Balzac in almost every novel " human comedy»Our list contains the image of a financier. Basically, they are moneylenders living violent passion money, but also some other representatives of the bourgeoisie.
Creating the image of his usurer, Balzac included him in the context of the most complex social era, contributing to the disclosure of various aspects of this image.
Just like the antiquarian in Shagreen Skin, Gobsek appears 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 reviews them, and he himself is in constant calm. In the past, he experienced many passions (traded in India, was deceived by a beautiful woman), and therefore left it in the past. Conversing with Derville, he repeats the formula pebbled leather: What is happiness? This is either a strong excitement that undermines our life, or a measured occupation. He is so stingy that in the end, when he dies, there is a pile of goods, food, moldy from the stinginess of the owner.
Two principles live in him: a miser and a philosopher. Under the power of money, he becomes dependent on them. Money becomes magic for him. He hides gold in his fireplace, and after his death, he does not bequeath his fortune to anyone (a relative, a fallen woman). Gobsek is a live-eater (translation).
The short story "Gobsek" is one of the first works of Balzac - a realist. It was written in 1830 and is included in the scenes privacy"Etudes on Morals".
“Gobsek” by Balzac is a work of complex genre and composition.
Genre - novella
(a small epic work with an adventurous plot, often with an unexpected denouement). Almost all elements this genre are present in the work.
Determine the features of the composition of the work
AT this work we meet the following types of composition:
Ring;
Retrospective.
Question:
Such a complex composition is intended for a more complete and deep disclosure of the image of the protagonist of the work - Gobsek.
Question:
One more characteristic feature short story is the image of the narrator - the narrator - Derville. Tell us more about it.
Derville is a solicitor. He is a young man who has made a career out of his hard work and professional integrity. Derville is “a man of high honesty” (this is how the heroes of the work speak of him). He is a friend of Gobsek.
Explain the reason for the appearance of Derville in the story?
Answer:
Gobsek and Derville are people of the same profession.
Derville helps readers understand the legal terms and concepts mentioned in the work.
The author introduces the image of a narrator-narrator in order to more fully and objectively depict the image of Gobsek.
Thanks to Derville, we see Gobsek, as it were, “from the inside” (what is he like in everyday life, what are his human passions and weaknesses, we learn his background and views on life).
Derville is a decent person, so we can trust his opinion.
Balzac was by nature a monarchist. All his life he dreamed of becoming a representative of an aristocratic society and hated the bourgeoisie for its inertia and thirst for money. But above all, Balzac was brilliant writer, so the talent made him truthfully and comprehensively show representatives of various segments of the population.
Question:
Define your attitude to Gobsek. Give as an example the heroes of other works similar to the image of Gobsek.
Answer:
The first impression of the image of Gobsek is sharply negative. This is due to his profession (usurer) and the defining character trait (stinginess). In world and Russian literature, we have already met with similar characters. This is the Miser from the comedy of the same name by Moliere, Gogol's Plyushkin, the usurer from Gogol's story "Portrait", the old pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna from Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment". All of them are sharply negative characters. The authors denounce them for spiritual impoverishment and the desire to get rich at the expense of the weaknesses and misfortunes of other people. None of these images positive trait therefore neither the author nor the readers have any sympathy for them.
Teacher:
So, at first glance, Gobsek seems to be. But his image is much deeper than the images of the heroes we named. Let's prove this statement by creating a table of "contradictions" of Gobseck's behavior and character:
gobsek rich man
(Only five people in Paris can compare with him in terms of wealth.)
Leads a miserable existence.
Afraid to advertise his wealth (did not pick up gold)
Misanthrope.
Hates all his family.
Maintains friendly relations with Derville
He concentrated power over the world in his hands (... I own the world without tiring myself. ”At the same time, he walks around customers and humiliatingly collects payments
A hero devoid of any human feelings whatsoever:
“man is an automaton”;
“a person is a bill”;
“golden idol.”
Magnanimous man: experienced a “feeling of pity” at the sight of impending poverty threatening the Comtesse de Resto;
Gobsek "almost touched" when he saw the seamstress Fanny's room
“Savage” (experienced the “evil triumph of the savage who took possession of the shiny stones” after acquiring the Countess's diamonds.) An educated person:
Knows all the subtleties of jurisprudence, is well versed in politics, art
Moneylender. "Gobsek is an honest man"
They live in it
"The Miser and the Philosopher"
“vile creature and sublime”
He is an "old man and a child"
"old baby"
So, Gobsek is a complex, multifaceted and controversial personality.
Teacher:
Let us try to explain the actions and character of Gobsek.
First of all, Gobsek is a usurer, and the profession leaves an imprint on his personality and the attitude of people towards him.
Explain why Gobsek chose the profession of moneylender? What is his life credo?
Answer:
Gobsek deliberately chose the profession of moneylender. He considers money to be a commodity that can be bought and sold profitably. Therefore, he sees nothing immoral in lending money at high interest and profiting from it. These are the rules of any trade.
Question:
Gobsek speaks with tenderness of Fanny: “She believed in something ...”
And what does Gobsek himself believe in?
Gobsek believes in the limitless power and power of gold.
He declares: "Gold is the spiritual value of today's society."
How does Gobsek prove his position?
Answer:
“You believe everything, but I believe nothing. Well, save your illusions if you can. I will now sum up the human life. What in Europe causes delight is punished in Asia, What in Paris is considered a vice, beyond the Azars is recognized as a necessity. There is nothing lasting on earth, there are only conventions, and in each climate they are different ... all our moral rules and convictions are empty words ... Live with me, you will find out that of all earthly blessings there is only one reliable enough to make it worth a person to chase after him. Is this gold.
All the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold... As for morals, man is the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, everywhere. And it is inevitable. So it’s better to push yourself than to let others push you.”
Thus, Gobsek argues that there are no absolute values and truths in the world. At different peoples its own morality, its own laws, its own concept of morality.
And only gold is the absolute truth and value in all countries and at all times. Only gold can give a person absolute, real power over the world.
Gobsek's power over the world is unlimited. Then explain why the hero does not use his power to the fullest (lives like a beggar, collects tribute from clients himself, is ready to put up with the fact that he is called a “supplier”)?
Answer:
The main thing that distinguishes Gobsek from other heroes is an inner sense of superiority, the ability to be independent. A.S. Pushkin in the monologue of the Miserly Knight gave a very accurate explanation of this behavior of the character:
“Everything is obedient to me, but I am obedient to nothing; // I am above all desires; I am calm; / / I know my power; this consciousness is enough for me.”
Find evidence in the text of the great trials that fell to the lot of Gobsek.
Answer:
“Mother placed him as a cabin boy on a ship, and at the age of ten he sailed to the Dutch possessions of the East Indies, where he wandered for twenty years. The wrinkles of his yellowish face kept the secret of terrible trials, sudden terrible events, unexpected fortunes, romantic vicissitudes, immense joys, hungry days, trampled love, wealth, ruin and newly acquired wealth, mortal dangers, when a life hanging by a thread was saved by instantaneous and, perhaps cruel actions justified by necessity.”
