“The theme of money in O. Balzac. Features of Balzac's realistic style Character and environment in Balzac's novel "Eugenie Grande"

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Composition

The role of money in modern society is the main theme in Balzac's work.

When creating "The Human Comedy", Balzac set himself a task that was still unknown in literature at that time. He strove for truthfulness and a merciless show of contemporary France, a show of the real, actual life of his contemporaries.

One of the many themes heard in his works is the theme of the destructive power of money over people, the gradual degradation of the soul under the influence of gold. This is especially clearly reflected in two famous works by Balzac - "Gobsek" and "Eugene Grande".

Balzac's works have not lost their popularity in our time. They are popular both among young readers and among older people, who draw from his works the art of understanding the human soul, seeking to understand historical events. And for these people, Balzac's books are a real storehouse of life experience.

The moneylender Gobsek is the personification of the power of money. The love of gold and the thirst for enrichment kill all human feelings in him and drown out all other principles.

The only thing he strives for is to have more and more wealth. It seems absurd that a man who owns millions lives in poverty and, collecting bills, prefers to walk without hiring a cab. But these actions are determined only by the desire to save at least a little money: living in poverty, Gobsek pays 7 francs in tax with his millions.

Leading a modest, inconspicuous life, it would seem that he does not harm anyone and does not interfere with anything. But with those few people who turn to him for help, he is so merciless, so deaf to all their pleas, that he resembles some kind of soulless machine rather than a person. Gobsek does not try to get close to any person, he has no friends, the only people he meets are his professional partners. He knows that he has an heir, a great-niece, but does not seek to find her. He doesn’t want to know anything about her, because she is his heir, and Gobsek has a hard time thinking about heirs, because he cannot come to terms with the fact that he will someday die and part with his wealth.

Gobsek strives to expend his life energy as little as possible, which is why he does not worry, does not sympathize with people, and always remains indifferent to everything around him.

Gobsek is convinced that only gold rules the world. However, the author also gives him some positive individual qualities. Gobsek is an intelligent, observant, insightful and strong-willed person. In many of Gobsek’s judgments we see the position of the author himself. Thus, he believes that an aristocrat is no better than a bourgeois, but he hides his vices under the guise of decency and virtue. And he takes cruel revenge on them, enjoying his power over them, watching them grovel before him when they cannot pay their bills.

Having turned into the personification of the power of gold, Gobsek at the end of his life becomes pitiful and ridiculous: accumulated food and expensive art objects are rotting in the pantry, and he haggles with merchants for every penny, not yielding to them in price. Gobsek dies, looking at a huge pile of gold in the fireplace.

Papa Grande is a stocky "good-natured man" with a moving bump on his nose, a figure not as mysterious and fantastic as Gobsek. His biography is quite typical: having made a fortune for himself in the troubled years of the revolution, Grande became one of the most eminent citizens of Saumur. No one in the city knows the true extent of his fortune, and his wealth is a source of pride for all residents of the town. However, the rich man Grande is distinguished by his outward good nature and gentleness. For himself and his family, he regrets an extra piece of sugar, flour, firewood to heat the house; he does not repair the stairs because he is sorry for the nail.

Despite all this, he loves his wife and daughter in his own way, he is not as lonely as Gobsek, he has a certain circle of acquaintances who periodically visit him and maintain good relations. But still, due to his exorbitant stinginess, Grande loses all trust in people; in the actions of those around him, he sees only attempts to make money at his expense. He only pretends that he loves his brother and cares about his honor, but in reality he only does what is beneficial to him. He loves Nanette, but still shamelessly takes advantage of her kindness and devotion to him, mercilessly exploits her.

His passion for money makes him completely inhuman: he is afraid of his wife’s death because of the possibility of division of property.

Taking advantage of his daughter’s boundless trust, he forces her to renounce the inheritance. He perceives his wife and daughter as part of his property, so he is shocked that Evgenia dared to dispose of her gold herself. Grande cannot live without gold and at night she often counts her wealth, hidden in her office. Grandet's insatiable greed is especially disgusting in the scene of his death: dying, he snatches a gilded cross from the hands of the priest.

Stendhal: The scene of the Battle of Waterloo is of particular importance in the “Abbey of Parma.” At first glance, it seems that this is just an inserted episode, but it is crucial for the subsequent course of the novel's plot.

The description of the battle in the “Parma Monastery” is truthful, brilliant in its realism. Balzac highly appreciated the magnificent description of the battle, which he dreamed of for his scenes of military life.

The Battle of Waterloo is the beginning of the action in the novel; the main character immediately wants to accomplish a heroic feat, to participate in a historical battle. Like Julien, Fabrizio is convinced that heroism is only possible on the battlefield. Julien fails to make a military career, but Fabrizio has such an opportunity.

The romantic hero, thirsting for achievement, experiences severe disappointment. The author describes in detail Fabrizio's adventures on the battlefield, revealing step by step the collapse of his illusions. No sooner had he appeared at the front than he was mistaken for a spy and put in prison; he escaped from there.

Disappointment:

the path of his horse is blocked by the corpse of a soldier (dirty, terrible). Cruelty hurts the guy's eyes;

does not recognize Napoleon: he rushes to the field, but does not even recognize his hero Napoleon when he passes by (when Napoleon and Marshal Ney drove past him, they did not have any divine sign on themselves that distinguished them from mere mortals);

Once on the battlefield, Fabrizio cannot understand anything - neither where the enemy is, nor where his own people are. In the end, he surrenders himself to the will of his horse, which rushes him to God knows where. Illusions are shattered by reality.

It is no coincidence that Stendhal draws a parallel between the historical battle and the hero’s experiences. Historical events take on a symbolic meaning in the novel: the Battle of Waterloo was Napoleon's political grave, his complete defeat. A echo of Fabrizio’s “lost illusions”, the collapse of all his dreams of a great heroic deed.

Fabrizio fails to “liberate his homeland” - the collapse of not only personal hopes, but the “lost illusions” of an entire generation. After the battle, heroism, romance, and courage remain Fabrizio’s personal character traits, but they acquire a new quality: they are no longer aimed at achieving common goals.

Thackeray: Thackeray's main feature is that he did not depict, did not describe the battle itself, the battle itself. He only showed the consequences, the echoes of the battle. Thackeray specifically describes the scene of George Osborne's farewell to Emilia, when Napoleon's troops cross the Sambre. A few days later he would die at the Battle of Waterloo. Before this, he also sends a letter to Emilia from the front saying that everything is fine with him. Then the wounded are brought to his city from the battlefield, Emilia takes care of them, not knowing that her husband is lying alone, wounded, on the field and dying. Thus, Thackeray describes the battle in volume, on a wide scale, showing everything “before and after” the event.

9. The theme of “loss of illusions” in Balzac’s “Human Comedy”.

Lucien Chardon. Rastignac.

“Lost Illusions” - nourishing illusions is the fate of provincials. Lucien was handsome and a poet. He was noticed in his city by the local queen = Madame de Bargeton, who showed clear preference for the talented young man. His lover constantly told him that he was a genius. She told him that only in Paris would they be able to truly appreciate his talent. It is there that all doors will open for him. This struck a chord with him. But when he arrived in Paris, his lover rejected him because he looked like a poor provincial compared to the society dandies. He was abandoned and left alone, therefore, all doors were closed in front of him. The illusion he had in his provincial town (about fame, money, etc.) disappeared.

In “Shagreen Skin” there is a new stage in the evolution of Rastignac. Here he is already an experienced strategist who has long said goodbye to all illusions. This is an outright cynic,

The theme of “loss of illusions” in Flaubert’s novel “Sentimental Education.”

The theme of disillusionment in this novel is related to the life and personality development of the main character, Frederic Moreau. It all starts with the fact that he arrives by boat in Nogent on the Seine to visit his mother after a long study at law college. The mother wants her son to become a big man, she wants to get him into an office. But Frederic strives for Paris. He goes to Paris, where he meets, firstly, the Arnoux family, and secondly, the Dambrez family (influential). He hopes that they will help him get settled. At first he continues to study in Paris with his friend Deslauriers, he meets various students - the artist Pellerin, the journalist Husson, Dussardier, Regembard, and so on. Gradually, Fredrick loses this desire for a high goal and a good career. He finds himself in French society, begins to attend balls, masquerades, and has love affairs. All his life he is haunted by his love for one woman, Madame Arnoux, but she does not allow him to get closer to her, so he lives, hoping for a meeting. One day he learns that his uncle has died and left him a relatively large fortune. But Feredrick is already at the stage when the main thing for him is his position in this French society. Now he cares not about his career, but about how he dresses, where he lives or dines. He begins to spend money, invests it in stocks, goes broke, then helps Arn for some reason, he does not pay him back, Frederick himself begins to live in poverty. Meanwhile, a revolution is being prepared. A republic is proclaimed. All of Frederick's friends are on the barricades. But he doesn't care about public views. He is more busy with his personal life and its arrangement. He is drawn to propose to Louise Rokk, a potential bride with a good dowry, but a country girl. Then the whole story with Rosanette, when she is pregnant by him and a child is born, who soon dies. Then an affair with Madame Dambrez, whose husband dies and leaves her nothing. Frederic is sorry. He meets Arnu again and realizes that things are even worse for them. As a result, he is left with nothing. Somehow he copes with his position without making a career. Here they are, the lost illusions of a man who was sucked into Parisian life and made him completely unambitious.

The image of Etienne Lousteau in Balzac's novel Lost Illusions.

Etienne Lousteau is a failed writer, a corrupt journalist, introducing Lucien into the world of unprincipled, lively Parisian journalism, cultivating the profession of “hired killer of ideas and reputations.” Lucien masters this profession.

Etienne is weak-willed and careless. He himself was once a poet, but he failed - he angrily threw himself into the whirlpool of literary speculation.

His room is dirty and desolate.

Etienne plays a very important role in the novel. It is he who seduces Lucien from the path of virtue. He reveals to Lucien the corruption of the press and theater. He is a conformist. For him, the world is “hellish torment,” but one must be able to adapt to it, and then, perhaps, life will improve. Acting in the spirit of the times, he is doomed to live in eternal discord with himself: the duality of this hero is manifested in his objective assessments of his own journalistic activities and contemporary art. Lucien is more self-confident than Lousteau, and therefore quickly seizes his concept, and fame quickly comes to him. After all, he has talent.

