue trop lourde; elle brûlait! La fumée de l'incendie qui la ravageait semblait passer par ses rides comme par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique.
The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption.[34]
When she learns that her cousin Adeline has been welcoming Steinbock into the Hulot home, Bette swears revenge: "Adeline! se dit Lisbeth, ô Adeline, tu me le payeras, je te rendrai plus laide que moi!" ("'Adeline!' muttered Lisbeth. 'Oh, Adeline, you shall pay for this! I will make you uglier than I am.'")[34] Her cruelty and lust for revenge lead critics to call her "demonic"[35] and "one of Balzac's most terrifying creations".[36] Because of her willingness to manipulate the people around her, Bette has been compared to Iago in William Shakespeare's play Othello.[37] Her fierce persona is attributed partly to her peasant background, and partly to her virginity, which provides (according to Balzac) "une force diabolique ou la magie noire de la volonté" ("diabolical strength, or the black magic of the Will").[38][39]
In a letter to Mme. Hanska, Balzac indicated that he based the character of Bette on three women from his life: his mother, Mme. Hanska's aunt Rosalie Rzewuska, and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. Balzac had a tumultuous relationship with his mother for most of his life, and he incorporated some of her personality (particularly her "obstinate persistence in living",[40] as one critic calls it) into Bette.[41] Rosalie Rzewuska disapproved of Mme. Hanska's relationship with Balzac; biographers agree that her cold determination was part of the author's recipe for Bette.[42] Elements taken from Marceline Desbordes-Valmore are more complex; she faced many setbacks in life and she and Balzac became friends after she left the theatre to take up poetry.[43]
Valérie Marneffe
Bette's co-conspirator in the destruction of the Hulot family is beautiful and greedy Valérie Marneffe, the unsatisfied wife of a War Department clerk. They develop a deep friendship, which many critics consider an example of lesbian affection.[44] Because of their relationship and similar goals, the critic Frederic Jameson says that "Valérie serves as a kind of emanation of Bette".[45]
Valérie Marneffe "attirait tous les regards, excitait tous les désirs, dans le cercle où elle rayonnait" ("attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she shone upon").[46]
Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him.[47] She explains bluntly that her position as a married woman provides subtleties and options unavailable to the common prostitute who has one set price; after Marneffe dies, Valérie jockeys for position between Hulot and Montés (while also sleeping with Steinbock), then discards them all to marry Crevel, who offers the most wealth. She amuses herself by mocking her lovers' devotion, and this wickedness – not to mention her gruesome demise – has led some critics to speculate that she is actually the focus of Balzac's morality tale.[48]
In one important scene, Valérie models for Steinbock as Delilah, standing victorious over the ruined Samson. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. Samson n'est rien, là. C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout." ("What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything.")[49]
Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Hanska is similar in some ways to Valérie's manipulation of Steinbock.[50] Critics also connect the pride and anguish felt by Balzac during Mme. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child.[51] Although he never ascribed to Mme. Hanska any of the traits in Valérie's treacherous character, he felt a devotion similar to that of Hulot. He once wrote to her: "je fais pour mon Eve toute les folies qu'un Hulot fait pour une Marneffe, je te donnerai mon sang, mon honneur, ma vie" ("I commit for [you] all the follies that a Hulot commits for Madame Marneffe; I give you my blood, my honor, my life").[52]
Hector and Adeline Hulot
Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family. As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without irony – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress.[53]
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy personified. Like her cousin Bette, she comes from a peasant background, but has internalized the ideals of 19th-century womanhood, including devotion, grace, and deference. She reveals in the first scene that she has known for years about her husband's infidelities, but refuses to condemn him. Adeline's forgiving nature is often considered a significant character flaw. Some suggest that she is partly to blame for Hulot's wandering affection. C.A. Prendergast, for example, calls her forgiveness "an inadequate and even positively disastrous response" to her situation.[54] He further suggests that Adeline, by choosing the role of quiet and dutiful wife, has excised from herself the erotic power to which the Baron is drawn. "[O]ne could at the very least offer the tentative speculation that Hulot's obsessional debauchery is in part the result of a certain poverty in Adeline, that the terrible logic of Hulot's excess is partially shaped by a crucial deficiency in his wife."[55] Others are less accusatory; Adeline's nearly infinite mercy, they say, is evidence of foolishness. Critic Herbert J. Hunt declares that she shows "more imbecility than Christian patience",[56] and David Bellos points out that, like her husband, she is driven by passion – albeit of a different kind: "Adeline's desire (for good, for the family, for Hector, for God) is so radically different from the motivating desires of the other characters that she seems in their context to be without desire...."[57]
Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars, and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself".[58] Balzac's friend Victor Hugo, meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins.[59]
Wenceslas Steinbock
"Quoique Steinbock eût vingt-neuf ans, il paraissait, comme certains blonds, avoir cinq ou six ans de moins ... cette jeunesse ... avait cédé sous les fatigues et les misères de l'exil" ("Though Steinbock was nine-and-twenty, like many fair men, he looked five or six years younger ... his youth ... had faded under the fatigue and stress of life in exile".)[60]
The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft".[61]
Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself. Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character (as he felt about most groups he observed). Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: "Soyez mon amie, dit-il avec une de ces démonstrations caressantes si familières aux Polonais, et qui les font accuser assez injustement de servilité." ("'Be my sweetheart,' he added, with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for which they are unjustly accused of servility.")[62][63]
Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Like Louis Lambert and Lucien Chardon in Illusions perdues, he is a brilliant man – just as Balzac considered himself to be. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide. Later, when he leaves Bette's circle of influence, he fails again. Thus he demonstrates Balzac's conviction that genius alone is useless without determination.[64] Bellos organizes Steinbock and Bette into a duality of weakness and strength; whereas the Polish artist is unable to direct his energies into productive work, Bette draws strength from her virginity and thus becomes powerful by denying the lust to which Steinbock falls prey.[65] Steinbock's drive is further eroded by the praise he receives for his art, which gives him an inflated sense of accomplishment. One critic refers to the artist's downfall as "vanity ... spoiled by premature renown".[66]
Style
If Balzac's goal was (as he claimed) to write a realist novel from his "own old pen" rather than mimic the style of Eugène Sue, history and literary criticism have declared him successful. William Stowe calls La Cousine Bette "a masterpiece of classical realism"[67] and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to War and Peace.[68] Some sections of the book are criticized for being melodramatic, and Balzac biographer V. S. Pritchett even refers to a representative excerpt as "bad writing".[69] Most critics, however, consider the moralistic elements of the novel deceptively complex, and some point out that the roman-feuilleton format required a certain level of titillation to keep readers engaged.[70] Others indicate that Balzac's interest in the theatre was an important reason for the inclusion of melodramatic elements.[71]
Émile Zola said that Balzac's fiction was "uniquement le compte-rendu brutal de ce que l'écrivain a observé" ("only the brutal report of what the writer has observed").[72]
Balzac's trademark realism begins on the first page of the novel, wherein Crevel is described wearing a National Guard uniform, complete with the Légion d'honneur. Details from the 1830s also appear in the novel's geographic locations. The Hulot family home, for example, is found in the aristocratic area of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Germain.[73] Bette's residence is on the opposite end of the social spectrum, in the impoverished residential area which surrounded the Louvre: "Les ténèbres, le silence, l'air glacial, la profondeur caverneuse du sol concourent à faire de ces maisons des espèces de cryptes, des tombeaux vivants." ("Darkness, silence, an icy chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living.")[74] Descriptions of her meager quarters are – as usual in Balzac's work – an acute reflection of her personality. The same is true of the Marneffe home at the outset: it contains "les trompeuses apparences de ce faux luxe" ("the illusory appearance of sham luxury"),[75] from the shabby chairs in the drawing-room to the dust-coated bedroom.[76]
Precise detail is not spared in descriptions of decay and disease, two vivid elements in the novel. Marneffe, for example, represents crapulence. His decrepit body is a symbol of society's weakness at the time, worn away from years of indulgence. The poison which kills Valérie and Crevel is also described in ghastly detail. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." ("She is losing her hair and teeth, her skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands are horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, and the flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors.")[77]
La Cousine Bette is unapologetic in its bleak outlook, and makes blunt connections between characters' origins and behavior. For these reasons, it is considered a key antecedent to naturalist literature. Novelist Émile Zola called it an important "roman expérimental" ("experimental novel"),[78] and praised its acute exploration of the characters' motivations.[79][80] Some critics note that La Cousine Bette showed an evolution in Balzac's style – one which he had little time to develop. Pointing to the nuance of plot and comprehensive narration style, Stowe suggests that the novel "might in happier circumstances have marked the beginning of a new, mature 'late Balzac'".[81]
Themes
Passion, vice, and virtue
Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is desire incarnate; his wandering libido bypasses concern for his wife, brother, children, finances, and even his own health. Bette, of course, is living vengeance, and Adeline desperately yearns for the happy home she imagined in the early years of marriage. Each character is driven by a fiery passion, which in most cases consumes the individual.[82] As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." ("Passion is martyrdom.")[83]
After acknowledging herself as Delilah, Valérie warns her guests: "Prenez garde à vos toupets, messieurs!" ("Take care of your wigs, gentlemen!")[84]
The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. As one critic says, "life's truths are viewed in their most atrocious form".[85] Mocking the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution while acknowledging her own malicious intent, Valérie says with regard to Delilah: "La vertu coupe la tête, le Vice ne vous coupe que les cheveux." ("Virtue cuts off your head; vice only cuts off your hair.")[84] Hulot is not intentionally cruel, but his actions are no less devastating to the people around him.[86]
On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. Hortense ridicules her aunt when Bette mentions her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock, providing a psychological catalyst for the ensuing conflict.[87] Victorin repeatedly expresses outrage at his father's philandering, yet crosses a significant moral boundary when he agrees to fund Mme. Nourrison's plan to eradicate Valérie. As one critic puts it, Victorin's decision marks a point in the novel where "the scheme of right versus wrong immediately dissolves into a purely amoral conflict of different interests and passions, regulated less by a transcendent moral law than by the relative capacity of the different parties for cunning and ruthlessness."[88] The cruelties of the Hulot children are brief but significant, owing as much to their obliviousness (intentional in the case of Victorin, who asks not to learn the details of Mme. Nourrison's scheme) as to malicious forethought.[89]
The question of Adeline's virtue is similarly complicated. Although she is forgiving to the point of absurdity, she is often considered more of a dupe than a martyr. Some have compared her to Balzac's title character in Le Père Goriot, who sacrifices himself for his daughters.[90] As Bellos puts it: "Adeline's complicity with Hector certainly makes her more interesting as a literary character, but it undermines her role as the symbol of virtue in the novel."[91] This complicity reaches an apex when she unsuccessfully attempts to sell her affections to Crevel (who has since lost interest) in order to repay her husband's debts. Her flirtation with prostitution is sometimes considered more egregious than Valérie's overt extortion, since Adeline is soiling her own dignity in the service of Baron Hulot's infidelity. For the remainder of the novel, Adeline trembles uncontrollably, a sign of her weakness.[92] Later, when she visits the singer Josépha (on whom her husband once doted), Adeline is struck by the splendor earned by a life of materialistic seduction. She wonders aloud if she is capable of providing the carnal pleasures Hulot seeks outside of their home.[93]
Ultimately, both vice and virtue fail. Valérie is devoured by Montés' poison, a consequence of her blithe attitude toward his emotion. Bette is unsuccessful in her effort to crush her cousin's family, and dies (as one critic puts it) "in the margins".[94] Adeline's Catholic mercy, on the other hand, fails to redeem her husband, and her children are similarly powerless – as Victorin finally admits on the novel's last page. Like Raphael de Valentin in Balzac's 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin, Hulot is left with nothing but "vouloir": desire, a force which is both essential for human existence and eventually apocalyptic.[95]
Gender and homoeroticism
Gender roles, especially the figure of the ideal woman, are central to La Cousine Bette. The four leading female characters (Bette, Valérie, Adeline, and Hortense) embody stereotypically feminine traits. Each pair of women revolves around a man, and they compete for his attention: Valérie and Adeline for Baron Hulot; Bette and Hortense for Wenceslas Steinbock. Balzac's study of masculinity is limited to the insatiable lust of Hulot and the weak-willed inconstancy of Steinbock, with the occasional appearance of Victorin as a sturdy patriarch in his father's absence.[96]
French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted lesbian relationships similar to (though more explicit than) that of Bette and Valérie, as in his 1893 painting "In Bed".[97]
Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),[98] with similar descriptions elsewhere. Her relationship and attitude toward Steinbock, moreover, hint at her masculinity. She commands him into submission, and even binds him with economic constraints by lending him the money to develop his sculpture. Her domination is tempered by maternal compassion, but the couple's relationship is compared to an abusive marriage: "Il fut comme une femme qui pardonne les mauvais traitements d'une semaine à cause des caresses d'un fugitif raccommodement." ("He was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake of a kiss and a brief reconciliation.")[99][100]
Bette's relationship with Valérie is layered with overtones of lesbianism. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")[101] by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" ("I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours!")[102] This affection may have been platonic, but neighbors of the Marneffes – along with many readers – suspect that their bond transcends friendship.[103] As with Steinbock, Bette and Valérie assume butch and femme roles; the narration even mentions "Le contraste de la mâle et sèche nature de la Lorraine avec la jolie nature créole de Valérie" ("The contrast between Lisbeth's dry masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness").[104] The homoeroticism evolves through the novel, as Bette feeds on Valérie's power to seduce and control the Hulot men. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure."[105]
Wealth and society
Balzac once wrote: "The worst fault of the July Revolution is that it did not allow Louis-Philippe three months of dictatorship in which to put the rights of the people and the throne on a secure basis."[106]
As with many of his novels, Balzac analyzes the influence of history and social status in La Cousine Bette. The book takes places between 1838 and 1846, when the reign of Louis-Philippe reflected and directed significant changes in the social structure. Balzac was a legitimist favoring the House of Bourbon, and idolized Napoleon Bonaparte as a paragon of effective absolutist power. Balzac felt that French society under the House of Orléans lacked strong leadership, and was fragmented by the demands of parliament. He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the nation, and that its absence heralded moral decay.[107]
Balzac demonstrated these beliefs through the characters' lives in La Cousine Bette. The conflict between Baron Hulot and the perfumer Crevel mirrors the animosity between the aristocracy of the Ancien Régime and the newly-developed bourgeoisie of traders and industrial entrepreneurs. Although he despised the socialist politics of Eugène Sue, Balzac worried that bourgeois desperation for financial gain drove people from life's important virtues. The characters – especially Bette, Valérie, and Crevel – are fixated on their need for money, and do whatever they must to obtain it.[108] As Crevel explains to Adeline: "Vous vous abusez, cher ange, si vous croyez que c'est le roi Louis-Philippe qui règne ... au-dessus de la Charte il y a la sainte, la vénérée, la solide, l'aimable, la gracieuse, la belle, la noble, la jeune, la toute-puissante pièce de cent sous!" ("You are quite mistaken, my angel, if you suppose that King Louis-Philippe rules us ... supreme above the Charter reigns the holy, venerated, substantial, delightful, obliging, beautiful, noble, ever-youthful, and all-powerful five-franc piece!")[109]
Themes of corruption and salvation are brought to the fore as Valérie and Crevel lie dying from the mysterious poison. When his daughter urges him to meet with a priest, Crevel angrily refuses, mocking the church and indicating that his social stature will be his salvation: "la mort regarde à deux fois avant de frapper un maire de Paris!" ("Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris.")[110] Valérie, meanwhile, makes a deathbed conversion and urges Bette to abandon her quest for revenge. Ever the courtesan, Valérie describes her new Christianity in terms of seduction: "je ne puis maintenant plaire qu'à Dieu! je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" ("I can please no one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation...!")[111]
Reception and adaptations
In 1921 actor Bette Davis, born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, chose Bette as her stage name in honor of Balzac's character.[112]
The critical reaction to La Cousine Bette was immediate and positive, which Balzac did not expect. Whether due to the intensity of its creation or the tumult of his personal life, the author was surprised by the praise he received. He wrote: "I did not realize how good La Cousine Bette is.... There is an immense reaction in my favour. I have won!"[113] The collected edition sold consistently well, and was reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the century. 20th-century critics remain enthusiastic in their praise for the novel; Saintsbury insists it is "beyond all question one of the very greatest of [Balzac's] works".[114] Biographer Graham Robb calls La Cousine Bette "the masterpiece of his premature old age".[115]
Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. Chief among these were disciples of the utopian theorist Charles Fourier; they disapproved of the "immorality" inherent in the novel's bleak resolution. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. They lambasted him for not commenting more on the characters' degenerate behavior – the same stylistic choice later celebrated by naturalist writers Émile Zola and Hippolyte Taine.[116]
Balzac's novel has been adapted several times for the screen. The first was in 1927, when French filmmaker Max DeRieux directed Alice Tissot in the title role.[117] Margaret Tyzack played the role of Bette in the five part serial Cousin Bette aired on the BBC, which also starred Helen Mirren as Valérie Marneffe.[118] The film Cousin Bette was released in 1998, directed by Des McAnuff. Jessica Lange starred in the title role, joined by Bob Hoskins as Crevel, and Elisabeth Shue as the singer Jenny Cadine. Screenwriters Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr changed the story significantly, and eliminated Valérie. The 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue. Stephen Holden of the New York Times commented that the movie "treats the novel as a thoroughly modern social comedy peopled with raging narcissists, opportunists and flat-out fools".[119][120]
La Cousine Bette was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay Stage Beauty (based on his stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty). The Antaeus Company in North Hollywood produced a workshop in 2008 and presented the world premiere of Cousin Bette in early 2010 in North Hollywood, California.[121] The adaptation retains many of the main characters but places Bette as the story's narrator.
