Honore de Balzac

"Father Goriot"

The main events take place in the boarding house "mother" Voke. At the end of November 1819, seven permanent "freeloaders" were found here: on the second floor - a young lady Victorina Taifer with a distant relative of Madame Couture; on the third - a retired official Poiret and a mysterious middle-aged gentleman named Vautrin; on the fourth - the old maid Mademoiselle Michono, a former grain merchant Goriot and a student of Eugene de Rastignac, who came to Paris from Angouleme. All the tenants unanimously despise Father Goriot, who was once called “Mr.”: having settled with Madame Voke in 1813, he took the best room on the second floor - then he obviously had some money, and the hostess had hope to end her widowed existence. She even entered into some of the costs of the common table, but the "vermicellier" did not appreciate her efforts. Disappointed mother Voke began to look askance at him, and he fully justified bad expectations: two years later he moved to the third floor and stopped heating in the winter. The vigilant servants and tenants guessed the reason for such a fall very soon: pretty young ladies occasionally came secretly to Papa Goriot - obviously, the old debauchee was squandering a fortune on his mistresses. True, he tried to pass them off as his daughters - a stupid lie that only amused everyone. By the end of the third year, Goriot moved to the fourth floor and began to walk in rags.

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

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

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

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

The day before the fateful denouement, Vautrin informs Rastignac that his friend Colonel Franchessini challenged Typher's son to a duel. At the same time, the young man learns that Father Goriot did not waste time: he rented a lovely apartment for Eugene and Delphine and instructed the lawyer Derville to put an end to the atrocities of Nucingen - from now on, the daughter will have thirty-six thousand francs of annual income. This news puts an end to Rastignac's hesitations - he wants to warn the father and son of Taifers, but the prudent Vautrin makes him drink wine with an admixture of sleeping pills. The next morning, the same trick is done with him himself: Michono mixes a drug into his coffee that causes a rush of blood to the head, the insensible Vautrin is undressed, and the stigma appears on his shoulder after clapping his palm.

Further events take place rapidly, and mother Voke suddenly loses all her guests. First, they come for Quiz Tyfer: the father calls the girl to him, because her brother is mortally wounded in a duel. Then the gendarmes burst into the boarding house: they were ordered to kill Vautrin at the slightest attempt to resist, but he demonstrates the greatest composure and calmly surrenders to the police. Imbued with an involuntary admiration for this "genius of penal servitude," the students dining at the boarding house expel voluntary spies - Michonneau and Poiret. And Father Goriot shows Rastignac a new apartment, begging for one thing - to let him live on the floor above, next to his beloved Delphine. But all the old man's dreams are shattered. Pressed against the wall by Derville, Baron de Nucingen confesses that his wife's dowry has been invested in financial fraud. Goriot is horrified: his daughter is at the mercy of a dishonest banker. However, Anastasi's situation is even worse: saving Maxime de Tray from a debtor's prison, she pledges family diamonds to Gobsek, and Comte de Resto finds out about this. She needs another twelve thousand, and her father spent the last money on an apartment for Rastignac. The sisters begin to shower insults on each other, and in the midst of their quarrel, the old man falls as if knocked down - he had a stroke.

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

The action of the work of Honore de Balzac "Father Goriot" takes place in November 1819 in the boarding house of Madame Vauquet in Paris, whom the guests gave the nickname "Mother". The boarding house currently has seven permanent tenants. On the fourth floor there is a maiden of advanced years, Mademoiselle Michonnot, a student Eugene, who came from Angouleme, and a former grain merchant Goriot. On the third floor - Mr. Vautrin, whose activities no one knows anything about, and a retired official Poiret. On the second is the young Quiz Taifer with her relative Madame Couture.

All the residents of the house are bound by a feeling of contempt for Goriot, who has been living with Madame Voke for more than six years. Only after settling in the boarding house Goriot took the best room on the second floor, at that time he still had money. Quickly noticing Goriot, the hostess firmly decided to marry him, but Goriot rejected her. After a couple of years, Goriot's financial flow began to dry up, and he was forced to move to the third floor. The reason for this was the young mistresses of Papa Goriot, who from time to time visited him. Attempts to pass off the girls as their daughters each time made all the guests very amused. Such a life led to the fact that Goriot spent all his fortune on the girls, began to walk in rags and moved to live on the fourth floor.