The evolution of the image of a financier in Balzac’s “Human Comedy”.

Just like the antiquarian in “Shagreen Skin,” Gobsek seems to be an ethereal, dispassionate person, indifferent to the world around him, religion and people. He is far from his own passions, because he constantly observes them in people who come to him for bills. He inspects them, but he himself is in constant peace. In the past, he experienced many passions (he traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), so he left it in the past. Talking with Derville, he repeats the formula of shagreen skin: “What is happiness? This is either strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured activity.” He is so stingy that, in the end, when he dies, there is a lot of goods left, food, moldy from the owner's stinginess.

The tragedy of Eugenia Grande in Balzac's novel of the same name.

The problem of money, gold and the all-consuming power that it acquires in the life of capitalist society, determining all human relationships, the destinies of individual people, and the formation of social characters.

Old Grande is a modern genius of profit, a millionaire who has turned speculation into art. Grande renounced all the joys of life, dried up the soul of his daughter, deprived all his loved ones of happiness, but made millions.

The theme is the decomposition of family and personality, the decline of morality, the insult of all intimate human feelings and relationships under the power of money. It was precisely because of her father’s wealth that the unfortunate Evgenia was perceived by those around her as a way of making substantial capital. Between the Cruchotins and the Grassenists, two opposition camps of the inhabitants of Saumur, there was a constant struggle for Eugenie’s hand. Of course, old Grandet understood that the frequent visits to his house by the Grassins and Cruchots were not at all sincere expressions of respect for the old cooper, and therefore he often said to himself: “They are here for my money. They come here to be bored for the sake of my daughter. Ha ha! Neither one nor the other will get my daughter, and all these gentlemen are just hooks on my fishing rod!”

The fate of Eugenia Grande is the most sorrowful story told by Balzac in his novel. The unfortunate girl, languishing in prison for many years in the house of her miserly father, becomes attached with all her soul to her cousin Charles. She understands his grief, understands that no one in the world needs him and that his closest person now, his uncle, will not help him for the same reason that Evgenia has to be content with bad food and miserable clothes all her life. And she, pure in heart, gives him all her savings, courageously enduring her father’s terrible wrath. She has been waiting for his return for many years... And Charles forgets his savior, under the rule of public sentiment he becomes the same Felix Grande - an immoral accumulator of wealth. He prefers the titled ugly woman, Mademoiselle D'Aubrion, to Eugenia, because he is now guided by purely selfish interests. Thus, Evgenia’s faith in love, faith in beauty, faith in unshakable happiness and peace was cut short.

Evgeniya lives with her heart. Material values are nothing for her compared to feelings. Feelings constitute the true content of her life; for her, they contain the beauty and meaning of existence. The inner perfection of her nature is also revealed in her external appearance. For Evgenia and her mother, whose only joy throughout their lives were those rare days when their father allowed the stove to be lit, and who saw only their dilapidated house and everyday knitting, money had absolutely no meaning.

Therefore, while everyone around was ready to acquire gold at any cost, for Evgenia, the 17 million she inherited after her father’s death turned out to be a heavy burden. Gold will not be able to reward her for the emptiness that formed in her heart with the loss of Charles. And she doesn't need money. She doesn’t know how to deal with them at all, because if she needed them, it was only to help Charles, thereby helping herself and her happiness. But, unfortunately, the only treasure that exists for her in life - family affection and love - was inhumanly trampled, and she lost this only hope in the prime of her life. At some point, Evgenia realized the incorrigible misfortune of her life: for her father, she had always been only the heir to his gold; Charles preferred a wealthier woman to her, disregarding all the sacred feelings of love, affection and moral duty; the people of Saumur looked and continue to look at her only as a rich bride. And the only ones who loved her not for her millions, but for real - her mother and maid Naneta - were too weak and powerless where old Grande reigned supreme with his pockets tightly stuffed with gold. She lost her mother, and now she has already buried her father, who even in the very last minutes of his life stretched out his hands to gold.

Under such conditions, a deep alienation inevitably arose between Evgenia and the world around her. But it is unlikely that she herself was clearly aware of what exactly was the cause of her misfortunes. Of course, it’s easy to name the reason - the unbridled domination of money and monetary relations that stood at the head of bourgeois society, which crushed the fragile Evgenia. She is deprived of happiness and prosperity, despite the fact that she is infinitely rich.

And her tragedy is that the lives of people like her turned out to be absolutely useless and useless to anyone. Her capacity for deep affection was not responded to.

Having lost all hope for love and happiness, Evgenia suddenly changes and marries Chairman de Bonfon, who was just waiting for this moment of luck. But even this selfish man died very soon after their wedding. Evgenia was left alone again with even greater wealth, inherited from her late husband. This was probably a kind of evil fate for the unfortunate girl, who became a widow at thirty-six years old. She never gave birth to a child, that hopeless passion that Evgenia lived with all these years.

And yet, in the end, we learn that “money was destined to impart its cold coloring to this heavenly life and instill in a woman who was all feeling, distrust of feelings.” It turns out that in the end, Evgenia became almost the same as her father. She has a lot of money, but she lives poorly. She lives this way because she is used to living this way, and another life no longer lends itself to her understanding. Eugenia Grande is a symbol of human tragedy, expressed in crying into a pillow. She has come to terms with her condition, and she can no longer even imagine a better life. The only thing she wanted was happiness and love. But not finding this, she came to complete stagnation. And the monetary relations that reigned in society at that time played a significant role here. If they had not been so strong, Charles most likely would not have succumbed to their influence and retained his devoted feelings for Eugenie, and then the plot of the novel would have developed more romantically. But it would no longer be Balzac.

The theme of “violent passion” in the works of Balzac.

Balzac has a fierce passion for money. These are both hoarders and images of moneylenders. This topic is close to the theme of the image of a financier, because they are the ones who live this frantic passion for hoarding.

Gobsek seems to be an ethereal, dispassionate person, indifferent to the world around him, religion and people. He is far from his own passions, because he constantly observes them in people who come to him for bills. He inspects them, but he himself is in constant peace. In the past, he experienced many passions (he traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), so he left it in the past. Talking with Derville, he repeats the formula of shagreen skin: “What is happiness? This is either strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured activity.” He is so stingy that, in the end, when he dies, there is a lot of goods left, food, moldy from the owner's stinginess.

Two principles live in him: the miser and the philosopher. Under the power of money, he becomes dependent on it. Money becomes magic for him. He hides the gold in his fireplace, and after his death, he does not bequeath his fortune to anyone (a relative, a fallen woman). Gobsek - zhivoglot (translation).

Felix Grande is a slightly different type: a modern genius of profit, a millionaire who turned speculation into art. Grande renounced all the joys of life, dried up the soul of his daughter, deprived all his loved ones of happiness, but made millions. His satisfaction lies in successful speculation, in financial conquests, in trade victories. He is a kind of disinterested servant of “art for art’s sake,” since he himself is personally unpretentious and is not interested in the benefits that are given by millions. The only passion - the thirst for gold - which knows no bounds, killed all human feelings in the old cooper; the fate of his daughter, wife, brother, nephew interests him only from the point of view of the main question - their relationship to his wealth: he starves his daughter and sick wife, brings the latter to the grave with his stinginess and heartlessness; he destroys the personal happiness of his only daughter, since this happiness would require Grande to give up part of her accumulated treasures.

The fate of Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's "Human Comedy".

The image of Rastignac in “The Human Comedy” is the image of a young man who wins his personal well-being. His path is the path of the most consistent and steady ascent. The loss of illusions, if it occurs, is accomplished relatively painlessly.

In “Père Goriot,” Rastignac still believes in goodness and is proud of his purity. My life is “pure as a lily.” He is of noble aristocratic origin, comes to Paris to make a career and enroll in law school. He lives in Madame Vake's boarding house with his last money. He has access to the Viscountess de Beauseant's salon. In terms of social status, he is poor. Rastignac's life experience consists of a collision of two worlds (the convict Vautrin and the Viscountess). Rastignac considers Vautrin and his views above aristocratic society, where crimes are petty. “Nobody needs honesty,” says Vautrin. “The colder you expect, the further you will go.” Its intermediate position is typical for that time. With his last money, he arranges a funeral for the poor Goriot.

He soon realizes that his situation is bad and will lead nowhere, that he must sacrifice honesty, spit on his pride and resort to meanness.

The novel The Banker's House tells the story of Rastignac's early business successes. Using the help of the husband of his mistress Delphine, Goriot's daughter, Baron de Nucingen, he makes his fortune through clever play on stocks. He is a classic opportunist.

In “Shagreen Skin” there is a new stage in the evolution of Rastignac. Here he is already an experienced strategist who has long said goodbye to all illusions. This is an outright cynic who has learned to lie and be a hypocrite. He is a classic opportunist. In order to prosper, he teaches Raphael, you need to climb forward and sacrifice all moral principles.

Rastignac is a representative of that army of young people who followed not the path of open crime, but the path of adaptation carried out by means of legal crime. Financial policy is robbery. He is trying to adapt to the bourgeois throne.

Diatribe as a way to identify the most pressing problems of our time in Balzac’s story “The Banker's House of Nucingen”.

Diatribe- reasoning on moral topics. Angry accusatory speech (from Greek) Conversation permeates the entire novel “The Banker's House of Nucingen”; with the help of conversation, the negative sides of the heroes are revealed.

The artistic style of the late Balzac. Duology about “Poor Relatives”.

Positive heroes and the role of a happy ending in Dickens's work.

Dickens and Romanticism.

Images of financiers in the works of Balzac and Flaubert.

Balzac: Balzac has the image of a financier in almost every novel of the “Human Comedy” on our list. Basically, these are moneylenders who live with a frantic passion for money, but also some other representatives of the bourgeoisie.

When creating the image of his moneylender, Balzac included it in the context of a very complex social era, which contributed to the revelation of various aspects of this image.

Just like the antiquarian in “Shagreen Skin,” Gobsek seems to be an ethereal, dispassionate person, indifferent to the world around him, religion and people. He is far from his own passions, because he constantly observes them in people who come to him for bills. He inspects them, but he himself is in constant peace. In the past, he experienced many passions (he traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), so he left it in the past. Talking with Derville, he repeats the formula of shagreen skin: “What is happiness? This is either strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured activity.” He is so stingy that in the end, when he dies, there remains a heap of goods, food, moldy from the owner's stinginess.

