Authors: Honoré de Balzac
Pere Goriot (46 page)
“Henceforth there is war between us.”
And by way of throwing down the glove to Society, Rastignac went to dine with Mme. de Nucingen.
Endnotes
1
(p. 16)
a Georges or a Pichegru:
Georges Cadoudal ( 1771-1804) and Charles Pichegru (1761-1894) were Royalists who conspired against Napoleon in 1803. They were arrested in 1804 after a long manhunt. Pichegru was betrayed by the friend who was hiding him, and was found hanged in his cell; Cadoudal was guillotined.
(p. 16)
a Georges or a Pichegru:
Georges Cadoudal ( 1771-1804) and Charles Pichegru (1761-1894) were Royalists who conspired against Napoleon in 1803. They were arrested in 1804 after a long manhunt. Pichegru was betrayed by the friend who was hiding him, and was found hanged in his cell; Cadoudal was guillotined.
2
(p. 19)
the audacious race of the sons of Japhet:
Some critics (such as Pierre-Georges Castex) as well as translators (such as A. J. Krailsheimer ; for both, see “For Further Reading”) have taken this to be a reference to Japhet, son of Noah, from whom the white race is said to have descended. Others, such as Rose Fortassier (in the Pléiade edition of
Le Père Goriot) ,
take it to be a reference to the Titan Japet in one of Horace's odes
(audax lapeti genus, Odes
1.3.27). The latter reading seems the most likely; Japet's descendants include not only his son Prometheus but all of humanity. That Balzac wrote Japhet instead of Japet has played a large part in the confusion.
(p. 19)
the audacious race of the sons of Japhet:
Some critics (such as Pierre-Georges Castex) as well as translators (such as A. J. Krailsheimer ; for both, see “For Further Reading”) have taken this to be a reference to Japhet, son of Noah, from whom the white race is said to have descended. Others, such as Rose Fortassier (in the Pléiade edition of
Le Père Goriot) ,
take it to be a reference to the Titan Japet in one of Horace's odes
(audax lapeti genus, Odes
1.3.27). The latter reading seems the most likely; Japet's descendants include not only his son Prometheus but all of humanity. That Balzac wrote Japhet instead of Japet has played a large part in the confusion.
3
(p. 29)
sign above an à la mode beef shop:
This is a reference to an actual restaurant called Boeuf à la mode, located near the Palais-Royal. The sign showed an ox wearing a hat and shawl, a pun on the culinary and sartorial meanings of the expression “à la mode.”
(p. 29)
sign above an à la mode beef shop:
This is a reference to an actual restaurant called Boeuf à la mode, located near the Palais-Royal. The sign showed an ox wearing a hat and shawl, a pun on the culinary and sartorial meanings of the expression “à la mode.”
4
(p. 41) the Ossianic nomenclature: In 1760 James Macpherson published what he claimed were translations of poems by the third-century Scottish bard Ossian. The melancholy, highly romantic poems were in fact a mixture of traditional Gaelic poems and Macpherson's own poetry.
(p. 41) the Ossianic nomenclature: In 1760 James Macpherson published what he claimed were translations of poems by the third-century Scottish bard Ossian. The melancholy, highly romantic poems were in fact a mixture of traditional Gaelic poems and Macpherson's own poetry.
5
(p. 58)
Gall's system:
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) founded the pseudoscience of phrenology, which attempts to study character on the basis of the shape of the cranium. Balzac was very taken with the theory, which seemed to him to provide the link between the physical and the psychological.
(p. 58)
Gall's system:
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) founded the pseudoscience of phrenology, which attempts to study character on the basis of the shape of the cranium. Balzac was very taken with the theory, which seemed to him to provide the link between the physical and the psychological.