Meanwhile, life in the boarding house begins to change little by little. Eugene Rastignac, having considered the delights of life in Paris, decides to get into secular society at all costs. At the ball, which Eugene gets with the help of his aunt, he meets Countess Anastasi de Resto, an old acquaintance of Goriot. Eugene's attempt to make a closer acquaintance turns out to be humiliation for Eugene. The Countess preferred Count Maxime de Tray, to whom Eugene immediately becomes filled with wild hatred. Then the guy visits his aunt, who tells him that Anastasi was Goriot's girlhood, and that the wife of the banker Delphine is also the daughter of Goriot's father, but both daughters turned their backs on their father. By chance, Vautrin tells Eugene that Quiz is the daughter of a banker, and if her brother is removed, then she will become the only heiress. Vautrin himself is called to kill his brother for 200 thousand from the future dowry of the girl, but Eugene, with the assistance of Goriot, falls in love with Delphine, who reciprocates.

Eugene is now well received at any secular receptions, but he has not increased his money, and Vautrin constantly reminds him of Quiz's millions. After some time, the fate of Vautrin takes a sharp turn, the police begin to suspect him of Jacques Collin, who escaped from hard labor. For a police reward, Michonneau and Poiret must find out if Voltren has a brand on his shoulder.

A couple of days later, Voltrain informs Eugene that his friend Colonel Franchessini has challenged Quiz's brother to a duel and that his fate is sealed. On the same day, Eugene learns that Goriot's father has resolved all issues with Delfina's husband about the division of property and his daughter's share in the bank, and rented an apartment for him and Delfina. The guy makes a choice right away, but the upcoming duel of Tyfer haunts him, and Eugene decides to tell everything to Quiz's father and brother. However, this was not destined to come true, Vautrin pours sleeping pills on him. A little later, sleeping pills in Vautrin's coffee, sprinkled with Michono, also lull Vautrin to sleep. Michono immediately finds his notorious brand on his shoulder.

The next day, her father comes for Quiz, as her brother is mortally wounded in a duel, the gendarmes detain Vautrin, Poiret and Michonneau expel the students who dined at the boarding house for betrayal. Father Goriot and Eugene find out that Delphine's ex-husband invested her part in financial fraud. Goriot's second daughter, saving her lover Maxime de Tray, pawns her husband's family diamonds, and her husband finds out everything and she urgently needs money. Father Goriot has a stroke from the problems of his daughters, and after a couple of days he dies.

The work ends with the beggar Eugene looking at Paris from the hill and swearing to succeed in life at any cost.

Compositions

The specifics of "Etudes on Morals". Analysis of the novel "Father Goriot" The problem of fathers and children in the novel "Father Goriot" by Honore de Balzac (composition miniature) Rastignac - a characteristic of a literary hero Realistic types of heroes in Balzac's novel "Father Goriot" The problem of choice in O de Balzac's novel "Father Goriot" Up the stairs leading down (based on the novel by O de Balzac "Father Goriot") What led father Goriot to death (Based on the novel by O. Balzac "Father Goriot") Depiction of the Corrupting Power of Money in Honore de Balzac's Père Goriot

Honore Balzac

Father Goriot

To the great and famous Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire in admiration for his work and genius.