Père Goriot is one of the pillars of The Human Comedy. He is a bread merchant, a former pasta maker. He carried through his life only love for his daughters: that’s why he spent all his money on them, and they took advantage of it. So he went broke. This is the opposite of Felix Grande. He demands from them only love for him, for this he is ready to give them everything. At the end of his life, he comes up with a formula: everyone gives money, even his daughters.

Father David Seshar: stinginess begins where poverty begins. The father began to be greedy when the printing house was dying. He went so far as to determine the cost of a printed sheet by eye. It was controlled only by selfish interests. He placed his son in school only to prepare his successor. This is the Felix Grandet type who wanted David to give him everything while he was alive. When David was on the verge of ruin, he came to his father to ask for money, but his father did not give him anything, remembering that he had once given him money for his studies.

Rastignac (in "The Banker's House of Nucingen"). This novel chronicles Rastignac's early business successes. Using the help of the husband of his mistress Delphine, Goriot's daughter, Baron de Nucingen, he makes his fortune through clever play on stocks. He is a classic opportunist. “The more loans I take out, the more they believe me,” he says in “Shagreen.”

Flaubert: In Madame Bovary, the image of the financier is Monsieur Leray, a moneylender in Yonville. He is a fabric merchant, and since this product is expensive, with the help of it he makes a lot of money for himself and keeps many of the inhabitants of the city in debt. He appears in the novel at the moment when the Bovarys arrive in Yonville. Emma's dog Djali runs away, and he sympathizes with her, talking about his troubles with missing dogs.

To unwind, Emma buys new clothes from Leray. He takes advantage of this, realizing that this is the only joy for the girl. Thus, she falls into his debt hole without telling her husband anything. And Charles one day borrows 1000 francs from him. Lere is a clever, flattering and cunning businessman. But unlike Balzac’s heroes, he acts actively - he spins his wealth, lending money.

The problem of the realistic hero in Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary.

Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary from 1851 to 56.

Emma was brought up in a convent, where girls of average wealth were usually brought up at that time. She became addicted to reading novels. These were romantic novels with ideal heroes. Having read such literature, Emma imagined herself as the heroine of one of these novels. She imagined her happy life with a wonderful person, a representative of some wonderful world. One of her dreams came true: already married, she went to a ball with the Marquis of Vaubiesart at the castle. She was left with a vivid impression for the rest of her life, which she constantly recalled with pleasure. (She met her husband by chance: the doctor Charles Bovary came to treat Papa Rouault, Emma’s father).

Emma's real life is completely far from her dreams.

Already on the first day after her wedding, she sees that everything she dreamed of is not happening - she has a miserable life in front of her. And yet, at first, she continued to dream that Charles loved her, that he was sensitive and gentle, that something had to change. But her husband was boring and uninteresting, he was not interested in the theater, he did not arouse passion in his wife. Slowly he began to irritate Emma. She loved to change the situation (when she went to bed for the fourth time in a new place (the monastery, Toast, Vaubiesard, Yonville), she thought that a new era in her life was beginning. When they arrived in Yonville (Home, Leray, Leon - the notary's assistant - Emma's lover), she felt better, she was looking for something new, but just as quickly everything turned into a boring routine. Leon went to Paris to receive further education and Emma fell into despair again. Her only joy was shopping for fabrics from Leray. Her lovers in general (Leon, Rodolphe, 34 years old, landowner) were vulgar and deceitful, none of them have anything in common with the romantic heroes of her books. Rodolphe was looking for his own benefit, but did not find it, he is mediocre. His dialogue with Madame Bovary is characteristic during an agricultural exhibition - the dialogue is mixed through a phrase with satirically described cries of the exhibition host about manure (a mixture of high and low). Emma wants to leave with Rodolphe, but in the end he himself does not want to take on the burden (her and the child - Bertha ).

Emma's last drop of patience with her husband disappears when he decides to operate on a sick groom (on his foot), proving that he is an excellent doctor, but then the groom develops gangrene and dies. Emma realizes that Charles is good for nothing.

In Rouen, Emma meets with Leon (she goes with her husband to the theater after an illness - 43 days) - several delightful days with him.

The desire to escape from this boring prose of life leads to the fact that it draws her in more and more. Emma falls into great debt with the moneylender Leray. All life now rests on deception. She deceives her husband, her lovers deceive her. She begins to lie even when there is no need for her. It gets more and more confused and sinks to the bottom.

Flaubert exposes this world not so much by contrasting the heroine with it, but by unexpectedly and boldly identifying seemingly opposing principles - depoetization and deheroization become a sign of bourgeois reality, extending to both Charles and Emma, both the bourgeois family and passion for love that destroys a family.

Objective manner of narration - Flaubert surprisingly realistically shows the life of Emma and Charles in the cities, the failures that accompany this family during certain moral principles of society. Flaubert describes Emma's death especially realistically when she poisons herself with arsenic - moans, wild screams, convulsions, everything is described in very detail and realistically.

The social panorama of England in Thackeray’s novel “Vanity Fair” and the moral position of the writer.

Double title. A novel without a hero. By this, the author wanted to say that in the bazaar of everyday vanity he depicts, all the heroes are equally bad - everyone is greedy, selfish, and devoid of basic humanity. It turns out that if there is a hero in the novel, then he is an antihero - this is money. In this duality, in my opinion, the movement of the author’s intention was preserved: it was born from a humorist writing for magazines, hiding behind a fictitious name, and then, reinforced in its seriousness by biblical associations, the memory of Bunyan’s moral intransigence, demanded that the writer speak on his own behalf.

The subtitle should probably be taken in the literal sense: this is a novel without a romantic hero. Thackeray himself suggests such an interpretation in the sixth chapter, when, just approaching the first important events in the novel, he reflects on what turn to give them and what style of narration to choose. He offers the reader a version of a romantic crime or an option in the spirit of secular novels. But the style chosen by the author does not correspond to literary recommendations that guarantee success, but follows the life experience of the author: “Thus, you see, dear ladies, how our novel could be written if the author wished it; because, to tell the truth, , he is as familiar with the customs of Newgate prison as with the palaces of our venerable aristocracy, for he observed both only from the outside.” (W. Thackeray Vanity Fair. M., 1986. P. 124.).

"Anti-romantic details" are visible throughout the novel. For example, what color is the heroine's hair? According to romantic canons, Rebecca should be a brunette (“villainous type”), and Emilia should be a blonde (“blonde innocence type”). In fact, Rebecca has golden, reddish hair, while Emilia is brown-haired.

In general, "...The famous Becky doll showed extraordinary flexibility in the joints and turned out to be very agile on the wire; the Emilia doll, although it gained a much more limited circle of fans, was still decorated by the artist and dressed with the greatest diligence..." Thackeray the puppeteer takes the reader to his theatrical stage, to his fair, where one can see “a wide variety of spectacles: bloody battles, majestic and magnificent carousels, scenes from high society life, as well as from the life of very modest people, love episodes for sensitive hearts, as well as comic, in a light genre - and all this is furnished with suitable decorations and generously illuminated with candles at the expense of the author."

Puppeteer's motif.

Thackeray himself has repeatedly emphasized that his book is a puppet comedy, in which he is just a puppeteer directing the play of his puppets. He is at the same time a commentator, an accuser, and himself a participant in this “bazaar of everyday vanity.” This point emphasizes the relativity of any truth, the absence of absolute criteria.

Traditions of the picaresque and romantic novel in Vanity Fair.

Counterpoint by Rebecca Sharp and Emilia Sedley.

Counterpoint is a point upon a point when plot lines are interspersed in a novel. In Thackeray's novel, the storylines of two heroines intersect, representatives of two different classes, social environments, so to speak, Emilia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp. It's better to start comparing Rebecca and Emilia from the very beginning.

Both girls were members of Miss Pinkerton's boarding school. True, Rebecca also worked there, teaching the children French, but still she and Emilia could be considered equal at the moment when they left their childhood (adolescent) “orphanage”. Miss Emilia Sedley is recommended to her parents "as a young lady fully worthy to take a proper position in their chosen and refined circle. All the virtues that distinguish a noble English young lady, all the perfections befitting her origin and position, are inherent in dear Miss Sedley."

Rebecca Sharp, on the other hand, had that sad characteristic of the poor—precocious maturity. And, of course, her life as a poor pupil, taken from mercy, left alone in this world, bore little resemblance to the dreams of the rich Emilia, who had a reliable rear; and Rebecca’s relationship with Miss Pinkerton showed that in this embittered heart there is a place for only two feelings - pride and ambition.

So, one boarder was waiting for gentle, loving, and, importantly, wealthy parents, the other was an invitation to stay with dear Emilia for a week before going to someone else’s family as a governess. Therefore, it is not surprising that Becky decided to marry this “fat dandy,” Emilia’s brother.

Life has separated “dear friends”: one stayed at home, at the piano, with her groom and two new Indian scarves, the other went, I just want to write “to catch happiness and ranks,” to catch a rich husband or patron, wealth and independence, with the gift a worn Indian shawl.

Rebecca Sharp is a conscientious actress. Its appearance is very often accompanied by a theatrical metaphor, an image of the theater. Her meeting with Emilia after a long separation, during which Becky honed her skills and claws, took place in the theater, where “not a single dancer showed such a perfect art of pantomime and could not match her antics.” And Rebecca’s highest rise in her social career was her role in a charade, performed brilliantly, as the actress’s farewell appearance on the big stage, after which she would have to play on more modest provincial stages.

So, a collapse, which for a smaller or weaker person (for example, Emilia) would mean a complete collapse, the end, for Becky it is only a change of role. Moreover, a role that has already become boring. After all, during her social successes, Becky admits to Lord Steyne that she is bored and that it would be much more fun “to put on a suit covered in sequins and dance at a fair in front of a booth!” And in this dubious company that surrounds her in The Restless Chapter, she really has more fun: maybe here she has finally found herself, is finally happy.

Becky is the strongest personality of the novel, and only before one manifestation of human feelings does she give in - before humanity. She, an egoist, simply does not understand the action of Lady Jane, who first bought Rawdon from creditors, and then took him and his son under her protection. She also cannot understand Rawdon, who threw off the masks of a reveling officer and a cuckolded husband, and acquired a face in his caring love for his son; in his betrayed trust, he rose above Becky, who will more than once remember and regret “his honest, stupid, constant love and fidelity."

