Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 16

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of Father Goriot with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of  Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, which tells the story of Eugène de Rastignac, an ambitious yet honest young man who becomes disillusioned by his surrounding Parisian society. In this realistic tale of initiation and fatherly love, Balzac gives an uncompromising description of the society he lived in, and introduces the characters of The Human Comedy. Honoré de Balzac was one of France’s most prolific and influential writers, and his work played a major part in laying the groundwork for the modern realist novel.

Find out all you need to know about Father Goriot in a fraction of the time!

This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
   • A complete plot summary
   • Character studies
   • Key themes and symbols
   • Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

Honoré de Balzac

French writer

Born in Tours in 1799Died in Paris in 1850Notable works:The Chouans (1829), novelEugénie Grandet (1833), novelFather Goriot (1835)

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) is one of the main French authors of the 19th century. As a young man, he managed to enter the aristocratic Parisian milieu, which he would henceforth never cease to frequent. However, disastrous ventures and an excessive lifestyle quickly ruined him: literary writing, which he practiced assiduously and with passion, would soon become his only way to reimburse his debts.

An ambitious man, he started a monumental work, The Human Comedy, which consists of more than ninety novels, which aimed to paint as exhaustive a picture as possible of the society of his time (“to compete with the civil register”). Among his most famous works are Eugénie Grandet (1833) and Father Goriot (1835).

Balzac is considered one of the fathers of the modern realistic novel.

Father Goriot

A realism classic

Genre: novelReference edition: De Balzac, H. (2015) Father Goriot. New York: World Classic.First edition: 1835Themes: fatherhood, social climbing, plotting, murder, 19th century French society

Father Goriot, published in 1835, achieved immediate success and laid the foundations for The Human comedy.

All the ingredients of the Balzacian novel are present in this work. It inaugurates the concept of recurring characters and bears all the typical characteristics of Balzac’s style: precise descriptions, devouring passions, young heroes and fair ladies belonging to the good society, a bandit threatening the balance, money and tragedies which upset consciences. Above all, Father Goriot is the story of the young Rastignac’s education, both social and sentimental, and of the tragic destiny of Father Goriot.

Summary