Biography of Balzac. Honore de Balzac's life and work, biography Full biography of Honore de Balzac

Honore de Balzac, biography

The life and work of Honore de Balzac

Honore de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours. His grandfather, a farmer, had the surname Balsa, but his father, becoming an official, changed it to an aristocratic one - Balzac.

From 1807 to 1813, Balzac studied at the College of Vendôme, and it was here that his love for literature manifested itself.

Moving with his father to Paris in 1814, he studied at private institutions. In 1816, he was a free student at the Faculty of Law, at the same time he worked as a scribe at a notary, three years later he graduated from the faculty with a bachelor's degree, but, despite the wishes of his parents, he did not become a lawyer, and devoted himself to literature.

Having settled in the attic, Honore began his first unsuccessful attempt to write, it was a tragedy in verse "Cromwell". He also wrote and published various action novels and social codes under pseudonyms. Some of them were published under the pseudonym of Horace de Saint-Aubren. Soon he decided to devote himself to a genre that would help in gaining recognition - it became a novel.

His first novel, Chouans, was published in 1829, but Balzac himself considered the novel Shagreen Skin, published in 1830, to be the most significant in his work. The following works were combined into the epic The Human Comedy, this epic brought fame to the author. Balzac was very fond of the aristocratic lifestyle. But, despite this, in his "Human Comedy" all the classes of the then France are described, and not only urban life, but also the life of provinces and villages. Honore de Balzac created a truly unique work in which he typified the entire French society contemporary to him. Balzac moved away from typical novels, he was not interested in history, he was not interested in the exploits of one person. He painted a portrait of real France, all of France, without embellishment and romance.

He never waited for inspiration. He was a workaholic writer, working 12-14 hour shifts. He drank a lot of coffee, which he prepared for himself. His works are not the favor of the muse, but persistent studies of human nature, the psychology of society, its way of life and culture. He himself, in the preface to The Human Comedy, draws a parallel between the development of the animal world and the world of people, notes that the formation of the personality and the characteristics of development largely depend on the environment and upbringing.

In 1832, Honore de Balzac received a letter from Odessa from Evelina Ganskaya, who lived in Verkhovna near Kiev, they corresponded for 18 years. In March 1850, he married Evelina, these were the last months of his life.

See also:

• Summary of the novel by Honore de Balzac "Gobsek"
• "Gobsek", artistic analysis of the novel by Honore de Balzac
• Composition based on the story of Honore de Balzac "Gobsek"
• "Shagreen Skin", an analysis of the novel by Honore de Balzac

Honore de Balzac is a French writer and one of the best prose writers. The biography of the founder of realism is similar to the plots of his own works - stormy adventures, mysterious circumstances, difficulties and outstanding achievements.

On May 20, 1799, in France (the city of Tours), a child was born in a simple family, who later became the father of the naturalistic novel. Father Bernard Francois Balssa had a law degree, was engaged in business, reselling the lands of the poor and ruined nobles. This way of doing business brought him profit, so Francois decided to change his native surname in order to become “closer” to the intelligentsia. As a "relative" Balssa chose the writer - Jean-Louis Gez de Balzac.

Mother Honore, Anne-Charlotte-Laure Salambier, had aristocratic roots and was 30 years younger than her husband, adored life, fun, freedom and men. She did not hide her love affairs from her husband. Anna had an illegitimate child, to whom she began to show more concern than to the future writer. Care for Honore lay on the nurse, and after the boy was sent to live in a boarding house. The childhood of the novelist can hardly be called kind and bright, the problems and stresses experienced later manifested themselves in the works.

Parents wished Balzac to become a lawyer, so their son studied at Vendôme College with a legal bias. The educational institution was famous for its strict discipline, meetings with loved ones were allowed only during the Christmas holidays. The boy rarely adhered to local rules, for which he gained a reputation as a robber and sloven.