Before Maxime de Tray visits Gobsek, the usurer prepares pistols, saying: “... I am confident in my accuracy, because I happened to walk on a tiger and on the deck of a ship to fight in a boarding fight not to the stomach, but to death ...”
In a conversation between Derville and the Comte de Restaud, the lawyer says this about Gobsek's past:
“I don't know anything about his past. Perhaps he was a corsair; perhaps he wandered all over the world, trading in diamonds or people, women or state secrets; but I am deeply convinced that not a single human soul has received such cruel hardening in trials as he did.”
Perhaps Derville is the closest person to Gobsek. But even for him, the usurer did not make an exception and gave the required amount at high interest. How does Gobsek himself explain the reason for his action?
Answer:
"I spared you gratitude, and now we are the best friends in the world."
In this case, Gobsek acted very wisely: he really saved Derville from hypocrisy, a humiliating position dependent person, and now they are united not by monetary relations, but by sincere sympathy for each other.
Teacher:
Thus, we can conclude that Gobsek is a product of his time, a true product of the bourgeois world. He lives according to the laws of this world, accepts the established rules of the game and honestly (!) fulfills them. It is no coincidence that Derville, in a conversation with the Comte de Resto, directly says about Gobsek: "... outside of these matters, he is a man of the most scrupulous honesty in all of Paris."
He seems to be ruthless, but if he is generous even once, he will go bankrupt. It is no coincidence that Gobsek forever remembered how he once “spared one woman” and “confided in her”, and she “plucked” him great. Gobsek is a skeptic and a materialist, he has experienced a lot, therefore he does not believe in the inviolability of universal values, for him there is neither religion nor morality. Perhaps he himself regrets this when he notes “with emotion” that the seamstress Fani “… believed in something” (!) But he no longer believes in anything. Therefore, the hero himself creates his own teaching, where the main truth is gold. And in terms of power over the world, he almost equaled himself with God. It is no coincidence that Gobsek says: "I have a look like God's: I read in the hearts."
Teacher:
So, for all the complexity of the image of Gobsek, many of his actions can be understood and justified. As he deepens into this image, the author begins to feel sympathy and involuntary sympathy for him. Therefore, the death scene is filled with truly tragic pathos in the work. Let's reread it:
“He sat up in bed; his face was outlined as clear as bronze on the white pillow. Stretching out his withered hands, he clutched the blanket with his bony hands, as if he wanted to hold on to it, looked at the fireplace, as cold as his metallic gaze, and died in full consciousness, showing his porter, the invalid and me an image of wary attention, like those old men ancient rome, which Lethierre depicted behind the consuls in his painting "The Death of the Children of Brutus."
Well done, you old miser! - the invalid rapped like a soldier.
Teacher:
With merciless criticism, Balzac in the short story falls not on Gobseck, but on representatives high society: Comtesse de Restaud and Maxime de Tray.
In the characterization of Maxime de Tray, we will not find a single positive feature. Provide relevant citations.
The narrator calls him "an elegant scoundrel."
“Fear him like the devil,” I whispered in the old man's ear, Derville recalls.
“... I looked with disgust at her young companion, a real killer, although he had such a clear forehead, ruddy, fresh lips, a sweet smile, snow-white teeth and an angelic appearance.”
Explain the power of this person's influence on others? Why even Derville, who knows the low nature of Maxime de Tray, fell under his influence?
Answer:
Maxime de Tray knows how to deftly manipulate people. He is able to find the innermost strings in every person and play the melody he needs on them. He knows perfectly well that the Countess de Resto is seriously passionate about him and is afraid of losing him, so he whispers in her ear: “Farewell, good Anastasi. Be happy. And I ... Tomorrow I will get rid of all worries.
And the distraught woman in love is ready to commit a crime in order to keep their connection.
Knowing the scrupulous honesty and decency of Derville, Maxime de Tray entangles him with words. M. de Tray "bewitched" him. “This Chrysostom de Tray managed simply with magical dexterity to entangle me with his speeches, screwing into them, and always very appropriately, such words as “honor”, “nobility”, “countess”, “decent woman”, “virtue”, “despair” and so on,” the narrator recalls.
Maxime de Tray is in the story a kind of double Gobsek. How does the hero himself talk about it?
Answer:
“You and I are necessary for each other, like soul and body.”
Teacher:
Gobsek is a shrewd person, he perfectly knows the low and insidious nature of people like Maxime de Tray, therefore he refuses to accept his challenge to a duel, ending his speech with very precise words: “To shed your blood, you must have it, my dear, but you have in the veins instead of blood - dirt.
After such scenes, you involuntarily begin to understand the psychology of Gobsek and justify his actions.
One of the most dramatic episodes short stories - this is the scene of the death of the Comte de Resto. The count's son with an indignant and mournful expression blocked Gobsek's way to the door so that his mother could say goodbye to the dying and atone for her sins before God. But the usurer “laughed with his silent laughter”, threw the young man away like a feather, opened the door and ... as always turned out to be right. Let's reread this episode:
“What a sight before us! The room was a real rout. The countess stood motionless, disheveled, with an expression of despair on her face, and looked at us with bewildered sparkling eyes, and around her were scattered the clothes of the deceased, papers, crumpled rags ... The count's corpse lay prone, head to the wall, hanging over the bed, contemptuously discarded one of those envelopes that were lying on the floor, because now it was just an unnecessary shell.
The countess, instead of belated repentance, burned the papers, thinking that this was a modified will of her husband. After such scenes, you begin to understand why Gobsek hated his heirs. He too often witnessed such a picture.
But even in this situation, Gobsek remains a usurer. The author says: "In this great scam, Gobsek was an insatiable boa constrictor."
What scam are you talking about?
Answer:
He received a fideicommissum, i.e. legal law use someone else's property to transfer it later to a third party.
Question:
How does Gobsek behave in this situation?
Answer:
Even making this deal, the hero behaved with dignity. He did not take advantage of the favorable situation and did not "warm his hands" on the earl's inheritance, but, on the contrary, increased it.
Question:
But here, too, Gobsek remained true to himself. Until he came of age, he gave Ernest an extremely meager content. How does Gobsek explain this decision?
Answer:
"Misfortune - the best teacher. In misfortune, he will learn a lot, learn the value of money, the value of people - both men and women. Let him float on the waves of the Parisian sea. And when he becomes a skilled pilot, we will make him a captain.”
Teacher:
The author ends his story about the life and death of the usurer with an absolutely natural scene - a description of his wealth. This description is worthy of the brush of the Flemish painters, just as the image of Gobseck himself is "worthy of the brush of Rembrandt."
And yet the outcome of the hero's life is deplorable. Following Derville, we can only feel sorry for the old man who put all the values of the world on the map of his greed: friendship, love of loved ones, prosperous existence. The result of the old man's life is not comforting: all the good he has acquired has fallen into disrepair or has remained unclaimed.
The world of gain, of which Gobsek was a part and whose power over himself he wanted to recognize, nevertheless turned out to be higher than the hero and swallowed him into his abyss.
