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– The vicomtesse is Rastignac’s distant cousin. His aunt, Madame de Marcillac, introduces them. The vicomtesse is one of the richest and most famous aristocrats in Paris society; though she’s married, she is having an affair with the Marquis d’Ajuda-Pinto. The vicomtesse doesn’t learn until the last minute—long after the rest of Paris society—that the marquis is marrying someone else, and she chooses to leave Paris rather than continue to live before society in a state of humiliation and pretended composure. She agrees to serve as a kind of “fairy godmother” to Rastignac and is genuinely fond of him, and he is devoted to her in turn. Although the vicomtesse advises him never to reveal his true feelings and to use other people, the novel suggests that she ultimately possesses greater integrity than that, and that she isn’t willing to play by society’s restrictive rules.
Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant Quotes in Père Goriot
The Père Goriot quotes below are all either spoken by Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant or refer to Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant. 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:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
By pronouncing the name of Père Goriot Eugène had again waved the magic wand, but this time with an effect quite contrary to that produced by the words ‘related to Madame de Beauséant.’ He was in the situation of someone admitted as a favour into the house of a curio collector who inadvertently knocks into a cabinet full of sculptured figures, breaking off three or four insecurely fastened heads. He wished the earth would swallow him up.
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‘Their father […] is said to have given each of them five or six hundred thousand francs to ensure their happiness by marrying them well, and only kept back eight or ten thousand livres a year for himself. He thought that his daughters would remain his daughters and that in their homes he had created two places where he would be able to live, two houses where he would be adored and spoilt. Within two years his sons-in-law had banished him from their society as if he were the most wretched of wretches…’
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‘The more coldly calculating you are, the further you will go. Strike without pity and people will fear you. Accept men and women as mere post horses to be left worn out at every stage and you will reach the summit of your ambitions. Don't forget that you will be nothing here unless you have a woman to take an interest in you. You need one who is young, rich, elegant. But if you have any genuine feelings, hide them like a treasure; never let anyone suspect them, or you will be lost.’
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‘All right, let Père Goriot win you admission to Madame Delphine de Nucingen's house. The beautiful Madame de Nucingen will be the standard you bear. Enjoy the marks of her favour and women will dote on you. […] You will be very successful. In Paris success is everything, it is the key to power. If women believe you to have wit and talent, so will men, unless you disillusion them. Then you can set your heart on anything, every door will be open to you. Then you will learn what the world is really like: an assembly of dupes and knaves. Don't be counted with either.’
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Chapter 2 Quotes
The student walked back from the Théâtre-Italien to the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, his head full of the most alluring plans. He had not failed to notice how closely Madame de Restaud had observed him, both in the vicomtesse's box and in that of Madame de Nucingen, and he presumed that he would no longer find the comtesse's door closed to him. He could already count on four major contacts in the most select Parisian society […]
'If Madame de Nucingen takes an interest in me, I will teach her how to manipulate her husband. Her husband is a very successful businessman, and he'll be able to help me make my fortune in less than no time.'
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Rastignac was indeed in a state of perplexity which must be familiar to many young men. Whether she really loved him or was just leading him on, Madame de Nucingen had inflicted on Rastignac all the pains of a genuine passion […] For the past few months she had so inflamed Eugène's senses that she finally affected his inward heart. If in the initial stages of his liaison the student had believed himself to be the master, Madame de Nucingen had now gained the upper hand[.]
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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.’
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Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant Character Timeline in Père Goriot
The timeline below shows where the character Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant appears in Père Goriot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: A Family Boarding House
...gives him a letter of introduction to distant cousin Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant. The vicomtesse then invites Rastignac to a ball.
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...Comte Monsieur de Restaud. When Madame de Restaud introduces Rastignac as a relative of the vicomtesse, Maxime looks at him with new respect. While Maxime and Madame de Restaud chat in...
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...his hostess begins playing the piano, Rastignac ponders the contrasting effects of the names “ Madame de Beauséant ” and “Père Goriot.” He feels humiliated. After he leaves the room, Monsieur de Restaud...
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...aristocratic society. When a cabby stops for him, Rastignac decides to visit his cousin the vicomtesse for advice. When he isn’t sure of the Hôtel de Beauséant’s address, he feels like...
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...the cab and even Maxime’s carriage. Though Rastignac doesn’t know much about his cousin, the vicomtesse has been having an affair with a Portuguese nobleman named the Marquis d’Ajuda-Pinto. Her husband,...
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As Rastignac watches the vicomtesse’s and the marquis’s goodbye, he feels envious of the luxury surrounding the couple, and dizzied...
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The Duchesse de Langeais, with wounding abruptness, tells the vicomtesse that tomorrow, the wedding banns between d’Ajuda-Pinto and Mademoiselle de Rochefide are going to be...
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The vicomtesse explains that Père Goriot is a good father who gave five or six thousand francs...
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After the duchesse leaves, the vicomtesse muses that there is always a friend who’s ready to stick a dagger in you...
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The vicomtesse explains that the two sisters are also locked in a rivalry. Because her husband is...
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Chapter 2: Entry on the Social Scene
...upcoming ball where both of his daughters will be present. Rastignac decides to visit the Vicomtesse de Beauséant to see if he can secure an introduction to the ball’s hostess. Dressed up in...
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As Rastignac strolls around town before his visit to the vicomtesse, he notices the admiring glances of other women, and that’s the final nail in the...
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...to return to the mindset of sacrifice he’d embraced earlier that day. Over dinner, the vicomtesse invites him to accompany her to the theater that evening, since her husband, the vicomte,...
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...d’Ajuda comes to their box, and in gratitude for Rastignac quietly surrendering his seat, the vicomtesse asks d’Ajuda to introduce Rastignac to Delphine de Nucingen. Madame de Nucingen offers Rastignac the...
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...de Marsay, though it is more likely that she is trying to get access to Madame de Beauséant through him. In any case, he accepts the invitation out of curiosity. All the boarders...
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The next day, Madame de Beauséant gives Rastignac an introduction to the duchesse who’s throwing the ball, allowing him to attend....
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Chapter 3: Death-Dodger
...Rastignac receives an invitation to give to the de Nucingens, to a ball held by Madame de Beauséant . He can’t wait to convey this desirable news to Delphine. A man’s first love...
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As predicted, Delphine is delighted to receive the invitation to Madame de Beauséant ’s ball. She embraces Rastignac and tells him that she’s ready to make any sacrifice...
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Chapter 4: The Father’s Death
...Marquis d’Ajuda’s marriage contract with Mademoiselle de Rochefide is being signed by the king tomorrow. Madame de Beauséant doesn’t know anything about the marriage and will be taken aback when she hears the...
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...her to the ball tonight and that, after the humiliation of learning about d’Ajuda’s engagement, Madame de Beauséant will certainly throw no more balls, so Delphine won’t waste this opportunity. Rastignac writes back...
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...sends him to d’Ajuda to collect her letters. When Rastignac returns with the letters, the vicomtesse burns them. She tells Rastignac that tomorrow, she is leaving Paris “to bury [herself] in...
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