这篇小说塑造了一个放高利贷的守财奴形象，这一形象概括了私有心理的最令人作呕的特点。主人公曾经是一个有热情，有抱负的人，但饱经沧桑后却总结出一条无耻的信条：金钱就是一切。金钱的腐蚀作用使它自己的主人也沦为了奴隶。
邦斯舅舅是音乐家，一个诚实而高尚的自食其力的人。他非常喜欢绘画艺术，为了丰富自己所收藏的名画，他不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思。当人们不知道他手中有这一切宝藏时，谁也不把他放在心上。
为了夺取孤零汉邦斯的遗产，像王室首席推事加缪索之流的一些冠冕堂皇的人便千万百计，使尽种种手段下毒手害他，不达目的誓不罢休。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种高尚的爱好，对他那些有钱的亲戚来说，名画只不过是发财的手段而已。
《邦斯舅舅》-银屏再现
影片根据法国著名的批判现实主义作家巴尔扎克的代表作《邦斯舅舅》改编而成。
诚实而高尚的主人公邦斯是一位音乐家，收藏了大量珍贵的艺术品，一次他与自己唯一的亲戚加缪索一家发生争吵，有人怀疑他要取消侄女的继承权。邦斯患病期间，只有他的朋友施密克和女门房西卜太太照顾他。而女门房的真正目在于邦斯收藏品，企图窃为己有。在老邦斯病危之际，人们上演了一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧。影片为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。
根据法国名作家巴尔扎原著改编，一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧，为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。邦斯的一生是善良的一生，一生都在音乐环境和古代艺术品的熏陶中生活，心地单纯看待，世态人情还带着儿童的天真。在他身上同时还具有收藏艺术品的雅癖和贪吃美食的恶癖。邦斯丑陋的外貌与金子般的内心、邦斯的善良与周围污浊的世界形成鲜明对比，表现在金钱贪欲下善良的人悲剧命运。
《邦斯舅舅》-人物形象
邦斯舅舅：
是一个善良的破落贵族形象。
他年轻是写过不少感伤乐曲，给巴黎的妇女浅唱低吟。因为相貌生得奇丑，一生未能结婚。青年时期获得艺术的最高奖--罗马奖，被政府送到罗马深造，但在音乐上没有取得突出成就，而是迷恋于漫游意大利的名城，并养成了收集古代艺术精品的癖好，成为一个贪心的收藏家、艺术鉴赏家。他在留学期间收集的古玩耗尽了他全部的奖学金及父母的遗产。在德国音乐氛围和意大利艺术珍品的陶醉之中，他忘却了城市的苦恼，但是生计问题使她东颠西跑，去女子学堂兼课才能维持起码的生活，当他的一颗心沉浸在欣赏人类美妙艺术杰作时，不幸染上了贪嘴的恶习，为此怀着期待的心情日夜盼望着接到阔亲戚的邀请去美餐一顿。在外甥媳妇家，他受到了冷遇，连仆人们都咒骂他"吃白食的人又来了。"从此邦斯遭到阔亲戚们的误解，特别是外甥家的误解，而一病不起。在他病情日益加重时，他身边的仆人古董商马古斯波冷医生等对他收藏的古玩珍品估价，发现他收藏的各种艺术品十分名贵，总价达到一百八十万法郎，于是他们展开了掠夺。他们收买心腹，打听病情，无情包围，暗中控制，为防止遗产的外流费尽心计，甚至偷盗邦斯的遗嘱，折磨邦斯的病情，加速邦斯的死亡。邦斯死后，他一生收藏的艺术品全部落入外甥的手中，而参与阴谋的窃夺者们几乎都分了肥。
《邦斯舅舅》-艺术赏析
一部传统的小说，自然可以用传统的方法去解读。让我们着重看一看《邦斯舅舅》中的主要人物邦斯舅舅。
邦斯舅舅是个旧时代的“遗迹”。小说一开始，便以极富象征和概括性的手法，为我们描绘了他那悲剧性的外表及这外表所兆示的悲剧性的命运。
故事发生在十九世纪四十年代的巴黎，那是七月王朝统治时期，法国社会生活的各个方面正经受着激烈的动荡。贵族阶级逐渐没落，资产阶级政客、大银行家，投机商和大批食利者占据了法国的政治和经济舞台，而邦斯舅舅在这个时代的的舞台上是显得那么格格不入：他“衣着的某些细微之处依旧忠实地保留着一八○六年的式样，让人回想起第一帝国时代。”这个“又干又瘦的”老人，“在缀着白色金属扣的暗绿色上衣外，又套着一件栗色的斯宾塞！……一个穿斯宾塞的人，要知道在这一八四四年，不啻于拿破仑尊驾一时复生，”
怪不得他一出场，巴黎街头早已麻木的无聊看客也不由得发出含义丰富的微笑，带着讥刺、嘲弄或怜悯：他“身上无意中留存了某个时代的全部笑料，看起来活脱是整整一个时代的化身”，“就像人们说帝国式样家具一样，毫不犹豫地称他为帝国时代人物。”
这位“帝国时代人物”，原本是个颇有才华的音乐家，他的曲子还获得过罗马大奖。当初，国家把他派往罗马，本想把他造就成一个伟大的音乐家，可他却在那儿染上了古董癖，还 “染上了七大原罪中恐怕上帝惩罚最轻的一桩：贪馋”。
一方面，邦斯那颗“生机盎然的心灵永不疲惫地欣赏着人类壮丽的创造”，在收藏和欣赏人类的艺术创造中得到慰藉和升华；另一方面，他那张挑剔的嘴巴充满嗜欲，腐蚀了他的气节，那“嗜欲潜伏在人的心中，无处不在，在那儿发号施令，要冲破人的意志和荣誉的缺口……”
从表面看，似乎是邦斯犯的那桩原罪――“贪馋”把他推向悲剧的道路，由一个具有艺术追求的音乐家“沦落到一个吃白食”；养成了“吃好喝好”的恶习，“只要能够继续活个痛快，尝到所有那些时鲜的瓜果蔬菜，敞开肚子大吃（话虽俗，但却富有表现力）那些制作精细的美味佳肴，什么下贱事都能做得出来”。他不仅为满足自己的贪馋付出了沉重的代价，丧失了独立的人格，而且还被腐蚀了灵魂，“对交际场上那些客套，那些取代了真情的虚伪表演全已习以为常，说起来恭维话来，那简直就像花几个小钱一样方便”。
然而，这仅仅是邦斯人生悲剧的一个方面，一个非本质的方面。他的悲剧的深刻原因，在于他的“穷”，在于他与他的那些富有、显赫的“亲戚”根本上的格格不入。一个在一八四四年还穿着斯宾塞的“帝国时代人物”，偏偏又生活在一群七月革命的既得利益者之中。在他身边，有法国药材界巨头博比诺，“当年闹七月革命，好处尽让博比诺得了，至少与波旁王族第二分支得到好处不相上下”；有 “不惜牺牲自己的长子”，拼命向政界爬的老卡缪佐；有野心勃勃一心想当司法部长的最高法院庭长；有公证人出身，后来当上了巴黎某区区长，捞尽了好处的卡尔多。邦斯担任乐队指挥的那家戏院的经理，也同样是个典型的资产阶级暴发户。
从本质上讲，邦斯是个艺术家。只有在艺术的天地里，他才拥有青春；只有与艺术交流时，他才显得那么才气横溢。在乐队的指挥台上，他的手势是那么有力；在他的那间充满人类美的创造的收藏室里，他是那么幸福。对于艺术和美的创造，他是那么一往情深。他“热爱艺术”，“对任何手工艺品，对任何神奇的创造，无不感到一种难以满足的欲望，那是一位男士对一位美丽的恋人的爱”。甚至，当他因为得不到爱而绝望，投入到“连富有德行的僧侣也不可避免的罪过――贪馋”的怀抱时，也是“像投入到对艺术品的热爱和对音乐的崇拜之中”。
然而，他对艺术的热爱是与他所处的那个时代的价值取向和道德标准相悖的。对七月王朝时期那些资产阶级暴发户来说，音乐只是那些音乐家的一种“糊口的”手段，戏院经理戈迪萨尔看重邦斯的，不是他的才华，而是邦斯编的乐曲可以给他招徕观众，带来滚滚财源；对爱慕虚荣，耍尽一切手段要让丈夫当上议员，乃至司法部长的德・玛维尔庭长太太来说，邦斯搜集的那些艺术品，那些稀世珍品，“纯粹是一钱不值的玩艺”，艺术痴迷的邦斯，完全是“一个怪物”。
在这些人的府上，邦斯老人经受着百般的奚落、嘲讽和耍弄，最终被逐出“他们的天地”，实在是不可避免的。在他们这里，没有艺术的位置，他们“崇拜的是成功，看重的只是一八三○年以来猎取的一切：巨大的财富或显赫的社会地位”。剧院的头牌舞女爱洛伊斯・布利兹图说得是那么一针见血：如今这个世道，“当老板的斤斤计较，做国王的巧取豪夺，当大臣的营私舞弊，有钱的吝啬抠门……艺术家就太惨了！”看来，邦斯由艺术家沦为“吃白食的”，这不能不说艺术本身的沦丧，而邦斯的悲剧，恐怕就是艺术的悲剧了。
《邦斯舅舅》-小说简介
邦斯，天真可爱的德国老头儿。一生独居。除了在音乐方面的才华，就只剩下收藏这一爱好来丰富他的人生了。
没有遗产，只靠着在戏院做音乐指挥的微薄薪水，可怜的老头儿不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思，凭着自己小小的聪明，以极其便宜的价格收藏了许多的名画。
邦斯美术馆可谓是收藏颇丰。邦斯对于美术品的爱好正如情人爱一个美丽的情妇，永远不知餍足。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种时尚的爱好。他的美术馆是给自己时时刻刻享受的。然而，对于邦斯的亲人以及周围的邻居来说，却并非如此。
邦斯好心的给自己唯一的承继人－－外甥的女儿做媒，当外甥一家人都看好的小伙子拒绝了这门亲事，外甥媳妇为了保住自己的面子，而到处宣扬此事是邦斯舅舅的恶意的报复。以致于连老头儿一向尊敬的人都对邦斯不理不睬！
可怜的老头儿一生从未有过半点害人之心，怎么能够承受如此沉重而致命的打击？
邦斯因此而一病不起。身边只有忠诚的许模克和门房太太的照顾！
门房太太照顾好人儿邦斯和许模克已经有十年了。虽有些唠叨，却也是善良的，跟许模克一样，对邦斯如此的珍爱那些收藏觉得有些好笑，却也是小心翼翼的守护着。
只是所有的一切在古董商雷蒙诺克和犹太人收藏家玛古斯背着邦斯看过他的美术馆之后改变！
犹太人玛古斯是跟邦斯暗中较劲的收藏家。对邦斯的收藏一直虎视眈眈。
门房太太希望能够在邦斯的遗嘱上占有一个名字，在这个愿望没有得到邦斯的直接确定之后，为了能从邦斯的收
藏中分得一杯残羹，由一丝不苟的诚实一刹那间变成无恶不作！
古董商雷蒙诺克，其奸刁阴狠不下于犹太人，一个小钱都要挣的贪得无厌，怎能放过可怜的邦斯那些价值连城的收藏？
贫困潦倒的初级法庭律师弗莱齐埃，有着一双可怕的绿眼睛和凶恶的气息，好比青天上的云一样的明显。将邦斯的收藏作为自己可以接触邦斯的唯一承继人——邦斯的外甥——最高法庭庭长的垫脚石！
最高法庭庭长一家，当他们不知道邦斯手中有着那大批的宝藏之时，从未把邦斯放在心上。作为邦斯舅舅唯一的亲人，甚至连老头儿来家里吃晚饭也加以刻意羞辱，不惜破坏邦斯的声誉以维护自己的面子。然而当得知邦斯有着一笔极其可观的遗产时，这些冠冕堂皇的人便千方百计、使尽种种手段下毒害他，不达目的誓不罢休！
老实，谦和，天真的邦斯和许模克怎么能够想到又怎么能够相信这些人内心里的贪婪、狠毒、奸诈？
The novella grew in 1847 into a full-length novel with a male poor relation, Pons, as its subject, whereas La Cousine Bette describes the female aspect of that subordinate relationship. The two novels were thus similar yet diametrically different. They were complementary, forming two parts of a whole.
Le Cousin Pons has been classified by Balzac as the second Episode of Les Parents pauvres, the first Episode being La Cousine Bette. Especially admired by Paul Bourget, it is one of the very greatest of his novels.
Plot summary
The novella was based on a short story by an acquaintance of Balzac, Albéric Second,[1] as Tim Farrant has demonstrated. Its original title was to have been “Le Parasite”. Sylvain Pons, a musician in a Parisian boulevard orchestra, has a close friend in another musician from that same orchestra, the German pianist Wilhelm Schmucke. They lodge with Mme Cibot, but Pons – unlike Schmucke – has two failings: his passion (which is almost a mania) for collecting works of art, and his passion for good food. Schmucke, on the other hand, has only one passion, and that is his affection for Pons. Pons, being a gourmet, much enjoys dining regularly with his wealthy lawyer cousins M. and Mme Camusot de Marville, for their food is more interesting than Mme Cibot’s and full of gastronomic surprises. In an endeavour to remain on good terms with the Camusots, and to repay their favour, he tries to find a bridegroom for their unappealing only child Cécile. However, when this ill-considered marriage project falls through, Pons is banished from the house.