6
(p. 104)
a later period of his life: This éloge
(“praise”) is addressed to Balzac's tailor, Jean Buisson (1797-1873), whose bills Balzac almost never paid but who may have found comfort if not recompense in reading this homage to his trade. Balzac liked to be fashionable; he was known to buy thirty waistcoats at a time. At the end of 1832 he owed Buisson 2,229 francs; at the end of 1846 he owed him 14,373 francs. See
Père Goriot,
edited by Stéphane Vachon.
(p. 104)
a later period of his life: This éloge
(“praise”) is addressed to Balzac's tailor, Jean Buisson (1797-1873), whose bills Balzac almost never paid but who may have found comfort if not recompense in reading this homage to his trade. Balzac liked to be fashionable; he was known to buy thirty waistcoats at a time. At the end of 1832 he owed Buisson 2,229 francs; at the end of 1846 he owed him 14,373 francs. See
Père Goriot,
edited by Stéphane Vachon.
7
(p. 143) from Paris: This passage is found not in Rousseau but in Chateaubriand's
Le Genie du Christianisme
(1802; book 1, section 6, chapter 2).
(p. 143) from Paris: This passage is found not in Rousseau but in Chateaubriand's
Le Genie du Christianisme
(1802; book 1, section 6, chapter 2).
8
(p. 211)
figs from Provence:
Vautrin assumes he will be returned to the prison in Toulon, in southern France, from which he escaped. In fact he will be sent to Rochefort; see
Splendeurs et miseres des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low,
1847).
(p. 211)
figs from Provence:
Vautrin assumes he will be returned to the prison in Toulon, in southern France, from which he escaped. In fact he will be sent to Rochefort; see
Splendeurs et miseres des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low,
1847).
Appendix
Personages in Balzac's
Human Comedy
Human Comedy
Honoré de Balzac's
La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy)
is populated by hundreds of recurring characters. Below is a list of characters who appear in
Père Goriot
and other stories in the cycle in which they also appear.
Ajuda-Pinto, Marquis Miguel d'La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy)
is populated by hundreds of recurring characters. Below is a list of characters who appear in
Père Goriot
and other stories in the cycle in which they also appear.
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan (The Secrets of a Princess, or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan)
Béatrix
Beauséant, MarquisUn Episode sous la Terreur (An Episode Under the Terror)
Beauséant, Vicomte deLa Femme abandonnée (The Abandoned Woman)
Beauséant, Vicomtesse. deLa Femme abandonnée (The Abandoned Woman)
Albert Savarus
Bianchon, HoraceLa Messe de l'Athée (The Atheist's Mass)
Grandeur et decadence de César Birotteau (The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau)
L'Interdiction (The Commission in Lunacy)
Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Un Ménage de garçon (A Bachelor's Establishment, or The Two Brothers, or The Black Sheep)
Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan (The Secrets of a Princess, or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan)
Les Employés (The Government Clerks, or Bureaucracy)
Pierrette
Ãtude de femme (A Study of Woman)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Honorine
LâEnvers de l'histoire contemporaine (The Seamy Side of History, or The Brotherhood of Consolation)
La Peau de chagrin (The Wild Ass's Skin, or The Magic Skin)
Une Double famille (A Second Home)
Un Prince de la Bohème (A Prince of Bohemia)
Mémoires de deuxjeunes mariées (Letters of Two Brides)
La Muse du département (The Muse of the Department)
La Fausse maîtresse (The Imaginary Mistress, or Paz)
Les Petits bourgeois (The Middle Classes, or The Lesser Bourgeoise)
Cousine Bette (Cousin Bette)
Le Cure de village (The Country Parson, or The Village Rector)
Â
In addition, M. Bianchon narrates the following: Autre étude de femme (Another Study of Woman) La Grande Bretêche
Bibi-Lupin (chief of secret police, calls himself Gondureau)Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Carigliano, Marechal, Duc deSarrasine
Collin, JacquesIllusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Le Depute d'Arcis (The Member for Arcis, or The Deputy for Arcis)
DervilleGobseck