de balzac

Madame Vauquet, née de Conflans, is already an old woman; For about forty years she has been keeping furnished rooms in Paris with a boarding house on the Rue Neuve Sainte-Genevieve between the Latin Quarter and the Faubourg Saint-Marceau. Men and women, young and old alike, are allowed into these rooms, known as the "House of the Voke", but evil tongues could never say anything bad about the morals of this venerable institution. But here for thirty years you have not seen a single young person, and if a young man settles here, then his relatives send him only miserable crumbs. Nevertheless, in 1819, to which the beginning of our drama belongs, a poor girl lived there. However vulgarized the word "drama" is in our day, thanks to its too frequent and misuse in our morbid literature, it is indispensable here; although this story is not dramatic in the true sense of the word, nevertheless, at the end of this work, someone, perhaps, will shed tears intra muros et extra. Will it be understood outside of Paris? It is permissible to doubt this. The details of this drama, rich in observation and full of local color, can only be appreciated between the hills of Montmartre and the heights of Montrouge, in that famous valley, with buildings of worthless material ready to collapse at any moment, and with ditches blackened with mud; in a valley full of genuine suffering, often illusory joys, and living such a turbulent life that only something out of the ordinary can make any lasting impression here. However, even here there are sometimes sorrows, to which the accumulation of vices and virtues conveys solemnity and greatness: at the sight of them, egoism, self-interest freeze and are imbued with pity, but the impression from them is like a hastily swallowed juicy fruit. If the chariot of civilization, similar to the chariot of the idol of the Juggernaut, halts for a moment, encountering a heart that is not so easily crushed as other hearts, then it will soon crush it and continue its victorious march. You will do the same, taking this book with a well-groomed hand and sitting deeper in an easy chair with the words: "Perhaps this will amuse me." After reading about the secret misadventures of Father Goriot, you will dine with appetite, blaming the author for your insensitivity and accusing him of exaggeration and poetic fabrications. So know this: this drama is not fiction and not a novel. All is true. It is so true that everyone recognizes particles of it in himself, perhaps in his own heart.

The house where the furnished rooms with the boarding house are rented belongs to Mrs. Voke. It is located at the bottom of the Rue Neuve-Saint-Geneviève, in a place where there is such a steep drop to the Rue de l'Arbalette that horses rarely come up and down the slope. This circumstance favors the silence that reigns in the streets, squeezed between the dome of the Val de Grasse and the dome of the Pantheon - two structures that change the shades of the atmosphere, casting yellow tones into it, darkening everything in it with the harsh reflections of their domes. The pavements here are dry, there is no dirt or water in the drains, grass grows along the walls. Sadness seizes here even the most carefree person, as well as all passers-by; the sound of the carriage becomes an event here: the houses are gloomy, the high walls smell like a prison. A Parisian who wandered by chance would see only public furnished rooms or educational institutions, poverty or boredom, old age on the verge of death or a cheerful youth forced to work. There is no quarter in Paris more terrible and, let us add, less famous. In particular, the Rue Neuve-Saint-Genevieve is like a bronze frame, the only one suitable for this story, for the perception of which it is useful to prepare the mind with dark colors, severe thoughts; so with each step the light of day fades, and the drawling voice of the guide resounds deeper as the traveler descends into the catacombs. True comparison! Who decides what is more terrible: the sight of withered hearts or empty skulls?

The front of the furnished rooms faces the garden, so that the house forms a right angle with the rue Neuve Sainte Genevieve, from where you can see it from the side. Along the façade, between the house and the garden, there is a paved path, a toise wide, with grooves for the drainage of water, and in front of it is a sandy avenue, bordered by geraniums, oleanders and pomegranate trees planted in blue and white faience vases. A gate leads to this alley with a sign on which is written: "House Voke", and lower: "Furnished rooms with boarding for persons of both sexes and others." During the day, through the gate, equipped with a piercing bell, you can see at the end of the paved path on the opposite wall an arch painted by a local painter in green marble. The painting creates the illusion of a niche in which a statue depicting Cupid rises. At the sight of the peeling varnish covering this statue, a lover of allegories would perhaps see in it a symbol of Parisian love, the consequences of which are cured a few steps from here. The half-erased inscription under the plinth recalls the distant time to which this decoration belongs, testifying to enthusiastic worship before Voltaire, who returned to Paris in 1777:

Whoever you are, here he is - forever your master.
Such he is, and was, and will be he alone.