At the age of 12, Honore de Balzac wrote the first children's work, which was laughed at by classmates. The little writer read books by French classics, composed poems and plays. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save his children's manuscripts, school teachers forbade the child to develop literary, and once, in front of Honore, one of his first essays, A Treatise on the Will, was burned.

Difficulties associated with communication among peers, with teachers, lack of attention served as the appearance of diseases in the boy. At the age of 14, the family took the seriously ill teenager home. There was no chance of recovery. In this state, he spent several years, but still got out

In 1816, Balzac's parents moved to Paris, where the young novelist continued his studies at the School of Law. Together with the study of science, Honore got a job as a clerk in a notary's office, but did not get pleasure from this. Literature attracted Balzac like a magnet, then the father decided to support his son in the direction of writing.

François promised him funding within two years. During this period, Honore must prove the ability to earn money on his favorite business. Until 1823, Balzac created about 20 volumes of works, but most of them were expected to fail. His first tragedy "" was severely criticized, and later Balzac himself called the young work erroneous.

Literature

In the first works, Balzac tried to follow the literary fashion, wrote about love, was engaged in publishing, but unsuccessfully (1825-1828). The subsequent works of the writer were influenced by books written in the spirit of historical romanticism.

Then (1820-1830) writers used only two main genres:

1. Personal romanticism, aimed at heroic achievements, for example, the book "Robinson Crusoe".
2. The life and problems of the hero of the novel associated with his loneliness.

Rereading the works of successful writers, Balzac decided to move away from the novel of personality, to find something new. "In the main role" of his works began to play not a heroic personality, but society as a whole. In this case, the modern bourgeois society of his native state.

In 1834, Honore creates a work aimed at showing the "picture of manners" of that time and has been working on it throughout his life. The book was later called The Human Comedy. Balzac's idea was to create an artistic philosophical history of France, i.e. what the country has become after the revolution.

The literary edition consists of several parts, including a list of various works:

1. "Etudes on Morals" (6 sections).
2. "Philosophical Investigations" (22 works).
3. "Analytical research" (1 work instead of 5 planned by the author).

This book can safely be called a masterpiece. It describes ordinary people, marks the professions of the heroes of the works and their role in society. "The Human Comedy" is filled with true facts, all from life, all about the human heart.

Artworks

Honore de Balzac finally formed his life position in the field of creativity after writing the following works:

• "Gobsek" (1830). Initially, the composition had a different name - "The Dangers of Debauchery." The qualities are clearly displayed here: greed and greed, as well as their influence on the fate of the heroes.
• Shagreen Leather (1831) - this work brought success to the writer. The book is imbued with romantic and philosophical aspects. It describes in detail the vital issues and possible solutions.
• "Thirty-year-old woman" (1842). The main character of the writer has far from the best properties in character, leads a life that is condemning from the point of view of society, which indicates to readers the mistakes that have a destructive effect on other people. Here Balzac wisely expresses thoughts about the human essence.

• "Lost Illusions" (publication in three parts 1836-1842). In this book, Honoré, as always, managed to approach every detail, creating a picture of the moral life of French citizens. Vividly displayed in the work: human egoism, passion for power, wealth, self-confidence.
• "Shine and poverty of courtesans" (1838-1847). This novel is not about the life of Parisian courtesans, as its title initially suggests, but about the struggle between secular and criminal society. Another brilliant work, included in the "multi-volume" "Human Comedy".
• Creativity and biography of Honore de Balzac are among the materials required for study in schools around the world according to the educational program.

Personal life

One can write a separate novel about the personal life of the great Honore de Balzac, which cannot be called happy. As a child, the little writer did not receive maternal love and conscious life was looking for care, attention and tenderness in other women. He often fell in love with ladies much older than himself.

The great writer of the 19th century was not handsome, as you can see from the photo. But he had exquisite eloquence, charm, knew how to conquer arrogant young ladies in a simple monologue with just one remark.

His first woman was Mrs. Laura de Berni. She was 40 years old. She was suitable for young Honore as a mother, and, perhaps, managed to replace her, becoming a faithful friend and adviser. After the breakup of their romance, the former lovers maintained friendly relations, maintained correspondence until their death.