And again involuntarily come to mind an appeal to young generation from the poem by N.V. Gogol's “Dead Souls”: “And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, muck! Could have changed! And does it look like it's true? Everything looks like the truth, everything can happen to a person ... Take it with you on the road, leaving the soft youthful years into severe hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you will not raise them later!”
This parting word of the Russian writer to the younger generation can be a kind of outcome of Balzac's short story "Gobsek".
« gobsek”- the verse of the French writer Honore de Balzac, writing in 1830 in roci, leading up to the selection of the works of “The Human Comedy”. Head Heroes to Creation Gobsek live in the mind of the skin reader.
Head heroes of Gobsek
- gobsek,
- Vicomtes de Granlier,
- Camilla is the daughter of the viscountess,
- Comte de Bornbrat - brother of the vicontesi,
- Derville is a friend of their Sims,
- Fanny Malvo (Derville's team),
- Count Maxime de Tray,
- The Count de Resto and his squad.
Gobseck's characteristic
The first reaction to the image of Gobsek is sharply negative.
This is connected with the yogo profession (likhvar) and the original rice character (stinginess).
Honore de Balzac was the master of the word and the indispensable knower of human essence. Kozhen yoga literary image is a typical representative of a social group of people. Having taken into account the scribe, that the character of a person is formed under the influx of sharpening. The heroes of Balzac are far from ideal people. The author truthfully depicts their vices, although he does not want to sue.
Ale yogo image richly glibshe. We can tell you that, having created a table of "protirich" behavior and the character of the Gobsek: Gobsek is a wealthy person (five people in Paris can match him in the world of wealth) He is afraid of afishing his wealth. Misanthrope. Hate all your relatives. Supporting friendly stosunki with Derville Having in my own hands the power over the world (... I am the power of the world, not straining myself) With whom I myself go to the clients and humbly collect payments Hero, the relief of such a bit was not a human feeling: "a person is an automatic machine"; "a person is a bill"; "golden statue".
As you can see, Balzac is already shrill in his created characters, ale wine at any time without judging the character traits of his creations. Leather character is deeply individual and unique. In their hearts and minds, the heroes will never feel guilty for their tricks. Kozhen balzakіvsky character shows his point of view with biased inconsistency in the power rightness. Likhvar Gobsek does not look at the daily summation through his unfamiliar human activity. I Balzac, like a third-party poster, does not judge yoga. Before that, the author truthfully shows and positively draws on his character: the count, having slept with Derville, had his thoughts about Gobsek, and said that in this people "two things live: a sknar and a philosopher, a pidla istota and a vivischena." "But if I die, having lost my young children, then I'll be my guardian," said Derville.
Magnanimous man: having tasted “feeling pity” at the sight of sulking, he is threatening the Countess de Restaud; Гобсек «майже розчулився «, побачивши кімнату белошвейки Фанні «Дикун» (випробував «злісну радість дикуна, що заволодів блискучими камінчиками» після придбання діамантів графині) Освічена людина: Знає всі тонкощі юриспруденції, добре розбирається в політиці, мистецтві (не випадково автор порівнює його zі statue of Voltaire - one of the most famous people of his time) Likhvar.
Another bіk tsієї posta, which can be taken into account by the internal characteristics of the hero, is marked by an advanced emotion, turbulent predilections, like people on an automatic machine maisterno prihovuє. Nepіdrobna zatsіkavlenіst in kozhnіy people vіdobrazhuє, from one side, jokes to the heroes of their moral depravdnânja - іnоdіrno zhorstkoї - behavior, from the other side - yogo pragnennia to help tim, hto merits for help. It is impossible for a hero to show his day, for he who will be accepted by suspility as weakness, but Gobsek, as he appears, always leans on his boots, who - in spite of the circumstances of life - save morality or want to have excess morality.
“Gobsek is an honest person”
- "Sknara and Philosopher"
- "Pidla іstota i pіdnesene"
- Vin "old and childish"
- "Old Nemovlya"
Otzhe, Gobsek - foldable, rich-faceted and super-chliva specialty.
Why did Gobsek choose the profession of a likhvar? What is yoga life credo?
Note: Gobsek has learned the profession of a likhvar.
Vіn vvazhає pennies in goods, which you can easily sell and buy.
Ale, don’t live such a zhorstok hero. In his youth, he was rather romantic, a spontaneous youngster. Ale zhittєvі obstavini schili yogo to the thought about the futility of human nature. Bachachi, in a kind of rank, pour gold on people, as if they were out there - Gobsek pragmatically take away such power. All his life the hero accumulates pennies, vyzhimayuchi їх зі his clients, may not harm anyone. Did you bring the stench to you good luck? Adzhe vin not stained them, do good things, don’t do good things. Vіn just niby collecting gold, indulging in its very presence.
To that wine, do not indulge in anything immoral in giving pennies to the borg for large sums of money and taking away some income. These are the rules of be-like trade.
What does Gobsek himself believe?
Verdict: Gobsek believes in the boundless power and dominion of gold.
Vin declares: "Gold is the axis of the spiritual value of the lower society."
Visvіtlyuyuchi vіdstаlіst nobility, yogo obmezhіnіst, Balzac shows Gobsek, who cherishes in his memory the whole of the continent. Vіn escaping and the foundations of the current yomu suspіlnogo fret, stverzhuyuchi, scho yde struggle between the bіdnyaks and riches. Ale, twenty-twenty-three generations around the world robbed Yogo Baiduzhim to all, cream of gold. Vin angered at moral values. So Gabsek is soulless. Vіn upevneniya, scho z "usіh earthly goods" є only one enough nadіyne - gold. And z usіh chelovekskih pochutіv vіn vyznaє only the instinct of self-preservation. In the face of skepticism, social and political nihilism is virulent; Vіn vbachaє sense less in wrestling bіdnyakіv i richіїїв, upevneniy, scho tsya borіba neskіchenna, і vvazhє, scho better be an exploiter, nizh exploitation. Gobsek’s speech encourages the vigilance of yoga philosophy like goodness, even a human being, it’s more like a condescending feeling, it’s not good to inspire self-advocacy, not talking about the honor of other people’s side.
“You believe everything, but I don’t believe anything. Well, then, on your own illusions, you can. I will give you the summaries of human life at once. Those who in Europe call for capture, are punished in Asia, Those who in Paris are treated with vice, for the Azars Islands are called out for necessity.
Gobsek lives superbly modestly, in his own mind. In the new bula there is a huge amount of gold accumulated. The hero vvazhav, that the one who is golden is golden light. Vіn vіdchuvav vіdchuvі vіdnu nasolodu, if until negogo for pozikoy zvіdnіlі aristocrats zvіdnіlі. Gobsek was writing with power over these people.
There is nothing on earth, nothing mental, only a little intelligence, and in the skin climate the stench of death ... strengths our moral rules, that reconciliation - empty words ... Axis to live from mine, it is known that from the earthly blessings, only one, dostish people over the coysht behind him.