When it gets dark, the through gate is replaced by a solid one. The garden, as wide as the length of the facade, is squeezed between the fence of the neighboring house, along which ivy falls like a mantle, covering it entirely and attracting the eyes of passers-by with its unusual picturesqueness in Paris. The trellis of fruit trees and vines carpet these hedges, and their lean and dusty fruits are yearly the object of fear of Madame Vauquet and her conversations with the boarders. A narrow alley along each fence leads under the canopy of lindens (the word "tiyel" Madame Vauquet, although born de Conflans, stubbornly pronounces "tiy", despite the remarks of the residents). Between the two side alleys is a garden of artichokes, bordered with sorrel, lettuce and parsley, and lined with fruit trees whose branches are trimmed in the shape of a spindle.

Under the canopy of lindens, a round table, painted green and surrounded by benches, is dug into the ground. Butchers rich enough to afford the luxury of coffee come here to enjoy it on hot days, when the heat is so high that you can hatch chickens without a brood hen. The four-storey façade, topped with penthouses, is built of fine stone and painted with a yellow glue paint, which gives such a vulgar appearance to almost all Parisian houses. Each floor has five fine-paneled windows fitted with shutters, all of which rise differently so that their slats stick out at random. There are two windows on the side facade of the house, and on the first floor they are decorated with bars. Behind the building is a courtyard, twenty feet wide, where pigs, chickens, rabbits live in good harmony; at the back of the yard rises a woodshed. Between the barn and the kitchen window hangs a box for storing provisions, under which there is a drain for slops. From the courtyard, a narrow door opens onto the Rue Neuve-Saint-Geneviève, through which the cook, sparing no water, fuses garbage in order to clean the cloaca in order to avoid infection.

“Egoism is cotton stuffed into the ears so as not to hear people's groans” Henryk Sienkiewicz

"Father Goriot" is a terrible novel about selfishness that develops at the heart of any society, in the family, a novel about the problem of fathers inheriting the fate of King Lear.

The main events of the novel unfold in the boarding house Vauquet, in which completely different people live - a convict, impoverished aristocrats, students ... We learn about what is happening in the boarding house through the prism of perception of Eugene Rastignac, who has nothing but a name and the opportunity to visit noble houses. He is not yet spoiled, a little naive, capable of compassion, but he is already receiving cruel lessons in survival, and these lessons are given to him by three teachers - a vicious world that uses kicks and ridicule; the convict Vautrin, speaking about the absence of principles and the illusory nature of laws, and the viscountess de Beauseant, deigning to instruct the dear young man:

“The more coolly you calculate, the further you will move forward. Strike without mercy, you will be feared. Look at men and women as if they were traveling horses, which you will let die at the next station, and you will reach the peak of your desires.

That's the whole philosophy. And in the process of "learning" and trying to win a place in high Parisian society, Rastignac converges with a boarding house neighbor, Father Goriot, a mysterious little man who fell victim to his all-consuming love for selfish daughters, who suck all life juices out of the old man along with money. Father Goriot himself is not able to comprehend what is happening to him, his eyes are obscured by an exaggerated feeling of paternal love. He put everything at the feet of his daughters and married them successfully - to a count and a banker. They, corrupted by permissiveness, do not know love and gratitude, their father is only a source of money for them, and when the money source dried up, the father lost interest for them, and even earlier they were embarrassed to admit their relationship with him. Only absolutely poor, on his deathbed in a miserable kennel, the old man begins to see:

“Everyone gives money, even daughters! O! Where is my money? If I could leave treasures to them, they would follow me, heal me; I would have heard, I would have seen them."

Both daughters are so busy with themselves that they don’t even deign to come to their father’s funeral, they don’t give a penny for burial. On his last journey, the old man is escorted by a medical student and Eugene Rastignac, and even the inscription on the tombstone “Here lies Monsieur Goriot, father of the Countess de Restaud and Baroness de Nucingen, buried at the expense of two students” is unlikely to get through the “loving” daughters.

Who is to blame for what happened - society or the father's excessive love?

Score: 9

Balzac told us another story about King Lear, which happened several centuries after Shakespeare's drama, and more cruel, because Goriot has only two daughters.

I don't know how society is to blame for the tragedy of the unfortunate hero. And I'm not sure that his feeling for his daughters can really be considered love. It is more like a kind of hysteria, when a person is obsessed with his fetishes and because of this he has lost the ability to sensibly assess the surrounding reality. His paternal feeling is not touching, but terrifying.

