Balzac's Eugenie Grande: How terrible is a life bound by money?

Speaking of Grantaire, the most famous figure in the history of European literature, he has now become synonymous with miserliness, and his preference for money can be described as extreme.

Empty of the unimaginable wealth of the people of Somo City, but living in a dilapidated mansion that has not been repaired for a long time. When he saw the gold coin, his eyes would glow golden.

Talking about the skills of financial management... He was a tiger, a giant python: he would lie there, crouch there, look at the captives for half a day and then pounce on them, open the money bag with a large mouth of blood, and pour into a large pile of gold and silver...

Eugenie Grande is one of balzac's most important works in The Comedy of Man. Its wide circulation and the high evaluation of it are enough to show Balzac's ability to shape the character: classic, convey the gods.

Today, let us understand the life and love trajectory of an innocent and kind rich only daughter in the novel through the world drawn by this language.

01

Eugenie's native family

In the cold, old and very historical city of Somo, the most famous of course is the Grande family.

In the quaint street, the high end of the street is full of old mansions in the ancient city, and it is the house of Grande that comes to a black recess.

When the old Grande was young, he was just an ordinary hoop cooper, but he could write and calculate, relying on social opportunities to speculate and make some capital.

At the age of forty, he married the daughter of a plankmaker, and with the convenience of cash and dowry, he bought the best vineyards in the district, an old monastery and some fields, and set up a family business.

In 1806, when Eugenie was almost ten years old, Grande inherited three rich inheritances in succession and received the title of nobility. Since then, he has become the most tax-paying person in a continent.

I think that for investment and wealth preservation, the "pattern" of Grande is much higher than that of the tall old man. He will never easily show his possessions to others, even if it is to make others look at them. Not to mention spending a lot of money on his daughter like a tall old man.

He can always actuarially calculate the timing and interest points, and then make a fortune fiercely, secretly transport it back to the secret room of the palace, and then wait for the opportunity to invest, which has to be admired by the people of Somo City.

Just like "Because you succeeded, so you are successful", he was admired by the people of Somo City.

Her mother was a vassal of her father, a devout Christian; she was cowardly and timid, dependent only on the Lord's protection; the only thing she feared in the world was her daughter Eugenie.

The mother and daughter worked all year round, and the family's underwear and quilt clothes were all responsible for them. From April to November, they always have needlework in their hands.

From November 1, the house was only allowed to make a fire for warmth, and it had to be extinguished on March 1 of the following year, no matter how cold the spring and early autumn were.

Mr. Grantaire never bought meat, never bought bread. Every week the tenants would send him a sufficient portion of food to cover the rent.

For many years, the candles used by Eugenie and the maid Nanon were distributed by Grande himself every time, just as bread and food were rationed every morning.

Nanon was the only maid in the house, strong and capable, and she was picked from the market by the old hoop cooper.'

Others will only be intimidated by her appearance, but Grantaire sees vested interests and foreseeable benefits that can be extracted in the future.

In business, he can pretend to stutter, deaf... Hide your true intentions to achieve your ultimate goal.

When Nanon worked for their family for 20 years, Granté rewarded her with an old watch, which was the only gift that Nanon got.

And Eugenie is a simple, kind, never seen any "big world" girl, as the only daughter of Grande, every year on her birthday, she will receive a gold coin.

02

Eugenie's first encounter with love

In 1819, one day in mid-November was Miss Eugenie's 23rd birthday. In the evening, Nanon started a fire for the first time.

This is a day that cannot be remembered more clearly for the families of Crosch and Tai Grassan, who want to marry Eugenie, and they will come to the house to pay homage to Miss Eugenie after dinner.

By the way, try to see who will behave closer.

On the morning of his daughter's birthday, Grande would break into her bedside and solemnly hand her a rare and valuable gold coin, a rule he had been doing for 13 years.

He liked to listen to the sound of gold coins colliding with each other, and looking at the sun-like light it emitted, his whole person immediately became energetic, and his eyes flashed with excitement...

He watched his daughter slowly accumulate these riches, but it was just to put his money in another place, and the most important thing was to cultivate Eugenie's miserliness.

From time to time, he would interrogate her about the amount of her property, and appropriately add the sentence "This is the money you need to marry." ”

Mrs. Grande gave her daughter a beautiful shirt she made according to the needs of the season.