Becky looks unseemly in the scene of farewell to Rawdon before he goes to war. This fool showed so much sensitivity and concern for her future, he even left her his new uniform, and he went on a campaign “almost with a prayer for the woman he was leaving.”

It seems to me that one cannot speak about Emilia in such strong and excited tones. She has some kind of “sour” life, and she always cries, always complains, always hangs on the elbow of her husband, who no longer knows how to breathe more freely.

Thackeray believed that “Emilia will yet show herself,” for she will “be saved by love.” Some pages about Emilia, especially about her love for her son, are written in a tearful Dickenian vein. But this is probably how Vanity Fair is structured, in which kindness, love, and loyalty not only lose their value, but also lose something in themselves, becoming companions of awkwardness, weakness, and narrow-mindedness. And vain, vain selfishness: who, in the end, was Emilia, “if not a careless little tyrant”? A piece of paper was able to extinguish the fiery, “faithful” love for... her dream, and it was Becky who helped Emilia find her stupid, “goose” happiness.

And Becky? Since childhood she has been cynical and shameless. Thackeray, throughout the novel, persistently emphasizes that she is no worse or better than others, and that unfavorable circumstances made her what she is. Her image is devoid of softness. She is shown to be incapable of great love, even the love of her own son. She loves only herself. Her life path is a hyperbole and a symbol: the image of Rebecca helps to understand the whole idea of the novel. Vain, she seeks glory in the wrong ways, and in the end comes to vice and unhappiness.

Hebbel’s dramatic trilogy “Nibelungen” and the problem of “myth” in realism.

At the end of his life, Goebbel wrote The Nibelungs. This is the last completed major dramatic work. He wrote it for five years (from 1855 to 1860). The famous medieval epic “The Song of the Nibelungs,” translated into a modern way for the writer, was dedicated to his wife Christina, whom he saw playing in a theatrical production of Raupach’s drama “The Nibelungs,” Hebbel’s predecessor. In general, it must be said that the theme of this epic was reworked by many writers. The predecessors of Hebbel's tragedy were Delamoth Fouquet, Ulat ("Siegfried"), Geibel ("Kriemhild"), Raupach, and after Hebbel, Wagner created his famous trilogy "The Ring of the Nibelungs".

The main difference between Hebbel's Nibelungen and the Nibelungenlied is the deep psychologism of the tragedy, a stronger Christian theme, a more down-to-earth text and the emergence of new motifs. New motives - the love of Brunhild and Siegfried, which was not so clearly visible in the previous epic, the introduction of a new character Frigga (Brynhild's nurse) into the tragedy, and most importantly - a new interpretation of the myth of the cursed gold, sounded in Volker's song: “children played - one killed another; gold came out of the stone, which created strife among the nations.”

The revolution of 1848 and the aesthetics of “pure art”.

The revolution took place in many European countries: Germany, Italy, France, Hungary.

Louis-Philippe's government had a series of foreign policy failures, which led to the strengthening of both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition. In 1845-46 there were crop failures and food riots.

1847: consequences of the general commercial and industrial crisis in England. The French government did not want reforms, and the general public understood the dissatisfied riots. In February 1848, a demonstration took place in support of electoral reform, which resulted in a revolution. The overthrown party was replaced by more reactionary forces. A second republic (bourgeois) arose. The workers were unarmed, and there was no talk of any concessions to the working class. Then Napoleon, the president of the republic, carried out a coup d'état and became Emperor of France (second empire).

The entire course of the bourgeois revolution was its defeat and the triumph of reactionary forces. The remnants of pre-revolutionary traditions and the results of social relations perished.

The revolution of 1848 is perceived with “Hurray!” intelligentsia. All intellectuals are on the barricades. But the revolution flounders and turns into a dictatorial coup. The worst thing that those who sought this revolution could have expected happened. Faith in a humanistic future and in progress collapsed with the collapse of the revolution. A regime of bourgeois vulgarity and general stagnation was established.

At that moment it was necessary to create the appearance of prosperity and success. This is how pure art appeared. Behind him - decadence, the Parnassian group (Gautier, Lisle, Baudelaire).

The theory of pure art is the denial of all usefulness of art. Celebrating the principle of “art for art’s sake.” Art has one goal - the service of beauty.

Art is now a way of escaping the world; pure art does not interfere with social relations.

The trinity of truth, goodness, beauty - theory of pure art.

The theory of pure art arises as a form of escape from hated reality. Theorists of pure art also strive for shocking (to express themselves, to shock).

Pantheism arises - many faiths, many heroes, opinions, thoughts. History and natural science become the muses of the modern era. Flaubert's pantheism is a modern cascade: he explained the languor of the spirit by the state of society. “We are only worth anything because of our suffering.” Emma Bovary is a symbol of the era, a symbol of vulgar modernity.

The theme of love in Baudelaire's poetry.

The poet Baudelaire himself is a man with a difficult fate. Severed from his family (when he is sent to a colony in India, and he flees back to Paris), he lived alone for a long time. Lived in poverty, earned some money by writing (reviews). Many times in his poetry he turned to forbidden topics (also a kind of shocking).

Among the French, his teachers were Sainte-Beuve and Théophile Gautier. The first taught him to find beauty in the rejected by poetry, in natural landscapes, scenes of the suburbs, in the phenomena of ordinary and rough life; the second endowed him with the ability to transform the most ignoble material into pure gold of poetry, the ability to create broad, clear and full of restrained energy phrases, all the variety of tone, the richness of vision.

The coup and revolution undermined many idealistic thoughts in Baudelaire.

The poet’s life position is shocking: constant rejection of what is official. He did not share ideas about human progress.

The theme of love in his work is very complex. It does not fit into any framework previously set for this topic by various poets. This is a special love. Rather, love for nature more than love for women. Very often the motive of love for the endless expanses, for him, for the endless distance of the sea is heard.

Baudelaire's muse is sick, as is his soul. Baudelaire spoke about the vulgarity of the world in everyday language. Rather, it was dislike.

Even his beauty is terrible - “a hymn to beauty.”

His main themes were pessimism, skepticism, cynicism, decay, death, and collapsed ideals.

“You would attract the whole world to your bed,

Oh, woman, oh, creature, how evil you are from boredom!”

“Prostrate on the bed with a mad Jewish woman,

Like a corpse next to a corpse, I'm in the stuffy darkness

Woke up and to your sad beauty

This one I bought made my wishes fly away.”

This is his understanding of love.

The theme of rebellion in Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil.

The collection “Flowers of Evil” was published in 1857. It caused many negative responses, the book was condemned and was not accepted by bourgeois France. The court ruled: “Rude and offensive realism.” Since then, Baudelaire has become a “damned poet.”

The theme of rebellion in this collection is very strong. There is even a separate part called “rebellion” or “rebellion”. It included three poems: “Cain and Abel”, “The Denial of St. Peter” and “Litany to Satan” (O, the best among the powers reigning in Heaven, offended by fate, and poor in praise). In this cycle, the rebellious, anti-church tendencies of the poet were most clearly revealed. He glorifies Satan, and Saint Peter, who renounced Christ and is good at it. The sonnet “Cain and Abel” is very important: the race of Abel is the race of the oppressed, the race of Cain is the race of the oppressors. And Baudelaire worships the race of Cain: “Rise from hell and throw the Almighty from heaven!”). He was an anarchist by nature.

He described God as a bloody tyrant who could not get enough of the torments of humanity. For Baudelaire, God is a mortal man who dies in terrible pain.

His rebellion is not only this. The revolt of boredom is also Baudelaire's rebellion. In all his poems there is an atmosphere of despondency, irresistible boredom, which he called spleen. This boredom was created by a world of endless vulgarity, and Baudelaire rebels precisely against it.

Baudelaire's path is a path of painful reflection. Through his denial, he breaks through to reality, to those issues that poetry has never touched upon.

His cycle of “Parisian paintings” is also a kind of rebellion. He describes here the city slums, ordinary people - a drunken garbage man, a red-haired beggar woman. He has no pity for these little people. He puts them as equals to himself and thereby rebels against the unfair reality.

On August 18, 1850, in Paris, the classic of French literature, the brilliant writer Honore de Balzac, died not even six months after the main dream of his life came true - to marry his beloved woman, the widowed Evelina Ganskaya.

The great writer, working 15-16 hours a day, published at least 5-6 books a year. And what books! Each is a detailed description in the smallest detail of a particular class or profession that Balzac undertook to talk about in this work. In his famous cycle “The Human Comedy”, composed of 137 novels, Balzac left to his descendants a vast panorama of French society (Parisian, provincial, military, rural) during the period of the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy.

A great connoisseur of hidden and obvious human motives, virtues and vices, he created vivid characters, forcing his heroes either to fight hostile circumstances or their own passions. And, as a rule, two categories of people survive and win in the works of the master: strong, strong-willed, capable of anything to achieve their goals, and those who have as their goal love for their neighbor. It’s just that the weak and weak-willed are doomed in Balzac’s novels. They have no place in the harsh world created by the great realist writer.

We have an excellent opportunity to read quotes from the works of Honore de Balzac to find out how, in the opinion of his heroes, one could become a person capable of taking a worthy place in society two centuries ago.

"Père Goriot"

(Novel, 1835, about a father’s boundless love for his children, whose ingratitude drives the unfortunate parent to the grave.)

With those someone who causes you pain quite deliberately, you continue to meet and, perhaps, are afraid of them, and if a person inflicts a wound without knowing the full depth of it, then they look at him as a fool, a simpleton, incapable of benefiting from anything , and everyone treats him with contempt.

Do you want to create situation, I will help you. Explore the depth of the depravity of women, measure the degree of pathetic vanity of men. I carefully read the book of light, but it turned out that I did not notice some pages. Now I know everything: the more calmly you calculate, the further you will go. Strike mercilessly, and they will tremble before you. Look at men and women as post horses, drive them without sparing them, let them die at every station - and you will reach the limit in realizing your desires. Remember that in the world you will remain nothing if you do not have a woman who will take part in you. And you need to find one that combines beauty, youth, and wealth. If a genuine feeling arises in you, hide it like a jewel so that no one even suspects its existence, otherwise you will perish. When you stop being an executioner, you become a victim. If you fall in love, keep your secret sacred! Don't trust her until you really know the person to whom you are opening your heart. You don’t yet have such love in you, but you need to protect it in advance, so learn not to trust the light.