When the writer achieved success with readers, he began to receive hundreds of letters from different women, and one day Balzac came across a sketch of a mysterious girl admiring the talent of a genius. Her subsequent letters turned out to be clear declarations of love. For some time, Honore corresponded with a stranger, and after that they met in Switzerland. The lady turned out to be married, which did not embarrass the writer at all.

The stranger's name was Evelina Ganskaya. She was smart, beautiful, young (32 years old) and immediately liked the writer. After Balzac awarded this woman the title of the main love in his life.

The lovers rarely saw each other, but often corresponded, made plans for the future, because. Evelina's husband was 17 years older than her and could have passed away at any moment. Having sincere love in his heart for Hanskaya, the writer did not restrain himself from wooing other women.

When Wenceslas of Hansky (husband) died, Evelina pushed Balzac away, because a wedding with a Frenchman threatened her with separation from her daughter Anna (threat), but a few months later she invited her to Russia (her place of residence).

Only 17 years after they met, the couple got married (1850). Honore was then at the age of 51 and was the happiest man in the world, but they did not manage to live a married life.

Death

A talented writer could have died at the age of 43, when various diseases began to overcome him, but thanks to the desire to love and be loved by Evelina, he held on.

Literally immediately after the wedding, Ganskaya turned into a nurse. Doctors gave Honore a terrible diagnosis - cardiac hypertrophy. The writer could not walk, write or even read books. The woman did not leave her husband, wanting to fill his last days with peace, care and love.

On August 18, 1950, Balzac died. After himself, he left his wife an unenviable inheritance - huge debts. Evelina sold all her property in Russia in order to pay them off and went with her daughter to Paris. There, the widow took custody of the prose writer's mother and devoted the remaining 30 years of her life to perpetuating the works of her lover.

Bibliography

• Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 (1829).
• Shagreen leather (1831).
• Louis Lambert (1832).
• Nucingen Banking House (1838).
• Beatrice (1839).
• The constable's wife (1834).
• Salvation Shout (1834).
• Witch (1834).
• The Perseverance of Love (1834).
• Bertha's Repentance (1834).
• Naivete (1834).
• Facino Canet (1836).
• Secrets of the Princess de Cadignan (1839).
• Pierre Grasse (1840).
• The Imaginary Mistress (1841).

French novelist, considered the father of the naturalistic novel, Honore de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in the city of Tours (France). Honore de Balzac's father - Bernard Francois Balssa (some sources indicate the name of Waltz) - a peasant who became rich during the years of the revolution by buying and selling confiscated noble lands, and later became an assistant to the mayor of the city of Tours. Entering the service in the military supply department and being among the officials, he changed his "native" surname, considering it plebeian. At the turn of the 1830s. Honore, in turn, also changed his surname, arbitrarily adding to it the noble particle "de", justifying this with a fiction about his origin from the noble family of Balzac d "Entreg. Honore Balzac's mother was 30 years younger than his father

which, in part, was the reason for her betrayals: the father of Honore's younger brother, Henri, was the owner of the castle.

Courtyard of the Vendôme College, where the mother identified the eight-year-old Honore. The upbringing here was harsh. He will spend six years in this "dungeon of knowledge", having only met his parents twice during this time. Photo Library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House-Museum/Spadem, 1995.

In 1807-1813, Honore studied at the college of the city of Vendome; in 1816-1819 - at the Paris School of Law, while serving as a clerk in a notary's office. The father sought to prepare his son for advocacy, but Honore decided to become a poet. At the family council, it was decided to give him two years to make his dream come true. Honore de Balzac writes the drama "Cromwell", but the newly convened family council recognizes the work as useless and the young man is denied financial assistance. This was followed by a period of material hardships. Balzac's literary career began around 1820, when, under various pseudonyms, he began to print action-packed novels and composed moralistic "codes" of secular behavior.

