17 巴尔扎克.ppt

Chapter 17 Balzac And  French Realist Literature Balzac was one of the world’s great novelists. Honoré de Balzac, (1799-1850), Balzacs huge and ambitious plan was to draw a picture of the customs, atmosphere, and habits of the bourgeois France. He wanted to be the secretary of French society Along with many short stories, plays, and essays, Balzac wrote La comédie humaine (1842-1848 translated as The Human Comedy ), a cycle of about 90 novels describing French society in detail. His first realist novel Les chouans The novel is based on civil war in the Vendée region of western France during the French Revolution (1789-1799). Now, What are Chouans?Chouans were uprising royalists in France, in particular Brittany, during the French Revolution. (a comparison with Hugo ) Ninety-three is a romantic song of Humanist conception; Balzac’s Les Chouans is chiefly noticed for its historical accuracy and factual descriptions , which became hallmarks of Balzac’s fiction. Balzac reached his full creative maturity between 1833 and 1835 when he wrote and published his masterpieces Le médicin de campagne (1833), Eugénie Grandet (1833), Père Goriot (1834), Le lys dans la vallée (1835). During this period he conceived of the idea of linking his novels into a larger whole. He grouped most of his novels and stories by using reappearing characters For example, Rastignac is only a young student in Pere Coriot, but when you meet him again in another novel Unconscious Comedian you found him become a high official. He chose a general title for his novels - La comédie humaine The title La comédie humaine was inspired by Dante’s La Divina Commadia Dante Alighieri: Divina Commedia Balzac’s novels were also deelply influenced by science Balzac’s scientific intention is evident in his use of the word studies to describe the three main groups of his works: “Analytic Studies,” “Philosophical Studies,” “Studies of Manners.” He even wrote two philosophical novels La pea