DOCSLIB.ORG

Study and Boudoir

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Study and Boudoir STUDY AND BOUDOIR An evocation of interiors from La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), with a juxtaposition of two worlds, two lifestyles that should have no intersections, public space vs. private space: a study and a boudoir. The study is as close as possible to the study of the lawyer Derville described in Le Colonel Chabert (Colonel Chabert). The same furniture decorates nearly all the studies of the lawyers, bankers, doctors and usurers that appear in La Comédie humaine. Thanks to his experience clerking for lawyers and notaries from 1816 to BOUDOIR 1819 and his high society acquaintances, Balzac positioned himself as a witness to social justice when it plays out in these private places, making us take on the eye OF FŒDORA of Justice – human or providential – in the tragic endings to his plots. Each apartment had a In contrast, the ideal boudoir is revealed. This interior borrows from the character of its own, as in wealthy English houses; boudoirs of La Comédie humaine: that of Paquita, La Fille aux yeux d’or (Girl with and the silken hangings, the Golden Eyes), the one at the beginning of Une fille d’Ève (A Daughter of Eve) the style of the furniture, and, more specifically Fœdora’s boudoir in La Peau de chagrin (The Wild Ass’s Skin) and the ornaments, even the most trifling, were all with its neo-Gothic furniture. Through the importance attributed to fabric, the subordinated to the boudoir merges with stage props: draped window and door curtains, festoons, original idea. In a gothic boudoir the doors were valances and curls, adorned with decorative trimmings. They share the same concealed by tapestried refinement, although the significance can change by the space occupied by the curtains, and the paneling boudoir in the apartments: its greater or lesser proximity to company spaces like by hangings; the clock and the pattern of the carpet the drawing room – such as Mme de Bargeton’s boudoir in Illusions perdues (Lost were made to harmonize Illusions) – defines its real level of privacy. with the gothic surroundings. The ceiling, with its carved cross-beams of brown wood, was full of STUDY OF LAWYER DERVILLE charm and originality; the panels were beautifully The office was a large room furnished with the traditional more important clients whose cases were juicily stewing at wrought; nothing disturbed stool which is to be seen in all these dens of law-quibbling. this present time. The dirty window-panes admitted but the general harmony of the The stove-pipe crossed the room diagonally to the chimney little daylight. Indeed, there are very few offices in Paris scheme of decoration, not of a bricked-up fireplace; on the marble chimney-piece were where it is possible to write without lamplight before ten in even the windows with several chunks of bread, triangles of Brie cheese, pork the morning in the month of February, for they are all left their rich colored glass. I cutlets, glasses, bottles, and the head clerk's cup of to very natural neglect; every one comes and no one stays; was surprised by the chocolate. The smell of these dainties blended so completely no one has any personal interest in a scene of mere routine- extensive knowledge of with that of the immoderately overheated stove and the -neither the attorney, nor the counsel, nor the clerks, odor peculiar to offices and old papers, that the trail of a fox trouble themselves about the appearance of a place which, decoration that some artist would not have been perceptible. The floor was covered to the youths, is a schoolroom; to the clients, a passage; to had brought to bear on a with mud and snow, brought in by the clerks. Near the the chief, a laboratory. The greasy furniture is handed down little modern room, it was window stood the desk with a revolving lid, where the head to successive owners with such scrupulous care, that in so pleasant and fresh, and clerk worked, and against the back of it was the second some offices may still be seen boxes of remainders, not heavy, but subdued clerk's table. The second clerk was at this moment in Court. machines for twisting parchment gut, and bags left by the with its dead gold hues. It It was between eight and nine in the morning. The only