The writing depicts a strong human character, which was formed by even more important, one might say, extreme minds of life. Tse self-sufficient person, how to work the right visnovki from the power of pardons, how high to honor himself, his moral proof, his life philosophy, to put himself more for the great people. You can bring to other people your ability to reach the power of life principles, be able to support people of the power of will, always reach out to the fact that soochuyuchi її people win over the vimogi, like you hang out before them. Remembering his centrism, the people do not care for what she is sensitive, with great zatsіkavlenіstyu stare at us, with whom we make a share, actively intervene in the lives of other people, if you care for your dotsilne. Vtіm, її behavior mayzhe vіdpovidaє zvnіshnym image, which one svіdomo create and which is accepted by other people as її daytime. The main signs of this image are: people are an automaton, as if they didn’t express their feelings in any way, it’s impossible to reconsider at dribnichkas, look at life’s philosophy as it’s impossible to change, it’s impossible to “reach out” to the senses. Declarations, like a vote out of place, at first glance, stovidsotkovo zbіgayutsya її povedіnkoy, oskolki tsya povedіnka wear a whole lot of svіdomy, vivazheniya and poslіdovny character.
Tse ... gold.
Gold has all the strengths of humanity ... And what is the morality of a human being? I'm out of the blue. So it’s better to emboss yourself, lower allow, sob іnshі embossed you.
In this rank, Gobsek affirms that there are no absolute values and truths in the world.
Different peoples have their own morality, their own laws, their own understanding of morality.
One of Balzac's co-workers said that the author of "Gobsek" and other immortal works would not have been respectful to read in our commercial schools. From the works of Balzac, you can learn a lot about what is known - a law about the law of credit, purchase and sale, about the legal right to please, and about a lot of other subtleties in doing business.
And more than gold є absolute truth and value in the old lands and in the old times. Only gold can give people absolute, real power over the world.
Now you have guessed the main heroes of Gobsek, as well as draw the character of Gobsek, as if richly explaining why he is involved.
The story was written in 1830 and subsequently included in the collected works of "The Human Comedy".
The story "Gobsek" did not immediately find its final form and place in the "Human Comedy"; it belongs to the works, the very history of creation of which sheds light on the formation of the titanic Balzac idea.
It first appeared (in April 1830) under the heading "The Perils of Debauchery" in the first volume of Scenes from a Private Life. The first chapter of this work a little earlier, in February 1830, was published in the form of an essay in the magazine Fashion and was called The Pawnbroker. In 1835, the story was included in a new edition of "Scenes Parisian life” and was entitled “Papa Gobsek”. And finally, in the landmark year 1842, Balzac included her in the "Scenes of Private Life" of the first edition of the "Human Comedy" under the title "Gobsek".
Initially, the story was divided into chapters: "The Pawnbroker", "The Lawyer" and "The Death of a Husband". This division corresponds to the main thematic episodes that make up the work: the story of the usurer Gobsek, the years of apprenticeship and the beginning of the career of the lawyer Derville, love drama Anastasi de Resto, which in many ways led to premature death her husband.
Genre - story
The story "Gobsek" belongs to the epic, since the story is middle view epic, and not only for this reason.
The plot focuses not on one central event: stories from the life of Gobsek associated with Derville and the de Resto family, but on a whole series of events covering a significant part of Gobsek's life, for example, his childhood and youth.
The epic, in turn, reproduces, captures not only what is being told, but also the narrator, in this case it is Derville - the attorney. He is a young man who has made a career out of his hard work and professional integrity. Derville is “a man of high honesty” (this is how the heroes of the work speak of him). He is a friend of Gobsek.
Free organization of time and space in the story. The author covers a significant part of Gobsek's life, taking him, along with readers, to the places of his youth and childhood.
The story is written in prose, which is also characteristic of the epic.
The main theme is the theme of the power of money (eternal), which is just the same and is confirmed throughout the whole work, not only by individual events (instead of belated repentance, the Countess burned the papers, thinking that this was a changed will of her husband. After such scenes, you begin to understand why Gobsek hated their heirs.), but also by individual characters (Maxim de Tray and others.)
In addition to the theme of the power of money, there are a number of other themes in the story, such as: the theme of seclusion and alienation of a person (Gobsek) from society, the theme of human and social vices, etc. etc.
The leading motive of the work is the motive of power
The motive of the power of money over man and society
The motive of the power of one person over the fate of other people (The power of the usurer over Anastasi, and in the future her son Ernesto)
There are also motives
Motive for adultery
Countess Anastasi cheating on Count with Maxime de Tray
treasure hunt motive
He tried everything to get rich, even tried to find the notorious treasure - gold buried by a tribe of savages somewhere in the vicinity of Buenos Aires.
Motif of friendship between an old man and a young man
The motive of human loneliness
The motive of stinginess and other human vices
Motive-character of the philosopher
Motive-character of a hard worker (Fanny Malvo)
Motive-character beautiful girl(Anastasi de Resto)
Motive-character of a young man-tempter
The motive of contemplation by a person from the outside world
Reason for loss of reason
The problems that the author describes in the story were so relevant and exciting that he repeatedly returned to them, gradually polishing his idea. The protagonist of the story is the usurer Gobsek, who profits from the fact that he gives a loan at interest.
The problem of O. de Balzac's story belongs to such a type as social, namely the problem of the power of money over society and a person separately, but this is only part of the problem, as a consequence of the first problem, a second, no less important one can be distinguished: the degradation of the human personality and morality under the influence of this power.
It was an era of despondency at its best human features, in normal human relationships built on trust and respect. The world and society were imagined by many French people of that time as a big mechanism, which is controlled by money and power. Interestingly, the images of the story "Gobsek" are not one-dimensional. They were not unambiguous contemporaries of Balzac: many of them had an analytical mind, were able to think independently, and were a non-overlapping personality. Nevertheless, the big mechanism, the machine, which is controlled by gold, was launched, and it grinded the fate of people or the fate of entire families in its millstones.
In his story, Balzac protests against this image of society. The writer rightly considers it erroneous, unnatural, unhealthy. Balzac emphasizes that neither relationships with people, nor society, nor the state, and realistic images can be built on the foundations; retreat before - love, decency, nobility. They should retreat...but, unfortunately, they don't.
Conflict between man and society
This is a conflict between "Papa Gobsek" and the society in which he lives.
He is detached from it. This is a lonely person, who, however, consciously does not seek to society. Gobsek takes extremely high interest from his clients, taking advantage of their predicament, in fact ruining them. He does not believe in human honesty, decency, love and friendship. This characterizes Gobsek as a callous and heartless person.
social conflict
Pushing aside the nobility by the bourgeoisie and the disintegration of the family as a consequence of the power of monetary relations. (Gobsek family de Resto)
Between a father and his children
“... But children!.. Let them be happy at least... Children, children!...
I only have one child! - exclaimed the count, in despair stretching out his withered hands to his son.
family household
Within the de Resto family
Ideological or philosophical
Dramatic
Tragic (personal)
Tragedy of the family of the Comte de Resto, his wife and their children
Sentimental
“This girl seemed like a fairy of loneliness.