Do you know how are they making their way here? The brilliance of a genius or the art of bribing. This human mass must be hit with a cannonball or penetrated like a plague. Nothing can be achieved by honesty. They bow to the power of a genius and hate him, they try to denigrate him for the fact that a genius takes everything without division, but while he stands firm, they extol him - in short, they idolize him, kneeling when they cannot trample him into the dirt. Corruption is everywhere, talent is rare. Therefore, corruption has become a weapon of mediocrity that has filled everything, and you will feel the edge of its weapon everywhere.

I'll never cum, if I decide to tell you what deals are concluded for rags, lovers, children, for household needs or out of vanity, but, rest assured, rarely for good reasons. That's why an honest person is everyone's enemy. But what do you think an honest person is? In Paris, an honest person is one who acts silently and does not share with anyone. I leave aside the miserable helots who drag themselves everywhere, never receiving reward for their labors; I call them the brotherhood of God's fools. There is virtue in all the flowering of its stupidity, but there is also need. From here I can see what kind of faces these righteous people will have if God plays a cruel joke on them and suddenly cancels the Last Judgment. So, if you want to quickly make a fortune, you must either already be rich, or appear to be rich. To get rich, you need to play the game with big sums, but if you are stingy in the game, it’s a lost cause! When ten people quickly achieved success in the field of one hundred professions available to you, the public immediately calls them thieves. Draw a conclusion from here. This is life as it is. All this is no better than a kitchen - it stinks just as much, and if you want to cook something, get your hands dirty, only then know how to thoroughly wash off the dirt; This is the whole moral of our era.

Success in Paris– that’s it, this is the key to power. Once women recognize that you have talent and intelligence, men will believe it unless you dissuade them yourself. Then everything will become available to you, you will be able to move everywhere. Then you will know that the world is made up of deceivers and simpletons. Don't join either one or the other. So that you don't get lost in this labyrinth...

"Marriage contract"

(The story of the weak-willed Paul de Manerville, 1835)

Man at In any circumstances, he must be able to approach the matter in such a way as to imagine it from different points of view - otherwise he is mediocre, weak-willed and may die.

Those who have exalted soul, prefer solitude; weak and sensitive natures disappear from the scene, only strong ones remain, like boulders, capable of withstanding the pressure of the sea of life, which beats them against each other, grinds them down, but cannot destroy them.

The whole secret Social alchemy, my friend, is to take as much as possible from life, no matter what age we are, to pick all the greenery in the spring, all the flowers in the summer, all the fruits in the fall.

Outstanding Envy motivates a person to compete, pushes him to do great things; Among insignificant people, envy turns into hatred.

Fear my darling, is one of the foundations of society and a great way to achieve success, especially for those who never look down on anyone. I have never felt fear and value life no more than a cup of donkey's milk; but I have noticed, my dear, the striking influence of this feeling on modern morals. Some are afraid of losing the pleasures that have become familiar to them, others are afraid of the prospect of parting with the woman they love. The courageous morals of the old days, when life was tossed around like a worn-out shoe, have long disappeared. The courage of most people is nothing more than a subtle calculation based on the fear of their opponents.

Run– doesn’t that mean letting gossip take over? A player who rushes for money to continue the game will surely lose.

What do they mean money compared to our great plans? Pure nonsense, trifle! What does woman mean? Will you really remain a schoolboy forever? What does life become, my dear, if everything is concentrated in a woman? Into a ship not controlled by anyone, left to the will of all winds, obedient to a magnetic needle directed towards the pole of madness, into a real galley on which a man serves hard labor, obeying not only the laws of society, but also the unpunished arbitrariness of the overseer. Ugh!

"Shagreen skin"

(Novel, 1831, about how a person’s egoism, materialized in a piece of shagreen leather, devours his life with the fulfillment of each subsequent desire).

Worth the young a man meets a woman who does not love him, or a woman who loves him too much, and his whole life is distorted.

Error gifted people is that they waste their youth, wanting to become worthy of the mercy of fate. While the poor are accumulating strength and knowledge so that in the future it will be easy to bear the burden of the power that eludes them, intriguers, rich in words and devoid of thoughts, scurry around, baiting fools, gaining the trust of simpletons; some study, others advance; those are modest - these are decisive; A man of genius hides his pride, a man of intrigue flaunts it, he will certainly succeed. Those in power have such a strong need to believe in merit that shines in the eye, in arrogant talent, that it would be childish for a true scientist to hope for human gratitude. Of course, I am not going to repeat commonplaces about virtue, that song of songs that unrecognized geniuses always sing; I just want to logically deduce the reason for the success that mediocre people so often achieve.

"Gobsek"

(Tale, 1830, about the moneylender Gobsek - the “golden idol”)

I'll tell you now I will sum up human life. Whether you are a vagabond traveler, whether you are a homebody and do not part with your fireplace and your wife for the rest of your life, the age still comes when your whole life is just a habit of your favorite environment. And then happiness consists in exercising one’s abilities in relation to everyday reality. And besides these two rules, all the rest are false.

Not on earth There is nothing lasting, there are only conventions, and they are different in every climate. For someone who, willy-nilly, was applied to all social standards, all your moral rules and beliefs are empty words. Only one single feeling is unshakable, embedded in us by nature itself: the instinct of self-preservation. In the states of European civilization this instinct is called personal interest. Once you live like me, you will learn that of all earthly blessings there is only one that is reliable enough for a person to chase after it, this is... gold. All the forces of humanity are concentrated in gold. I traveled and saw that all over the earth there are plains and mountains. The plains bore you, the mountains tire you; In short, it doesn’t matter what place you live in. As for morals, people are the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, everywhere. And it is inevitable. It’s better to push yourself than to let others push you. Everywhere, muscular people work, and skinny people suffer. Yes, and the pleasures are the same everywhere, and everywhere they are equally draining of strength; There is only one joy that experiences all the pleasures - vanity. Vanity! It is always our “I”. What can satisfy vanity? Gold! Streams of gold.

Life is It’s a complex, difficult craft, and you have to make an effort to learn it. When a person gets to know life, having experienced its sorrows, the fibers of his heart will be tempered and strengthened, and this allows him to control his sensitivity. Nerves then become no worse than steel springs - they bend rather than break. And if, in addition, digestion is good, then with such preparation a person will be tenacious and long-lived.

looked like a poor provincial compared to secular dandies. He was abandoned and left alone, but all the doors were closed in front of him. The illusion he had in his provincial town (about fame, money, etc.) disappeared.

IN "Père Goriot" Rastignac still believes in goodness, is proud of his purity. My life is “pure as a lily.” He is of noble aristocratic origin, comes to Paris to make a career and enroll in law school. He lives in Madame Vake's boarding house with his last money. He has access to the Viscountess de Beauseant's salon. In terms of social status, he is poor. Rastignac's life experience consists of a collision of two worlds (the convict Vautrin and the Viscountess). Rastignac considers Vautrin and his views above aristocratic society, where crimes are petty. “Nobody needs honesty,” says Vautrin. “The colder you expect, the further you will go.” Its intermediate position is typical for that time. With his last money, he arranges a funeral for the poor Goriot.

In the novel "Banker's House"

IN "Shagreen skin"- a new stage in the evolution of Rastignac. Here he is already an experienced strategist who has long said goodbye to all illusions. This is an outright cynic,

The theme of “loss of illusions” in Flaubert’s novel “Sentimental Education.”

The theme of disillusionment in this novel is related to the life and personality development of the main character, Frederic Moreau. It all starts with the fact that he arrives by boat in Nogent on the Seine to visit his mother after a long study at law college. The mother wants her son to become a big man, she wants to get him into an office. But Frederic strives for Paris. He goes to Paris, where he meets firstly the Arnoux family, and secondly, the Dambrez family (influential). He hopes that they will help him get settled. At first he continues to study in Paris with his friend Deslauriers, he meets various students - the artist Pellerin, the journalist Husson, Dussardier, Regembard, and so on. Gradually, Fredrick loses this desire for a high goal and a good career. He finds himself in French society, begins to attend balls, masquerades, and has love affairs. All his life he is haunted by his love for one woman, Madame Arnoux, but she does not allow him to get closer to her, so he lives, hoping for a meeting. One day he learns that his uncle has died and left him a relatively large fortune. But Feredrick is already at the stage when the main thing for him is his position in this French society. Now he cares not about his career, but about how he dresses, where he lives or dines. He begins to spend money here and there, invests it in stocks, goes broke, then helps Arn for some reason, he does not pay him back, Frederick himself begins to live in poverty. Meanwhile, a revolution is being prepared. A republic is proclaimed. All of Frederick's friends are on the barricades. But he doesn't care about public views. He is more busy with his personal life and its arrangement. He is drawn to propose to Louise Rokk, a potential bride with a good dowry, but a country girl. Then the whole story with Rosanette, when she is pregnant by him and a child is born, who soon dies. Then an affair with Madame Dambrez, whose husband dies and leaves her nothing. Frederic is sorry. He meets Arnu again and realizes that things are even worse for them. As a result, he is left with nothing. Somehow he copes with his position without making a career. Here they are, the lost illusions of a man who was sucked into Parisian life and made him completely unambitious.

The image of Etienne Lousteau in Balzac's novel Lost Illusions.

Etienne Lousteau - a failed writer, a corrupt journalist, introducing Lucien into the world of unprincipled, lively Parisian journalism, cultivating the profession of “hired killer of ideas and reputations.” Lucien masters this profession.

Etienne is weak-willed and careless. He himself was once a poet, but he failed - he angrily threw himself into the whirlpool of literary speculation.

His room is dirty and desolate.

The evolution of the image of a financier in Balzac’s “Human Comedy”.

Balzac:

Gobsek

Felix Grande

Papa Goriot

Father of David Sechard

Rastignac

The tragedy of Eugenia Grande in Balzac's novel of the same name.

And her tragedy is that the lives of people like her turned out to be absolutely useless and useless to anyone. Her capacity for deep affection was not responded to.