The novella becomes a novel as Mme Camusot learns of the value of Pons’s art collection and strives to obtain possession of it as the basis of a dowry for her daughter. In this new development of the plot line a bitter struggle ensues between various vulture-like figures all of whom are keen to lay their hands on the collection: Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Mme Camusot – and Mme Cibot herself. Betraying his client Mme Cibot’s interests, the unsavoury barrister Fraisier acts for the Camusots. Mme Cibot sells Rémonencq eight of Pons’s choicest paintings, untruthfully stating in the receipt that they are works of lesser value. She also steals one for herself.
Horrified to discover his betrayal by Mme Cibot, and the plots that are raging around him, Pons dies, bequeathing all his worldly possessions to Schmucke. The latter is browbeaten out of them by Fraisier. He in turn dies a broken-hearted man, for in Pons he has lost all that he valued in the world. The art collection comes to the Camusot de Marville family, and the vultures profit from their ill-gotten gains.
Fundamental themes of the work
(1) Le Cousin Pons is set entirely in Paris, where, as Balzac informs us in his Avant-propos (Foreword) to the Comédie humaine, “the extremes of good and evil are to be found”. However, Le Cousin Pons is not exclusively about the clash of extremes. Some characters, even the eponymous hero himself, are presented in a nuanced way.
(2) Balzac’s hatred of the bourgeoisie is epitomized by the greedy, money-obsessed M. and Mme Camusot de Marville who put up with the weekly visits of their poor relation Sylvain Pons until they realize he is a very wealthy art collector, whereupon their sole concern is to exploit him. Balzac also presents the lawyer Fraisier and the doctor Poulain in an ambivalent light.
(3) The morals of the working-class characters, e.g., La Cibot and Rémonencq, are scarcely any better than those of the bourgeoisie. As in Balzac’s novel of the countryside, Les Paysans, the proletarian world is displayed in a fiercely aggressive, acquisitive light – almost to the extent of engaging in bitter class conflict.
(4) The values of art are contrasted with those of money. As Balzac says in Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, “la Charte ( Charter of 1814 ) a proclamé le règne de l’argent, le succès devient alors la raison suprême d’une époque athée”. Artistic values aside, Balzac displays the reification or materialization of the world.
(5) The law is seen by Balzac as a (totally illegal!) way of depriving people of their rightful property. Harassed by Fraisier, Schmucke renounces his property rights. Pons’s second will is more vulnerable than the first.
(6) Balzac subverts conventional social values as social norms are revealed to be a fiction. The values of the Camusot de Marville family are materialistic. It is not the personality of Cécile Camusot herself but Pons’s art collection which is “the heroine of this story”; it is that, not her value as a person, which secures her marriage. The union of the Topinards, who are not strictly married, is the kindest, most affectionate relationship of man and woman in the novel. The friendship of Pons and Schmucke is true love but not love within marriage. The two men are poor and physically ugly but their relationship is golden and pure. Their Platonic friendship runs parallel to the idealizing function of art.
(7) Though not a lover in the human physical sense, Pons is a man with an overriding passion, the passion for artistic beauty. In its etymological sense passion equates to suffering. Pons is a Christ-like figure, like some other characters in Balzac's novels (e.g., Joseph Bridau in La Rabouilleuse, and Goriot). He is a man with a mania or idee fixe, and this passion is the cause of his suffering and death.
Narrative strategies
(1) As has been shown by Donald Adamson, Le Cousin Pons began its existence as a novella, or nouvelle, and was suddenly transformed into a full-length novel. This process of transformation necessitated certain inconsistencies and an uneasy transition from long-short story to fiction of sizable proportions and complexity. Though this longer fiction is often referred to as “Part II” of the novel, Balzac himself does not embark upon his “Part II” of Le Cousin Pons until all the new characters – the corrupt Mme Cibot, Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Poulain and Fraisier – have been introduced. It is in dispute whether these two narrative elements have been fused into a perfect whole. V.S. Pritchett considers that Balzac has been totally successful in combining the two storylines.[2]
(2) Le Cousin Pons thus became one of Balzac’s four inheritance novels (the others being Eugénie Grandet, Ursule Mirouët and La Rabouilleuse). From being the vignette of a downtrodden elderly man it mutated into a story of conflict, though with a plot far less complex than that of La Cousine Bette or Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. The struggle for an inheritance was one of the narrative situations most congenial to Balzac.
(3) In the tradition of melodrama Schmucke represents “extreme good”, Mme Camusot “extreme evil”, whereas Pons is an amalgam of the two whilst, Janus-like, Mme Cibot embodies aspects of both. The lurid tones of Pons’s deathbed scene are the height of melodrama. In this drama of light and darkness, or chiaroscuro, the art collection is the heroine of the story.
(4) Roman-feuilleton (serial (literature)). The serialization of novels was a feature of the rapid growth of the newspaper industry in France after 1814. Leading feuilletonistes were Eugène Sue, Alexandre Dumas, père, Paul Féval, père, Frédéric Soulié and Eugène Scribe. Balzac became increasingly preoccupied by their popularity in the 1840s and tried to emulate them. This involved incorporating many features of melodrama; it also encouraged the ending of each serialized extract on a note of high suspense.
(5) The serialization of fiction also necessitated the increasing use of dialogue. This is particularly so in the later stages of the novel. In Donald Adamson’s words, “the second half of Le Cousin Pons is surely unsurpassed in the extent to which it uses dialogue and in the variety of purposes to which dialogue is applied. It contains few narrative interludes or other digressions”.[3] This gave the novel its markedly dramatic flavour.
邦斯舅舅是音乐家，一个诚实而高尚的自食其力的人。他非常喜欢绘画艺术，为了丰富自己所收藏的名画，他不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思。当人们不知道他手中有这一切宝藏时，谁也不把他放在心上。
为了夺取孤零汉邦斯的遗产，像王室首席推事加缪索之流的一些冠冕堂皇的人便千万百计，使尽种种手段下毒手害他，不达目的誓不罢休。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种高尚的爱好，对他那些有钱的亲戚来说，名画只不过是发财的手段而已。
《邦斯舅舅》-银屏再现
影片根据法国著名的批判现实主义作家巴尔扎克的代表作《邦斯舅舅》改编而成。
诚实而高尚的主人公邦斯是一位音乐家，收藏了大量珍贵的艺术品，一次他与自己唯一的亲戚加缪索一家发生争吵，有人怀疑他要取消侄女的继承权。邦斯患病期间，只有他的朋友施密克和女门房西卜太太照顾他。而女门房的真正目在于邦斯收藏品，企图窃为己有。在老邦斯病危之际，人们上演了一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧。影片为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。
根据法国名作家巴尔扎原著改编，一场为财产你争我夺的丑剧，为您充分展现了巴尔扎克笔下各种小人物形象。邦斯的一生是善良的一生，一生都在音乐环境和古代艺术品的熏陶中生活，心地单纯看待，世态人情还带着儿童的天真。在他身上同时还具有收藏艺术品的雅癖和贪吃美食的恶癖。邦斯丑陋的外貌与金子般的内心、邦斯的善良与周围污浊的世界形成鲜明对比，表现在金钱贪欲下善良的人悲剧命运。
《邦斯舅舅》-人物形象
邦斯舅舅：
是一个善良的破落贵族形象。
他年轻是写过不少感伤乐曲，给巴黎的妇女浅唱低吟。因为相貌生得奇丑，一生未能结婚。青年时期获得艺术的最高奖--罗马奖，被政府送到罗马深造，但在音乐上没有取得突出成就，而是迷恋于漫游意大利的名城，并养成了收集古代艺术精品的癖好，成为一个贪心的收藏家、艺术鉴赏家。他在留学期间收集的古玩耗尽了他全部的奖学金及父母的遗产。在德国音乐氛围和意大利艺术珍品的陶醉之中，他忘却了城市的苦恼，但是生计问题使她东颠西跑，去女子学堂兼课才能维持起码的生活，当他的一颗心沉浸在欣赏人类美妙艺术杰作时，不幸染上了贪嘴的恶习，为此怀着期待的心情日夜盼望着接到阔亲戚的邀请去美餐一顿。在外甥媳妇家，他受到了冷遇，连仆人们都咒骂他"吃白食的人又来了。"从此邦斯遭到阔亲戚们的误解，特别是外甥家的误解，而一病不起。在他病情日益加重时，他身边的仆人古董商马古斯波冷医生等对他收藏的古玩珍品估价，发现他收藏的各种艺术品十分名贵，总价达到一百八十万法郎，于是他们展开了掠夺。他们收买心腹，打听病情，无情包围，暗中控制，为防止遗产的外流费尽心计，甚至偷盗邦斯的遗嘱，折磨邦斯的病情，加速邦斯的死亡。邦斯死后，他一生收藏的艺术品全部落入外甥的手中，而参与阴谋的窃夺者们几乎都分了肥。
《邦斯舅舅》-艺术赏析
一部传统的小说，自然可以用传统的方法去解读。让我们着重看一看《邦斯舅舅》中的主要人物邦斯舅舅。
邦斯舅舅是个旧时代的“遗迹”。小说一开始，便以极富象征和概括性的手法，为我们描绘了他那悲剧性的外表及这外表所兆示的悲剧性的命运。
故事发生在十九世纪四十年代的巴黎，那是七月王朝统治时期，法国社会生活的各个方面正经受着激烈的动荡。贵族阶级逐渐没落，资产阶级政客、大银行家，投机商和大批食利者占据了法国的政治和经济舞台，而邦斯舅舅在这个时代的的舞台上是显得那么格格不入：他“衣着的某些细微之处依旧忠实地保留着一八○六年的式样，让人回想起第一帝国时代。”这个“又干又瘦的”老人，“在缀着白色金属扣的暗绿色上衣外，又套着一件栗色的斯宾塞！……一个穿斯宾塞的人，要知道在这一八四四年，不啻于拿破仑尊驾一时复生，”
怪不得他一出场，巴黎街头早已麻木的无聊看客也不由得发出含义丰富的微笑，带着讥刺、嘲弄或怜悯：他“身上无意中留存了某个时代的全部笑料，看起来活脱是整整一个时代的化身”，“就像人们说帝国式样家具一样，毫不犹豫地称他为帝国时代人物。”
这位“帝国时代人物”，原本是个颇有才华的音乐家，他的曲子还获得过罗马大奖。当初，国家把他派往罗马，本想把他造就成一个伟大的音乐家，可他却在那儿染上了古董癖，还 “染上了七大原罪中恐怕上帝惩罚最轻的一桩：贪馋”。
一方面，邦斯那颗“生机盎然的心灵永不疲惫地欣赏着人类壮丽的创造”，在收藏和欣赏人类的艺术创造中得到慰藉和升华；另一方面，他那张挑剔的嘴巴充满嗜欲，腐蚀了他的气节，那“嗜欲潜伏在人的心中，无处不在，在那儿发号施令，要冲破人的意志和荣誉的缺口……”
从表面看，似乎是邦斯犯的那桩原罪――“贪馋”把他推向悲剧的道路，由一个具有艺术追求的音乐家“沦落到一个吃白食”；养成了“吃好喝好”的恶习，“只要能够继续活个痛快，尝到所有那些时鲜的瓜果蔬菜，敞开肚子大吃（话虽俗，但却富有表现力）那些制作精细的美味佳肴，什么下贱事都能做得出来”。他不仅为满足自己的贪馋付出了沉重的代价，丧失了独立的人格，而且还被腐蚀了灵魂，“对交际场上那些客套，那些取代了真情的虚伪表演全已习以为常，说起来恭维话来，那简直就像花几个小钱一样方便”。
然而，这仅仅是邦斯人生悲剧的一个方面，一个非本质的方面。他的悲剧的深刻原因，在于他的“穷”，在于他与他的那些富有、显赫的“亲戚”根本上的格格不入。一个在一八四四年还穿着斯宾塞的“帝国时代人物”，偏偏又生活在一群七月革命的既得利益者之中。在他身边，有法国药材界巨头博比诺，“当年闹七月革命，好处尽让博比诺得了，至少与波旁王族第二分支得到好处不相上下”；有 “不惜牺牲自己的长子”，拼命向政界爬的老卡缪佐；有野心勃勃一心想当司法部长的最高法院庭长；有公证人出身，后来当上了巴黎某区区长，捞尽了好处的卡尔多。邦斯担任乐队指挥的那家戏院的经理，也同样是个典型的资产阶级暴发户。
从本质上讲，邦斯是个艺术家。只有在艺术的天地里，他才拥有青春；只有与艺术交流时，他才显得那么才气横溢。在乐队的指挥台上，他的手势是那么有力；在他的那间充满人类美的创造的收藏室里，他是那么幸福。对于艺术和美的创造，他是那么一往情深。他“热爱艺术”，“对任何手工艺品，对任何神奇的创造，无不感到一种难以满足的欲望，那是一位男士对一位美丽的恋人的爱”。甚至，当他因为得不到爱而绝望，投入到“连富有德行的僧侣也不可避免的罪过――贪馋”的怀抱时，也是“像投入到对艺术品的热爱和对音乐的崇拜之中”。
然而，他对艺术的热爱是与他所处的那个时代的价值取向和道德标准相悖的。对七月王朝时期那些资产阶级暴发户来说，音乐只是那些音乐家的一种“糊口的”手段，戏院经理戈迪萨尔看重邦斯的，不是他的才华，而是邦斯编的乐曲可以给他招徕观众，带来滚滚财源；对爱慕虚荣，耍尽一切手段要让丈夫当上议员，乃至司法部长的德・玛维尔庭长太太来说，邦斯搜集的那些艺术品，那些稀世珍品，“纯粹是一钱不值的玩艺”，艺术痴迷的邦斯，完全是“一个怪物”。
在这些人的府上，邦斯老人经受着百般的奚落、嘲讽和耍弄，最终被逐出“他们的天地”，实在是不可避免的。在他们这里，没有艺术的位置，他们“崇拜的是成功，看重的只是一八三○年以来猎取的一切：巨大的财富或显赫的社会地位”。剧院的头牌舞女爱洛伊斯・布利兹图说得是那么一针见血：如今这个世道，“当老板的斤斤计较，做国王的巧取豪夺，当大臣的营私舞弊，有钱的吝啬抠门……艺术家就太惨了！”看来，邦斯由艺术家沦为“吃白食的”，这不能不说艺术本身的沦丧，而邦斯的悲剧，恐怕就是艺术的悲剧了。
《邦斯舅舅》-小说简介
邦斯，天真可爱的德国老头儿。一生独居。除了在音乐方面的才华，就只剩下收藏这一爱好来丰富他的人生了。
没有遗产，只靠着在戏院做音乐指挥的微薄薪水，可怜的老头儿不惜付出一切精力，挖空一切心思，凭着自己小小的聪明，以极其便宜的价格收藏了许多的名画。
邦斯美术馆可谓是收藏颇丰。邦斯对于美术品的爱好正如情人爱一个美丽的情妇，永远不知餍足。对邦斯来说，收藏名画是一种时尚的爱好。他的美术馆是给自己时时刻刻享受的。然而，对于邦斯的亲人以及周围的邻居来说，却并非如此。
邦斯好心的给自己唯一的承继人－－外甥的女儿做媒，当外甥一家人都看好的小伙子拒绝了这门亲事，外甥媳妇为了保住自己的面子，而到处宣扬此事是邦斯舅舅的恶意的报复。以致于连老头儿一向尊敬的人都对邦斯不理不睬！
可怜的老头儿一生从未有过半点害人之心，怎么能够承受如此沉重而致命的打击？
邦斯因此而一病不起。身边只有忠诚的许模克和门房太太的照顾！
门房太太照顾好人儿邦斯和许模克已经有十年了。虽有些唠叨，却也是善良的，跟许模克一样，对邦斯如此的珍爱那些收藏觉得有些好笑，却也是小心翼翼的守护着。
只是所有的一切在古董商雷蒙诺克和犹太人收藏家玛古斯背着邦斯看过他的美术馆之后改变！
犹太人玛古斯是跟邦斯暗中较劲的收藏家。对邦斯的收藏一直虎视眈眈。
门房太太希望能够在邦斯的遗嘱上占有一个名字，在这个愿望没有得到邦斯的直接确定之后，为了能从邦斯的收
藏中分得一杯残羹，由一丝不苟的诚实一刹那间变成无恶不作！
古董商雷蒙诺克，其奸刁阴狠不下于犹太人，一个小钱都要挣的贪得无厌，怎能放过可怜的邦斯那些价值连城的收藏？
贫困潦倒的初级法庭律师弗莱齐埃，有着一双可怕的绿眼睛和凶恶的气息，好比青天上的云一样的明显。将邦斯的收藏作为自己可以接触邦斯的唯一承继人——邦斯的外甥——最高法庭庭长的垫脚石！
最高法庭庭长一家，当他们不知道邦斯手中有着那大批的宝藏之时，从未把邦斯放在心上。作为邦斯舅舅唯一的亲人，甚至连老头儿来家里吃晚饭也加以刻意羞辱，不惜破坏邦斯的声誉以维护自己的面子。然而当得知邦斯有着一笔极其可观的遗产时，这些冠冕堂皇的人便千方百计、使尽种种手段下毒害他，不达目的誓不罢休！
老实，谦和，天真的邦斯和许模克怎么能够想到又怎么能够相信这些人内心里的贪婪、狠毒、奸诈？
The novella grew in 1847 into a full-length novel with a male poor relation, Pons, as its subject, whereas La Cousine Bette describes the female aspect of that subordinate relationship. The two novels were thus similar yet diametrically different. They were complementary, forming two parts of a whole.
