Illusions perdues

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name = Illusions perdues

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author = Honoré de Balzac
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country = France
language = French
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"Illusions perdues" is the name of two separate novels written by the French writer Honoré de Balzac, one in 1837 and one in 1839.

The first volume contains two stories, "Les Deux poètes" ("The Two Poets") and "Un Grand homme de province à Paris, 1re partie" (A" Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1"). The second volume contains two more stories, "Un Grand homme de province, 2e partie" ("A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2") and "Ève et David" ("Eve and David").

The success of the work inspired de Balzac to pen a sequel, "Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes". They form part of the ambitious Human Comedy, the series written by Balzac depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy (1815-1848).

Themes of the work

The novel has three main themes.

(1) The first theme is the story of the young Lucien Chardon's attempt to succeed as a poet in the Paris of the 1830's. The child of a middle-class father and aristocratic mother, he travels to Paris from his native Angouleme to make his mark as a poet. This was a "motif" used by Balzac in two other works, "The Skin" and "Old Goriot". The story has some basis in the experience of Emile Chevalet, introduced to Balzac by his friend Zulma Carraud (although the fictional Chardon, unlike the real-life Chevalet, is portrayed as having certain qualities both as a poet and a prose writer).

(2) The second theme is the contrast that Balzac draws between the life of the provinces and of metropolitan Paris. Although affecting to despise Paris, Balzac wrote (in "Eugenie Grandet")

:Things happen in Paris: they just glide by in the provinces. All is drab. Nothing stands out, though dramas are played through in silence.

However, the inhabitants of the aristocratic Faubourg Saint-Germaine conspire to ridicule and eliminate the poor, handsome Chardon who has aspired to aristocratic status.

(3) The final theme is Balzac's denunciation of the world of journalism. Chardon ignores the advice to settle down to poverty and hard work that is necessary for true success as a writer. Instead, he aspires to write for the "petits journaux" (or tabloid press), little papers devoted to satire, personal attack, gossip and scandal. These efforts, too, eventually end in failure.

External links

* [http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-101289 Illusions perdues (French original)]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13159 Lost Illusions (English translation)]