And yet, in the end, we learn that “money was destined to impart its cold coloring to this heavenly life and instill in a woman who was all feeling, distrust of feelings.” It turns out that in the end Evgenia became almost the same as her father. She has a lot of money, but she lives poorly. She lives this way because she is used to living this way, and another life no longer lends itself to her understanding. Eugenia Grande is a symbol of human tragedy, expressed in crying into a pillow. She has come to terms with her condition, and she can no longer even imagine a better life. The only thing she wanted was happiness and love. But not finding this, she came to complete stagnation. And the monetary relations that reigned in society at that time played a significant role here. If they had not been so strong, Charles most likely would not have succumbed to their influence and retained his devoted feelings for Eugenie, and then the plot of the novel would have developed more romantically. But it would no longer be Balzac.

The theme of “violent passion” in the works of Balzac.

Gobsek seems to be a disembodied, dispassionate person, indifferent to the world around him, religion and people. He is far from his own passions, because he constantly observes them in people who come to him for bills. He inspects them, but he himself is in constant peace. In the past, he experienced many passions (he traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), so he left it in the past. Talking with Derville, he repeats the formula of shagreen skin: “What is happiness? This is either strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured activity.” He is so stingy that in the end, when he dies, there remains a heap of goods, food, moldy from the owner's stinginess.

Felix Grande- a slightly different type: a modern genius of profit, a millionaire who has turned speculation into art. Grande renounced all the joys of life, dried up the soul of his daughter, deprived all his loved ones of happiness, but made millions. His satisfaction lies in successful speculation, in financial conquests, in trade victories. He is a kind of disinterested servant of “art for art’s sake,” since he himself is personally unpretentious and is not interested in the benefits that are given by millions. The only passion - the thirst for gold - which knows no bounds, killed all human feelings in the old cooper; the fate of his daughter, wife, brother, nephew interests him only from the point of view of the main question - their relationship to his wealth: he starves his daughter and sick wife, brings the latter to the grave with his stinginess and heartlessness; he destroys the personal happiness of his only daughter, since this happiness would require Grande to give up part of her accumulated treasures.

The fate of Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's "Human Comedy".

The image of Rastignac in "C.K." - the image of a young man who wins personal well-being. His path is the path of the most consistent and steady ascent. The loss of illusions, if it occurs, is accomplished relatively painlessly.

IN "Pere Goriot" Rastignac still believes in goodness and is proud of his purity. My life is “pure as a lily.” He is of noble aristocratic origin, comes to Paris to make a career and enroll in law school. He lives in Madame Vake's boarding house with his last money. He has access to the Viscountess de Beauseant's salon. In terms of social status, he is poor. Rastignac's life experience consists of a collision of two worlds (the convict Vautrin and the Viscountess). Rastignac considers Vautrin and his views above aristocratic society, where crimes are petty. “Nobody needs honesty,” says Vautrin. “The colder you expect, the further you will go.” Its intermediate position is typical for that time. With his last money, he arranges a funeral for the poor Goriot.

He soon realizes that his situation is bad and will lead nowhere, that he must sacrifice honesty, spit on his pride and resort to meanness.

In the novel "Banker's House" tells about Rastignac's first business successes. Using the help of the husband of his mistress Delphine, Goriot's daughter, Baron de Nucingen, he makes his fortune through clever play on stocks. He is a classic opportunist.

IN "Shagreen skin"- a new stage in the evolution of Rastignac. Here he is already an experienced strategist who has long said goodbye to all illusions. This is an outright cynic who has learned to lie and be a hypocrite. He is a classic opportunist. In order to prosper, he teaches Raphael, you need to climb forward and sacrifice all moral principles.

Diatribe as a way to identify the most pressing problems of our time in Balzac’s story “The Banker's House of Nucingen”.

The artistic style of the late Balzac. Duology about “Poor Relatives”.

Positive heroes and the role of a happy ending in Dickens's work.

Dickens and Romanticism.

Images of financiers in the works of Balzac and Flaubert.

Balzac: in Balzac, in almost every novel of the “Human Comedy” on our list, there is an image of a financier. Basically, these are moneylenders who live with a frantic passion for money, but also some other representatives of the bourgeoisie.

When creating the image of his moneylender, Balzac included it in the context of a very complex social era, which contributed to the revelation of various aspects of this image.

Just like the antique dealer in "Shagreen Skin" Gobsek seems to be a disembodied, dispassionate person, indifferent to the world around him, religion and people. He is far from his own passions, because he constantly observes them in people who come to him for bills. He inspects them, but he himself is in constant peace. In the past, he experienced many passions (he traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), so he left it in the past. Talking with Derville, he repeats the formula of shagreen skin: “What is happiness? This is either strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured activity.” He is so stingy that in the end, when he dies, there remains a heap of goods, food, moldy from the owner's stinginess.

Papa Goriot- one of the pillars of the “Human Comedy”. He is a bread merchant, a former pasta maker. He carried through his life only love for his daughters: that’s why he spent all his money on them, and they took advantage of it. So he went broke. This is the opposite of Felix Grande. He demands from them only love for him, for this he is ready to give them everything. At the end of his life, he comes up with a formula: everyone gives money, even his daughters.

Father of David Sechard: Stinginess begins where poverty begins. The father began to be greedy when the printing house was dying. He went so far as to determine the cost of a printed sheet by eye. It was controlled only by selfish interests. He placed his son in school only to prepare his successor. This is the Felix Grandet type who wanted David to give him everything while he was alive. When David was on the verge of ruin, he came to his father to ask for money, but his father did not give him anything, remembering that he had once given him money for his studies.

Rastignac(in the "Bankers' House of Nucingen"). This novel chronicles Rastignac's early business successes. Using the help of the husband of his mistress Delphine, Goriot's daughter, Baron de Nucingen, he makes his fortune through clever play on stocks. He is a classic opportunist. “The more loans I take out, the more they believe me,” he says in “Shagreen.”

Flaubert: In “Madame Bovary” the image of the financier is Monsieur Leray, a moneylender in Yonville. He is a fabric merchant, and since this product is expensive, with the help of it he makes a lot of money for himself and keeps many of the inhabitants of the city in debt. He appears in the novel at the moment when the Bovarys arrive in Yonville. Emma's dog Djali runs away, and he sympathizes with her, talking about his troubles with missing dogs.

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14. The theme of money and the image of a miser in the works of Balzac: “Gobsek”, “Eugenie Grande”, etc.

The theme of the power of money is one of the main ones in Balzac’s work and runs like a red thread in The Human Comedy.

"Gobsek" written in 1830 and included in Scenes of Private Life. This is a mini-novel. It begins with a frame - the ruined Viscountess de Granlier was once helped by the solicitor Derville, and now wants to help her daughter marry Ernest de Resto (son of the Countess de Resto, ruined by his mother, but just the other day, according to Derville, entering into inheritance rights Already here is the theme of the power of money: a girl cannot marry the young man she likes, because he does not have 2 million, and if he did, then she would have many contenders). Derville tells the Viscountess and her daughter the story of Gobsek, a moneylender. The main character is one of the rulers of the new France. A strong, exceptional personality, Gobsek is internally contradictory. “Two creatures live in him: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and a sublime one,” says lawyer Derville about him.

Gobsek's image– almost romantic. Telling surname: Gobsek is translated from French as “guzzler”. It is no coincidence that clients turn to him only last, because he takes into account even the most unreliable bills, but takes hellish interest from them (50, 100, 500. Out of friendship, he can give 12%, this, in his opinion, is only for great merits and high moral). Appearance: " moon face, Facial features, motionless, impassive, like Talleyrand, they seemed cast from bronze. The eyes, small and yellow, like those of a ferret, and almost without eyelashes, could not stand the bright light" His age was a mystery, his past is little known (they say that in his youth he sailed on a ship and visited most countries of the world), he has one great passion - for the power that money gives. These features allow us to consider Gobsek as a romantic hero. Balzac uses more than 20 similes for this image: a man-bill, an automaton, a golden statue. The main metaphor, Gobsek’s leitmotif, is “silence, like in the kitchen when a duck is killed.” Like Mr. Grandet (see below), Gobsek lives in poverty, although he is terribly rich. Gobsek has his own poetry and philosophy of wealth: gold rules the world.

He cannot be called evil, because he helps honest people who came to him without trying to deceive him. There were only two of them: Derville and Count de Resto. But he also takes an extortionate percentage from them, explaining this very simply. He doesn’t want their relationship to be bound by a feeling of gratitude, which can make even friends enemies.

Gobsek's image is idealized, he is expressive, and gravitates towards the grotesque. He is practically asexual (although he appreciates female beauty) and has gone beyond passions. He enjoys only power over the passions of other people: “I am rich enough to buy other people's consciences. Life is a machine driven by money.”

He dies like a true miser - alone, his stinginess reaches fantastic limits. He accepts gifts from his debtors, including food, tries to resell them, but is too intractable, and in the end it all rots in his house. Everywhere there are traces of crazy hoarding. Money falls out of books. The quintessence of this stinginess is the pile of gold that the old man, for lack of a better place, buried in the fireplace ashes.

Balzac initially existed within the framework of the romantic movement, but the image of Gobsek is given with the help of the narrator - Mr. Derville, and romantic exaggeration is objectified, the author is eliminated from it.

"Evgenia Grande" belongs to the novels of the “second style” (repetitions, comparisons and coincidences), is included in “Scenes of Provincial Life”, and it develops the theme of the power of money and has its own image of the miser - Felix Grande, the father of the main character. The path to describing Eugenie's character begins with her surroundings: the house, the history of her father Grande and his wealth. His stinginess, monomania - all this influenced the character and fate of the main character. Little things in which his stinginess is manifested: he saves on sugar, firewood, uses the food reserves of his tenants, consumes only the worst of the products grown on his lands, considers 2 eggs for breakfast a luxury, gives Evgenia old expensive coins for her birthdays, but constantly monitors so that she doesn’t spend it, she lives in a poor dilapidated house, although she is fabulously rich. Unlike Gobsek, Father Grande is completely unprincipled in accumulating wealth: he violates the agreement with neighboring winemakers, selling wine at exorbitant prices before others, and even knows how to benefit from the ruin of his brother, taking advantage of the fall in the price of bills.

The novel, seemingly devoid of deep passions, in fact simply transfers these passions from the love sphere to the market. The main action of the novel is the transactions of Father Grande, his accumulation of money. Passions are realized in money and are also bought for money.

