Balzac had his own aesthetic of fiction. He believed that the world was a unity, diverse and interconnected in all its aspects. He therefore demanded that the whole era be reflected. He believes that the task of art is to reproduce nature, but the materials of life need to be processed, ideas should be incorporated into the image, and the darkness of society and the despicable ideas in people's minds should be exposed; Art must create typicals, grasp the "lust" of the characters, that is, personality, and reflect the entire social landscape through numerous models; He saw that the environment could have a decisive influence on the characters, and advocated the shaping of typical characters in typical environments; He was not only a meticulous observer, but also an ardent fantasist, who considered himself to have a second vision, that is, imagination; He also pays great attention to funny and ugly characters and social phenomena. Proceeding from this aesthetic idea, he created a variety of typical models, and the same type avoided similarities. For example, the image of the miserly ghost, Gaubsek, Grantaire, Cornelius, Saixia, Osson, La Baudre, etc. have their own characteristics, and the ambitionists Rastigne, Marseille, and Voltron have their own characteristics.
In order to unite all his works into a whole, he created the method of character reproduction, that is, to describe the various stages of development of the same character in different works, and to form his own works into a small society and connect with each other.
In 1841, Balzac finally named his large set of works "The Comedy of Man", which was divided into three parts: "Customs Research", "Philosophical Research" and "Analytical Research". "Customs Research" is divided into "Private Life Scene", "Paris Life Scene", "Provincial Life Scene", "Political Life Scene", "Military Life Scene" and "Rural Life Scene", with a total of about 90 novels. Balzac declared: "French society is going to be a historian, and I can only be its secretary." He wanted to describe the whole customs that "make up the general history of this society," and this history of customs is "the history that many historians have forgotten to write." He wanted to unite all his works into an "all-encompassing social history."
Engels brilliantly discussed the profound significance of the Comedy of Man. He argues that Balzac "in The Comedy of Man gives us a remarkable realist history of French 'society,' especially the 'high society' of Paris,' and adds: "He brings together the whole history of French society."
First of all, "The Comedy of Man" describes the changes in French society for more than half a century from the Revolution to the July Dynasty, and concentrates on the criminal history of the replacement of the nobility by the bourgeoisie, that is, "the increasing impact of the rising bourgeoisie on aristocratic society in the period from 1816 to 1848 is described almost year by year in the form of chronicles." Balzac saw that the big bourgeoisie, which had made a windfall during the Revolution and Napoleonic period, not only did not weaken its economic power during the Restoration, but grew its wealth at a faster rate. For example, "The Old Girl" describes the bourgeois leader Dubsigé in the Arançon region of the province defeating the old nobles, marrying the richest old maid in the region, and taking complete control of the city. In The Parish priest of Tours, Father Birotu, who was attached to the nobility, was expelled from the city of Tours by Father Trube, who had close relations with the bourgeoisie. Civil Servants describes the financial bourgeoisie as having influenced the appointment of high-ranking officials, and the power has fallen into their hands. During the Restoration, the Grandes of the provinces, the Neuchengens of Paris, the Gaubseks, the Rural Rigus dominated everything, and during the July Dynasty they made a fortune. "The Comedy of Man" vividly reproduces the whole process of the rising development of the bourgeoisie and gradually replacing the aristocratic class.
Second, The Comedy of Man reflects the decline and fall of the aristocratic class, describing "how the last remnants of what he saw as a model society gradually succumbed to or dismembered by the vulgar, copper-stenched nouveau riche." "The Valley Lily" depicts the Countess of Morsov, even if she wanted to reform the land management and tenancy system, but could not save the fate of the nobles. The Marquis of Esgriron in The Antiquities Showroom and the Valua knights in The Old Girl were both defeated by the bourgeoisie in marriage. Wise aristocrats married bourgeoisie, and Count de Fontaine in the Sioux Town Ball was such a "time-conscious" person. In The Comedy of Man, the social phenomena of the decline and fall of the aristocratic class and the melting of the bourgeoisie are truly and vividly reflected.
Third, "The Comedy of Man" depicts the tragedy of the struggle for money. The Gobsek writes that a mother burns her husband's will in order to deprive her daughter of her property. In Colonel Shabbe, the wife tries to put him in jail in order to swallow her husband's property. "Longevity Potion" describes the son who kills his father in order to seize the family property. The Converted Memotte narrates the sale of souls to the devil for unlimited power. The Marquis of Espar, who was forbidden to return the family property to the descendants of the Protestants, declared him an idiot and resorted to justice. Disillusionment depicts money manipulation newspapers, where fathers and sons have only money relations, and each other seems to be strangers to each other or rivals who are fiercely contested. In depicting this history of social customs in which money reigns in dozens of works, Balzac repeatedly declared: "The ugly and obscene deeds that novelists think of themselves as fictional are all under this fact."
Fourth, "The Comedy of Man" is a profound reflection of the economic situation at the time, while expressing appreciation for Republicans and concern for the lower classes.
Balzac's thought, though complex, was primarily a materialist. He was an advocate of free trade and valued economic issues. He fantasized about a constitutional monarchy, not an authentic orthodox. He advocated religion out of a reformist stance, understood that religion could be used as a tool of the ruling class, and fantasized about using religion to overcome social ills. His ideas reflected the demands and weaknesses of the peasantry and petty bourgeoisie at that time.