Le Cousin Pons has been classified by Balzac as the second Episode of Les Parents pauvres, the first Episode being La Cousine Bette. Especially admired by Paul Bourget, it is one of the very greatest of his novels.
Plot summary
The novella was based on a short story by an acquaintance of Balzac, Albéric Second,[1] as Tim Farrant has demonstrated. Its original title was to have been “Le Parasite”. Sylvain Pons, a musician in a Parisian boulevard orchestra, has a close friend in another musician from that same orchestra, the German pianist Wilhelm Schmucke. They lodge with Mme Cibot, but Pons – unlike Schmucke – has two failings: his passion (which is almost a mania) for collecting works of art, and his passion for good food. Schmucke, on the other hand, has only one passion, and that is his affection for Pons. Pons, being a gourmet, much enjoys dining regularly with his wealthy lawyer cousins M. and Mme Camusot de Marville, for their food is more interesting than Mme Cibot’s and full of gastronomic surprises. In an endeavour to remain on good terms with the Camusots, and to repay their favour, he tries to find a bridegroom for their unappealing only child Cécile. However, when this ill-considered marriage project falls through, Pons is banished from the house.
The novella becomes a novel as Mme Camusot learns of the value of Pons’s art collection and strives to obtain possession of it as the basis of a dowry for her daughter. In this new development of the plot line a bitter struggle ensues between various vulture-like figures all of whom are keen to lay their hands on the collection: Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Mme Camusot – and Mme Cibot herself. Betraying his client Mme Cibot’s interests, the unsavoury barrister Fraisier acts for the Camusots. Mme Cibot sells Rémonencq eight of Pons’s choicest paintings, untruthfully stating in the receipt that they are works of lesser value. She also steals one for herself.
Horrified to discover his betrayal by Mme Cibot, and the plots that are raging around him, Pons dies, bequeathing all his worldly possessions to Schmucke. The latter is browbeaten out of them by Fraisier. He in turn dies a broken-hearted man, for in Pons he has lost all that he valued in the world. The art collection comes to the Camusot de Marville family, and the vultures profit from their ill-gotten gains.
Fundamental themes of the work
(1) Le Cousin Pons is set entirely in Paris, where, as Balzac informs us in his Avant-propos (Foreword) to the Comédie humaine, “the extremes of good and evil are to be found”. However, Le Cousin Pons is not exclusively about the clash of extremes. Some characters, even the eponymous hero himself, are presented in a nuanced way.
(2) Balzac’s hatred of the bourgeoisie is epitomized by the greedy, money-obsessed M. and Mme Camusot de Marville who put up with the weekly visits of their poor relation Sylvain Pons until they realize he is a very wealthy art collector, whereupon their sole concern is to exploit him. Balzac also presents the lawyer Fraisier and the doctor Poulain in an ambivalent light.
(3) The morals of the working-class characters, e.g., La Cibot and Rémonencq, are scarcely any better than those of the bourgeoisie. As in Balzac’s novel of the countryside, Les Paysans, the proletarian world is displayed in a fiercely aggressive, acquisitive light – almost to the extent of engaging in bitter class conflict.
(4) The values of art are contrasted with those of money. As Balzac says in Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, “la Charte ( Charter of 1814 ) a proclamé le règne de l’argent, le succès devient alors la raison suprême d’une époque athée”. Artistic values aside, Balzac displays the reification or materialization of the world.
(5) The law is seen by Balzac as a (totally illegal!) way of depriving people of their rightful property. Harassed by Fraisier, Schmucke renounces his property rights. Pons’s second will is more vulnerable than the first.
(6) Balzac subverts conventional social values as social norms are revealed to be a fiction. The values of the Camusot de Marville family are materialistic. It is not the personality of Cécile Camusot herself but Pons’s art collection which is “the heroine of this story”; it is that, not her value as a person, which secures her marriage. The union of the Topinards, who are not strictly married, is the kindest, most affectionate relationship of man and woman in the novel. The friendship of Pons and Schmucke is true love but not love within marriage. The two men are poor and physically ugly but their relationship is golden and pure. Their Platonic friendship runs parallel to the idealizing function of art.
(7) Though not a lover in the human physical sense, Pons is a man with an overriding passion, the passion for artistic beauty. In its etymological sense passion equates to suffering. Pons is a Christ-like figure, like some other characters in Balzac's novels (e.g., Joseph Bridau in La Rabouilleuse, and Goriot). He is a man with a mania or idee fixe, and this passion is the cause of his suffering and death.
Narrative strategies
(1) As has been shown by Donald Adamson, Le Cousin Pons began its existence as a novella, or nouvelle, and was suddenly transformed into a full-length novel. This process of transformation necessitated certain inconsistencies and an uneasy transition from long-short story to fiction of sizable proportions and complexity. Though this longer fiction is often referred to as “Part II” of the novel, Balzac himself does not embark upon his “Part II” of Le Cousin Pons until all the new characters – the corrupt Mme Cibot, Rémonencq, Élie Magus, Poulain and Fraisier – have been introduced. It is in dispute whether these two narrative elements have been fused into a perfect whole. V.S. Pritchett considers that Balzac has been totally successful in combining the two storylines.[2]
(2) Le Cousin Pons thus became one of Balzac’s four inheritance novels (the others being Eugénie Grandet, Ursule Mirouët and La Rabouilleuse). From being the vignette of a downtrodden elderly man it mutated into a story of conflict, though with a plot far less complex than that of La Cousine Bette or Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes. The struggle for an inheritance was one of the narrative situations most congenial to Balzac.
(3) In the tradition of melodrama Schmucke represents “extreme good”, Mme Camusot “extreme evil”, whereas Pons is an amalgam of the two whilst, Janus-like, Mme Cibot embodies aspects of both. The lurid tones of Pons’s deathbed scene are the height of melodrama. In this drama of light and darkness, or chiaroscuro, the art collection is the heroine of the story.
(4) Roman-feuilleton (serial (literature)). The serialization of novels was a feature of the rapid growth of the newspaper industry in France after 1814. Leading feuilletonistes were Eugène Sue, Alexandre Dumas, père, Paul Féval, père, Frédéric Soulié and Eugène Scribe. Balzac became increasingly preoccupied by their popularity in the 1840s and tried to emulate them. This involved incorporating many features of melodrama; it also encouraged the ending of each serialized extract on a note of high suspense.
(5) The serialization of fiction also necessitated the increasing use of dialogue. This is particularly so in the later stages of the novel. In Donald Adamson’s words, “the second half of Le Cousin Pons is surely unsurpassed in the extent to which it uses dialogue and in the variety of purposes to which dialogue is applied. It contains few narrative interludes or other digressions”.[3] This gave the novel its markedly dramatic flavour.
如果人世间真有一块驴皮，使你的一切愿望都能实现，同时随着愿望的实现，驴皮将会缩小，你的生命也会缩短，试问，你是否愿意接受这块驴皮?
对大多数人来说，答案将是肯定的。且不说那些如本书的主人翁那样，穷途末路， 已经输掉身上最后一枚金币，准备投水自杀的人，世上有许多人，面对金钱和物质享受的诱惑，还不是将名誉、地位、家庭、祖国，甚至自己的生命，全部置诸脑后，而甘冒天下之大不韪，不顾道德、法律、舆论的阻力，杀人放火，诈骗盗窃，无所不为，小小一张驴皮，哪里阻止得住他们?然而这块小小的驴皮， 巴尔扎克还是费尽心思才得到的。 巴尔扎克经过十载艰辛，深刻地体验了金钱的威力和贫穷的痛苦，深知一个人如果疯狂地追求金钱，世间上很少有力量能够阻止他。巴尔扎克首先想到的力量，是良心的谴责和特殊的疾病。在这部小说里，召开盛大宴会的东道主是泰伊番，而且在小说里一再提到《红色旅馆》 ，可见泰伊番是经常出现在巴尔扎克脑际的一个人。为什么这个形象会缠住巴尔扎克，挥之不去呢?原来在《红色旅馆》里，泰伊番是个杀人犯，他用最要好的朋友的解剖刀，杀害了一个商人，盗走了商人的十万法郎珠宝，逃之天天，害得他的最要好的朋友被军事法庭判处死刑。泰伊番因此发了财，当上银行家，拥有价值一百万的地产，在社交场所出观时，他很爱笑，举止态度完全像个慈祥的老好人。他完全逃脱了法律的制裁，正在安享他：的不义之财。 巴尔扎克没有违反现实对这样一个人给于间的制裁， 正如《驴皮记》里拉斐尔得到六百万遗产以后，泰伊番所说的：“拉斐尔先生已成为六百万法郎的富翁，登上了权的宝座。他是国王，他可以为所欲为，他凌驾一切，像所有的富翁那样。对他来说，从今以后，所谓‘法国人在法律面前人人平等’，不过是记载在大宪章里的一句谎言。他不会服从法律，法律倒要服从他。没有为百万富翁而设的断头台，也没有对他们的行刑的刽子手。”拉斐尔回答道：“他们都是给自己行刑的刽子手。”
Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other "philosophical tales", was released one month later.
Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end.
La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. The book served as the catalyst for a series of letters he exchanged with a Polish baroness named Ewelina Hańska, who later became his wife. It also inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche.
对大多数人来说，答案将是肯定的。且不说那些如本书的主人翁那样，穷途末路， 已经输掉身上最后一枚金币，准备投水自杀的人，世上有许多人，面对金钱和物质享受的诱惑，还不是将名誉、地位、家庭、祖国，甚至自己的生命，全部置诸脑后，而甘冒天下之大不韪，不顾道德、法律、舆论的阻力，杀人放火，诈骗盗窃，无所不为，小小一张驴皮，哪里阻止得住他们?然而这块小小的驴皮， 巴尔扎克还是费尽心思才得到的。 巴尔扎克经过十载艰辛，深刻地体验了金钱的威力和贫穷的痛苦，深知一个人如果疯狂地追求金钱，世间上很少有力量能够阻止他。巴尔扎克首先想到的力量，是良心的谴责和特殊的疾病。在这部小说里，召开盛大宴会的东道主是泰伊番，而且在小说里一再提到《红色旅馆》 ，可见泰伊番是经常出现在巴尔扎克脑际的一个人。为什么这个形象会缠住巴尔扎克，挥之不去呢?原来在《红色旅馆》里，泰伊番是个杀人犯，他用最要好的朋友的解剖刀，杀害了一个商人，盗走了商人的十万法郎珠宝，逃之天天，害得他的最要好的朋友被军事法庭判处死刑。泰伊番因此发了财，当上银行家，拥有价值一百万的地产，在社交场所出观时，他很爱笑，举止态度完全像个慈祥的老好人。他完全逃脱了法律的制裁，正在安享他：的不义之财。 巴尔扎克没有违反现实对这样一个人给于间的制裁， 正如《驴皮记》里拉斐尔得到六百万遗产以后，泰伊番所说的：“拉斐尔先生已成为六百万法郎的富翁，登上了权的宝座。他是国王，他可以为所欲为，他凌驾一切，像所有的富翁那样。对他来说，从今以后，所谓‘法国人在法律面前人人平等’，不过是记载在大宪章里的一句谎言。他不会服从法律，法律倒要服从他。没有为百万富翁而设的断头台，也没有对他们的行刑的刽子手。”拉斐尔回答道：“他们都是给自己行刑的刽子手。”
Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other "philosophical tales", was released one month later.
Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's renowned attention to detail is used to describe a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer, placing the main character in a home similar to the one he occupied at the start of his literary career. The central theme of La Peau de chagrin is the conflict between desire and longevity. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end.
La Peau de chagrin firmly established Balzac as a writer of significance in France. His social circle widened significantly, and he was sought eagerly by publishers for future projects. The book served as the catalyst for a series of letters he exchanged with a Polish baroness named Ewelina Hańska, who later became his wife. It also inspired Giselher Klebe's opera Die tödlichen Wünsche.