Before me, no doubt, was a girl who was forced by necessity to work without straightening her back - probably the daughter of some honest farmer: her face still showed the small freckles characteristic of peasant girls. Something good, truly virtuous, emanated from her. It was as if I entered into an atmosphere of sincerity, purity of soul, and somehow it even became easier for me to breathe. Poor bastard!"
The story is life-like, since it lacks any fantasy elements, this is the story of ordinary people who lived at that time, the pushing aside of the nobility by the bourgeoisie. People who have the flaws and virtues of ordinary mortal people who live their lives as part of society, who are obliged to work in order to survive ...
The realism of Balzac is manifested in the story primarily in the disclosure of characters and phenomena typical of the French society of the Restoration era. In this work, the author sets himself the goal of showing the true essence of both the nobility and the bourgeoisie. The approach to the depiction of the surrounding life in Gobsek becomes more analytical, as it is based primarily on the study of the phenomena of real life by means of art, and his conclusions about society as a whole follow from this analysis.
The artist shows the decline and decay of the old French aristocracy, (Maxime de Tray, Resto family). De Tray is shown as an ordinary gigolo, a man without honor and without conscience, who does not hesitate to profit at the expense of a woman who loves him and his own children. “In your veins, instead of blood, there is dirt,” the usurer throws contemptuously in the face of Maxime de Tray. Count Resto is much more sympathetic, but even in him the author emphasizes such an unattractive trait as a weakness of character. He loves a woman who is clearly unworthy of him, and, not having survived her betrayal, falls ill and dies.
Characteristics of the narrator and manner of presenting the material
a) The narrator does not claim to be completely objective, since he expresses himself and his attitude towards Gobsek. You could say even more: they were friends. Derville helps readers understand the legal terms and concepts mentioned in the work.
Gobsek and Derville are people of the same profession.
Thanks to Derville, we see Gobsek, as it were, “from the inside” (what is he like in everyday life, what are his human passions and weaknesses, we learn his background and views on life).
Derville is a decent person, so we can trust his opinion.
b) the figure of Derville did not go beyond the framework of the story, the narrator did not interfere in the events, Gobsek was in the center of the story, and only Gobsek.
Story style
The style is expressive, since the personality of the narrator is displayed in the story: Derville is a lawyer. He is a young man who has made a career out of his hard work and professional integrity. Derville is “a man of high honesty” (this is how the heroes of the work speak of him). He is a friend of Gobsek.
The style of speech also expresses the personality of Derville, as an educated person and belonging to such a profession as a lawyer. Successful person, honest and decent.
The plot and the plot of the story "Gobsek" coincide.
Plot type multiline
Line of Derville, Gobsek and the de Resto family
Line of Derville and Vicomtesse de Grandlier
Line of history and life of Gobseck himself
The plot is dynamic. External.
Plot components:
prologue
exposition
plot
action development
climax
denouement
The image of Gobsek in creativity Balzac- an image of a huge generalizing power.
– Do you recognize the characters of our classical literature? Name them and works, authors.
What do these images have in common?
“And he began to tell how evil, capricious she was, that it was only one day to delay the mortgage, and the thing was gone, and she takes five percent and even seven percent a month, etc.”
(Alena Ivanovna, old pawnbroker, F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment")
“And in fact, after him there was no need to sweep the street: it happened to a passing officer to lose his spur, this spur instantly went into a known heap; if a woman, somehow gaping at the well, forgot the bucket, he dragged the bucket away. However, when the peasant who noticed him caught him right there, he did not argue and gave the stolen thing back; but as soon as it got into a pile, then it was all over: he swore that the thing was his, bought by him then, from someone, or inherited from his grandfather. In his room, he picked up everything he saw from the floor: sealing wax, a piece of paper, a feather, and put it all on a bureau or on a window.
(Plyushkin, N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls")
I've been waiting all day for a minute to get off.
To my secret cellar, to the faithful chests.
Happy day! I can today
In the sixth chest (in the chest is still incomplete)
Pour a handful of accumulated gold.
Not much, it seems, but little by little
Treasures are growing ... (Baron, A.S. Pushkin " Miserly knight»)
- All characters worship the power of money, and this worship destroyed their "living soul". It is impossible not to exclaim, watching them:
“And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgust! Could have changed! And does it look like it's true? Everything seems to be true, everything can happen to a person.
Thread question:
“There is an opinion that all the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold, that man is the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich. And it is inevitable. So it’s better to push yourself than to let others push you.”
– Do you agree with such a statement?
Teacher:
In O. Balzac's short story "Gobsek" (1830), a grotesque, ugly figure of the true master of life appears, an image of enormous generalizing power: a usurer, a money maker from money. The image of Gobsek is much deeper than the above-mentioned heroes of Gogol, Pushkin and Dostoevsky.
Balzac was by nature a monarchist. All his life he dreamed of becoming a representative of an aristocratic society and hated the bourgeoisie for its inertia and thirst for money. But above all, Balzac was a brilliant writer, so his talent forced him to truthfully and comprehensively show representatives of various segments of the population.
The elements of Balzac's philosophical pessimism are precisely based on the unshakable truth of Gobsek's thoughts about bourgeois society. Of course, the emotional attitude to such conclusions is fundamentally different: what causes the writer to suffer inescapably serves as the basis for the activity of a successful usurer.
In the role of debunker of an unjust society, Gobsek is right. He directly states that the state in a society of personal interest is at the mercy of its wealthy part: “To protect their property, the rich have chosen tribunals, judges, the guillotine ...”
Noble gentlemen do not differ in the slightest from the bourgeois in their venality, selfishness, complete absence of moral principles and civic virtues. The thirst for acquisitiveness “forces them to steal millions in a decent way, to sell their homeland.
Cards, chatter about art, frivolous intrigues, playing politics, gluttony and boasting of a carriage, a horse, a piquant connection ... "Mad people and sick people", "fools", "simples", "dumbs" make up this society. Gobsek does not want to be like them.
Why did Gobsek choose to become a usurer?
Gobsek chose the profession of moneylender deliberately. He considers money to be a commodity that can be bought and sold profitably. Therefore, he sees nothing immoral in lending money at high interest and profiting from it. These are the rules of any trade.
– What is the essence of the Gobseck Doctrine?
Everything in the world is an illusion and vanity, everything is false, “out of all earthly blessings, there is only one that is reliable enough to make it worth a person to chase after it. This is…gold”, life is “a machine driven by money; "Gold is the spiritual essence of the whole of today's society."
– What did this man achieve with his innumerable treasures?
- Rich man. Only five people in Paris can compare with him in terms of wealth.
Teacher:
Accumulation and usury of Gobsek, as a result of which nothing is ordered, nothing is created, but only an unthinkable combination of wealth is formed, which results in the destruction of healthy principles social life, the collapse of human destinies, the antisocial nature of the activity of financial capital - main object Balzac criticism.
The monumental, solid, hyperbolized figure of Gobsek is an artistic verdict on him.
Gobsek means Crookshanks.
Tell me about Derville. How does it relate to the image of the main character?
– Derville helps readers understand the legal terms and concepts mentioned in the work.
- Derville and Gobsek are people of the same profession.