prosecuting parties of the Chatelet – a Court which, under had all the vague sentiment decoration of the office consisted in huge yellow posters, the old order of things, represented the present Court of of a German ballad; it was announcing seizures of real estate, sales, settlements under First Instance (or County Court). So in this dark office, thick a retreat fit for some trust, final or interim judgments, all the glory of a lawyer's with dust, there was, as in all its fellows, something romance of 1827, perfumed office. Behind the head clerk was an enormous room, of repulsive to the clients – something which made it one of by the exotic flowers set in which each division was crammed with bundles of papers the most hideous monstrosities of Paris. their stands. with an infinite number of tickets hanging from them at the ends of red tape, which give a peculiar physiognomy to law HONORÉ DE BALZAC HONORÉ DE BALZAC papers. The lower rows were filled with cardboard boxes, Le Colonel Chabert (Colonel Chabert) La Peau de chagrin yellow with use, on which might be read the names of the (The Wild Ass’s Skin) Public sale notice Rural Scene H. de Balzac Print Works Oil on canvas, 19th c. Facsimile based on an original Donated by Dr. Henry Du Buit notice from 1828, conserved at (1988) the Balzac Museum (BZ Saché, Balzac Museum, 1999.2.189) BZ 1999.2.553 Desk Undetermined wood (alder?), Views of Paris ca. 1815 Lithographs with watercolour On loan from the Mobilier National, light, from the book Paris dans GME 170 sa splendeur. Monuments, Louis XVIII must have been very vues, scènes, Charpentier, attached to this desk since we 1861. Saché, Balzac Museum, BZ Panel section can see him sitting at it in his 1999.1.533-539 study at the Tuileries, as pained Sculpted, painted oak, by Baron Gérard and exhibited ca. 1790. On loan from the at the 1824 Salon. Delivered by Mobilier National, the cabinet-maker Clément in Clock GME C 269 1815: “a walnut office table « Héro and Léandre » Panel section from the Palais Pierre-François FEUCHÈRE tinted mahogany, table feet de la Conciergerie in Paris. The (1737-1823) with sheaths [...], around the presence of a compass Gilded, patinated bronze, ca. circumference a moulding with indicates Masonic symbolism. 1820. On loan from the Mobilier a lip...”. Furniture comprising a On both his paternal and divan, two corner benches, National, GML 243 maternal sides, Balzac’s family four armchairs and two were staunch Freemasons. Writing case with accessories chairs Fireplace rack Gilded, patinated bronze, ca. Wood, leather desk blotter, 1st Amarinthine speckled maple, Cylinder secretary desk 1840 Empire period. ca. 1830. On loan from the Pierre ROUSSEL Paris, Mobilier National, Hôtel Gouïn museum collection, Mobilier National, GMT 31102, Mahogany and gilded copper, GML 390 Tours, HG 935.010.0001, from the 31103, 31104 and 31105 ca. 1785. On loan from the Acquired in 1841 from Nicolle et stores of the Société Archéologique This set was acquired by the Mobilier National, Finbert, then located at 64 rue de Touraine. Mobilier National in Paris, from GME 13343 Amelot in Paris. It bears two Hôtel Drouot, on 14 June 1996. A piece of furniture that Chocolate cups and saucers The divan appears at the marks from the Tuileries. For became widespread after 1770 Balzac, like many of his Sarreguemines earthenware, homes of Canalis, Mme and that offered the benefit of contemporaries, the greyhound China model, XIXe siècle. Hôtel Moreau, Beatrix, Lucien de securing one’s papers by was associated with the Gouïn museum collection, Tours, Rubempré, the Duchess of means of a rolling quarter aristocracy. It is even the title of a HG 2002.014.72/73/74/78, from Langeais and more. A “square cylinder. Like with roll top chapter in Les Paysans (The the stores of the Société divan in the centre of the secretary desks, a portion Peasants), and its death with its Archéologique de Touraine. salon”, ancestor to the round serves as a secure box for throat cut announced the end of sofa, is even included in Une papers or money. Balzac Fille d’Ève (A Daughter of Eve). a certain nobiliary lifestyle. describes one of these in Carpet Orient Boukahara, 20th century. Derville’s study (Le Colonel Draperies made by the tapestry Chabert / Colonel Chabert), at On loan from the Mobilier National, GMT 2860. workshop