《 高老头》发表于1834年，是巴尔扎克最优秀的作品之一。这部作品在展示社会生活的广度和深度方面，在反映作家世界观的进步性和局限性方面，在表现《人间喜剧》的艺术成就和不足之处方面，都具有代表意义。其艺术风格最能代表巴尔扎克的特点。在这篇小说中，作者第一次使用他创造的“人物再现法”—让一个人物不仅在一部作品中出现，而且在以后的作品中连续不断地出现，它不仅使我们看到人物性格形成的不同阶段，而且使一系列作品构成一个整体，成为《人间喜剧》的有机部分。在此，一些主要人物如拉斯蒂涅、鲍赛昂子爵夫人、伏特冷纷纷登场亮相，《人间喜剧》拉开了序幕。
■著名译本
傅雷先生在1963年首译的《高老头》版本，人民文学出版社在1978年又重新出版，至今无人企及。
■有关于《人间喜剧》
巴尔扎克用总标题为《人间喜剧》的一系列小说，反映了急剧变革时期的法国生活。《人间喜剧》分为三大部分：风俗研究、哲理研究和分析研究；其中风俗研究内容最为丰富，又分为六个“场景”。其基本内容表现为：首先，反映了上升的资产阶级取代贵族阶级的罪恶发家史；同时也写出了贵族阶级的没落衰亡史，至为重要的内容是对金钱势力的批判，巴尔扎克描写了一幕幕围绕着金钱而展开的人间惨剧，从而使我们对资本主义社会的罪恶与肮脏有一个形象的认识。
高老头-【作者简介】
巴尔扎克是19世纪法国伟大的批判现实主义作家，欧洲批判现实主义文学的奠基人和杰出代表，是一位具有浓厚浪漫情调的伟大作家，一边因奢华的生活而负债累累，一边以崇高深刻的思想创作出博大精深的文学巨著。他
的生活趣事层出不穷，而作品更被誉为“法国社会的一面镜子”。在他逝世时，文学大师雨果曾站在法国巴黎的蒙蒙细雨中，面对成千上万哀悼者慷慨激昂地评价道：“在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者。”
一生创作96部长、中、短篇小说和随笔，总名为《人间喜剧》。其中代表作为《欧也妮•葛朗台》、《高老头》。100多年来，他的作品传遍了全世界，对世界文学的发展和人类进步产生了巨大的影响。马克思、恩格斯称赞他“是超群的小说家”、“现实主义大师”。 巴尔扎克出生于一个法国大革命后致富的资产阶级家庭，法科学校毕业后，拒绝家庭为他选择的受人尊敬的法律职业，而立志当文学家。为了获得独立生活和从事创作的物质保障，他曾试笔并插足商业，从事出版印刷业，但都以破产告终。这一切都为他认识社会、描写社会提供了极为珍贵的第一手材料。他不断追求和探索，对哲学、经济学、历史、自然科学、神学等领域进行了深入研究，积累了极为广博的知识。 1829年，巴尔扎克完成长篇小说《朱安党人》，这部取材于现实生活的作品为他带来巨大声誉，也为法国批判现实主义文学放下第一块基石，巴尔扎克将《朱安党人》和计划要写的136部小说总命名为《人间喜剧》，并为之写了《前言》，阐述了他的现实主义创作方法和基本原则，从理论上为法国批判现实主义文学奠定了坚固的基础。 巴尔扎克在艺术上取得巨大成就，他在小说结构方面匠心独运，小说结构多种多样，不拘一格、并善于将集中概括与精确描摹相结合，以外形反映内心本质等手法来塑造人物，他还善于以精细人微、生动逼真的环境描写再现时代风貌。恩格斯称赞巴尔扎克的《人间喜剧》写出了贵族阶级的没落衰败和资产阶级的上升发展，提供了社会各个领域无比丰富的生动细节和形象化的历史材料，“甚至在经济的细节方面（如革命以后动产和不动产的重新分配），我学到的东西也要比从当时所有职业历史学家、经济学院和统计学家那里学到的全部东西还要多”。（恩格斯：《恩格斯致玛•哈克奈斯》） 巴尔扎克以自己的创作在世界文学史上树立起不朽的丰碑。
高老头-【作品目录】
共有六章，分别是：
第一章 伏盖公寓
第二章 两处访问
第三章 初见世面
第四章 鬼上当
第五章 两个女儿
第六章 父亲的死
高老头-【内容梗概】
1891年冬，在巴黎拉丁区有一个叫伏盖公寓包饭客房，是一个叫伏盖的美国老妇人开的。这里住着各种各样的人：有穷大学生拉斯蒂涅；歇业的面粉商人高里奥；外号叫“鬼上当”的伏脱冷；被大银行家赶出家门的泰伊番小姐；骨瘦如材的老处女米旭诺等。每逢开饭的时候，客店的饭厅就特别热闹，因为大家可以在一起取笑高老头。
69岁的高老头，6 年前结束了他的买卖后，住到了伏盖公寓。当时，分住在二楼一间最好的房间，每年交一千二百法朗的膳宿费，他衣着讲究，每天还请理发师来给他梳头发，连鼻烟匣都是金的，他算得上这所公寓里最体面的房客，人们都叫他高里奥先生。寡妇老板娘还向他搔首弄姿，想改嫁于他当一名本地区的阔太太。
高老头把他全部的爱都放在两个出嫁的女儿身上，不受伏盖太太的诱惑。第二年年末，高老头就要求换次等房间，并且整个冬天屋子里没有生火取暖，膳宿费也减为九百法郎。大家把他当作“恶癖、无耻、低能所产生的最神秘的人物”。常有两个贵夫妻来找他，以为他有艳遇，高老头告诉大家，那是他的女儿：雷斯多伯爵夫人和银行家纽沁根太太。第三年，高老头又要求换到最低等的房间每月房钱降为四十五法郎，他戒了鼻烟，批发了理发匠，金刚钻、金烟匣、金链条等饰物也不见了，人也越来越瘦，看上去活像一个可怜虫。伏盖太太也认为：要是高老头真有那么有钱的女儿，他决不会住在四楼最低等的房间。
可是，高老头这个谜终于被拉斯蒂涅揭开了。拉斯蒂涅是从外地来巴黎读大学的青年，出身破落贵族家庭，白皮肤、黑头发、蓝眼睛，热情而有才气，想做一个清廉正直的法官。但巴黎的豪华生活的刺激加强了他“对权位的欲望与出人头地的志愿”。他认为靠自己的勤奋学习求上进的路太艰苦，也太遥远，还不一定行得通，而现实社会依靠几个有钱的女人作进身的阶梯则容易得多，于是他想“去征服几个可以做他的后台的妇女”。由于姑母的引荐，他结识了远房表姐，巴黎社交界地位显赫的鲍赛昂子爵夫人。拉斯蒂涅很得意地向伏盖公寓的房客们讲了在舞会认识了伯爵夫人的事。高老头兴奋地问：“昨晚雷斯多太太很漂亮吗？” 公寓老板娘便认定高老头定是给那些婆娘弄穷的。拉斯蒂涅想弄清高老头和伯爵夫人的关系，决定去雷斯多伯爵夫人家。在伯爵夫人家他的寒酸相引起仆人轻蔑；接着他莽撞地冲进了一间浴室，大出洋相；后又到提到和高老头住在一起，却引起伯爵夫妇的不快，把他赶了出来。拉斯蒂涅十分懊恼，只好赶去向表姐求教。鲍赛昂夫人告诉他，雷斯多太太便是高里奥的女儿。
高老头是法国大革命时期起家的面粉商人，中年丧妻，他把自己所有的爱都倾注在两个女儿身上。为了让她们挤进上流社会，从小给她们良好的教育，出嫁时，给了她们每人80万法郎的陪嫁，让大女儿嫁给了雷斯多伯爵，做了贵妇人；小女儿嫁给银行家纽沁根，当了金融资产阶级阔太太。他以为女儿嫁了体面人家，自己便可以受到尊重、奉承。那知不到两年，女婿竟把他当作要不得的下流东西，把他赶出家门。高老头为了获得他们的好感，忍痛出卖了店铺，将钱一分为二给了两个女儿，自己便搬进了伏盖公寓。两个女儿只要爸爸的钱，可现在高老头已没钱了。
鲍赛昂夫人教导拉斯蒂涅社会又卑鄙又残忍，要他以牙还牙去对付这个社会。她说：“你越没有心肝，就越高升得快。你毫不留情的打击人家，人家就怕你。”“没有一个女人关切，他在这儿便一文不值，这女人还得年轻、有钱、漂亮。”按照表姐的指点，拉斯蒂涅决心去勾引高老头的二女儿妞沁根太太。
伏脱冷是个目光敏锐的人，看出拉斯蒂涅想往上爬的心思。他对拉斯蒂涅说：“在这个互相吞筮的社会里，清白老实一无用处，如果不像炮弹一样轰进去，就得像瘟疫一般钻进去，清白诚实是一无用处的。”他指点拉斯蒂涅去追求维多利小姐，他可以叫人杀死泰伊番小姐的哥哥，让她当上继承人，这样银行家的遗产就会落到拉斯蒂涅手中，只要给他二十万法郎作报酬。拉斯蒂涅虽然被伏脱冷的赤裸裸的言辞所打动，但又没敢答应下来。
拉斯蒂涅通过鲍赛昂夫人结识了纽沁根太太，而纽沁根太太并不是他想要追求的对象。她的丈夫在经济上对她控制很严，甚至要求拉斯蒂涅拿自己仅有的100 法郎去赌场替她赢6000法郎回来。于是拉斯蒂涅便转向
对泰伊番小姐的进攻。
这时伏脱冷已让同党寻衅跟泰伊番小姐的哥哥决头，并杀死了他。拉斯蒂涅矛盾重重，是爱维多利小姐呢，还是爱纽沁根太太呢？最后，他选择了后者，他想 “这样的结合既没有罪过，也没有什么能教最严格的道学家皱一皱眉头的地方。”
房客米旭诺老小姐，她接受了警察局暗探险的差使，刺探伏脱冷的身份。她在伏脱冷的饮料中下麻药，伏脱冷被醉倒不省人事。米旭诺脱下伏脱冷的外衣，在肩上打了一巴掌，鲜红的皮肤上立刻现出“苦役犯”的字样。当伏脱冷醒来时，警察已经包围了伏盖公寓。特务长打落了他的假发，伏脱冷全身的血立刻涌上了脸，眼睛像野猫一样发亮，他使出一股蛮劲，大吼一声，把所有的房客吓得大叫起来。暗探们一齐掏出手枪，伏脱冷一见亮晶晶的火门，突然变了面孔，镇静下来，主动把两只手伸上去。他承认自己叫雅克·柯冷，诨名“鬼上当”，被判过20年苦役，他被逮捕了。
高老头得知拉斯蒂涅爱自己的二女儿，想为拉斯蒂涅与女儿牵线搭桥，购买了一幢小楼，供他们幽会。一天，纽沁根太太急忙来找高老头，说明她丈夫同意让她和拉斯蒂涅来往，但她不能向他要回陪嫁钱，高老头要女儿不要接受这条件，“钱是性命，有了钱就有了一切。”这时，雷斯多夫人也来了。她哭着告诉父亲：她的丈夫用她卖掉了项链的钱去为情人还债，现在她的财产已差不多全部被夺走，她要父亲给她一万二千法郎去救她的情夫。两个女儿吵起嘴来，高老头爱莫能助，他急得晕过去，患了初期脑溢血症。
在他患病期间，两姐妹都没来看他一次，大女儿关心的是即将参加盼望已久的鲍赛昂夫人的舞会；二女儿来过一次，但不是来看父亲的病的，而是要父亲给她支付欠裁缝一千法郎的定钱。高老头被逼得付出了最后1 文钱，致使中风症猛发作。
鲍赛昂夫人举行盛大的舞会，场面非常壮观，公主、爵爷、名门闺秀都前来参加。500 多辆车上的灯烛照得屋内处处通明透亮。子爵夫人装束素雅，脸上没有表情，仿佛还保持着贵妇人的面目，而在她心目中，这座灿烂的宫殿已经变成一片沙漠，一回到内室，便禁不住泪水长流，周身发抖。舞会结束后，拉斯蒂涅目送表姐鲍赛昂夫人坐上轿车，同她作了最后一次告别。他感到“他的教育已经受完了”他认为自己 “入了地狱，而且还得呆下去”。
可怜的高老头快断气了，他还盼望着两个女儿能来见他一面。拉斯蒂涅差人去请他的两个女儿，两个女儿都推三阻四不来。老人每只眼中冒出一颗眼泪，滚在鲜红的眼皮边上，他长叹一声，说：“唉，爱了一辈子的女儿，到头来反给女儿遗弃！”
只有拉斯蒂涅张罗着高老头的丧事，两个女儿女婿只派了两驾空车跟在灵柩后面。棺木是由一个大学生向医院廉价买来的，送葬费由拉斯蒂涅卖掉金表支付的。他目睹这一幕幕悲剧，随着高老头的埋葬也埋葬了自己最后一滴同情的眼泪，他决心向社会挑战，“现在咱们俩来拼一拼吧！”
高老头-【思想感情】
《高老头》着重揭露批判的是资本主义世界中人与人之间赤裸裸的金钱关系。小说以1819年底到1820年初的巴黎为背景，主要写两个平行而又交叉的故事：退休面条商高里奥老头被两个女儿冷落，悲惨地死在伏盖公寓的阁楼上；青年拉斯蒂涅在巴黎社会的腐蚀下走上堕落之路。同时还穿插了鲍赛昂夫人和伏脱冷的故事。通过寒酸的
公寓和豪华的贵族沙龙这两个不断交替的主要舞台，作家描绘了一幅幅巴黎社会人欲横流、极端丑恶的图画，暴露了在金钱势力支配下资产阶级的道德沦丧和人与人之间的冷酷无情，揭示了在资产阶级的进攻下贵族阶级的必然灭亡，真实地反映了波旁王朝复辟时期的特征。
高老头-【写作背景】
19世纪上半叶是法国资本主义建立的初期，拿破仑在1815年的滑铁卢战役中彻底败北，由此波旁王朝复辟，统治一直延续到1830年。由于查理十世的反动政策激怒了人民，七月革命仅仅三天便推倒了复辟王朝，开始了长达18年的七月王朝的统治，由金融资产阶级掌握了政权。《欧也妮·葛朗台》发表于1833年，也即七月王朝初期。刚过去的复辟王朝在人们的头脑中还记忆犹新。复辟时期，贵族虽然从国外返回了法国，耀武扬威，不可一世，可是他们的实际地位与法国大革命以前不可同日而语，因为资产阶级已经强大起来。刚上台的路易十八不得不颁布新宪法，实行君主立宪，向资产阶级做出让步，以维护摇摇欲坠的政权。资产阶级虽然失去了政治权力，却凭借经济上的实力与贵族相抗衡。到了复辟王朝后期，资产阶级不仅在城市，而且在贵族保持广泛影响的农村，都把贵族打得落花流水。复辟王朝实际上大势已去。巴尔扎克比同时代作家更敏锐，独具慧眼地观察到这个重大社会现象。
高老头-【相关评论】
“《高老头》还成功地塑造了青年野心家拉斯蒂涅和没落贵夫人鲍赛昂的形象。前者原为一个外省贵族青年，想来巴黎进大学重振家业，但目睹上流社会的挥金如土、灯红酒绿，他往上爬的欲望倍增，
他在鲍赛昂子爵夫人和逃犯伏特冷的唆使下，日益丧失正直的良心，开始为金钱而出卖正直，特别见证了高老头的两个女儿对待父亲象榨干的柠檬一般以后，更坚定了向资产阶级的道路走去的决心。《高老头》中主要描写了他野心家性格形成的过程，在以后的一系列作品中他更一发不可收拾，靠出卖道德和良心竟当上了副国务秘书和贵族院议员，而一切的取得都依赖于极端利己主义原则。鲍赛昂子爵夫人是巴尔扎克为贵族阶级唱的一曲无尽的挽歌，她出身名门贵族，是巴黎社交界的皇后，只因缺乏金钱而被情人抛弃，被迫退出巴黎上流社会，高贵的门第再也敌不过金钱的势力，她在后来的小说中因为同样的原因又一次被金钱出卖。她的遭遇告诉人们，贵族阶级除了失败之外不可能有更好的命运，金钱才是这个世界的主宰。
《高老头》在艺术上很严谨，作者设置了典型环境，让典型人物活动于其中，使人与人的金钱关系与环境相契合，书中安排了四条情节线索，以拉斯蒂涅的堕落为主线，其它几条起辅助作用，纵横交错又脉络分明；典型人物的刻划是巴尔扎克的最大特色，不论是外貌描写还是心理刻划，甚至一个细节，如高老头每吃一块面包都要放在鼻下嗅一嗅，都使人物更鲜明生动；人物语言的个性化也是作者一大功力，贵族沙龙中的语言与逃犯的语言绝不一样。”
高老头-【精彩片段】
高老头临死前想见女儿一面,让人去叫他的女儿,可两个女儿谁也没来。
高里奥不出声了，仿佛集中全身的精力熬着痛苦。“她们在这儿，我不会叫苦了，干么还要叫苦呢？”他迷迷糊糊昏沉了好久。克利斯朵夫回来，拉斯蒂涅以为高老头睡熟了，让佣人高声回报他出差的情形。