Later, some of the first novels appeared under the pseudonym of Horace de Saint-Aubin. The period of anonymous creativity ended in 1829 with the publication of the novel Chouans, or Brittany in 1799. Honore de Balzac called the novel Shagreen Skin (1830) the "starting point" of his work. Beginning in 1830, short stories from modern French life began to be published under the general title Scenes of Private Life.

In 1834, the writer decides to connect the common characters already written since 1829 and future works, combining them into an epic, later called "The Human Comedy" (La comedie humaine).

Honore de Balzac considered Moliere, Francois Rabelais and Walter Scott to be his main literary teachers.

From left to right: Victor Hugo, Eugene Xu, Alexandre Dumas and Honore de Balzac. "Condors of Thought and Style". Caricature by Jérôme Paturo. Photo Library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House-Museum/Spadem, 1995.

Twice the novelist tried to make a political career, putting forward his candidacy for the Chamber of Deputies in 1832 and 1848, but both times he failed. In January 1849, he also failed in the elections to the French Academy.

The writer was popular among women, grateful to Honore for sincere descriptions. His first love, Laura de Berni, who was a married woman, helped a lot in this, and the difference in their age was twenty-two years.
Louise Antoinette-Laure de Berny, his first love, called Dilecta by him. He felt for her both filial respect and the insane passion of a lover. Portrait by Van Gorp. Jean-Loup Charmet.

Honore de Balzac constantly received letters from his readers, so one of these letters changed his life. In 1832, he received a letter from "Foreigner", a Polish countess, Russian citizen Evelina Ganskaya, who eighteen years later became his wife.

Balzac bought a mansion on Rue Fortuné in anticipation of the arrival of Hanska, who finally agreed to become his wife. Photo Library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House-Museum/Spadem, 1995.

Balzac coffee pot. Photo Library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House-Museum/Spadem, 1995.

But fate was not at all favorable to the great writer, conqueror of women's souls, Honore de Balzac, literally five months after his marriage, on August 18, 1850, while his wife was sleeping in the next room in their Paris apartment, he died.

Balzac - popular expressions

This is how men are arranged: they can resist the most intelligent arguments and not resist one single look.

To say that it is impossible to always love the same woman is just as meaningless as to believe that a famous musician needs different violins to play different melodies.

He who can be her lover will not be a friend of a woman.

All human skill is nothing but a mixture of patience and time.

To doubt is to lose strength.

A woman who laughs at her husband cannot love him anymore.

Everything comes in due time for those who know how to wait.

They don't hang their beliefs on the wall.

Circumstances change, principles never.

Slander is indifferent to nonentities.

The key to all science is the question mark.

To doubt God is to believe in him.

Our conscience is an infallible judge until we have killed it.

A noble heart cannot be unfaithful.

Indifference to the fair sex in old age is a punishment for being too able to please in youth.

Seeking diversity in love is a sign of powerlessness.

We recognize as a person only one whose soul dreams in love as much about spiritual pleasure as about bodily pleasure.

Jealousy in a man is made up of selfishness, brought to hell, from pride, taken by surprise, and irritated false vanity.

Marriage cannot be happy if the spouses do not know each other's manners, habits and characters to perfection before entering into the union.

Never provide services that are not asked for.

People are afraid of cholera, but wine is much more dangerous than it.

Envy is one of the most effective elements of hatred.

Cruelty and fear shake hands.

Drinking the cup of pleasure to the bottom, we find there more gravel than pearls.

Honore de Balzac (fr. Honoré de Balzac). Born May 20, 1799 in Tours - died August 18, 1850 in Paris. French writer, one of the founders of realism in European literature.

The largest work of Balzac is a series of novels and short stories "The Human Comedy", which paints a picture of the life of a modern writer of French society. Balzac's work was very popular in Europe and during his lifetime earned him a reputation as one of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century. The works of Balzac influenced prose, Faulkner and others.