Le Crin et la Plume Braulard’s home (Illusions perdues / Lost Illusions), and with the support of two are mentioned in the office Lamp of Bellona Argan oil lamp, 19th century. of banker Adolphe Keller (Cesar Property of the Indre-et-Loire Birotteau) and the financier Claparon (Un Homme d’affaires Departmental Council Pair of Medici vases / Man of Business). Sèvres porcelain, 1814 Office chair On loan from the Mobilier National, Mahogany, ca. 1820 Filing cabinet GML 883/1 and 2 Mahogany, 19th century On loan from the Mobilier National, Model gifted by Alexandre- GMT 10707 On loan from the Mobilier National, Théodore Brongniart in 1806. It Young Balzac wrote of an GME 11828 seems to only have been made “armchair made of oak painted This type of furniture is in the size of 32 cm. Balzac in mahogany, covered in described in certain interiors frequently referenced Sèvres.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Inscriptive Masculinity in Balzac's Comédie Humaine
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses, Dissertations, Student Research: Modern Languages and Literatures, Department Modern Languages and Literatures of 4-20-2009 Inscriptive Masculinity in Balzac’s Comédie Humaine Alana K. Eldrige University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/modlangdiss Part of the Modern Languages Commons Eldrige, Alana K., "Inscriptive Masculinity in Balzac’s Comédie Humaine" (2009). Theses, Dissertations, Student Research: Modern Languages and Literatures. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/modlangdiss/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Modern Languages and Literatures, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, Student Research: Modern Languages and Literatures by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. INSCRIPTIVE MASCULINITY IN BALZAC’S COMÉDIE HUMAINE by Alana K. Eldrige A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy Major: Modern Languages and Literature (French) Under the Supervision of Professor Marshall C. Olds Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2009 INSCRIPTIVE MASCULINITY IN BALZAC’S COMÉDIE HUMAINE Alana K. Eldrige, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2009. Adviser: Marshall C. Olds This reading of La Comédie humaine traces the narrative paradigm of the young hero within Balzac’s literary universe. A dynamic literary signifier in nineteenth-century literature, the young hero epitomizes the problematic existence encountered by the individual in post-revolutionary France. At the same time, he serves as a mouth-piece for an entire youthful generation burdened by historical memory.
    [Show full text]
  • Balzac Et La Symbolique De La Peau De Chagrin
    Anales de Filología Francesa, n.º 14, 2005-2006 MICHEL BRIX Balzacetlasymboliquedelapeaudechagrin MICHEL BRIX Université de Namur Resumen: Abstract: De entre todas las obras de Balzac, La Peau Of all of Balzac’s works, The Wild-Ass’s Skin de chagrin es una de las más misteriosas. No is one of the most mysterious. We do not know, está claro, por ejemplo, si esta novela debe ser for example, whether or not this novel should considerada como un relato fantástico. Las di- be considered a narrative of the fantastic. The ficultades de interpretación están también rela- difficulties of interpretation are linked both to cionadas con la naturaleza y el papel del talis- the nature and role of the talisman that gives mán que da título a la novela: ¿qué es la piel de the novel its title: what is the wild-ass’s skin? zapa? Este estudio quiere mostrar que la novela This study seeks to show that Balzac’s novel de Balzac es efectivamente un relato fantástico. is indeed a narrative of the fantastic. Moreover, Además, al igual que en los cuentos de hadas, as in fairytales, The Wild-Ass’s Skin delivers a La Peau de chagrin conlleva una lección moral moral lesson which is intended to be universal: que pretende ser universal: Raphaël, el héroe, Raphaël, the hero, refuses to grow old and dis- se niega a envejecer y descubre, a sus expensas, covers, at his expense, that old age is opportune, que el envejecimiento es una suerte, pues per- as it makes the approach of death bearable; mite soportar la proximidad de la muerte; sin el without old age, death remains scandalous and envejecimiento, la muerte sigue siendo hasta el frightful until the bitter end.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Bruit Des Noms Martine St-Pierre