- Derville is a lawyer. He is a young man who has made a career out of his hard work and professional integrity.
– Derville is “a man of high honesty” (this is how the heroes of the work speak of him) Derville is a decent person, so we can trust his opinion.
“He is a friend of Gobsek.
– Thanks to Derville, we see Gobsek as if “from the inside” (what is he like in everyday life, what are his human passions and weaknesses, we learn his background and views on life).
- What happens to a person who has chosen money as his idol? Define your relationship with him.
- The very appearance of Gobsek, his manners, gait evoke a feeling of closeness to a soulless machine, a metal robot: “it was some kind of automaton man”, “a promissory note man” with an ingot of metal in his chest instead of a heart.
“Facial features… seemed to be cast in bronze… A sharp tip long nose... looked like a gimlet.
- Collecting bills, he ran all over Paris "on thin, lean, like a deer's legs."
– Soullessness brought to the degree of automatism:: “... he took care of vital energy suppressing all human feelings.
- This person, not available to prayers, a man "turned into a golden idol"
- Indifference to people, complete indifference to their fates become life principle: "If humanity, communication between people is considered a kind of religion, then Gobsek could be called an atheist."
Teacher:
This character is not an ordinary usurer, he is a genius of usury, a usurer-poet in a terrible romantic reflection of an outstanding intellect and a harmonious philosophy of infinite contempt for humanity.
Where did this philosophy of endless contempt for humanity come from?
Find evidence in the text of the cruel trials that fell to the lot of Gobsek.
“My mother placed him as a cabin boy on a ship, and at the age of ten he sailed to the Dutch possessions of the East Indies, where he wandered for twenty years. The wrinkles of his yellowish face kept the secret of terrible trials, sudden terrible events, unexpected fortunes, romantic vicissitudes, immense joys, hungry days of trampled love, wealth, ruin and newly acquired wealth, mortal dangers, when life, hanging by a thread, was saved by instant and, to be perhaps violent acts justified by necessity.”
- Before Maxime de Tray visits Gobsek, the usurer prepares pistols, saying: “... I am confident in my accuracy, because I happened to walk on a tiger and on the deck of a ship to fight in a boarding fight not to the stomach, but to death ...”
- In a conversation between Derville and the Comte de Restaud, the lawyer says this about Gobseck's past: “I know nothing about his past. Perhaps he was a corsair; perhaps he wandered all over the world, trading in diamonds or people, women or state secrets; but I'm deeply convinced that not a single human soul has received such cruel hardening in trials as he did.
- Why do you think, being a rich man, he eked out a miserable existence, was afraid to advertise his wealth (did not pick up gold), went to customers himself and humiliatingly collected payments?
- And although wealth makes him independent and in his soul lives an inner feeling of superiority over them, the fear of losing what he had acquired forever settled in his soul and turned him into an ugly creature.
In the words of the narrator Derville, a friend of Gobseck, he is "a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and an exalted one".
– What is his "elevation"?
- Gobsek is an educated person.
– He knows all the intricacies of jurisprudence, is well versed in politics, art (it is no coincidence that the author compares him with the statue of Voltaire, one of the most educated people of his time).
- Gobsek traded in old paintings - he knew a lot about art, he knew classic literature– he borrows comparisons from Molière.
- Gobsek admires the beauty of the diamonds of the Comtesse de Restaud.
- It's a big one strong character: "... a Dutchman worthy of the brush of Rembrandt."
- Judges, officials, businessmen, people of art - all are under the tacit supervision of powerful capital. No wonder Gobsek is suddenly seen as "a fantastic figure, the personification of the power of gold." But he states with good reason:
“I am rich enough to buy a human conscience, to manage all-powerful ministers…”
- Derville is forced to admit that "Monsieur Gobsek is an honest man."
- How did it happen that he became a "vile creature" and a "miser"?
“Gobsek is a product of his time. He lives according to the laws of this world, accepts the rules of the game and honestly (!) fulfills them. It is no coincidence that Derville, in a conversation with the Comte de Restaud, directly speaks of Gobseck: "... these cases, he is a man of the most scrupulous honesty in all of Paris."
Gobsek is a skeptic and a materialist, he has experienced a lot and lost faith in everything.
So, it is worth remembering how once he “spared a woman” and “confided in her”, and she “plucked” him great, which made him finally establish himself in the depravity of people.
– Can it be said that everything human has died in Gobsek?
We think not. Sincerity, sincerity, gullibility, diligence, religious faith in the goodness of Fanny Malvo caused tenderness even in Gobseck. Perhaps he even regrets that he cannot believe in anything but gold, when he notes with tenderness that the seamstress Fanny ... into something believed."
He prefers to be friends with worthy person Derville.
“But why didn’t the usurer make an exception even for him and give him the necessary amount at high interest?”
“I spared you the gratitude, and now we are the best friends in the world.”
Gobsek acted in such a way as, in my opinion, to save Derville from the humiliating position of a dependent person.
Maxime de Tray is in the story a kind of double Gobsek.
How does the hero himself talk about it?
“You and I are necessary for each other, like soul and body.”
- Why does Gobsek refuse to accept a challenge to a duel from Maxime de Tray?
Gobsek is a shrewd man, he perfectly knows the low and insidious nature of people like Maxime de Tray, therefore he refuses to accept his challenge to a duel. Finishing his speech with very precise words: “To shed your blood, you must have it, my dear, and in your veins instead of blood is dirt.”
In the characterization of Maxime de Tray, we will not find a single positive feature.
Provide relevant citations.
“Yes, Count Maxime de Tray is the strangest creature, good for everything and good for nothing, a subject that inspires both fear and contempt, a know-it-all and an utter ignoramus, capable of doing good deeds and committing a crime, now a scoundrel, now nobility itself, a breter, more soiled with dirt than stained with blood, a person who can be tormented by worries, but not remorse, who is more interested in sensations than thoughts, in appearance a passionate and ardent soul, but inwardly cold as ice ... "
The narrator calls him "an elegant scoundrel".
“Fear him like the devil,” I whispered in the old man’s ear,” Derville recalls.
“... I looked with disgust at her young companion, a real killer, although he had such a clear forehead, ruddy, fresh lips, a sweet smile, snow-white teeth and an angelic appearance.”
– Explain what is the strength of the impact of Maxime de Tray on others?
- Why did even Derville, who knows the low nature of Maxime de Tray, fall under his influence?
Answer:
Maxime de Tray knows how to deftly manipulate people. He is able to find the innermost strings in every person and play the melody he needs on them. He knows perfectly well that the Countess de Resto is seriously passionate about him and is afraid of losing him, so he whispers in her ear: “Farewell, good Anastasi. Be happy. And I ... tomorrow I will get rid of all worries.
And the distraught woman in love is ready to commit a crime to keep their connection.
Knowing the scrupulous honesty and decency of Derville, Maxime de Tray entangles him with words. M. de Tray "bewitched" him. “This Chrysostom de Tray managed simply with magical dexterity to entangle me with his speeches, screwing into them, and always very out of place, such words as “honor”, “nobility”, “countess”, “decent woman”, “virtue”, “misfortune”, “despair”, and so on,” the narrator recalls.