Honoré de Balzac was born in Tours in the family of a peasant from Languedoc, Bernard Francois Balssa (Balssa) (06/22/1746-06/19/1829). Balzac's father made a fortune by buying and selling confiscated noble lands during the years of the revolution, and later became assistant to the mayor of the city of Tours. Has no relation to the French writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597-1654). Honore's father changed his surname and became Balzac, and later bought himself a de particle. Mother was the daughter of a Parisian merchant.

The father prepared his son for advocacy. In 1807-1813, Balzac studied at the College of Vendome, in 1816-1819 - at the Paris School of Law, at the same time he worked as a scribe for a notary; however, he abandoned his legal career and devoted himself to literature. Parents did little for their son. He was placed at the College Vendôme against his will. Meetings with relatives there were forbidden all year round, with the exception of the Christmas holidays. During the first years of his studies, he repeatedly had to be in a punishment cell. In the fourth grade, Honore began to come to terms with school life, but he did not stop mocking teachers ... At the age of 14, he fell ill, and his parents took him home at the request of the college authorities. For five years, Balzac was seriously ill, it was believed that there was no hope of recovery, but soon after the family moved to Paris in 1816, he recovered.

After 1823, he published several novels under various pseudonyms in the spirit of "violent romanticism". Balzac strove to follow the literary fashion, and later he himself called these literary experiments "real literary disgust" and preferred not to think about them. In 1825-1828 he tried to engage in publishing activities, but failed.

In 1829, the first book signed with the name "Balzac" was published - the historical novel "Chuans" (Les Chouans). The formation of Balzac as a writer was influenced by the historical novels of Walter Scott. Balzac's subsequent works: "Scenes of Private Life" (Scènes de la vie privée, 1830), the novel "The Elixir of Longevity" (L "Élixir de longue vie, 1830-1831, a variation on the themes of the legend of Don Juan); the story "Gobsek" ( Gobseck, 1830) attracted the attention of the reader and critics.In 1831, Balzac published his philosophical novel La Peau de chagrin and began the novel La femme de trente ans (La femme de trente ans). stories "(Contes drolatiques, 1832-1837) - an ironic stylization of Renaissance novelistics. In part autobiographical novel" Louis Lambert "(Louis Lambert, 1832) and especially in the later" Seraphite "(Séraphîta, 1835) reflected Balzac's fascination with the mystical concepts of E Swedenborg and Cl. de Saint-Martin.

His hope of getting rich had not yet materialized (heavy debt is the result of his unsuccessful business ventures) when fame began to come to him. Meanwhile, he continued to lead a diligent working life, working at his desk for 15-16 hours a day, and annually publishing three, four and even five, six books.

The end of the 1820s and the beginning of the 1830s, when Balzac entered literature, was the period of the greatest flowering of Romanticism in French literature. The big novel in European literature by the arrival of Balzac had two main genres: a novel of a personality - an adventurous hero (for example, Robinson Crusoe) or a self-deepening, lonely hero (The Suffering of Young Werther by W. Goethe) and a historical novel (Walter Scott).

Balzac departs from both the novel of personality and the historical novel. He aims to show the "individualized type". In the center of his creative attention, according to a number of Soviet literary critics, is not a heroic or outstanding personality, but modern bourgeois society, the France of the July Monarchy.

"Studies on Morals" unfold the picture of France, paint the life of all classes, all social conditions, all social institutions. Their leitmotif is the victory of the financial bourgeoisie over the landed and tribal aristocracy, the strengthening of the role and prestige of wealth, and the weakening or disappearance of many traditional ethical and moral principles associated with this.

In the works created in the first five or six years of his writing activity, the most diverse areas of contemporary French life are depicted: the village, the provinces, Paris; various social groups: merchants, aristocracy, clergy; various social institutions: family, state, army.

In 1832, 1843, 1847 and 1848-1850. Balzac visited Russia, St. Petersburg.

From August to October 1843, Balzac lived in Titov's house at 16 Millionnaya Street in St. Petersburg.

In the unfinished "Letter about Kyiv", private letters left mention of his stay in the Ukrainian towns of Brody, Radzivilov, Dubno, Vyshnevets and others. Kyiv visited in 1847, 1848 and 1850.