U Father Grande- his values, views on the world, characterizing him as a miser. For him, the worst thing is not the loss of his father, but the loss of his fortune. He cannot understand why Charles Grandet is so upset about his father’s suicide, and not about the fact that he is ruined. For him, bankruptcy, intentional or unintentional, is the most terrible sin on earth: “To be bankrupt means to commit the most shameful of all acts that can disgrace a person. A highway robber is even better than an insolvent debtor: the robber attacks you, you can defend yourself, at least he risks his neck, but this one...”

Papa Grande is a classic image of a miser, miser, monomaniac and ambitious. Its main idea is to possess gold, to physically feel it. It is no coincidence that when his wife dies and he tries to show her all his tenderness, he throws gold coins on the blanket. Before his death, a symbolic gesture - he does not kiss the golden crucifix, but tries to grab it. From the love of gold grows the spirit of despotism. In addition to his love of money, similar to the “Stingy Knight,” another of his features is cunning, which manifests itself even in his appearance: a bump on his nose with veins that moved slightly when Father Grande was planning some trick.

Like Gobsek, at the end of his life his stinginess takes on painful traits. Unlike Gobsek, even at the moment of death maintaining a sound mind, this man loses his mind. He constantly rushes to his office, makes his daughter move bags of money, and asks all the time: “Are they there?”

The theme of the power of money is the main one in the novel. Money rules everything: it plays a major role in the fate of a young girl. They trample all human moral values. Felix Grande counts the profits at his brother's obituary. Evgenia is interesting to men only as a rich heiress. Because she gave the coins to Charles, her father almost cursed her, and her mother died from nervous shock because of this. Even the actual engagement of Eugenia and Charles is an exchange of material values (gold coins for a gold box). Charles marries for convenience, and when he meets Evgenia, he perceives her more as a rich bride, although, judging by her lifestyle, he comes to the conclusion that she is poor. Evgenia’s marriage is also a trade deal; for money she buys complete independence from her husband.

15. Character and environment in Balzac’s novel “Eugenie Grande”.

“Eugenie Grande” (1833) is a truly realistic stage in Balzac’s work. This is a drama contained in the simplest circumstances. Two of his important qualities appeared: observation and clairvoyance, talent - depicting the causes of events and actions, accessible to the artist’s vision. At the center of the novel is the fate of a woman who is doomed to loneliness, despite all her 19 million francs, and her “mold-colored life.” This work “is not like anything I have created so far,” the writer himself notes: “Here the conquest of absolute truth in art has been completed: here the drama is contained in the simplest circumstances of private life.” The subject of depiction in the new novel is bourgeois everyday life in its outwardly unremarkable course. The scene is the typical French provincial city of Saumur. The characters are Saumur townsfolk, whose interests are limited to a narrow circle of everyday concerns, petty squabbles, gossip and the pursuit of gold. The cult of cleanliness is dominant here. It contains an explanation of the rivalry between two eminent families of the city - the Cruchots and the Grassins, who are fighting for the hand of the heroine of the novel, Eugenie, the heir to the multimillion-dollar fortune of “Papa Grande”. Life, gray in its wretched monotony, becomes the background of Eugenia’s tragedy, a tragedy of a new type - “bourgeois... without poison, without a dagger, without blood, but for the characters more cruel than all the dramas that took place in the famous family of Atrides.”

IN character Eugenia Grande Balzac showed a woman’s ability to love and remain faithful to her beloved. This is an almost perfect character. But the novel is realistic, with a system of techniques for analyzing modern life. Her happiness never materialized, and the reason for this was not the omnipotence of Felix Grande, but Charles himself, who betrayed his youthful love in the name of money and position in the world. Thus, forces hostile to Eugenia ultimately prevailed over Balzac’s heroine, depriving her of what she was intended for by nature itself. The theme of a lonely, disappointed woman, her loss of romantic illusions.

The structure of the novel is of the “second manner”. One theme, one conflict, few characters. This is a novel that begins with everyday life, an epic of private life. Balzac knew provincial life. He showed boredom, everyday events. But something more is put into the environment, things - this Wednesday, which determines the character of the heroes. Small details help to reveal the character of the heroes: the father, saving on sugar, the knock on the door of Charles Grandet, unlike the knock of provincial visitors, Chairman Cruchot, trying to erase his surname, who signs “K. de Bonfon”, since he recently bought the de Bonfon estate, etc. The path to Eugenia's character consists of a description of everything that surrounds her: the old house, Father Grande and the history of his wealth, accurate information about the family, the struggle for her hand between two clans - the Cruchots and the de Grassins. The father is an important factor in the formation of the novel: the stinginess and monomania of Felix Grande, his power, to which Eugenia submits, largely determines her character; later, the stinginess and mask of the father’s indifference is passed on to her, although not in such a strong form. It turns out that the Saumur millionaire (formerly a simple cooper) laid the foundations of his well-being during the Great French Revolution, which gave him access to the ownership of the richest lands expropriated by the republic from the clergy and nobility. During the Napoleonic period, Grandet became mayor of the city and used this post to build a “superior railway” to his possessions, thereby increasing their value. The former cooper is already called Mr. Grande and receives the Order of the Legion of Honor. The conditions of the Restoration era did not hinder the growth of his well-being - it was at this time that he doubled his wealth. The Saumur bourgeoisie is typical of France at that time. Grande, a former simple cooper, laid the foundations of his wealth during the years of the revolution, which gave him access to the ownership of the richest land. During the Napoleonic period, Grande became mayor of the city and used this post to build a “superior road” to his possessions, thereby increasing their value. The former cooper is already called Mr. Grande and receives the Order of the Legion of Honor. The conditions of the Restoration era do not hinder the growth of his well-being - he doubles his wealth. The Saumur bourgeoisie is typical of France at that time. In discovering the “roots” of the Grande phenomenon, the historicism of Balzac’s artistic thinking, which underlies the ever-increasing deepening of his realism, is manifested in all its maturity.

The adventure and love that readers expect is missing. Instead of adventures, there are stories of people: the story of the enrichment of Grande and Charles, instead of a love line, deals with Father Grande.

Evgenia's image. She has a monastic quality and the ability to suffer. Another characteristic feature of her is ignorance of life, especially at the beginning of the novel. She doesn’t know how much money is a lot and how much is little. Her father doesn't tell her how rich she is. Eugenia, with her indifference to gold, high spirituality and natural desire for happiness, dares to come into conflict with Father Grande. The origins of the dramatic collision lie in the heroine’s emerging love for Charles. In the fight for Charlyaon, he shows rare audacity, again manifested in “little truthful facts” (secretly from his father, he feeds Charles a second breakfast, brings him extra pieces of sugar, lights the fireplace, although it’s not supposed to, and, most importantly, gives him a collection of coins, although he has no right to dispose of them). For Grande, Eugenie’s marriage to the “beggar” Charles is impossible, and he floats his nephew to India, paying for his way to Nantes. However, even in separation, Evgenia remains faithful to her chosen one. And if her happiness never materialized, then the reason for this is not the omnipotence of Felix Grande, but Charles himself, who betrayed his youthful love in the name of money and position in the world. Thus, forces hostile to Eugenia ultimately prevailed over Balzac’s heroine, depriving her of what she was intended for by nature itself.

The final touch: betrayed by Charles, having lost the meaning of life along with love, the internally devastated Eugenie at the end of the novel by inertia continues to exist, as if fulfilling her father’s behest: “Despite eight hundred thousand livres of income, she still lives the same way as poor Eugenie Grande lived before , lights the stove in her room only on those days when her father allowed her... Always dressed like her mother dressed. The Saumur house, without sun, without heat, constantly shrouded in shadow and filled with melancholy - a reflection of her life. She carefully collects her income and, perhaps, could seem like a hoarder if she did not refute the slander with the noble use of her wealth... The greatness of her soul conceals the pettiness instilled in her by her upbringing and the skills of the first period of her life. This is the story of this woman - a woman not of the world in the midst of the world, created for the greatness of a wife and mother and who received neither a husband, nor children, nor a family.”

16. The plot and composition of the novels “Père Goriot” and “Lost Illusions”: similarities and differences.

both novels

Composition.

In Lost Illusions, the plot develops linearly, what happens in Lucien. Start with the printing house - and then all the twists and turns

1. "Père Goriot"

Composition: Its composition seems to be linear, chronic. In fact there are a lot of backstories, and they are very natural, as if one of the characters learns something about the other. This interaction is a mechanism of secrets and intrigue - Vautrin, Rastignac, betrayal - it seems to be a chronicle day after day. However, this is a novel that provides a broad picture of social life.

Balzac faced the need transformation of the poetics of the traditional novel, which is usually based on the principles of chronicle linear composition. The novel proposes a new type of novel action with pronounced dramatic beginning.

Plot:

Balzac uses a fairly well-known plot (almost the Shakespearean story of King Lear), but interprets it in a unique way.

Among Balzac's creative recordings, entitled "Thoughts, plots, fragments", there is a short sketch: “The old man - a family boarding house - 600 francs of rent - deprives himself of everything for the sake of his daughters, both of whom have an income of 50,000 francs; dies like a dog." In this sketch, you can easily recognize the story of Goriot’s boundless fatherly love, desecrated by his daughters.

The novel shows the boundless, sacrificial love of a father for his children, which turned out to be not mutual. And which ultimately killed Goriot.

The story begins with the boarding house Vauquet, where Goriot lives. Everyone in the boarding house knows him, treats him extremely unkindly and calls him nothing more than “Père Goriot.” Together with him, young Rastignac also lives in the boarding house, who, by the will of fate, learns the tragic fate of Goriot. It turns out that he was a small merchant who amassed a huge fortune, but squandered it on his adored daughters (Rastignac becomes the lover of one of them), and they, in turn, squeezed everything they could out of their father and abandoned him. And it was not a matter of noble and rich sons-in-law, but of the daughters themselves, who, having entered high society, began to be embarrassed by their father. Even when Goriot was dying, the daughters did not deign to come and help their father. They didn't show up at the funeral either. This story became the impetus for the young Rastignac, who decided to conquer Paris and its inhabitants at all costs.

SIMILARITIES: both of these works are parts of Balzac’s “human comedy”. One environment, approximately one society, AND!!! a person encounters this society and, in fact, loses some of his illusions, naivety, faith in goodness (we continue in the same spirit).

19. The image of Rastignac and his place in Balzac’s “Human Comedy”.

He soon realizes that his situation is bad and will lead nowhere, that he must sacrifice honesty, spit on his pride and resort to meanness.

