Women in the Life of Balzac

f an original and most congenial old father, a nervous, business-like mother, two younger sisters, Laure and Laurentia, a

from a brilliant student, but because of the abnormal amount of reading which he did on the outside. When he was brought home for recuperation, his old grandmother alternately irritated him with her "nervous attacks" and del

ear of this rustic lif

1814. There he contin

st principles doubtle

e Sorbonne also, stroll

1816 was placed in t

friend of the family,

n this office, he spent

M. Passez, who was a

e in his heart until their separation in 1832. Probably at this same period, too, he met Zulma Tourangin, a schoolmate of his sister Laure, and who, as Madame Carraud, was t

tasteful to him that he objected and asked permission to spend his time as best he might in developing his literary ability, a request which, in spite of the opposition of the fam

a life of fame. In his garret, too, he began to develop that longing for luxury which was to increase with the years, and which was to cost him so much. At this time, he took frequent walks through the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise around the graves of Moliere, La Fontaine and Racine. He would occasionally visit a friend with whom he

hing except literature! But his courage was not daunted thus. Remarking that /tragedies/ appeared not to be in his line, he was ready to return to his garret to attempt another kind of literature, and would have done so, had not h

paration is fortunate for posterity, however, since the letters he wrote to her reveal much of the family life, both pleasant and otherwise, together with a great deal concerning his own desires and struggles. Thus early in life, he realized that his was a ve

the sons of M. and Mme. de Berny, and thus he had an opportunity of seeing much of Madame de Berny, whose patience under suffering and sympathetic nature deeply impressed him. On her side, she took an interest in him and devoted much time in helping and indeed "creating" him. Unhappy in her married life, she must have found the companionship of Balzac most interesting, and realizing that the young man had a great f

necessary funds. Balzac took the advice, and with visions of becoming extremely rich, launched into a publishing career, proposing to bring out one-volume editions of various authors' complete works, commencing with La Fontaine and Moliere. As he did not have the necessary capital for advertising, howeve

is financial troubles as well as in his literary ones; she loaned him 45,000 francs, saw to it that the recently purchased type- foundry became the property of her family, and, with the help of Madame Surville, persuaded Madame de Balzac to save her son from the disgrace of bankruptcy by lending him 37,000 francs. Thus, after less than two years of experie

erial for /Les Chouans/, the first novel which he signed with his own name. Notwithstanding the fact that before he had reached his thirtieth year, he was staggering under a debt amounting to about 100,000 francs, Balzac w

ntry to relax and visit with his friends. The Baron de Pommereul was only one of a rather numerous group. He frequently visited Madame Carraud at her hospitable home at Frapesle, and M. de Margonne in his chateau at Sache on the Indre. Often he would spend many weeks at a time with the latter, where he made himself perfectly at home, was treated as

putation, to some of the most noted salons of the day, among them the Empire salon of Madame Sophie Gay, where he met many of the literary and artistic people of his time, including Delphine, the daughter of Madame Gay, who, as Madame de Girardin, was to become one of his intimate friends. Here he met Madame Hamelin and the Duchess d'Abrantes, who was destined to play an important role in his life, and also the te

own correspondents was the beautiful Marquise de Castries (later the Duchess de Castries). Throwing aside her incognito, she invited him to call, and he, anxious to mingle with the exclusive society of the Faubourg

at that time giving him the slightest presentiment of the outcome, this letter was destined eventually to change the entire life of the novelist. A notice in the /Quotid

his head. Meanwhile, his mother became more and more displeased with him, and impatient at his constant calls upon her for the performance of all manner of services. She now urged hi

on, according to which some of his works were revised a dozen times or more, and also to the Belgian piracies, from which all popular French auth

f the siren. Thus he was enticed by the Marquise de Castries to go to Aix and from there to Geneva in 1832, and one year later he rushed to Neufchatel to meet Madame Hanska, with whom he became so enamored that a few months afterwar

his most delightful novels were written during these visits, where it seemed that the very shadow of feminine presence gave him inspiration. It should be added, too, that in the limited

health of his /Dilecta/, Madame de Berny, not to mention the failure of another publisher Werdet, which there is not space here to recount, cast a gloom from time to time over his optimistic spirit. He now became the proprietor of the /Chronique de Paris/, but aside from the literary friendships invol

Marbouty to Italy, where he spent several pleasant weeks looking after some legal business for his friends,

ever met but whose letters cheered him, especially during his imprisonment for refusing to serve in the Garde Nationale. In the sa

e believed that much silver might be extracted from lead turned out of the mines as refuse, and was indiscreet enough to confide his ideas to a crafty merchant whom he met at Genoa. A year later, when Balzac went to Sardinia to investigate the possibility of the development of his plans, he found that his ideas had been appropriated by this acquaintance. On his return from this trip to Corsica and Sardinia, on which

would be successful in raising pineapples at his new home. /Les Jardies/ was a three-story house. The principal stairway was on the outside, because an exterior staircase would not interfere with the symmetrical arrangement of the interior. The garden walls, not long after completion, fell do

vities, such as his brief directorship of the /Revue Parisienne/, numerous articles and short stories, and his cooperation in the /Societe des Gens-de-Lettres/,

aracter, kept on hoping. Not discouraged by his ever unsuccessful schemes for becoming a millionaire, he conceived the project

of his life had occurred, when on January 5 he received a letter from Madame Hanska telling of the death of her husband the previous November. Balzac wished to leave for

llnesses became more and more frequent. His visit to his /Chatelaine/, however, had increased his longing to be constantly in her society, and he was ever planning to visit her. During her prolonged stay in Dr

the opportunity of visiting Anna's former governess, Lirette, who had entered a convent. In August, after visiting many cities with the two ladies, Balzac escorted them as far as Brussels. In September he left Paris again to join them at Baden, a

arch, 1846, he left Paris to join Madame Hanska and her party at Rome for a month. He traveled with them to some extent during the summer, and a definite engagement of marriage

s. In September he left for Wierzchownia, where he remained until the following February, continually hoping that his marriage would soon take place. But Mme. Hanska hesitated, and the failure of the Chemin d

ffairs in his new home, his health became so bad that he could not finish the work outlined during the summer. No sooner had he recovered from one malady than he was overtaken by another. Unable to work, distracted by bad news from his family, and being the witness of several

equate description, but he was unable to depart for Paris with his bride until April. After a difficult journey, the couple arrived at Paris in May, but the condition of Balzac's health was hopeless and only a few more mont

he was a man of great personal charm. Though at various times he was under consideration for election to the French Academy, his name is not found numbered among the "forty immortals." But he was the greatest of French novelists,