The mother's skin was yellow like a papaya, and she wore a pale green silk shirt, a cotton white scarf, and a black veil forever, and it was difficult to get out once a year, although her dowry and inheritance brought hundreds of thousands of francs to Grantai, but she always lived with sincere trepidation.

She herself never knew what to ask for.

After the meal, the Crosch family arrived first. Croce's nephew, the new Head of the Junior Inquisition, presented a large bouquet of flowers rare in the city of Somo. The director, who was like a big rusted nail, thought that this was the way to pursue women.

Then came the Tai Glassan family, and Mrs. Grassan asked Adolf to present a finely crafted sewing box with all the parts plated with gold. Eugenie liked this, and was even a little surprised.

Because it was Eugenie's birthday, Father Grantai lit a second candle to show his generosity...

Just as Mrs. Grantaire was playing a game of graffiti with her guests, the door of the mansion was slammed with a hammer. Everyone paused to guess who the uninvited guest was, and Charlie Gran came into view with a typhoon, who was Eugenie's cousin.

Grundy's younger brother, faced with the humiliation of bankruptcy due to a debt crisis, retreated and committed suicide, and before dying, he asked his son Charlie to come to Somo City with a letter he had written to his brother, whom he had not seen in 30 years.

Charles had been living a leisurely aristocratic life in Paris, and his cousin, who was handsome and handsome, and his gorgeously dressed and fashionable cousin immediately settled in Eugenie's heart.

Charlie Grande wept bitterly after being told by his uncle that his father had committed suicide and that he had nothing.

Eugenie knew that as soon as she had time, she ran to comfort and take care of her, and gave all her savings over the years to her cousin.

The 22-year-old cousin also returned the favor with a family heirloom dresser in gold. In this way, the two men made vows of love on a stool in a small garden with dilapidated walls, secretly kissed in the corridor, and privately made a lifelong agreement.

03

Love that can't stand the passage of time

There is a classic saying in "August Weiyang": "A flower after a flower, without love, blooming and withering will be so lonely." ”

Eugenie's flower of love bloomed, but it was so short-lived. Charlie soon left The City of Sommer to do business in India. Later, he did earn money and became rich, but his thinking also changed.

He did not waste the miserly blood of the Grantai family, became cruel, mean and greedy, lingering in another gentle township, and during the seven years that Eugenie had been waiting for him, he did not write a letter to her, always letting her live in a faint hope...

And the Christian faith is sincere and persistent, with the death of his mother, the old Grundy grows old, Eugenie under the erosion and tutelage of her father's tyranny, has the shadow of the old Grantai, one by one, stingy... Silently control the scene.

But the difference is that she also inherited the loving side of her mother and maintained kindness.

After the death of grandaire the Elder, she gave Nanon a life pension of twelve hundred francs and made Nanon marry Antona Gonoale, who guarded the field estate.

They and two other servants became Miss Grande's most loyal servants, and continued to act according to the rules of the old Getai's management of the land.

She sponsored churches, donated church schools, and helped the poor. And her own way of life, like when Grande the Elder was alive, never made a fire until the day her father prescribed it.

When she learned that her cousin who had changed his heart encountered resistance to marriage, she married Director Croche after some thought, and asked her husband to go to Paris to help Charlie pay off the debt and keep his title of nobility.

At the age of 30, she involved herself in a meaningless marriage relationship, she gave up the opportunity to be born again, consumed all the enthusiasm for life for the so-called "love", and lived a decaying life in the cold, silent and confined old mansion.

04

epilogue

In Huihong's Comedy of Man, Eugenie Grande is one of Balzac's most satisfied frames. With a calm, ironic and interesting brush, he painted a picture of the customs of that era in France.

Considering our current thinking, perhaps the miserliness of the poor can be understood, and the miserliness of Grantaire has evolved into ideological poverty, taking the possession of money as the only pursuit and psychological sustenance, so that life and money have lost their important value.

As the daughter of a rich man, Eugenie, money did not bring her convenience and happiness, but was eroded by her father's paranoid belief, closing the source revelation of her understanding of everything in heaven and earth through the core of her body, and finally withered silently.

This extreme psychological demand may still be staged in a certain way in the world, it can be feelings, rights and interests, of course, money has its irresistible charm.

Author: Jane Y, a member of the Intensive Reading Friends Association, draws the fragrance of life from simplicity.