    Document generated on 09/30/2021 6:35 a.m. Études françaises Le bruit des noms Martine St-Pierre « À la jeunesse d’André Belleau » Volume 23, Number 3, hiver 1987 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/035730ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/035730ar See table of contents Publisher(s) Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal ISSN 0014-2085 (print) 1492-1405 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article St-Pierre, M. (1987). Le bruit des noms. Études françaises, 23(3), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.7202/035730ar Tous droits réservés © Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1988 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ Le bruit des noms MARTINE ST-PIERRE Rien n'est resté fixe, rien ne le sera. Nous pas- serons tous ; et le bruit des noms les plus célè- bres s'éteindra comme le son d'un instrument se perd dans les airs et finit par se confondre avec le murmure lointain des eaux et des vents. EUSÈBE SALVERTE C'est en 1824 qu'Eusèbe Salverte publie son traité d'ono- mastique intitulé Essai historique et philosophique sur les noms d'hommes et de lieux1.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Romantisme Et Le R~Alisme De Balzac
    LE ROMANTISME ET LE R~ALISMEDE BALZAC peu de chronologie : Lamartine est ni en 1790; U”Vigny en 1797; Balzac en 1799; Victor Hugo en 1802; Dumas pire en 1803; George Sand en 1804. C’est la grande giniration romantique, les vrais “enfants du si2cle”, dont Musset, ni en 1810,et Thiophile Gautier, ni en I 8 I I, sont les Benjamins. Quelques dates encore: le premier roman de Balzac qu’il ait signi, Les Chouans, parut en I 829 ; les derniers qu’il ait terminis Iui-mEme sont de 1847. Ses deux dicades sont celles de l’apogde romantique, de Henri III et sa Cour, Antony, Hernani, Ruy Blas, Chatterton, les Harmonies, les Nuits. Enfin, derniere sirie de faits: la piriode rialiste dans la littirature frangaise, commence avec le Second Empire, ou, si vous prifdrez, avec la Dame aux Came‘tias, en I 852. Tous ceux qui devaient l’illustrer, Taine et Renan dans la philoso- phie et l’histoire, Leconte de Lisle en poisie, Flaubert et les Goncourt dans le roman, Dumas fils et Augier au thditre, ne se sont fait connaitre qu’apris la mort de Balzac. I1 est donc bien aviri que la carriire de Balzac est con- temporaine du romantisme, non du rialisme. Elle n’est mcme pas h cheval sur les deux. Nous ne pouvons classer Balzac parmi les rialistes qu’en le siparant violemment de ses pairs et compagnons, des amis et des tmules aux- quels il a didii tant des Scines de sa Comkdie Humaine; 58 Le Romantisme et le Realisme de Balzac 59 et en l’associant i un groupe d’hommes qu’il n’a point connus.
    [Show full text]
  • Orientations Étrangères Chez Honoré De Balzac
    Orientations étrangères chez Honoré de Balzac Autor(en): Baldensperger, Fernand Objekttyp: Article Zeitschrift: Neue Schweizer Rundschau Band (Jahr): - (1927) Heft 3 PDF erstellt am: 05.10.2021 Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-758233 Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. Das Veröffentlichen von Bildern in Print- und Online-Publikationen ist nur mit vorheriger Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber erlaubt. Die systematische Speicherung von Teilen des elektronischen Angebots auf anderen Servern bedarf ebenfalls des schriftlichen Einverständnisses der Rechteinhaber. Haftungsausschluss Alle Angaben erfolgen ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit. Es wird keine Haftung übernommen für Schäden durch die Verwendung von Informationen aus diesem Online-Angebot oder durch das Fehlen von Informationen. Dies gilt auch für Inhalte Dritter, die über dieses Angebot zugänglich sind. Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch http://www.e-periodica.ch 242 Orientations étrangères chez Honoré de Balzac1) Par Fernand Baldensperger Il s'agit, comme Molière, de savoir prendre son bien où il est. Ce talent n'est pas commun... Préface de la Ire édition du Cabinet des Antiques (1839). La gloire «mondiale» de Balzac, à l'heure présente, semble vérifier une charmante légende que Gaston Paris se plaisait à conter.