– Why did Gobsek hate his heirs?
Answer:
Gobseck too often witnessed such scenes: “We would see a terrible picture if we could look into the souls of the heirs surrounding the bed. How many intrigues, calculations, malicious tricks are here - and all because of money! That is why Gobsek hated the heirs so much.
Teacher:
The death scene of the Comte de Resto is one of the most dramatic episodes in the story. The count's son, with an indignant and mournful expression, blocked Gobsek's way to the door, so that his mother could say goodbye to the dying and atone for her sins before God. But the usurer “laughed with his silent laughter”, threw the young man away like a feather, opened the door and ... as always, turned out to be right.
Reread this episode :
“What a sight before us! The room was a real rout. The Countess stood motionless, disheveled, with an expression of despair on her face, and looked at us in confusion with sparkling eyes, and around her were scattered the clothes of the deceased, papers, crumpled rags ... one of those envelopes that were lying on the floor, because now it was just an unnecessary shell.
– What conclusion can be drawn?
The countess, instead of belated repentance, burned the papers, thinking that this was a modified will of her husband.
Question: Gobsek is always just a usurer. His only interest is profit. The author says: "In this big scam, Gobsek was an insatiable boa constrictor."
– What scam are you talking about?
He received a fideicommissum, i.e., the legal right to use someone else's property in order to transfer it later to a third party.
– How does Gobsek behave in this situation?
Answer:
Even making a deal, the hero behaved with dignity. He did not take advantage of the favorable situation and did not "warm his hands" on the earl's inheritance, but, on the contrary, increased it.
But Gobsek is true to himself. Until he came of age, he gave Ernest an extremely meager content.
Question:
How does he explain this decision?
Answer:
“Unhappiness is the best teacher. In misfortune, he will learn a lot, learn the value of money, the value of people - both men and women. Let him float on the waves of the Parisian sea. And when he becomes a skilled pilot, we will make him a captain.”
Teacher:
The author ends his story about the life and death of a usurer with an absolutely natural scene - a description of wealth. This description is worthy of the brush of the Flemish painters, just as the image of Gobseck himself is "worthy of the brush of Rembrandt."
Let's return to the question of the position of the usurer in life:
"Gold is the spiritual value of today's society"
“You believe everything, but I believe nothing. Well, save your illusions if you can. I will now sum up the human life. What causes delight in Europe is punished in Asia. What is considered a vice in Paris is recognized as a necessity outside the Azars. There is nothing lasting on earth, there are only conventions, and in each climate they are different ... all our moral rules and beliefs are empty words ... Live with me, you will find out that of all earthly blessings there is only one reliable enough to make a person worth chasing behind him. Is this gold".
All the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold... As for morals, man is the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, everywhere. And it is inevitable. So it’s better to push yourself than to let others push you.”
– Can a person's soul, true human values, be of interest in a world with such a philosophy?
Of course not. That is why the “innocent creature” of Fanny the Seamstress is so atypical and uninteresting to anyone in the “light”, and the pastoral story of the idyllic union of Derville and Fanny Malvo is incurious to those around him.
Therefore, the fate of people is tragic where "dead souls" with a stranglehold dictate to people the laws of life on earth.
Teacher:
And let Gobsek be touched by the "sweet girlish image" of Fanny, sympathy, remorse, kindness in his position in life will never be inherent in him. He is inaccessible to noble motives, the very concept of gratitude is alien to him. Even the lawyer Derville, a young man with whom he seems to feel affection, becomes the object of undisguised, shameless profit; according to Gobsek, this is also an educational measure: so that later the young man would be spared from feeling gratitude to the benefactor.
In this world where gold rules, Gobsek chose to remain Crookshanks, a misanthrope, a "man-automaton", a "man-promissory note", a "golden idol", a "savage", a "miser", a "skvalygo".
And yet the scene of Gobsek's death is filled with tragic pathos.
Let's read it:
“He sat up in bed; his face was outlined as clear as bronze on the white pillow. Stretching out his withered hands, he clutched the blanket with his bony hands, as if he wanted to hold on to it, looked at the fireplace, as cold as his metallic gaze, and died in full consciousness, showing his porter, the invalid and me an image of wary attention, like those old men ancient Rome, which Lethierre depicted behind the consuls in his painting "The Death of the Children of Brutus."
- Well done, you old miser! - the invalid rapped like a soldier.
Question:
– Why is it impossible not to feel sorry for Gobsek?
Following Derville, you need to feel sorry for the old man who staked all the values of the world on the map of his greed: friendship, love of loved ones, a prosperous existence.
All the good he had acquired fell into disrepair or remained unclaimed.
The world of profit, of which Gobsek was a part and whose power over himself he did not want to recognize, nevertheless swallowed him into the abyss.
Teacher:
And again the appeal to the younger generation from the poem by N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls": "Take with you on the road, leaving the soft youthful years in the harsh hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, do not pick them up later!"
Homework:
Anastasi de Resto
As in Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" - in Balzac's story "Gobsek" are important female images. This is not accidental, since the study of psychology and the social role of women is one of the key topics. realistic literature. The two central female figures - Anastasi de Resto and Fanny Malva - are in clear and sharp opposition. When the outstanding French culturologist Roland Barthes aptly noted that "comparison is a search for differences based on similarities." Let's apply his formula with respect to these characters. What is similar about them, and what is different?
So, both heroines are young and attractive. For the first time, Gobsek recalls Anastasi de Resto: “What a beauty I saw there! In her haste, she only threw a cashmere shawl over her bare shoulders and wrapped herself in it so skillfully that the shape of her beautiful body was easily guessed under the shawl. The countess's head was carelessly tied, like a Creole, with a bright silk scarf, from under which lush black curls were knocked out. I liked her." As you can see, the beauty of a young woman was appreciated even by the “old miser” and “cracker”.
The portrait of Fanny Malva is also depicted with no less sympathy: “I was received by Mademoiselle Fanny, a young girl, dressed simply, but with the grace of a Parisian; she had a graceful head, a fresh face, a friendly look; beautifully combed brown hair, going down in two circles and covering her temples, gave a certain refined expression to her blue eyes, clear as crystal. Daylight, breaking through the curtains on the windows, illuminated with a soft glow all her modest appearance.
Honore de Balzac is extremely skillful in building a story: the situation is mirrored - both women owed one thousand francs each and had to return this money on the same day! In other words, the usurer Gobsek, in order to collect debts on bills, had to see them at the same time. That is why the difference between these heroines is even more contrasting, it is emphasized intentionally.
For an aristocrat who annually spends two thousand francs only on washing (“She was wearing a peignoir trimmed with snow-white ruffles, which means that at least two thousand francs a year were spent here only on a laundress, because not everyone will take up washing such thin linen” ), repaying a loan for a thousand francs is not a problem. But for the bourgeoisie, a simple seamstress Fanny Malva (“This girl was forced to work without straightening her back”), a thousand francs were a huge amount, so it would be problematic for her to pay off Gobsek. And what happened instead? The seamstress was not only ready to return her debt in the morning, but also left the money to the gatekeeper when she went after night work bathe in the Seine so that she gives this money to Gobsek. But the magnificent countess, having nothing to pay the debt and frightened by a man who unexpectedly entered her bedroom, hurriedly gave the moneylender a diamond, the value of which was twenty percent higher than the amount of the debt. And such an attitude towards family jewels is a direct path to a debt hole and disgrace to one's honest name.
