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eBook, 1967
Current format, eBook, 1967, , Available.
eBook, 1967
Current format, eBook, 1967, , Available. Offered in 0 more formats
In a grimy boardinghouse in a dismal Parisian neighborhood, Balzac sets the stage for his 1834 study of paternal love, of greed, envy, and despair. Pere Goriot tells the story of a nineteenth-century counterpart to King Lear, a father so blindly devoted to his undeserving daughters that his tragic realization - "I loved them too much for them to love me at all" - comes too late. This best-known of Balzac's Comedie humaine novels has all the stylistic elements one might expect: unnerving psychological analyses; vivid physical descriptions, acute observations of the rules governing Parisian society, disarming wit, and unbridled passion. This French realist novel contrasts the social progress of an impoverished but ambitious aristocrat with the tale of a father, whose obsessive love for his daughters leads to his personal and financial ruin.
This concise supplement to Honore De Balzac's Pere Goriot helps students understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.
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