    [Show full text]
  • ROMANTIC ELE}Ffints in SELECTED Vffiitings of BALZAC
    ROMANTIC ELE}ffiNTS IN SELECTED vffiITINGS OF BALZAC ~\oJ A Thesis -,~ Presented to The Department of Foreign Languages and the Graduate Council Kansas State Teachers College, ~nporia ------ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Mallory K. Millender September 1968 /f Approved for the Major Department ~~.h\.~ c --­ Approved for the Graduate Council ~d.~ tel:,..! :.­ l~L)~:; t\ ACKNOWLEDGMENT I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Minnie M. Miller of the Department of Foreign Languages at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia for her great assistance in the preparation of this thesis. M. K. M. 7 277127 PREFACE ~ BalzBc's life was influenced by throe literary movements:, Classicism, Romantici sm, and RealisIDo This thesis will concentrate on Romanticism as it is found in selected novels of Balzac. No attempt will be made to discuss Classicism nor Realism except where it is deemed expedient to develop or contrast a particular point. French Romanticism, often regarded as the antithesis of Classicism, can be dated primarily from Jean-Jacques Rousseau. However, it was not mentioned in France as a term for a literary school until 181601 It is as difficult to give a precise date for Romanticism as it is to define ito The writer found most definitions of Romanticism overly general, if not conflictingo The great Romanticists of France were Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Musset, and Victor Hugo o Hugo, the leading writer of the Romantic school, was a great admirer of Balzac. Romanticism is a rebellion against the restraint, order, and authoritarianism of the Classical periodo The French Romanticists were influenced by the literature lSidney D.
    [Show full text]
  • La Corruption Dans Les Romans De Balzac: Une Étude Des Personnages, Des Institutions Et Des Mœurs
    La Corruption dans les romans de Balzac: une étude des personnages, des institutions et des mœurs by Stacey Carolyn Latimer, B.A. A Thesis In FRENCH Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Dr. Christopher Bains Chair of Committee Dr. Carole Edwards Dr. Joseph Price Dominick Casadonte Interim Dean of the Graduate School May, 2013 Copyrighted 2013, Stacey Latimer Texas Tech University, Stacey Latimer, May 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Above all, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my Heavenly Father who has so often blessed me with the strength I have needed to complete this work. Without His sovereign grace in blessing me with the ability to learn a second language, this work would not have been possible. To Him be the glory. I wish to thank Dr. Christopher Bains for first inspiring me with the idea to do research involving the works of Balzac and for his willingness to share his expertise in this area. He has offered encouragement and support throughout my entire academic career in French at Texas Tech. I appreciate his patience and tireless efforts to go through this work critically and offer knowledgeable advice in order to improve both my literary analysis and my use of French. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Carole Edwards for her confidence in me and her contribution to my development as a student in French both during this work as well as in my studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to Balzac Edited by Owen Heathcote , Andrew Watts Frontmatter More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-06647-2 — The Cambridge Companion to Balzac Edited by Owen Heathcote , Andrew Watts Frontmatter More Information the cambridge companion to balzac One of the founders of literary realism and the serial novel, Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) was a prolific writer who produced more than a hundred novels, plays and short stories during his career. With its dramatic plots and memorable characters, Balzac’s fiction has enthralled generations of readers. La Comédie humaine, the vast collection of works in which he strove to document every aspect of nineteenth-century French society, has influenced writers from Flaubert, Zola and Proust to Dostoevsky and Oscar Wilde. This Companion provides a critical reappraisal of Balzac, combining studies of his major novels with guidance on the key narrative and thematic features of his writing. Twelve chapters by world-leading specialists encompass a wide spectrum of topics such as the representation of history, philosophy and religion, the plight of the struggling artist, gender and sexuality, and Balzac’s depiction of the creative process itself. owen heathcote is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Modern French Studies at the University of Bradford. He researches on the relation between violence, gender, sexuality and representation in French literature from the nineteenth century to the present. His many publications include Balzac and Violence. Representing History, Space, Sexuality and Death in ‘La Comédie humaine’ (2009) and From Bad Boys to New Men? Masculinity, Sexuality and Violence in the Work of Éric Jourdan (2014). andrew watts is Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Birmingham.
