Previous
Mademoiselle Michonneau
Bianchon is a medical student and friend of Rastignac’s who dines at Madame Vauquer’s boarding house, Rastignac’s residence. He believes that happiness lies within a person, and he isn’t tempted by Paris society, choosing to pursue a modest medical practice in the countryside. He faithfully tends Goriot on his deathbed.
Bianchon Quotes in Père Goriot
The Père Goriot quotes below are all either spoken by Bianchon or refer to Bianchon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4 Quotes
Rastignac left at about five o'clock, after seeing Madame de Beauséant into her travelling-coach and receiving her tearful farewell […] It was cold and damp as Eugène walked back to the Maison Vauquer. His education was almost complete.
‘I shan't be able to save poor Père Goriot,’ Bianchon said to him as Rastignac came into his neighbour's room.
‘My friend,’ said Eugène, after a look at the sleeping old man, ‘stay on the path that leads to the modest goal you have been content to set yourself. As for me, I am in hell, and must stay there.’
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Père Goriot LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Bianchon Character Timeline in Père Goriot
The timeline below shows where the character Bianchon appears in Père Goriot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Entry on the Social Scene
...stand to remain in the boarding house for long—Rastignac runs into his medical student friend, Bianchon. He confides something of his dilemma to Bianchon; Bianchon thinks that Rastignac is trying to...
(full context)
Chapter 3: Death-Dodger
...the boarding house, won’t they be culpable for those murders too? They don’t notice that Bianchon overhears bits of the whole conversation on his way home from his medical school lecture....
(full context)
...way to get Goriot and Rastignac drunk, turns out to be costly for him, too. Bianchon, after getting drunk, forgot to ask Mademoiselle Michonneau about what he’d overhead on his way...
(full context)
Back at the Maison Vauquer, Bianchon has given Vautrin an emetic and sent the results to his hospital for chemical analysis....
(full context)
Chapter 4: The Father’s Death
...Rastignac sees Delphine home, but then he returns to the boarding house, worried about Goriot. Bianchon observes the old man at dinner and confides to Rastignac that he believes Goriot has...
(full context)
Bianchon is watching over Goriot, and he explains that Goriot overdid things earlier that day. He’s...
(full context)
The next day, Bianchon tells Rastignac that Goriot doesn’t have much time left, but that they will nurse him...
(full context)
...man’s raving, Rastignac sends Christophe for a cab. Goriot collapses again, almost lifeless. Rastignac leaves Bianchon, who has just run in, the watch Delphine gave him with instructions to pawn it...
(full context)
...that Delphine is on her way. Though the doctor has no more hope, Rastignac and Bianchon want to change Goriot’s shirt and bedding so that he can die with greater dignity....
(full context)
As Rastignac and Bianchon struggle to change Goriot’s soiled shirt, Goriot asks, with inarticulate gestures, for the locket containing...
(full context)
When Rastignac and Bianchon finally come downstairs for a bite of dinner, the other boarders don’t want to hear...
(full context)
...he cries at the sight of Goriot’s shabby coffin resting in front of the gates. Bianchon has left a note that they can’t even afford a full Mass for the old...
(full context)