He was buried in Paris at the Pere Lachaise cemetery.

"The Human Comedy"

In 1831, Balzac had the idea to create a multi-volume work - a "picture of manners" of his time, a huge work, later entitled by him "The Human Comedy". According to Balzac, The Human Comedy was supposed to be the artistic history and artistic philosophy of France as it developed after the revolution. Balzac works on this work throughout his subsequent life, he includes in it most of the works already written, and reworks them specifically for this purpose. The cycle consists of three parts: "Etudes on Morals", "Philosophical Studies" and "Analytical Studies".

The most extensive is the first part - "Etudes on Morals", which includes:

"Scenes of Private Life"
"Gobsek" (1830), "Thirty-year-old woman" (1829-1842), "Colonel Chabert" (1844), "Father Goriot" (1834-35), etc.;
"Scenes of Provincial Life"
"Turkish Priest" (Le curé de Tours, 1832), "Eugénie Grandet" (Eugénie Grandet, 1833), "Lost Illusions" (1837-43), etc.;
"Scenes of Parisian Life"
trilogy "History of thirteen" (L'Histoire des Treize, 1834), "Caesar Birotto" (César Birotteau, 1837), "The banking house of Nucingen" (La Maison Nucingen, 1838), "Shine and poverty of courtesans" (1838-1847) etc.;
"Scenes of Political Life"
"A case from the time of terror" (1842), etc.;
"Scenes of military life"
Chouans (1829) and Passion in the Desert (1837);
"Scenes of village life"
"Lily of the Valley" (1836), etc.

Subsequently, the cycle was replenished with the novels Modeste Mignon (Modeste Mignon, 1844), Cousin Bette (La Cousine Bette, 1846), Cousin Pons (Le Cousin Pons, 1847), and also, summing up the cycle in its own way, the novel The Reverse Side of Modern History (L'envers de l'histoire contemporaine, 1848).

"Philosophical studies" are reflections on the patterns of life: "Shagreen leather" (1831), etc.

The greatest "philosophy" is inherent in "Analytical Etudes". In some of them, for example, in the story "Louis Lambert", the volume of philosophical calculations and reflections many times exceeds the volume of the plot narrative.

Personal life of Honore de Balzac

In 1832 he met Evelina Hanska (widowed in 1842), whom he married on March 2, 1850 in the city of Berdichev, in the church of St. Barbara. In 1847-1850. lived in the possessions of his beloved in Verkhovna (now - a village in the Ruzhinsky district of the Zhytomyr region, Ukraine).

The novels of Honore de Balzac

Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 (1829)
Shagreen leather (1831)
Louis Lambert (1832)
Eugenia Grande (1833)
History of Thirteen (1834)
Father Goriot (1835)
Lily of the Valley (1835)
Nucingen Banking House (1838)
Beatrice (1839)
Country Priest (1841)
Balamutka (1842)
Ursula Mirue (1842)
Thirty Years Old Woman (1842)
Lost Illusions (I, 1837; II, 1839; III, 1843)
Peasants (1844)
Cousin Betta (1846)
Cousin Pons (1847)
The Luster and Poverty of the Courtesans (1847)
MP for Arcee (1854)

Novels and short stories by Honore de Balzac

House of a Cat Playing Ball (1829)
Marriage Contract (1830)
Gobsek (1830)
Vendetta (1830)
Goodbye! (1830)
Country Ball (1830)
Marital Consent (1830)
Sarrazine (1830)
Red Hotel (1831)
Unknown Masterpiece (1831)
Colonel Chabert (1832)
The abandoned woman (1832)
Belle of the Empire (1834)
Involuntary Sin (1834)
The Devil's Heir (1834)
The constable's wife (1834)
Shout of salvation (1834)
Witch (1834)
The Persistence of Love (1834)
Bertha's Remorse (1834)
Naivety (1834)
The Marriage of the Belle of the Empire (1834)
Forgiven Melmoth (1835)
Mass of the Godless (1836)
Facino Canet (1836)
Secrets of the Princess de Cadignan (1839)
Pierre Grasse (1840)
The Imaginary Mistress (1841)