    [Show full text]
  • La Peau De Chagrin Author(S): Pierre Laszlo Source: MLN, Vol
    Production d'énergie romanesque: La Peau de chagrin Author(s): Pierre Laszlo Source: MLN, Vol. 97, No. 4, French Issue (May, 1982), pp. 862-871 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2905868 . Accessed: 24/12/2014 12:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to MLN. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 159.178.22.27 on Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:58:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Productiond'energie romanesque: La Peau de chagrin Pierre Laszlo Apres avoir ecrit La Peau de chagrin,1 Balzac exulte. II signe son livre Honore de Balzac, c'est la premiere fois. II yjoint une preface, un texte polyvalent,triomphaliste. Balzac s'y amuse, provoque le lec- teur, lance des conjectures au sujet de l'auteur et de sa personna- lite. II se reclame,entre autres, de Rabelais, Walter Scott,Maturin, Perrault.Balzac en profitepour revendiqueraussi La Physiologiedu mariage,publiee sous l'anonymat. Ce mariage auquel le caporal Toby, dans TristramShandy, est trop heureux d'avoir echappe, lorsqu'il branditjoyeusementsa canne et inscritdans l'air un ample paraphe symbolisantsa liberte-ara- besque serpentineque La Peau de chagrinreproduit en epigraphe.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing Woman Is a Very Rich Study, Immensely Suggestive, Well Researched, Well Written, and Sophisticated in Its Scholarly Approach
    k e l l y ROMANCE STUDIES “Reconstructing Woman is a very rich study, immensely suggestive, well researched, well written, and sophisticated in its scholarly approach. Because it is so elegantly argued R and so intriguing, this study has the potential to open up new avenues of research.” E —Mary Donaldson-Evans, University of Delaware C O N Reconstructing Woman explores a scenario common to the works of four major French S novelists of the nineteenth century: Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, and Villiers. In the texts T R of each author, a “new Pygmalion” (as Balzac calls one of his characters) turns away U from a real woman he has loved or desired and prefers instead his artificial re-creation C of her. All four authors also portray the possibility that this simulacrum, which T I replaces the woman, could become real. The central chapters examine this plot and N RECONSTRUCTING its meanings in multiple texts of each author (with the exception of the chapter on G Villiers, in which only “L’Eve future” is considered). W O WOMAN The premise is that this shared scenario stems from the discovery in the nineteenth M century that humans are transformable. Because scientific innovations play a major A part in this discovery, Dorothy Kelly reviews some of the contributing trends that N attracted one or more of the authors: mesmerism, dissection, transformism and evo- lution, new understandings of human reproduction, spontaneous generation, pueri- N F i n From Fiction to Reality r culture, the experimental method. These ideas and practices provided the novelists e o t m e e with a scientific context in which controlling, changing, and creating human bodies n F t h i c - t in the C became imaginable.