In his young and mature years, Goriot appears as an intelligent, decisive and practical person. He founded a successful trading business from scratch, controlled the movement of huge cash flows, understood all the intricacies of export and import legislation, skillfully using the shortcomings of the legislator. The status of a successful merchant implies knowledge of life, people, customs.

Being a good parent is not easy. Goriot failed, and as a result doomed himself to a beggarly old age, and his daughters to an unhappy life. They are both unhappy, despite their outward brilliance. Father Goriot gave his girls everything that money can give. And he didn’t notice that he was creating an abyss between himself and the children, with his own hands he was tearing merchant daughters out of their native environment and pushing them into a conditionally “noble” world, where the merchant’s daughters would never be accepted on an equal footing. Wishing the very best for his girls, the experienced salesman overlooked this crucial point. Apparently, from the standpoint of a trader (representative of the bourgeois stratum of society), the gap between social strata did not seem so insurmountable. hoped for money. And he raised his daughters in love not so much for their father, but for money, which allows them to solve any problems and get any benefits.

When daughters are left without the support of an old father, this is a betrayal for which there is no justification. But it is unlikely that any daughter, even the best, could live next to a father like Goriot. Delphine (youngest daughter) after all correctly noted that when Goriot is around, he wants his daughter to belong only to him. Focusing on his daughters all the interest of his life, he began to suffocate them with his love as soon as he managed to get close. In the life of a parent, there comes such a painful moment when it is necessary to let go of the child from himself, including emotionally, to fill the void with something and build relationships on a new basis - not as with children, but as with adults, although children, of course. But Goriot did not let go of either them or himself, at the first request he destroyed his own life, if only to give his daughters as much as possible, and, in part, to buy himself the right to be with them.

Buying the favor of adult daughters, he taught them the same. Anastasi and Dklfina not only did not love their father, they did not love themselves either. Young beautiful women bought the attention of lovers and thoughtlessly squandered on them the funds given by their father. These ladies did not know how to build relationships on some other basis than money. In their exalted loves, they are surprisingly similar to Father Goriot - money buys the appearance of love.

Of course, the mores of society have contributed to the tragedy of this family. But I don't think it's decisive. It is no coincidence that Balzac himself planned to transfer this novel from Scenes of Parisian Life to Scenes of Private Life. The terrible fate of his heroes is due to the destructive impact not so much of Parisian society as the hysterical attachment of a parent to a child, a woman to a man, when they seek to tie their favorite object to themselves at any cost and, in the absence of reciprocal love and gratitude, resort to monetary ties. When the source that feeds these bonds dries up, it remains only to die.

Perhaps this is one of the most powerful novels of the "Human Comedy". Balzac was not as kind to his hero as his predecessor in the story. He did not give the unfortunate father consolation in the love of at least one of his children. Unlike the old English classic, the French author did not believe much in human virtues. Apparently, he considered them unviable in a society where brilliance and poverty set off and cover each other. .

Score: 8

Undoubtedly, Balzac is one of the greatest masters of the psychological novel. In his time, he may have no equal. But here Goriot looks like a somewhat artificial figure. Of course, for every parent, his children are always the best. Especially daddy's daughters. But there is no such even all-consuming blindness as in Goriot. Consider the relationship with your children or with your parents. The most loving parent will sometimes get angry at the most perfect child. Almost immediately, he will forgive, sacrifice everything for him, but he will not be able to not react to anything at all. And Goriot is not a man, but the embodiment of blind parental love. Apparently, the fact is that Balzac, a brilliant realist, wanted to be a romantic all his life. Romantics usually emphasize only one passion in a person in order to enhance the impression. As a result of such a struggle between romanticism and realism, Goriot turned out.

All the other characters in the novel are great. And the inhabitants of the house of Voke, and those who avoid approaching him. Rastignac and Vautrin are especially good. They do not embody any passion, but simply live. And they turned out to be more alive than all the living.

Score: 9

Paris of the early 19th century is shown in this novel in the most unflattering way. More precisely, not even Paris itself, but its high society and the customs that reigned there. And against this background, we see the key characters and the main tragedy of the novel - Father Goriot and his boundless love for his daughters.