In addition, if Fanny gave her IOU to the cloth merchant (she, like a seamstress, borrowed a canvas from him for work), then Anastasi de Resto did not even pay her bill, but the debts of her lover, Maxime de Tray. The young aristocrat was actually captured by this soulless "young dandy who became her evil genius, dominated her, taking advantage of all her weaknesses: pride, jealousy, desire for comforts, for worldly fuss "and" he even used the virtues of this woman in his own interests, knew how to move her to tears, awaken generosity in her, abused her tenderness and devotion and sold her criminal pleasures dearly. It should be noted that Gobsek predicted the collapse of this couple even when their first bill fell into his hands: “And on his face I read the whole future of the countess. This fair-haired handsome man, this cold, soulless gambler, will go bankrupt himself, and ruin the countess, ruin her husband, ruin the children, screw up their inheritance, and in many other salons will cause a rout worse than an artillery battery in an enemy regiment.
E. Tyuduz. Illustration for the story of O. de Balzac "Gobsek". 1897
It should be noted that critics and aristocrats of that time reproached Balzac (and he himself, not without pride and pleasure, wrote the noble particle “de” in front of his surname) for portraying the aristocrats in an extremely negative way. Yes, he really sympathized with aristocrats, but his work (in particular, the story "Gobsek") is interesting because, as a true realist, he depicts "life as it is" and people "as they are": i. e. objectively, and therefore, criticizes both aristocrats and bourgeois. So, when Maxime de Tray, having obtained from Anastasi de Resto the next payment of his debts and warning Gobsek and Derville to keep this deal secret, because, they say, either theirs or his blood will be shed, in response he received a murderous characterization of the usurer: “To shed your blood, boy, you have to have it, and you have dirt in your veins instead of blood.
However, the opposite of the heroines is realized not only at the level of portraits, but also in the interior of housing. So, in the luxurious bedroom of the Countess, disorder reigns - the hostess had fun at the ball all night and did not have the strength to put at least an elementary order in her things: “The open bed testified to an anxious dream. On the bearskin, spread out under the lions carved on the mahogany bed, were the white satin slippers that the woman had casually thrown off there when she returned tired from the ball. A crumpled dress hung from the back of a chair, its sleeves touching the floor. Stockings that would have been blown away by the slightest breath of a breeze curled around the leg of a chair. The chest of drawers remained open. Flowers, diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, a belt were scattered all over the room. Everywhere there was luxury and disorder, beauty devoid of harmony. In general, harmony is beauty, and here is “beauty devoid of harmony”. No wonder they say that the external neatness of a person is associated with its internal harmony, and, conversely, external disorder is almost always associated with mental disorder. Scientists even argue that the degradation of a person on a desert island (let us once again recall Robinson, who in such conditions not only did not degrade, but even improved!) Begins with indifference to his appearance.
Of course, at the ball, among the luxuriously dressed public, and especially in the presence of Maxime de Tray, Madame Anastasi played the role of a brilliant lady. However, this glitter was ostentatious, it was tinsel, so to speak, "to divert eyes." And secluded, the young woman had everything less strength put things in order both in your outfit and in your soul. This is how a healthy tree dies slowly and imperceptibly: an outside observer first sees the still intact bark and green crown, but from the inside it is already being destroyed by a worm. So is Anastasi de Resto - outwardly she is still attractive (“And yet natural energy simmered in her, and all these traces of a bad life did not spoil her beauty”), but Gobsek’s penetrating eye saw: from the inside this woman was already undermined by lewdness, lies and depravity. He tells Derville about his further observations of the interior of the Countess de Resto's bedroom: “And already poverty, entrenched under all this luxury, turned its head and threatened this woman or her lover, showing her sharp teeth. The countess's tired face approached her bedroom (and this is already an element of the psychological portrait that we met in Stendhal. - Auth.), strewn with the remnants of yesterday's celebration. Looking at the clothes and jewelry scattered everywhere, I felt pity: only yesterday they made up her dress and someone admired them. These signs of love, poisoned by remorse, signs of luxury, vanity and frivolity in life testified to the tantalic efforts to catch fleeting pleasures. Her features seemed to be frozen, the dark spots under her eyes were more pronounced than usual. The skill and intellect of the writer is felt in the use of images and popular expressions from ancient mythology. So, the expression "tantalum torments" (in Balzac - "tantalic efforts") means the suffering arising from contemplation of a seemingly very close goal, but at the same time the impossibility of achieving it. So, Anastasi de Resto, being in the abyss of debauchery, could not "catch fleeting pleasures." So, we have a picture of the gradual degradation of this aristocrat.
Quite the opposite is the view of the modest apartment of Fanny Malva, who lived in a poor area of Paris, in a courtyard where the sun does not fall: new coin. I didn't notice a single speck of dust on the furniture in the first room." What a contrast with the disorder that reigns in the bedroom of the Comtesse de Resto! Fanny's room differs from her as strikingly as her clean life from the dirty deeds of a noble lady: “I looked at her and guessed her at first sight. Apparently, she came from an honest peasant family, because she still had noticeable small freckles, characteristic of rural girls. She exuded deep decency, real virtue. I had the feeling that I was in an atmosphere of sincerity, spiritual purity, and it even became easy for me to breathe. So, the spiritual qualities of the philistine Fanny are much superior to those of the aristocrat de Resto. Therefore, Gobsek advises her to marry Derville: “When you entered, I was just thinking about Fanny Malvy - that’s who I would have left good wife and mother. I compared her life, virtuous and lonely, with the life of the countess, who, having begun to sign bills, will inevitably slide to the very bottom of shame.
Ad Fontes
His satire has never been sharper, his irony - bitter, than when he forced to act precisely those men and women with whom he most sympathized - the nobles.
F. Engels (images of aristocrats in the "HUMAN comedy")
And life has confirmed that Gobsek was not mistaken: the de Resto family became impoverished, the children did not have a decent income, her husband died, Anastasi is humiliated, she is not even accepted in decent families, and her son cannot marry Camille where Granlier is, because he is poor. Vicomtesse de Granlier explains to her daughter Camille: “I will tell you only one circumstance - Mr. de Resto has a mother capable of absorbing even a millionth fortune, a woman of low birth ... As long as his mother is alive, parents in no respectable family will dare to entrust young Resto future and dowry of his daughter. The viscountess has her own "logic", because Anastasi has neither a high birth (which is appreciated by aristocrats), nor money (and this is appreciated by the bourgeoisie), nor an honest name. But Fanny became Derville's wife: “I married Fanny Malva, whom I sincerely loved. The similarity of our destinies, work, success have strengthened our mutual feeling. So the realist writer Balzac punishes debauchery and rewards honesty.