20. The main conflict and arrangement of images in the novel “Père Goriot”.

The novel is an important part of the artistic history of society of the last century conceived by the writer. Among Balzac’s creative notes, entitled “Thoughts, plots, fragments”, there is a short sketch: “The old man - a family boarding house - 600 francs of rent - deprives himself of everything for the sake of his daughters, both of whom have an income of 50,000 francs; dies like a dog." In this sketch, you can easily recognize the story of Goriot’s boundless fatherly love, desecrated by his daughters.

The image of Father Goriot, of course, is, if not the main one in the novel, then at least one of the main ones, since the entire plot consists of the story of his love for his daughters.

Balzac describes him as the last of all the “freeloaders” in Madame Vauquer’s house. Balzac writes “...As in schools, as in corrupt circles, and here, among eighteen parasites, there turned out to be a wretched, outcast creature, a scapegoat, on whom ridicule rained down (...) Next, Balzac describes the story of Goriot in the boarding house - how he appeared there, how he filmed a more expensive room and was “Mr. Goriot,” as he began to rent rooms cheaper and cheaper until he became what he was at the time of the story. Balzac further writes: “However, no matter how vile his vices or behavior were, hostility towards him did not go so far as to expel him: he paid for the boarding house. Moreover, there was also benefit from him: everyone, ridiculing or bullying him, poured out their good or bad mood.” Thus, we see how all the boarding house residents treated Father Goriot and what their communication with him was like. As Balzac further writes about the attitude of the residents towards Father Goriot, “He inspired disgust in some, pity in others.”

Further, the image of Goriot's father is revealed through his attitude towards his daughters, Anastasi and Eugene. Already through the description of his actions, it is clear how much he loves his daughters, how much he is ready to sacrifice everything for them, while they seem to love him, but do not appreciate him. At the same time, at first it seems to the reader that Goriot, behind his boundless love for his daughters, does not see this certain indifference to himself, does not feel that they do not value him - he constantly finds some kind of explanation for their behavior, is content with what he can only out of the corner of his eye he sees his daughter passing him in a carriage; he can only come to them through the back door. He doesn’t seem to notice that they are ashamed of him, doesn’t pay attention to it. However, Balzac gives his point of view on what is happening - that is, outwardly Goriot seems not to pay attention to how his daughters behave, but inside “... the poor man’s heart was bleeding. He saw that his daughters were ashamed of him, and since they love their husbands, then he is a hindrance for their sons-in-law (...) the old man sacrificed himself, that’s why he is a father; he expelled himself from their houses, and the daughters were pleased; noticing this, he realized that he had done the right thing (...) This father gave away everything.. He gave his soul, his love for twenty years, and he gave away his fortune in one day. The daughters squeezed the lemon and threw it into the street.”

Of course, the reader feels sorry for Goriot; the reader immediately feels compassion for him. Father Goriot loved his daughters so much that even the state in which he was - for the most part, precisely because of them - he endured, dreaming only that his daughters would be happy. “By equating his daughters to angels, the poor fellow thereby elevated them above himself; he even loved the evil that he suffered from them,” writes Balzac about how Goriot raised his daughters.

At the same time, Goriot himself, realizing that his daughters are treating him unfairly and incorrectly, says the following: “Both daughters love me very much. As a father I am happy. But two sons-in-law behaved badly with me.” That is, we see that he in no way blames his daughters for anything, shifting all the blame onto his sons-in-law, who, in fact, are much less to blame for him than his daughters. »

And only dying, when none of his daughters came to him, although both knew that he was dying, Goriot says out loud everything that the reader was thinking about while watching the development of the plot. “They both have hearts of stone. I loved them too much for them to love me,” Goriot says of his daughters. This is what he did not want to admit to himself: “I have completely atoned for my sin - my excessive love. They cruelly repaid me for my feeling - like executioners, they tore my body with pincers (...) They don’t love me and never have loved me! (...) I'm too stupid. They imagine that everyone's father is just like their father. You must always keep yourself in value.”

“If fathers are trampled under foot, the fatherland will perish. It is clear. Society, the whole world is held together by fatherhood, everything will collapse if children stop loving their fathers,” says Goriot, thereby, in my opinion, voicing one of the main ideas of the work.

13. Concept and structure of Balzac's "Human Comedy".

1. Concept. In 1834, Balzac conceived the idea of creating a multi-volume work, which was to become an artistic history and artistic philosophy of France. Initially, he wanted to call it “Studies of Morals”; later, in the 40s, he decided to call this huge work “ A human comedy”, by analogy with Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. The task is to emphasize the comedy inherent in this era, but at the same time not to deny humanity to its heroes. The Cheka was supposed to include 150 works, of which 92 were written, works of the first, second and third manners of Balzac. It was necessary not only to write new works, but also to significantly rework the old ones so that they corresponded to the plan. The works included in the “Chka” had the following features:

ü A combination of several storylines and dramatic construction;

ü Contrast and juxtaposition;

ü Leitmotifs;

ü The theme of the power of money (in almost all sections of The Human Comedy);

ü The main conflict of the era is the struggle between man and society;

ü Shows his characters objectively, through material manifestations;

ü Pays attention to little things - the path of a truly realistic writer;

ü The typical and individual in the characters are dialectically interconnected. The category of typical applies to both circumstances and events that determine the movement of the plot in novels.

ü Cyclization (the hero of "Chka" is considered as a living person about whom more can be told. For example, Rastignac appears, in addition to "Père Goriot", in "Shagreen Skin", "The Banker's House of Nucingen" and barely flashes in "Lost Illusions").

The intention of this work is most fully reflected in “ Preface to The Human Comedy”, written 13 years after the start of the implementation of the plan. The idea of this work, according to Balzac, “was born from comparisons of humanity with the animal world", namely, from the immutable law: " Everyone for themselves, - on which the unity of the organism is based.” Human society, in this sense, is similar to nature: “After all, Society creates from man, according to the environment in which he operates, as many diverse species as there are in the animal world.” If Buffon tried to represent the entire animal world in his book, why not try to do the same with society, although, of course, the description here will be more extensive, and women and men are completely different from male and female animals, since often a woman does not depend on men and plays an independent role in life. In addition, if descriptions of the habits of animals are unchanged, then the habits of people and their environment change at every stage of civilization. Thus, Balzac was going to " to embrace three forms of existence: men, women and things, that is, people and the material embodiment of their thinking - in a word, to depict a person and life».

In addition to the animal world, the idea of the “Human Comedy” was influenced by the fact that there were many historical documents, and history of human morals was not written. It is this story that Balzac has in mind when he says: “Chance is the greatest novelist of the world; to be prolific, you need to study it. The historian itself was supposed to be the French Society; I could only be its secretary».

But it was not only his task to describe the history of morals. To earn the praise of readers (and Balzac considered this the goal of any artist), “ it was necessary to reflect on the principles of nature and discover in what ways human Societies move away from or approach the eternal law, truth, and beauty" A writer must have strong opinions on matters of morality and politics; he must consider himself a teacher of people.

Truthfulness of details. The novel "would not have any meaning if it were not truthful in detail" Balzac attaches the same importance to constant, everyday, secret or obvious facts, as well as to the events of personal life, their causes and motivations, as historians have hitherto attached to the events of the social life of peoples.

The implementation of the plan required a huge number of characters. There are more than two thousand of them in The Human Comedy. And we know everything necessary about each of them: their origin, parents (sometimes even distant ancestors), relatives, friends and enemies, previous and current income and occupations, exact addresses, apartment furnishings, the contents of wardrobes and even the names of the tailors who sewed them. costumes. The story of Balzac's heroes, as a rule, does not end in the finale of a particular work. Moving on to other novels, stories, short stories, they continue to live, experiencing ups and downs, hopes or disappointments, joys or torments, since the society of which they are organic particles is alive. The interconnection of these “returning” heroes holds together the fragments of the grandiose fresco, giving rise to the polysyllabic unity of the “Human Comedy”.

2. Structure.

Balzac's task was to write a history of the morals of France in the 19th century - to depict two or three thousand typical people of this era. Such a multitude of lives required certain frames, or “galleries.” This is where the entire structure of The Human Comedy comes from. It is divided into 6 parts:

· Scenes of private life(this includes "Père Goriot" - the first work written in accordance with the general plan of the Cheka , "Gobsek"). « These scenes depict childhood, youth, their delusions»;

· Scenes of provincial life (« Evgenia Grande" and part " Lost illusions" - "Two poets"). " Mature age, passions, calculations, interests and ambition»;

· Scenes of Parisian life (« Banking house of Nucingen»). « A picture of tastes, vices and all the unbridled manifestations of life caused by the morals characteristic of the capital, where extreme good and extreme evil meet simultaneously»;

· Scenes of political life. « A very special life, in which the interests of many are reflected, is a life that takes place outside the general framework.” One principle: for monarchs and statesmen there are two moralities: great and small;

· Scenes of military life. « Societies in a state of highest tension, emerging from their usual state. Least complete piece of work»;

· Scenes of rural life. « Drama of social life. In this section are found the purest characters and the realization of the great principles of order, politics and morality».

Paris and the provinces are socially opposite. Not only people, but also the most important events differ in typical images. Balzac tried to give an idea of the different areas of France. "Comedy" has its own geography, as well as its own genealogy, its own families, setting, characters and facts, it also has its own armorial, its own nobility and bourgeoisie, its own artisans and peasants, politicians and dandies, its own army - in a word, the whole world.

These six sections are the basis of The Human Comedy. Above it rises the second part, consisting of philosophical studies, where the social engine of all events finds expression. Balzac discovers this main “social engine” in the struggle of egoistic passions and material interests that characterize the public and private life of France in the first half of the 19th century. (" Shagreen leather" - connects scenes of morals with philosophical studies. Life is depicted in a fight with Desire, the beginning of every Passion. The fantastic image of shagreen skin does not conflict with the realistic method of depicting reality. All events are strictly motivated in the novel by a natural coincidence of circumstances (Raphael, who had just wished for an orgy, came out from an antique shop, unexpectedly encounters friends who take him to a “luxurious feast” in Taillefer’s house; at the feast, the hero accidentally meets with a notary, who has been looking for the heir of a deceased millionaire for two weeks, who turns out to be Raphael, etc.) Higher than philosophical – analytical studies(for example, “Physiology of Marriage”).

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