Everything is good in moderation. Even love pouring over the edge - from good turns into evil. For Goriot, his daughter, this is the most valuable and important thing in the world. He is ready for anything for them, but this indulgence of all desires, excessive guardianship as a result leads to the fact that his love is perceived as a given and as a weakness. And in the end it leads to the tragedy of both Father Goriot himself and his daughters.

Another important character is the student Rastignac, who goes through a period of personality formation, maturation and absorbs the values ​​of Paris. The desire to achieve recognition and wealth makes him balance on the verge of good and evil. On the one hand, he wants a luxurious life and good for his loved ones. On the other hand, he understands how this can be achieved and what it will cost him. Is he ready to sell his soul to the devil for a place in the high society of Paris, for money and luxury? And whether he is so superior or vice versa - this is the realm of meanness, where base desires, money, luxury and profit rule everything. Is it worth it? He also sees what Goriot's attitude towards his daughters led to. It would seem - he gave everything for them, and paid for it. He was reproached for this.

A drama that touches the soul. Sincere love and its consequences. Upper light and its underside. All this in the novel of the French classic, written in a living language with vivid characters. The only negative is a rather slow start. But as they say - it harnesses for a long time, but then it goes quickly.

A more intriguing figure was Eugène de Rastignac, taking his first steps in Parisian society. This is also a predator, but a beginner, he only tries teeth and claws. With youthful greed, he is ready to sink his teeth into the huge pie called Paris. But will he succeed? Will blue eyes and a noble relative be able to compensate for ignorance of the world and provincial naivety? That's where the human comedy!

Score: 9

The novel "Father Goriot" was created by Balzac in the early 1830s. The work was included in the collection "Human Comedy". The novel was first published in one of the Parisian magazines. The work was printed in parts over several months. The novel has been filmed several times.

Events unfold in the boarding house of Madame Voke in November 1819. The hostess dreams of marrying one of her guests, a certain father Goriot, who settled in a boarding house several years ago. All other residents despise Goriot. The old man took the best room. His ability to pay makes the widow Voke think about marriage.

Despite all the efforts of the widow, the rich guest does not pay any attention to her. From tender feelings, the hostess gradually turns to hatred. The last argument in favor of refusing to marry is the clear signs of Goriot's ruin.

The old man unexpectedly moves to a cheaper room and refuses heating. Then Goriot moves again, to even less expensive apartments. Finally, it becomes known about the reasons for the ruin of the old man: Goriot has two mistresses, on whom he spends all his money. The old man himself claims that the young well-dressed ladies who periodically visit him are his daughters. However, no one believes him.

In addition to Goriot, the boarding house is permanently occupied by: student Eugene de Rastignac, a suspicious subject Monsieur Vautrin, Quiz Tyfer and some others. The vain Eugene certainly wants to penetrate the high society of Paris. In the capital, he has a relative - the viscountess de Beausean. Rastignac sends her a letter of introduction written by his aunt. The viscountess invites the young man to the ball. Eugene sets himself the goal of making a close acquaintance with one of the ladies. The attention of Rastignac was attracted by the Countess Anastasi de Resto. Returning to the boarding house, the young man tells his neighbors about the countess during breakfast. It turns out that Mr. Vautrin is familiar with this woman. He claims that old Goriot also knows her well and even pays her debts.

The student tries to get closer to the countess. However, the first attempt is not successful. The servant in Resto's house looks at the young man with frank contempt. The countess herself is not too happy to see the guest, letting him know that she wants to be left alone with her other admirer, Count Maxime de Tray. The Countess's displeasure intensifies when Eugene mentions Father Goriot in a conversation.

Dejected by the failure, Rastignac goes to Viscountess Bosean, where he finds out the reason for Resto's discontent. The countess is the daughter of old Goriot. The old man also had another daughter, Delphine de Nucingen, who became the banker's wife. Goriot gave his daughters everything he had. Anastasi and Delphine did not take any part in the life of their father, remembering him only when they had financial difficulties. The sisters compete with each other. Delphine, unlike Anastasi, was not accepted into Parisian high society. The viscountess advises her young relative to take advantage of the rivalry between the sisters.