“先生，我先上伯爵夫人家，可没法跟她说话，她和丈夫有要紧事儿。我再三央求，雷斯多先生亲自出来对我说：高里奥先生快死了是不是？哎，再好没有。我有事，要太太待在家里。事情完了，她会去的。——
他似乎很生气，这位先生。我正要出来，太太从一扇我看不见的门里走到穿堂，告诉我，你对我父亲说，我同丈夫正在商量事情，不能来。那是有关我孩子们生死的问题。但等事情一完，我就去看他。——说到男爵夫人吧，又是另外一桩事儿！我没有见到她，不能跟她说话。老妈子说她今儿早上五点一刻才从舞会回来，中午以前叫醒她，一定要挨骂的。等会她打铃明我，我会告诉她，说她父亲的病更重了。报告一件坏消息，不会嫌太晚的。我再三央求也没用。哎，是呀，我也要求见男爵，他不在家。”
“一个也不来”拉斯蒂捏嚷道，“让我写信给她们。”“一个也不来，”老人坐起来接着说，“她们有事，她们在睡觉，她们不会来的。我早知道了。直要临死才知道女儿是什么东西！朋友，你别结婚，别生孩子！你给他们生命，他们给你死。你带他们到世界上来，他们把你从世界上赶出去。她们不会来的！我已经知道了十年。有时我心里这么想，只是不敢相信。”
高老头死了，两个女儿谁也没有来，他的钱都给女儿花光了，到死连入殓的衣服都没有，是拉斯蒂涅卖了自己的表才给他入殓的。
拉斯蒂涅奔下楼梯，到雷斯多太太家去了。刚才那幕可怕的景象使他动了感情，一路义愤填胸。他走进穿堂求见雷斯多太太，人家回报说她不能见容。
他对当差说：“我是为了她马上要死的父亲来的。”“先生，伯爵再三吩咐我们……”“既然伯爵在家，那么告诉他，说他岳父快死了，我要立刻和他说话。”欧也纳等了好久。“说不定他就在这个时候死了，”他心里想。
当差带他走进第一窖室，雷斯多先生站在壁炉前面，见了客人也不请坐。“伯爵，”拉斯蒂涅说，“令岳在破烂的阁楼上就要断气了，连买木柴的钱也没有；他马上要死了，但等见一面女儿……”“先生，”伯爵冷冷的回答，“你大概可以看出，我对高里奥先生没有什么好感。他教坏了我太太，造成我家庭的不幸。我把他当做扰乱我安宁的敌人。他死也好，活也好，我全不在意。你瞧，这是我对他的情分。社会尽可以责备我，我才不在乎呢。我现在要处理的事，比顾虑那些傻瓜的阔言闲语紧要得多。至于我太太，她现在那个模样没法出门，我也不让她出门。请你告诉她父亲，只消她对我，对我的孩子，尽完了她的责任，她会去看他的。要是她爱她的父亲，几分钟内她就可以自由……”
“伯爵，我没有权利批评你的行为，你是你太太的主人。至少我能相信你是讲信义的吧？请
你答应我一件事，就是告诉她，说她父亲没有一天好活了，因为她不去送终，已经在咒她了！”雷斯多注意到欧也纳愤愤不平的语气，回答道：“你自己去说吧。”
拉斯蒂涅跟着伯爵走进伯爵夫人平时起坐的客厅。她泪人儿似的埋在沙发里，那副痛不欲生的模样叫他看了可怜。她不敢望拉斯蒂涅，先怯生生的瞧了瞧丈夫，眼睛的神气表示她精神肉体都被专横的丈夫压倒了。伯爵侧了侧脑袋，她才敢开口：“先生，我都听到了。告诉我父亲，他要知道我现在的处境，一定会原谅我。想不到要受这种刑罚简直受不了。可是我要反抗到底，”她对地的丈夫说。“我也有儿女。请你对父亲说，不管表面上怎么样，在父亲面前我并没有错，”她无可奈何的对欧也纳说。
那女的经历的苦难，欧也纳不难想象，便呆呆的走了出来。听到特·雷斯多先生的口吻，他知道自己白跑了一趟，阿娜斯大齐已经失去自由。
接着他赶到特·纽沁根太太家，发觉她还在床上。“我不舒服呀，朋友，”她说。“从跳舞会出来受了凉，我怕要害肺炎呢，我等医生来……”欧也纳打断了她的话，说道：“哪怕死神已经到了你身边，爬也得爬到你父亲跟前去。他在叫你！你要听到他一声，马上不觉得你自己害病了。”
“欧也纳，父亲的病也许不象你说的那么严重；可是我要在你眼里有什么不是，我才难过死呢；所以我一定听你的吩咐。我知道，倘若我这一回出去闹出一场大病来，父亲要伤心死的。我等医生来过了就走。”她一眼看不见欧也纳身上的表链，便叫道：“哟！怎么你的表没有啦？”欧也纳脸上红了一块。“欧也纳！欧也纳！倘使你已经把它卖了，丢了，……哦！那太岂有此理了。”
大学生伏在但斐纳床上，凑着她耳朵说：“你要知道么？哼！好，告诉你吧！你父亲一个钱没有了，今晚上要把他入硷的尸衣都没法买。你送我的表在当铺里，我钱都光了。”
但斐纳猛的从床上跳下，奔向书柜，抓起钱袋递给拉斯蒂捏，打着铃嚷道：“我去我去，欧也纳。让我穿衣服，我简直是禽兽了！去吧，我会赶在你前面！” 她回头叫老妈子：“丹兰士，请老爷立刻上来跟我说话。”
高老头-【艺术成就】
《高老头》集中表现了巴尔扎克现实主义创作艺术的主要特色。
■精细而富有特征的典型环境
巴尔扎克非常重视详细而逼真的环境描绘，一方面是为了再现生活，更重要的是为了刻画人物性格。作品围绕拉斯蒂涅的活动，描写了巴黎不同等级、不同阶层的人们的生活环境；拉丁区的伏盖公寓，形似牢狱的黄色屋
子，到处散发着“闭塞的、霉烂的、酸腐的气味”，塞满了肮脏油腻、残破丑陋的器皿和家具，这是下层人物的寄居之地。唐打区内高老头的两个女儿家里，虽有金碧辉煌的房子、贵重的器物，但“毫无气派的回廊”，挂满意大利油画的客厅却“装饰得像咖啡馆”，这显示了作为新贵的资产阶级暴发户们俗不可耐的排场。圣日尔曼区古老的鲍赛昂府则显示出完全不同的气派，院中套着精壮马匹的华丽马车，穿着金镶边大红制服的门丁，两边供满鲜花的大楼梯以及只有灰和粉红色的小巧玲珑的客室，这些精雅绝伦的陈设、别出心裁的布置都衬托出上流社会贵族“领袖”的风雅超群。这些精细而富有特征的环境描写，有利于展示其对人间性格形成的影响。当拉斯蒂涅从雷斯多夫人和鲍赛昂夫人两处访问后回到栖身的伏盖公寓时，作品写道：“走入气味难闻的饭厅，十八个食客好似马槽前的牲口一般正在吃饭。他觉得这副穷酸相跟饭厅的景象丑恶已极。环境转变太突兀了，对比太强烈了，格外刺激他的野心……”已经享受过上流社会生活的拉斯蒂涅再也不肯自甘贫贱，最后，他决心弄脏双手，抹黑良心，不顾一切地向上扑。拉斯蒂涅的堕落是这种特定的典型环境所决定的。
■人物性格的典型化
巴尔扎克不仅塑造了高里奥、拉斯蒂涅、鲍赛昂夫人、伏脱冷等典型形象，而且在其他人物形象的塑造中也做到了共性与个性的统一。雷斯多伯爵夫妇和纽沁根男爵夫妇虽然有贵族的头衔，实际上都是资产者。他们既有追求个人私利的共同特性，又都是独具个性的典型。银行家纽沁根心目中只有金钱，他对待妻子寻求外遇的态度很明朗：“我允许你胡搅，你也得让我犯罪，教那些可怜虫倾家荡产。”雷斯多伯爵对妻子的美着了迷，虽听凭她和玛克勾搭，却有一定限度，这和他的贵族门第观念有关。他知道妻子偷卖祖传钻石后，想方设法赎回，让她戴着参加舞会，以维护门第的尊严。
阿娜斯塔齐和但斐那都是高老头的女儿，但两姊妹各有自己的个性。前者身材高大、结实、黑发，眼睛炯炯有神，进宫谒见过皇上，不把妹妹放在眼里。后者娇小、金发，极有风韵，自知社会地位不高，陪嫁被丈夫侵占，又遭情夫遗弃，性格忧郁善感，经常怀念童年时代的幸福生活。但她们俩都是虚荣心极强的利己主义者，为了满足欲望，不惜榨干父亲的积蓄。阿娜斯塔齐向父亲要钱，往往用勒索的方法，但斐那则用撒娇哄骗的办法。
■精致的结构
小说以高老头和拉斯蒂涅的故事为两条主要线索，又穿插了伏脱冷、鲍赛昂夫人的故事。几条线索错综交织，头绪看似纷繁而实际主次分明、脉络清楚、有条不紊。作品以叙述高老头被女儿榨干
钱财遭抛弃为中心情节，以拉斯蒂涅为中心人物，通过他的活动穿针引线，将上层社会与下层社会联系起来，将贵族沙龙与资产者客厅连结起来。随着高老头之谜在拉斯蒂涅眼前展现、解开，情节步步推向高潮。伏脱冷被捕、鲍赛昂夫人被弃、高老头惨死，拉斯蒂涅都是目睹者、见证人。社会的丑恶证实了他接受的反面教育，高老头埋葬之日，也是拉斯蒂涅的青年时代结束之时。几条线索紧密交织、环环相扣、步步深入，起着互相深化、互为补充的作用，从而深刻地表现了作品的主题。
■对比手法的广泛运用
艺术上的对比手法在《高老头》中运用得十分广泛。伏盖公寓与鲍赛昂府的强烈对比，不仅促使拉斯蒂涅个人野心的猛烈膨胀，而且表明不管是赫赫声威的豪门大户还是穷酸暗淡的陋室客栈，一样充斥着拜金主义，一样存在着卑劣无耻。高贵庄重的鲍赛昂夫人与粗俗强悍的伏脱冷形成鲜明对比，一个文质彬彬，一个直言不讳，但不同的语言却又揭示了同样的道理，而他们两人看透社会的理论又与自己生活中的惨败成为反衬，更加深了悲剧的意味。此外，还有高老头女儿的穷奢极欲与高老头的贫苦窘困的对比，鲍赛昂夫人退隐时热闹的场面与凄凉心情的对比等等。这种鲜明对比的手法，使作品的主题更加鲜明突出。
高老头-巴尔扎克—文学上的拿破仑
巴尔扎克（ Honore de Balzac 1799 ～ 1850 ） 19 世纪法国伟大的批判现实主义作家，欧洲批判现实主义文学的奠基人和杰出代表。一生创作 96 部长、中、短篇小说和随笔，总名为《人间喜剧》。其中代表作为《欧也妮·葛朗台》、《高老头》。100 多年来，他的作品传遍了全世界，对世界文学的发展和人类进步产生了巨大的影响。马克思、恩格斯称赞他“是超群的小说家”、“现实主义大师”。
巴尔扎克 1799 年 5 月 20 日出生于一个法国大革命后致富的资产阶级家庭，法科学校毕业后，拒绝家庭为他选择的受人尊敬的法律职业，而立志当文学家。为了获得独立生活和从事创作的物质保障，他曾试笔并插足商业，从事出版印刷业，但都以破产告终。这一切都为他认识社会、描写社会提供了极为珍贵的第一手材料。他不断追求和探索，对哲学、经济学、历史、自然科学、神学等领域进行了深入研究，积累了极为广博的知识。
1829 年，巴尔扎克完成长篇小说《舒昂党人》，这部取材于现实生活的作品为他带来巨大声誉，也为法国批判现实主义文学放下第一块基石，巴尔扎克将《舒昂党人》和计划要写的一百四五十部小说总命名为《人间喜剧》，并为之写了《前言》，阐述了他的现实主义创作方法和基本原则，从理论上为法国批判现实主义文学奠定了基础。
长期的辛劳严重损害了巴尔扎克的健康，刚过50岁，他就重病缠身了。在巴尔扎克生命垂危时刻，他仍然沉浸在自己制造的世界里，他恳求医生延长他的生命，他就能再写出一部作品。 1850 年 8 月 18 日 晚上 11 点半 ，巴尔扎克永远闭上了他的那双洞察一切的眼睛，结束了他辛勤劳累的一生。
巴尔扎克在艺术上取得巨大成就，他在小说结构方面匠心独运，小说结构多种多样，不拘一格、并善于将集中概括与精确描摹相结合，以外形反映内心本质等手法来塑造人物，他还善于以精细人微、生动逼真的环境描写再现时代风貌。恩格斯称赞巴尔扎克的《人间喜剧》写出了贵族阶级的没落衰败和资产阶级的上升发展，提供了社会各个领域无比丰富的生动细节和形象化的历史材料，“甚至在经济的细节方面（如革命以后动产和不动产的重新分配），我学到的东西也要比从当时所有职业历史学家、经济学院和统计学家那里学到的全部东西还要多”。（恩格斯：《恩格斯致玛·哈克奈斯》）
巴尔扎克以自己的创作在世界文学史上树立起不朽的丰碑。他以对文学的热爱成就了一道美丽的文学风景！
Originally published in serial form during the winter of 1834–35, Le Père Goriot is widely considered Balzac's most important novel.[1] It marks the first serious use by the author of characters who had appeared in other books, a technique that distinguishes Balzac's fiction. The novel is also noted as an example of his realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext.
The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought about profound changes in French society; the struggle of individuals to secure upper-class status is ubiquitous in the book. The city of Paris also impresses itself on the characters – especially young Rastignac, who grew up in the provinces of southern France. Balzac analyzes, through Goriot and others, the nature of family and marriage, providing a pessimistic view of these institutions.
The novel was released to mixed reviews. Some critics praised the author for his complex characters and attention to detail; others condemned him for his many depictions of corruption and greed. A favorite of Balzac's, the book quickly won widespread popularity and has often been adapted for film and the stage. It gave rise to the French expression "Rastignac", a social climber willing to use any means to better his situation.