    [Show full text]
  • B8 Redux.Pdf
    BALZ (ALBERT GEORGE ADAM). — Cartesian studies. 80 New York, 1951. 1941 Bal — Descartes and the modern mind. 80 New Haven, 1952. 1941 Bal ADDITIONS BALZ (CHARLES F .) and STARWOOD (RICHARD H.). — eds. Literature on information retrieval and machine translation. Comp. & cd. by C. F. B., H. H. S. Owego, New York, 1962. Computer Unit Lib. *** Mimeographed typescript. J>. -/Si* 2nd ed . (supplement to first ed.) Owego, N e w York, 1966. .01078 Bal. BALZ (HORST ROBERT). Methodische Probleme der neutestameetlichen Christologie. [Wiss. Mon. z. A. u. N.T. 25.] Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1967. New Coll. Lib. BALZAC (HONORÉ LE). Index Works 1 Two or more works 2 Beatrix 2a Cesar Birotteau 2h Chouans (Les) 2m Comedie (La) humaine 3 Contes (Les) drolatiques h Cousin (Le) Pons ha Dehut (ïïn) dans la vie 5 Église (L1) 6 Étude sur M. Beyle 7 Eugenie Grandet 8 Falthume 9 Gambara 9a Histoire des Treize 9b Illusions perdues 10 Letters 11 Louis Lambert 12 [Continued overleaf.] BALZAC (HONORÉ DE) [continued]. Index [continued] Lys (Le) dans la vallee 12a Massimilla Doni 12h Menage (Un) de garçon. See RABOUILLEUSE (LA) Paysans (Les) 13 Peau (La) de chagrin 1U Pere (Le) Goriot 15 Petits (Les) "bourgeois 15a Rabouilleuse (La) 15b Scen^es de la vie privée 16 Secret (Les) des Ruggieri l6h ✓ Stenie 17 Torpille (La) 18 ) / * * Traite de la vie elegante 18b Traite des excitants modernes 19 Trois (Les) clercs de sainct Nicholas 20 Ursule Mirouet 21 Vieille (La) fille 22 Sélections 23 Appendix 2b [Continued overleaf.] ADDITIONS BALZAC (HONORÉ DE). INDEX Le médecin de campagne. 12m.
    [Show full text]
  • Realism's Empire
    Realism’s Empire Baker_Final 4 Print.indb 1 6/25/2009 12:02:46 AM Baker_Final 4 Print.indb 2 6/25/2009 12:02:46 AM REALISM’S EMPIRE Empiricism and Enchantment in the Nineteenth-Century Novel • Geoffrey Baker The Ohio State University Press Columbus Baker_Final 4 Print.indb 3 6/25/2009 12:02:46 AM Copyright © 2009 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baker, Geoffrey, 1973– Realism’s empire : empiricism and enchantment in the nineteenth-century novel / Geof- frey Baker. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8142-1098-7 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8142-1098-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8142-9196-2 (cd-rom) 1. Realism in literature. 2. English literature—19th century—History and criticism. 3. French literature—19th century—History and criticism. 4. German literature—19th century—History and criticism. 5. Balzac, Honoré de, 1799–1850—Criticism and interpreta- tion. 6. Trollope, Anthony, 1815–1882—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Fontane, Theodor, 1819–1898—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PN3340.B35 2009 809’.912—dc22 2009007632 This book is available in the following editions: Cloth (ISBN 978-0-8142-1098-7) CD-ROM (ISBN 978-0-8142-9196-2) Cover design by Laurence Nozik. Type set in ITC Century. Printed by Thompson Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.49-1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Baker_Final 4 Print.indb 4 6/25/2009 12:02:46 AM CO N T en TS • Preface and Acknowledgments vii INTRODUCTION Empire and Remapping Realism (a) Space, Form, Content: The Fate of Distance 1 (b) Imperial Knowledge, Colonial Knowledge: The Fate of Difference 9 (c) The Problem with Progress: The Fate of Fiction 13 (d) Précis of Chapters 20 PART I.
    [Show full text]