"Eugenie Grandet": Most Famous Novel by Honore de Balzac, Concentrates on Money and Power
"Eugenie Grandet" (written in 1833, part of the grand project"La Comedie Humaine") is the most famous novel by French writer Honore de Balzac. Many of Balzac's novels concentrate on money and power. In the novel "Eugenie Grandet" the focus on these elements is even stronger. The story is of a young woman who grows up as an only child. Her father is a very cheapskate man, and this affects his relations with the rest of the family. Her mother although very gentle and caring does not seem to play a significant role.Eugenie lives with her parents and servant Nanon in Saumur. On her twenty -third birthday her father makes preparations to arrange the marriage of his daughter so that this will not affect his wealth in the slightest. The same evening, her cousin Charles arrives with a letter asking for support after his parent's death. Eugenie becomes very captivated by her cousin and starts building up dreams of marring him.Balzac's used us with finding various representations of human types in his feminine characters. Eugenie Grandet is a rather idealized woman who would be willing to
give herself up in order to help her potential partner to evolve, sacrificing her own needs and desires, supporting him in every possible way. She is innocent and not capable of perceiving the mean, cold world around her. Between all the vicious and ugly characters, except the humble and devoted servant Nanon, Eugenie remains as a symbol of kindness and purity. Eugenie is a sensible young and naive woman. Her crush on her cousin leads her in giving him everything she was able to gather in her short life, her gold, in order for him to depart to India, in the hope that he will earn money and cover his father's debts. Balzac created a noble character, simple and delicate, somehow not suitable for this world, that eventually would disappoint her and harm her soul irreversibly. Even though she fought for what she believed in, in the end she will be a victim of the destiny. She is not able to make the difference between a lie and the simple truth. Eugenie is a generous and kind character, in the end she gives away some of her fortune for charity. Or, at least, this is what he confesses his intentions are. Balzac's character is a women, and "women have more cause for suffering" than men. He feels for her only gratitude, he wants to pay her the money he owns and he wants her to return his mother's dressing case. She longs for an ideal that she will never be able to have. "To young girls religiously brought up, whose minds are ignorant and pure, all is love from the moment they set their feet within the enchanted regions of that passion"1.
Common topics in this essay:
Eugenie Grandet,
Charles Eugenie,
Nanon Saumur,
Comedie Humaine,
Balzac Balzac's,
Nanon Eugenie,
eugenie grandet,
servant nanon,
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