Père Goriot

Honoré Balzac was the second of five children born into a socially ascendant French family. As a child, Balzac spent most of his time being cared for by a nurse or attending boarding school; his parents showed little warmth toward him or his siblings. As a teenager, he continued his education in Paris, studying law at the Sorbonne. In fact, in 1819 (when Père Goriot is set), Balzac was a poor law student in his early twenties, just like his eventual character Eugène de Rastignac. By the time Balzac completed his legal training, he decided to become a writer instead. However, it wasn’t until 1829 that he published his first novel, Le Dernier Chouan. After the publication of a short story collection in 1830, his popularity in Paris’s literary circles began to grow. Balzac was known for his remarkable work ethic, often staying up all night engaging in coffee-fueled writing sessions. Many of his novels and stories were collected in the 17 volumes known as La Comédie humaine, intended to offer a panoramic view of French society. Because of his attention to detail and his well-rounded characters, Balzac is regarded as a founding figure in literary realism. In 1850, Balzac married a Polish countess named Madame Eveline Hanska, with whom he had corresponded for almost 20 years. Months later, he died in Paris.

Père Goriot is set during the Bourbon Restoration, which is dated between the fall of Napoleon in 1814 and the popular uprisings of the July Revolution in 1830. During this period reigned Louis XVIII and Charles X, both brothers of Louis XVI (who’d been executed during the French Revolution in 1793). These kings instituted a constitutional monarchy which, unlike its absolutist pre-Revolutionary counterpart, incorporated some checks on the monarch’s power. Otherwise, the monarchy retained some of the Revolution’s changes, such as the central role of Paris in French governance and culture, which is reflected in the novel. Another aspect of the Bourbon Restoration which the novel reflects is the prominence of a new aristocracy which arose after the Revolution. Tensions grew between the new aristocracy and the emerging middle class. While many Parisians remained entrenched in poverty, some from the middle classes—like the character of Rastignac in Père Goriot—could attempt to adapt to aristocratic norms  and climb to a higher social standing. Père Goriot is considered to be Balzac’s most important novel, and it falls within the Scènes de la vie privée section of his multi-volume La Comédie humaine, which consists of 91 short stories, novels, and essays, all organized into different aspects of French life in the early 19th century.

Balzac was influenced by Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott, author of such works as Ivanhoe, to incorporate realistic historical details into his fiction. The father-daughter strife of Père Goriot has also been likened to the plot of Shakespeare’s King Lear, and the story of Vautrin’s temptation of Rastignac invites comparison to Goethe’s Faust. Of the many novels that make up Balzac’s La Comédie humaine, one of the most critically acclaimed is Eugénie Grandet, which in turn influenced Washington Square by Balzac’s protégé, Henry James.