Screen adaptations of Honore de Balzac

Glitter and Poverty of Courtesans (France; 1975; 9 episodes): director M. Kaznev
Colonel Chabert (film) (fr. Le Colonel Chabert, 1994, France)
Don't touch the ax (France-Italy, 2007)
Shagreen leather (fr. La peau de chagrin, 2010, France)

Honore de Balzac - French novelist, one of the founders of realistic and naturalistic trends in prose. Born on May 20, 1799 in the city of Tours, he was at one time a clerk at a notary, but did not want to continue this service, feeling a vocation for literature. Throughout his life, Balzac struggled with a cramped financial situation, worked with perseverance and perseverance, composed a lot of unrealizable projects in order to get rich, but he never got out of debt and was forced to write novel after novel, studying 12 to 18 hours a day. The result of this work was 91 novels, which make up one general cycle "The Human Comedy", where more than 2000 faces are described with their individual and everyday features.

Honore de Balzac. Daguerreotype 1842

Balzac did not know family life; he married only a few months before his death, Countess Ganskaya, in correspondence with whom he was 17 years old and on a date with whom he came to Russia more than once (Hanskaya's husband owned vast estates in Ukraine). The heart disease that Balzac suffered from worsened during his last trip, and, having arrived in Paris with his wife, whom he married in Berdichev, the writer died three months later, on August 18, 1850.

In his novels, Honore de Balzac is an accurate and thoughtful depiction of human nature and social relations. The bourgeois class, folk customs and characters are described by him with a truthfulness and power almost unknown before him. For the most part, each of the persons he brings out has some one predominant passion, which is the motive for his actions and very often also the cause of his death. This passion, despite its all-consuming dimensions, does not give this person an exceptional or fantastic character: the novelist makes these features so clearly dependent on the conditions of life and the moral physiognomy of the subject that the reality of the latter remains beyond doubt.

Geniuses and villains. Honore de Balzac

One of the most active and frequent springs that actuate Balzac's heroes is money. The author, who spent his whole life inventing ways for faster and surer enrichment, had the opportunity to explore the world of businessmen, swindlers, entrepreneurs with their grandiose plans, exaggerated, fantastic hopes that disappear like soap bubbles and carry with them both the initiators themselves and those who believed them. This world is transferred by Balzac into his Human Comedy, along with all the differences that the passion for money creates in people with different mental makeup and different habits created by this or that environment. The description of the latter is often enough for Balzac to characterize his characters; the smallest details of the situation are depicted by the author with great accuracy, giving his overall picture an idea of ​​the moral side of the characters. This very desire to reproduce the life situation of the characters in all its details can explain why Emile Zola saw in Balzac the head of naturalism.

Balzac studied the area, environment, people in detail before embarking on a description. He traveled almost all of France, studying the areas in which the action of his novels takes place; he made the most diverse acquaintances, tried to talk with people of different professions and different social environments. Therefore, all his characters are alive, although most of them burn out from one predominant passion, which can be vanity, envy, avarice, a passion for profit, or, as in Father Goriot, paternal love for daughters turned into mania.

But as strong as Balzac is in describing human characters and social relations, he is just as weak in describing nature: his landscapes are pale, dull and banal. He is only interested in man, and among men mainly those whose vices make it possible to see more clearly the true lining of human nature. Balzac's shortcomings as a writer include the poverty of his style and lack of a sense of proportion. Even in the famous depiction of the hotel in Père Goriot, the excessive descriptions and passion of the artist are noticeable. The plot of his novels often does not correspond to the realism of characters and settings; Romanticism in this respect influenced him mainly by its bad side. But the general picture of the life of the bourgeois class in Paris and in the provinces, with all its shortcomings, vices, passions, with all the variety of characters and types, is presented to them perfectly.