■著名译本
傅雷先生在1963年首译的《高老头》版本，人民文学出版社在1978年又重新出版，至今无人企及。
■有关于《人间喜剧》
巴尔扎克用总标题为《人间喜剧》的一系列小说，反映了急剧变革时期的法国生活。《人间喜剧》分为三大部分：风俗研究、哲理研究和分析研究；其中风俗研究内容最为丰富，又分为六个“场景”。其基本内容表现为：首先，反映了上升的资产阶级取代贵族阶级的罪恶发家史；同时也写出了贵族阶级的没落衰亡史，至为重要的内容是对金钱势力的批判，巴尔扎克描写了一幕幕围绕着金钱而展开的人间惨剧，从而使我们对资本主义社会的罪恶与肮脏有一个形象的认识。
高老头-【作者简介】
巴尔扎克是19世纪法国伟大的批判现实主义作家，欧洲批判现实主义文学的奠基人和杰出代表，是一位具有浓厚浪漫情调的伟大作家，一边因奢华的生活而负债累累，一边以崇高深刻的思想创作出博大精深的文学巨著。他
的生活趣事层出不穷，而作品更被誉为“法国社会的一面镜子”。在他逝世时，文学大师雨果曾站在法国巴黎的蒙蒙细雨中，面对成千上万哀悼者慷慨激昂地评价道：“在最伟大的人物中间，巴尔扎克是名列前茅者；在最优秀的人物中间，巴尔扎克是佼佼者。”
一生创作96部长、中、短篇小说和随笔，总名为《人间喜剧》。其中代表作为《欧也妮•葛朗台》、《高老头》。100多年来，他的作品传遍了全世界，对世界文学的发展和人类进步产生了巨大的影响。马克思、恩格斯称赞他“是超群的小说家”、“现实主义大师”。 巴尔扎克出生于一个法国大革命后致富的资产阶级家庭，法科学校毕业后，拒绝家庭为他选择的受人尊敬的法律职业，而立志当文学家。为了获得独立生活和从事创作的物质保障，他曾试笔并插足商业，从事出版印刷业，但都以破产告终。这一切都为他认识社会、描写社会提供了极为珍贵的第一手材料。他不断追求和探索，对哲学、经济学、历史、自然科学、神学等领域进行了深入研究，积累了极为广博的知识。 1829年，巴尔扎克完成长篇小说《朱安党人》，这部取材于现实生活的作品为他带来巨大声誉，也为法国批判现实主义文学放下第一块基石，巴尔扎克将《朱安党人》和计划要写的136部小说总命名为《人间喜剧》，并为之写了《前言》，阐述了他的现实主义创作方法和基本原则，从理论上为法国批判现实主义文学奠定了坚固的基础。 巴尔扎克在艺术上取得巨大成就，他在小说结构方面匠心独运，小说结构多种多样，不拘一格、并善于将集中概括与精确描摹相结合，以外形反映内心本质等手法来塑造人物，他还善于以精细人微、生动逼真的环境描写再现时代风貌。恩格斯称赞巴尔扎克的《人间喜剧》写出了贵族阶级的没落衰败和资产阶级的上升发展，提供了社会各个领域无比丰富的生动细节和形象化的历史材料，“甚至在经济的细节方面（如革命以后动产和不动产的重新分配），我学到的东西也要比从当时所有职业历史学家、经济学院和统计学家那里学到的全部东西还要多”。（恩格斯：《恩格斯致玛•哈克奈斯》） 巴尔扎克以自己的创作在世界文学史上树立起不朽的丰碑。
高老头-【作品目录】
共有六章，分别是：
第一章 伏盖公寓
第二章 两处访问
第三章 初见世面
第四章 鬼上当
第五章 两个女儿
第六章 父亲的死
高老头-【内容梗概】
1891年冬，在巴黎拉丁区有一个叫伏盖公寓包饭客房，是一个叫伏盖的美国老妇人开的。这里住着各种各样的人：有穷大学生拉斯蒂涅；歇业的面粉商人高里奥；外号叫“鬼上当”的伏脱冷；被大银行家赶出家门的泰伊番小姐；骨瘦如材的老处女米旭诺等。每逢开饭的时候，客店的饭厅就特别热闹，因为大家可以在一起取笑高老头。
69岁的高老头，6 年前结束了他的买卖后，住到了伏盖公寓。当时，分住在二楼一间最好的房间，每年交一千二百法朗的膳宿费，他衣着讲究，每天还请理发师来给他梳头发，连鼻烟匣都是金的，他算得上这所公寓里最体面的房客，人们都叫他高里奥先生。寡妇老板娘还向他搔首弄姿，想改嫁于他当一名本地区的阔太太。
高老头把他全部的爱都放在两个出嫁的女儿身上，不受伏盖太太的诱惑。第二年年末，高老头就要求换次等房间，并且整个冬天屋子里没有生火取暖，膳宿费也减为九百法郎。大家把他当作“恶癖、无耻、低能所产生的最神秘的人物”。常有两个贵夫妻来找他，以为他有艳遇，高老头告诉大家，那是他的女儿：雷斯多伯爵夫人和银行家纽沁根太太。第三年，高老头又要求换到最低等的房间每月房钱降为四十五法郎，他戒了鼻烟，批发了理发匠，金刚钻、金烟匣、金链条等饰物也不见了，人也越来越瘦，看上去活像一个可怜虫。伏盖太太也认为：要是高老头真有那么有钱的女儿，他决不会住在四楼最低等的房间。
可是，高老头这个谜终于被拉斯蒂涅揭开了。拉斯蒂涅是从外地来巴黎读大学的青年，出身破落贵族家庭，白皮肤、黑头发、蓝眼睛，热情而有才气，想做一个清廉正直的法官。但巴黎的豪华生活的刺激加强了他“对权位的欲望与出人头地的志愿”。他认为靠自己的勤奋学习求上进的路太艰苦，也太遥远，还不一定行得通，而现实社会依靠几个有钱的女人作进身的阶梯则容易得多，于是他想“去征服几个可以做他的后台的妇女”。由于姑母的引荐，他结识了远房表姐，巴黎社交界地位显赫的鲍赛昂子爵夫人。拉斯蒂涅很得意地向伏盖公寓的房客们讲了在舞会认识了伯爵夫人的事。高老头兴奋地问：“昨晚雷斯多太太很漂亮吗？” 公寓老板娘便认定高老头定是给那些婆娘弄穷的。拉斯蒂涅想弄清高老头和伯爵夫人的关系，决定去雷斯多伯爵夫人家。在伯爵夫人家他的寒酸相引起仆人轻蔑；接着他莽撞地冲进了一间浴室，大出洋相；后又到提到和高老头住在一起，却引起伯爵夫妇的不快，把他赶了出来。拉斯蒂涅十分懊恼，只好赶去向表姐求教。鲍赛昂夫人告诉他，雷斯多太太便是高里奥的女儿。
高老头是法国大革命时期起家的面粉商人，中年丧妻，他把自己所有的爱都倾注在两个女儿身上。为了让她们挤进上流社会，从小给她们良好的教育，出嫁时，给了她们每人80万法郎的陪嫁，让大女儿嫁给了雷斯多伯爵，做了贵妇人；小女儿嫁给银行家纽沁根，当了金融资产阶级阔太太。他以为女儿嫁了体面人家，自己便可以受到尊重、奉承。那知不到两年，女婿竟把他当作要不得的下流东西，把他赶出家门。高老头为了获得他们的好感，忍痛出卖了店铺，将钱一分为二给了两个女儿，自己便搬进了伏盖公寓。两个女儿只要爸爸的钱，可现在高老头已没钱了。
鲍赛昂夫人教导拉斯蒂涅社会又卑鄙又残忍，要他以牙还牙去对付这个社会。她说：“你越没有心肝，就越高升得快。你毫不留情的打击人家，人家就怕你。”“没有一个女人关切，他在这儿便一文不值，这女人还得年轻、有钱、漂亮。”按照表姐的指点，拉斯蒂涅决心去勾引高老头的二女儿妞沁根太太。
伏脱冷是个目光敏锐的人，看出拉斯蒂涅想往上爬的心思。他对拉斯蒂涅说：“在这个互相吞筮的社会里，清白老实一无用处，如果不像炮弹一样轰进去，就得像瘟疫一般钻进去，清白诚实是一无用处的。”他指点拉斯蒂涅去追求维多利小姐，他可以叫人杀死泰伊番小姐的哥哥，让她当上继承人，这样银行家的遗产就会落到拉斯蒂涅手中，只要给他二十万法郎作报酬。拉斯蒂涅虽然被伏脱冷的赤裸裸的言辞所打动，但又没敢答应下来。
拉斯蒂涅通过鲍赛昂夫人结识了纽沁根太太，而纽沁根太太并不是他想要追求的对象。她的丈夫在经济上对她控制很严，甚至要求拉斯蒂涅拿自己仅有的100 法郎去赌场替她赢6000法郎回来。于是拉斯蒂涅便转向
对泰伊番小姐的进攻。
这时伏脱冷已让同党寻衅跟泰伊番小姐的哥哥决头，并杀死了他。拉斯蒂涅矛盾重重，是爱维多利小姐呢，还是爱纽沁根太太呢？最后，他选择了后者，他想 “这样的结合既没有罪过，也没有什么能教最严格的道学家皱一皱眉头的地方。”
房客米旭诺老小姐，她接受了警察局暗探险的差使，刺探伏脱冷的身份。她在伏脱冷的饮料中下麻药，伏脱冷被醉倒不省人事。米旭诺脱下伏脱冷的外衣，在肩上打了一巴掌，鲜红的皮肤上立刻现出“苦役犯”的字样。当伏脱冷醒来时，警察已经包围了伏盖公寓。特务长打落了他的假发，伏脱冷全身的血立刻涌上了脸，眼睛像野猫一样发亮，他使出一股蛮劲，大吼一声，把所有的房客吓得大叫起来。暗探们一齐掏出手枪，伏脱冷一见亮晶晶的火门，突然变了面孔，镇静下来，主动把两只手伸上去。他承认自己叫雅克·柯冷，诨名“鬼上当”，被判过20年苦役，他被逮捕了。
高老头得知拉斯蒂涅爱自己的二女儿，想为拉斯蒂涅与女儿牵线搭桥，购买了一幢小楼，供他们幽会。一天，纽沁根太太急忙来找高老头，说明她丈夫同意让她和拉斯蒂涅来往，但她不能向他要回陪嫁钱，高老头要女儿不要接受这条件，“钱是性命，有了钱就有了一切。”这时，雷斯多夫人也来了。她哭着告诉父亲：她的丈夫用她卖掉了项链的钱去为情人还债，现在她的财产已差不多全部被夺走，她要父亲给她一万二千法郎去救她的情夫。两个女儿吵起嘴来，高老头爱莫能助，他急得晕过去，患了初期脑溢血症。
在他患病期间，两姐妹都没来看他一次，大女儿关心的是即将参加盼望已久的鲍赛昂夫人的舞会；二女儿来过一次，但不是来看父亲的病的，而是要父亲给她支付欠裁缝一千法郎的定钱。高老头被逼得付出了最后1 文钱，致使中风症猛发作。
鲍赛昂夫人举行盛大的舞会，场面非常壮观，公主、爵爷、名门闺秀都前来参加。500 多辆车上的灯烛照得屋内处处通明透亮。子爵夫人装束素雅，脸上没有表情，仿佛还保持着贵妇人的面目，而在她心目中，这座灿烂的宫殿已经变成一片沙漠，一回到内室，便禁不住泪水长流，周身发抖。舞会结束后，拉斯蒂涅目送表姐鲍赛昂夫人坐上轿车，同她作了最后一次告别。他感到“他的教育已经受完了”他认为自己 “入了地狱，而且还得呆下去”。
可怜的高老头快断气了，他还盼望着两个女儿能来见他一面。拉斯蒂涅差人去请他的两个女儿，两个女儿都推三阻四不来。老人每只眼中冒出一颗眼泪，滚在鲜红的眼皮边上，他长叹一声，说：“唉，爱了一辈子的女儿，到头来反给女儿遗弃！”
只有拉斯蒂涅张罗着高老头的丧事，两个女儿女婿只派了两驾空车跟在灵柩后面。棺木是由一个大学生向医院廉价买来的，送葬费由拉斯蒂涅卖掉金表支付的。他目睹这一幕幕悲剧，随着高老头的埋葬也埋葬了自己最后一滴同情的眼泪，他决心向社会挑战，“现在咱们俩来拼一拼吧！”
高老头-【思想感情】
《高老头》着重揭露批判的是资本主义世界中人与人之间赤裸裸的金钱关系。小说以1819年底到1820年初的巴黎为背景，主要写两个平行而又交叉的故事：退休面条商高里奥老头被两个女儿冷落，悲惨地死在伏盖公寓的阁楼上；青年拉斯蒂涅在巴黎社会的腐蚀下走上堕落之路。同时还穿插了鲍赛昂夫人和伏脱冷的故事。通过寒酸的
公寓和豪华的贵族沙龙这两个不断交替的主要舞台，作家描绘了一幅幅巴黎社会人欲横流、极端丑恶的图画，暴露了在金钱势力支配下资产阶级的道德沦丧和人与人之间的冷酷无情，揭示了在资产阶级的进攻下贵族阶级的必然灭亡，真实地反映了波旁王朝复辟时期的特征。
高老头-【写作背景】
19世纪上半叶是法国资本主义建立的初期，拿破仑在1815年的滑铁卢战役中彻底败北，由此波旁王朝复辟，统治一直延续到1830年。由于查理十世的反动政策激怒了人民，七月革命仅仅三天便推倒了复辟王朝，开始了长达18年的七月王朝的统治，由金融资产阶级掌握了政权。《欧也妮·葛朗台》发表于1833年，也即七月王朝初期。刚过去的复辟王朝在人们的头脑中还记忆犹新。复辟时期，贵族虽然从国外返回了法国，耀武扬威，不可一世，可是他们的实际地位与法国大革命以前不可同日而语，因为资产阶级已经强大起来。刚上台的路易十八不得不颁布新宪法，实行君主立宪，向资产阶级做出让步，以维护摇摇欲坠的政权。资产阶级虽然失去了政治权力，却凭借经济上的实力与贵族相抗衡。到了复辟王朝后期，资产阶级不仅在城市，而且在贵族保持广泛影响的农村，都把贵族打得落花流水。复辟王朝实际上大势已去。巴尔扎克比同时代作家更敏锐，独具慧眼地观察到这个重大社会现象。
高老头-【相关评论】
“《高老头》还成功地塑造了青年野心家拉斯蒂涅和没落贵夫人鲍赛昂的形象。前者原为一个外省贵族青年，想来巴黎进大学重振家业，但目睹上流社会的挥金如土、灯红酒绿，他往上爬的欲望倍增，
他在鲍赛昂子爵夫人和逃犯伏特冷的唆使下，日益丧失正直的良心，开始为金钱而出卖正直，特别见证了高老头的两个女儿对待父亲象榨干的柠檬一般以后，更坚定了向资产阶级的道路走去的决心。《高老头》中主要描写了他野心家性格形成的过程，在以后的一系列作品中他更一发不可收拾，靠出卖道德和良心竟当上了副国务秘书和贵族院议员，而一切的取得都依赖于极端利己主义原则。鲍赛昂子爵夫人是巴尔扎克为贵族阶级唱的一曲无尽的挽歌，她出身名门贵族，是巴黎社交界的皇后，只因缺乏金钱而被情人抛弃，被迫退出巴黎上流社会，高贵的门第再也敌不过金钱的势力，她在后来的小说中因为同样的原因又一次被金钱出卖。她的遭遇告诉人们，贵族阶级除了失败之外不可能有更好的命运，金钱才是这个世界的主宰。
《高老头》在艺术上很严谨，作者设置了典型环境，让典型人物活动于其中，使人与人的金钱关系与环境相契合，书中安排了四条情节线索，以拉斯蒂涅的堕落为主线，其它几条起辅助作用，纵横交错又脉络分明；典型人物的刻划是巴尔扎克的最大特色，不论是外貌描写还是心理刻划，甚至一个细节，如高老头每吃一块面包都要放在鼻下嗅一嗅，都使人物更鲜明生动；人物语言的个性化也是作者一大功力，贵族沙龙中的语言与逃犯的语言绝不一样。”
高老头-【精彩片段】
高老头临死前想见女儿一面,让人去叫他的女儿,可两个女儿谁也没来。
高里奥不出声了，仿佛集中全身的精力熬着痛苦。“她们在这儿，我不会叫苦了，干么还要叫苦呢？”他迷迷糊糊昏沉了好久。克利斯朵夫回来，拉斯蒂涅以为高老头睡熟了，让佣人高声回报他出差的情形。
“先生，我先上伯爵夫人家，可没法跟她说话，她和丈夫有要紧事儿。我再三央求，雷斯多先生亲自出来对我说：高里奥先生快死了是不是？哎，再好没有。我有事，要太太待在家里。事情完了，她会去的。——