Un Début dans la vie (A Start in Life)
Une Ténébreuse affaire (The Gondreville Mystery, or An Historical Mystery)
Le Colonel Chabert (Colonel Chabert)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Franchessini, ColonelLe Depute d'Arcis (The Member for Arcis, or The Deputy for Arcis)
Galathionne, PrincesseUne Fille d'Eve (A Daughter of Eve)
Gobseck, Jean-Esther VanGobseck
Grandeur et decadence de César Birotteau (The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau)
Les Employés (The Government Clerks, or Bureaucracy)
Les Comédiens sans le savoir (The Unconscious Humorists, or The Unconscious Comedians)
Jacques (M. de Beauseant's butler)La Femme abandonnée (The Abandoned Woman)
Langeais, Duchesse Antoinette deHistoire des treize (The Thirteen)
Marsay, Henri deHistoire des treize (The Thirteen)
Les Comédiens sans le savoir (The Unconscious Humorists, or The Unconscious Comedians)
Autre étude de femme (Another Study of Woman)
Le Lys dans la vallée (The Lily of the Valley)
Les Rivalites (The Jealousies of a Country Town)
Ursule Mirouët
Le Contrat de mariage (A Marriage Settlement, or A Marriage Contract)
Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Memoires de deuxjeunes mariées (Letters of Two Brides)
Le Bal de Sceaux (The Ball at Sceaux)
Modeste Mignon
Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan (The Secrets of a Princess, or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan)
Une Ténébreuse affaire (The Gondreville Mystery, or An Historical Mystery)
Une Fille d'Eve (A Daughter of Eve)
Maurice (de Restaud's valet)Gobseck
Montriveau, General Marquis Armand deHistoire des treize (The Thirteen)
Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Autre étude de femme (Another Study of Woman)
Pierrette
Le Depute d'Arcis (The Member for Arcis, or The Deputy for Arcis)
Nucingen, Baron Frédéric deLa Maison Nucingen (The Firm of Nucingen)
Pierrette
Grandeur et decadence de César Birotteau (The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau)
Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Autre étude de femme (Another Study of Woman)
Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan (The Secrets of a Princess, or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan)
Un Homme d'affaires (A Man of Business)
Cousine Bette (Cousin Bette)
La Muse du département (The Muse of the Department)
Les Comédiens sans le savoir (The Unconscious Humorists, or The Unconscious Comedians)
Nucingen, Baronne Delphine deHistoire des Treize (The Thirteen)
Eugénie Grandet
Grandeur et decadence de César Birotteau (The Rise and Fall of César Birotteau)
Melmoth réconcilié (Melmoth Reconciled)
Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Un Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
L'Interdiction (The Commission in Lunacy)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Modeste Mignon
La Maison Nucingen (The Firm of Nucingen)
Autre étude de femme (Another Study of Woman)
Une Fille d'Eve (A Daughter of Eve)
Le Depute d'Arcis (The Member for Arcis, or The Deputy for Arcis)
PoiretLes Employés (The Government Clerks, or Bureaucracy)
Un Début dans la vie (A Start in Life)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Les Petits bourgeois (The Middle Classes, or The Lesser Bourgeoise)
Poiret, Madame (née Christine-Michelle Michonneau)Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Les Petits bourgeois (The Middle Classes, or The Lesser Bourgeoise)
Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugène's parents)Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions)
Rastignac, Eugene deUn Grand homme de province à Paris (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (A Harlot High and Low, or Scenes from a Courtesan's Life)
Le Bal de Sceaux (The Ball at Sceaux)
L'Interdiction (The Commission in Lunacy)
Ãtude de femme (A Study of Woman)
Autre Ãtude de femme (Another Study of Woman)
La Peau de chagrin (The Wild Ass's Skin, or The Magic Skin)
Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan (The Secrets of a Princess, or The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan)
Une Fille d'Eve (A Daughter of Eve)
Une Ténébreuse affaire (The Gondreville Mystery, or An Historical Mystery)
La Maison Nucingen (The Firm of Nucingen)
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