Rastignac has a plan of action: he wants to take old Goriot under his wing. In addition, he needs a considerable amount of money to update his wardrobe. His family does not have the money he needs. Vautrin advises Eugene to hit on Quiz, the wealthy heiress. The girl lives in a boarding house due to the fact that she quarreled with her father. Quiz has a brother that can be eliminated. Vautrin offers to take on the "dirty" work, for which Eugene will have to pay him 200 thousand. The student refuses the dubious offer. It soon becomes known that Vautrin was a runaway convict. Rastignac begins courting Delphine. Old Goriot helps him in every possible way, because he hates his son-in-law. The young woman reciprocates the student. Having married Dolphin, the banker took her dowry and doomed his wife to a beggarly existence.

Papa Goriot has rented a good apartment for Rastignac and Delphine and assigns an annual allowance to his daughter. He himself dreams of settling on the floor above. However, the old man's dreams were shattered overnight. The banker de Nucingen invested his wife's dowry in financial fraud. Delphine is in the complete power of her husband. Anastasi also finds herself in a difficult situation. In an attempt to help her lover pay off his debts, the Countess pawned the family's diamonds. The father can do nothing to help his daughter. He no longer has any money left. When they meet, the sisters hurl insults at each other. Goriot could not bear the quarrel between two dearly beloved daughters. The old man loses consciousness and dies.

Rastignac had to bury Goriot with his own money. Another attempt to achieve the goal was unsuccessful for the student. However, Eugene promises himself that he will certainly succeed, no matter what it costs him.

Character characteristics

Papa Goriot

The protagonist of the novel lives for the sake of his ungrateful daughters. Anastasi and Delphine became the only consolation of his life. Selfless paternal love leads to the fact that Goriot does not have the means to heat his room in winter and buy himself new clothes. The prototype of the protagonist was King Lear.

Student Rastignac

Eugene comes from a poor, large family. The character of Eugene is very contradictory. On the one hand, the young man is vain and wants to get a profitable job in the capital. But on the other hand, a young man is able to love, respect, sympathize, help his neighbor. In pursuit of success, Eugene was able to maintain many moral guidelines: Rastignac refused the opportunity to receive a rich dowry for Quiz by eliminating her brother.

Anastasi and Delfina

The daughters of old Goriot are equally indifferent to their elderly father. For both sisters, marriage was just a formality. Anastasi has a lover, from whom she gave birth to almost all of her children. The older sister was able to find her place in high society. Dolphin was less fortunate. Her husband deceived her by taking her dowry, and the Parisian elite refused to treat her as an equal. Almost immediately after the wedding, the Baron and Baroness de Nucingen stopped communicating and openly have lovers.

Milf Woke

Widow Voke is not the main character, but her role in the story is as important as the role of the main characters. The hostess of the boarding house embodies the selfish and prudent middle class, which has already managed to cross the poverty line in the opposite direction, but at the same time has not yet been able to achieve the luxury that is available to the elite.

Analysis of the work

The heroes of the novel "Father Goriot" are also involved in the struggle for "a place in the sun." However, most of them have to fight not with a cruel and hostile world, but with themselves. There is nothing easier than to come up with a cynical plan of action, and then coolly follow it. However, between reason and feelings, a person still often prefers the latter, for which there is a punishment.

Study of human vices

The "Human Comedy" cycle includes novels about human greed, greed, love of money. The "comedy" lies in the fact that people put the things they created above themselves. People compete with each other for the benefits that they themselves create.

Old Goriot, who managed to earn a good fortune, lost everything, even his life, because of his crazy love for his daughters. Anastasi de Resto also became a hostage and a victim of her own feelings. She is inexorable towards her father, hates her sister and unscrupulously cheats on her husband. But love for Maxime de Tray makes Anastasi forget about the dangers and her own well-being. De Tray, as the reader can see, is not worthy of any of the sacrifices made. Rastignac has the opportunity to marry a rich heiress by destroying a competitor by proxy. But he does not find the strength to give up feelings and step over his moral principles.