他似乎很生气，这位先生。我正要出来，太太从一扇我看不见的门里走到穿堂，告诉我，你对我父亲说，我同丈夫正在商量事情，不能来。那是有关我孩子们生死的问题。但等事情一完，我就去看他。——说到男爵夫人吧，又是另外一桩事儿！我没有见到她，不能跟她说话。老妈子说她今儿早上五点一刻才从舞会回来，中午以前叫醒她，一定要挨骂的。等会她打铃明我，我会告诉她，说她父亲的病更重了。报告一件坏消息，不会嫌太晚的。我再三央求也没用。哎，是呀，我也要求见男爵，他不在家。”
“一个也不来”拉斯蒂捏嚷道，“让我写信给她们。”“一个也不来，”老人坐起来接着说，“她们有事，她们在睡觉，她们不会来的。我早知道了。直要临死才知道女儿是什么东西！朋友，你别结婚，别生孩子！你给他们生命，他们给你死。你带他们到世界上来，他们把你从世界上赶出去。她们不会来的！我已经知道了十年。有时我心里这么想，只是不敢相信。”
高老头死了，两个女儿谁也没有来，他的钱都给女儿花光了，到死连入殓的衣服都没有，是拉斯蒂涅卖了自己的表才给他入殓的。
拉斯蒂涅奔下楼梯，到雷斯多太太家去了。刚才那幕可怕的景象使他动了感情，一路义愤填胸。他走进穿堂求见雷斯多太太，人家回报说她不能见容。
他对当差说：“我是为了她马上要死的父亲来的。”“先生，伯爵再三吩咐我们……”“既然伯爵在家，那么告诉他，说他岳父快死了，我要立刻和他说话。”欧也纳等了好久。“说不定他就在这个时候死了，”他心里想。
当差带他走进第一窖室，雷斯多先生站在壁炉前面，见了客人也不请坐。“伯爵，”拉斯蒂涅说，“令岳在破烂的阁楼上就要断气了，连买木柴的钱也没有；他马上要死了，但等见一面女儿……”“先生，”伯爵冷冷的回答，“你大概可以看出，我对高里奥先生没有什么好感。他教坏了我太太，造成我家庭的不幸。我把他当做扰乱我安宁的敌人。他死也好，活也好，我全不在意。你瞧，这是我对他的情分。社会尽可以责备我，我才不在乎呢。我现在要处理的事，比顾虑那些傻瓜的阔言闲语紧要得多。至于我太太，她现在那个模样没法出门，我也不让她出门。请你告诉她父亲，只消她对我，对我的孩子，尽完了她的责任，她会去看他的。要是她爱她的父亲，几分钟内她就可以自由……”
“伯爵，我没有权利批评你的行为，你是你太太的主人。至少我能相信你是讲信义的吧？请
你答应我一件事，就是告诉她，说她父亲没有一天好活了，因为她不去送终，已经在咒她了！”雷斯多注意到欧也纳愤愤不平的语气，回答道：“你自己去说吧。”
拉斯蒂涅跟着伯爵走进伯爵夫人平时起坐的客厅。她泪人儿似的埋在沙发里，那副痛不欲生的模样叫他看了可怜。她不敢望拉斯蒂涅，先怯生生的瞧了瞧丈夫，眼睛的神气表示她精神肉体都被专横的丈夫压倒了。伯爵侧了侧脑袋，她才敢开口：“先生，我都听到了。告诉我父亲，他要知道我现在的处境，一定会原谅我。想不到要受这种刑罚简直受不了。可是我要反抗到底，”她对地的丈夫说。“我也有儿女。请你对父亲说，不管表面上怎么样，在父亲面前我并没有错，”她无可奈何的对欧也纳说。
那女的经历的苦难，欧也纳不难想象，便呆呆的走了出来。听到特·雷斯多先生的口吻，他知道自己白跑了一趟，阿娜斯大齐已经失去自由。
接着他赶到特·纽沁根太太家，发觉她还在床上。“我不舒服呀，朋友，”她说。“从跳舞会出来受了凉，我怕要害肺炎呢，我等医生来……”欧也纳打断了她的话，说道：“哪怕死神已经到了你身边，爬也得爬到你父亲跟前去。他在叫你！你要听到他一声，马上不觉得你自己害病了。”
“欧也纳，父亲的病也许不象你说的那么严重；可是我要在你眼里有什么不是，我才难过死呢；所以我一定听你的吩咐。我知道，倘若我这一回出去闹出一场大病来，父亲要伤心死的。我等医生来过了就走。”她一眼看不见欧也纳身上的表链，便叫道：“哟！怎么你的表没有啦？”欧也纳脸上红了一块。“欧也纳！欧也纳！倘使你已经把它卖了，丢了，……哦！那太岂有此理了。”
大学生伏在但斐纳床上，凑着她耳朵说：“你要知道么？哼！好，告诉你吧！你父亲一个钱没有了，今晚上要把他入硷的尸衣都没法买。你送我的表在当铺里，我钱都光了。”
但斐纳猛的从床上跳下，奔向书柜，抓起钱袋递给拉斯蒂捏，打着铃嚷道：“我去我去，欧也纳。让我穿衣服，我简直是禽兽了！去吧，我会赶在你前面！” 她回头叫老妈子：“丹兰士，请老爷立刻上来跟我说话。”
高老头-【艺术成就】
《高老头》集中表现了巴尔扎克现实主义创作艺术的主要特色。
■精细而富有特征的典型环境
巴尔扎克非常重视详细而逼真的环境描绘，一方面是为了再现生活，更重要的是为了刻画人物性格。作品围绕拉斯蒂涅的活动，描写了巴黎不同等级、不同阶层的人们的生活环境；拉丁区的伏盖公寓，形似牢狱的黄色屋
子，到处散发着“闭塞的、霉烂的、酸腐的气味”，塞满了肮脏油腻、残破丑陋的器皿和家具，这是下层人物的寄居之地。唐打区内高老头的两个女儿家里，虽有金碧辉煌的房子、贵重的器物，但“毫无气派的回廊”，挂满意大利油画的客厅却“装饰得像咖啡馆”，这显示了作为新贵的资产阶级暴发户们俗不可耐的排场。圣日尔曼区古老的鲍赛昂府则显示出完全不同的气派，院中套着精壮马匹的华丽马车，穿着金镶边大红制服的门丁，两边供满鲜花的大楼梯以及只有灰和粉红色的小巧玲珑的客室，这些精雅绝伦的陈设、别出心裁的布置都衬托出上流社会贵族“领袖”的风雅超群。这些精细而富有特征的环境描写，有利于展示其对人间性格形成的影响。当拉斯蒂涅从雷斯多夫人和鲍赛昂夫人两处访问后回到栖身的伏盖公寓时，作品写道：“走入气味难闻的饭厅，十八个食客好似马槽前的牲口一般正在吃饭。他觉得这副穷酸相跟饭厅的景象丑恶已极。环境转变太突兀了，对比太强烈了，格外刺激他的野心……”已经享受过上流社会生活的拉斯蒂涅再也不肯自甘贫贱，最后，他决心弄脏双手，抹黑良心，不顾一切地向上扑。拉斯蒂涅的堕落是这种特定的典型环境所决定的。
■人物性格的典型化
巴尔扎克不仅塑造了高里奥、拉斯蒂涅、鲍赛昂夫人、伏脱冷等典型形象，而且在其他人物形象的塑造中也做到了共性与个性的统一。雷斯多伯爵夫妇和纽沁根男爵夫妇虽然有贵族的头衔，实际上都是资产者。他们既有追求个人私利的共同特性，又都是独具个性的典型。银行家纽沁根心目中只有金钱，他对待妻子寻求外遇的态度很明朗：“我允许你胡搅，你也得让我犯罪，教那些可怜虫倾家荡产。”雷斯多伯爵对妻子的美着了迷，虽听凭她和玛克勾搭，却有一定限度，这和他的贵族门第观念有关。他知道妻子偷卖祖传钻石后，想方设法赎回，让她戴着参加舞会，以维护门第的尊严。
阿娜斯塔齐和但斐那都是高老头的女儿，但两姊妹各有自己的个性。前者身材高大、结实、黑发，眼睛炯炯有神，进宫谒见过皇上，不把妹妹放在眼里。后者娇小、金发，极有风韵，自知社会地位不高，陪嫁被丈夫侵占，又遭情夫遗弃，性格忧郁善感，经常怀念童年时代的幸福生活。但她们俩都是虚荣心极强的利己主义者，为了满足欲望，不惜榨干父亲的积蓄。阿娜斯塔齐向父亲要钱，往往用勒索的方法，但斐那则用撒娇哄骗的办法。
■精致的结构
小说以高老头和拉斯蒂涅的故事为两条主要线索，又穿插了伏脱冷、鲍赛昂夫人的故事。几条线索错综交织，头绪看似纷繁而实际主次分明、脉络清楚、有条不紊。作品以叙述高老头被女儿榨干
钱财遭抛弃为中心情节，以拉斯蒂涅为中心人物，通过他的活动穿针引线，将上层社会与下层社会联系起来，将贵族沙龙与资产者客厅连结起来。随着高老头之谜在拉斯蒂涅眼前展现、解开，情节步步推向高潮。伏脱冷被捕、鲍赛昂夫人被弃、高老头惨死，拉斯蒂涅都是目睹者、见证人。社会的丑恶证实了他接受的反面教育，高老头埋葬之日，也是拉斯蒂涅的青年时代结束之时。几条线索紧密交织、环环相扣、步步深入，起着互相深化、互为补充的作用，从而深刻地表现了作品的主题。
■对比手法的广泛运用
艺术上的对比手法在《高老头》中运用得十分广泛。伏盖公寓与鲍赛昂府的强烈对比，不仅促使拉斯蒂涅个人野心的猛烈膨胀，而且表明不管是赫赫声威的豪门大户还是穷酸暗淡的陋室客栈，一样充斥着拜金主义，一样存在着卑劣无耻。高贵庄重的鲍赛昂夫人与粗俗强悍的伏脱冷形成鲜明对比，一个文质彬彬，一个直言不讳，但不同的语言却又揭示了同样的道理，而他们两人看透社会的理论又与自己生活中的惨败成为反衬，更加深了悲剧的意味。此外，还有高老头女儿的穷奢极欲与高老头的贫苦窘困的对比，鲍赛昂夫人退隐时热闹的场面与凄凉心情的对比等等。这种鲜明对比的手法，使作品的主题更加鲜明突出。
高老头-巴尔扎克—文学上的拿破仑
巴尔扎克（ Honore de Balzac 1799 ～ 1850 ） 19 世纪法国伟大的批判现实主义作家，欧洲批判现实主义文学的奠基人和杰出代表。一生创作 96 部长、中、短篇小说和随笔，总名为《人间喜剧》。其中代表作为《欧也妮·葛朗台》、《高老头》。100 多年来，他的作品传遍了全世界，对世界文学的发展和人类进步产生了巨大的影响。马克思、恩格斯称赞他“是超群的小说家”、“现实主义大师”。
巴尔扎克 1799 年 5 月 20 日出生于一个法国大革命后致富的资产阶级家庭，法科学校毕业后，拒绝家庭为他选择的受人尊敬的法律职业，而立志当文学家。为了获得独立生活和从事创作的物质保障，他曾试笔并插足商业，从事出版印刷业，但都以破产告终。这一切都为他认识社会、描写社会提供了极为珍贵的第一手材料。他不断追求和探索，对哲学、经济学、历史、自然科学、神学等领域进行了深入研究，积累了极为广博的知识。
1829 年，巴尔扎克完成长篇小说《舒昂党人》，这部取材于现实生活的作品为他带来巨大声誉，也为法国批判现实主义文学放下第一块基石，巴尔扎克将《舒昂党人》和计划要写的一百四五十部小说总命名为《人间喜剧》，并为之写了《前言》，阐述了他的现实主义创作方法和基本原则，从理论上为法国批判现实主义文学奠定了基础。
长期的辛劳严重损害了巴尔扎克的健康，刚过50岁，他就重病缠身了。在巴尔扎克生命垂危时刻，他仍然沉浸在自己制造的世界里，他恳求医生延长他的生命，他就能再写出一部作品。 1850 年 8 月 18 日 晚上 11 点半 ，巴尔扎克永远闭上了他的那双洞察一切的眼睛，结束了他辛勤劳累的一生。
巴尔扎克在艺术上取得巨大成就，他在小说结构方面匠心独运，小说结构多种多样，不拘一格、并善于将集中概括与精确描摹相结合，以外形反映内心本质等手法来塑造人物，他还善于以精细人微、生动逼真的环境描写再现时代风貌。恩格斯称赞巴尔扎克的《人间喜剧》写出了贵族阶级的没落衰败和资产阶级的上升发展，提供了社会各个领域无比丰富的生动细节和形象化的历史材料，“甚至在经济的细节方面（如革命以后动产和不动产的重新分配），我学到的东西也要比从当时所有职业历史学家、经济学院和统计学家那里学到的全部东西还要多”。（恩格斯：《恩格斯致玛·哈克奈斯》）
巴尔扎克以自己的创作在世界文学史上树立起不朽的丰碑。他以对文学的热爱成就了一道美丽的文学风景！
Originally published in serial form during the winter of 1834–35, Le Père Goriot is widely considered Balzac's most important novel.[1] It marks the first serious use by the author of characters who had appeared in other books, a technique that distinguishes Balzac's fiction. The novel is also noted as an example of his realist style, using minute details to create character and subtext.
The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought about profound changes in French society; the struggle of individuals to secure upper-class status is ubiquitous in the book. The city of Paris also impresses itself on the characters – especially young Rastignac, who grew up in the provinces of southern France. Balzac analyzes, through Goriot and others, the nature of family and marriage, providing a pessimistic view of these institutions.
The novel was released to mixed reviews. Some critics praised the author for his complex characters and attention to detail; others condemned him for his many depictions of corruption and greed. A favorite of Balzac's, the book quickly won widespread popularity and has often been adapted for film and the stage. It gave rise to the French expression "Rastignac", a social climber willing to use any means to better his situation.