Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot [Old Goriot]

Andrew Watts (University of Birmingham)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1834

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Among the many novels, plays, and short stories written by Balzac during his career, none represents the full blossoming of his literary genius better than

Le Père Goriot

[

Old Goriot

]. A cathartic tale of paternal love and youthful ambition, the framework of the novel was sketched out in an undated note in which Balzac mused on the cruel situation of “un brave homme – pension bourgeoise – 600 fr. de rente – S’étant dépouillé pour ses filles qui toutes deux ont 50 000 fr. de rente, mourant comme un chien” [“a decent man – middle-class boarding house – 600 francs in income – Having ruined himself for the sake of his daughters who both have an income of 50 000 francs, dying like a dog”] (Balzac, H. de, 1976-81, 3: 5; this and all subsequent translations are my own).…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3449 words

Citation: Watts, Andrew. "Père Goriot". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 August 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2971, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot [Old Goriot]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback