[79] As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." '")[31] Her cruelty and lust for revenge lead critics to call her "demonic"[32] and "one of Balzac's most terrifying creations". [15] The book was serialized in Le Constitutionnel from 8 October to 3 December, and Balzac rushed to keep up with the newspaper's rapid printing schedule. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")[97] by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men. In the 1840s, a serial format is known as the roman-feuilleton was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. 485–486; Floyd, p. 246. It was a great device for all the greedy aristocratic people to achieve their just deserts. Bette befriends Valérie, the young and very attractive wife of a War Department clerk, Fortin Marneffe; the two women form a bond to attain their separate goals – for Valérie the acquisition of money and valuables, for Bette the ruination of the Hulot household by means of Valérie's luring both the Baron and Steinbock into infidelity and financial ruin. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is fooled by his mistresses especially Madame Marneffe who has four lovers all thinking they are the one. One of these is Baron Hector Hulot, husband to Bette's cousin Adeline. 376–378; Mishra, pp. [22], Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. ")[46], Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin". 529 reviews. Maurois, p. 499; Hunt, p. 375; Pugh, p. 423. 111 and 199; Gerson, p. 250; Hunt, p. 375; Maurois, pp. This tale involves a byzantine plan of revenge by old maid Bette over the theft of a young sculptor she had designs for. translation and definition "La Cousine Bette", Dictionary English-English online. [17] The first collected edition of La Cousine Bette was organized into 132 chapters, but these divisions were removed when Balzac added it to his massive collection La Comédie humaine in 1848.[18]. Each pair of women revolves around a man, and they compete for his attention: Valérie and Adeline for Baron Hulot; Bette and Hortense for Wenceslas Steinbock. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. "[26] Biographer Noel Gerson calls the characters in La Cousine Bette "among the most memorable Balzac ever sketched". In Balzac's La Comedie Humaine we see the beginnings of history treated as a serious novelistic subject, a subject that would dominate much of 19th-century literature and find masterful expression in Tolstoy's War and Peace. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. However, when she is … Her strategy is to work on Baron Hulot's demonstrated weakness for acquiring and lavishing more money than he has on young mistresses. Failing to do so, she instead finds solace and company in a handsome young sculptor she saves from starvation. Example sentences with "La Cousine Bette", translation memory. ("What you have to show is the power of woman. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot. The collected edition sold consistently well, and was reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the 20th century. Balzac's attention is not so much draw to the biography of a character, as to the biography of the epoch. The Hulot family home, for example, is found in the aristocratic area of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Germain. [83], On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. He notes that the French critic André Lorant insisted that Bette's desire for vengeance was based on imaginary insults from her family. [34] Her fierce persona is attributed partly to her peasant background, and partly to her virginity, which provides (according to Balzac) "une force diabolique ou la magie noire de la volonté" ("diabolical strength, or the black magic of the Will"). [25] The characterization in La Cousine Bette is considered especially skillful. [114][115] The 1998 film changed the novel quite drastically, retaining the basic idea of Bette avenging herself on her enemies, and not only eliminating Valerie, but letting Bette survive at the end. [55] Balzac's friend Victor Hugo, meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. a open activity. Even after this episode, however, he grew closer to Mme. [76][77] Some critics note that La Cousine Bette showed an evolution in Balzac's style – one which he had little time to develop. [78], Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. There is an immense reaction in my favour. Oliver points out on p. 158 that Balzac had himself been something of "a poor relation of the Hanska family". A good subtitle would be: "in which (almost) everyone gets what they deserve.". [40], Bette's co-conspirator in the destruction of the Hulot family is beautiful and greedy Valérie Marneffe, the unsatisfied wife of a War Department clerk. [8] He also wanted to show the world that, despite his poor health and tumultuous career, he was "plus jeune, plus frais, et plus grand que jamais" ("younger, fresher, and greater than ever"). Robb, pp. At the beginning of. Cousin Bette (TV Mini-Series 1971) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. [6] Balzac disliked their serial writing, however, especially Sue's socialist depiction of lower-class suffering. je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" It has been compared to William Shakespeare's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. (The latter film, however, takes great liberties with the plot of Balzac's original work. It was a great device for all the greedy aristocratic people to achieve their just deserts. With Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine Chaplin. All. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without irony – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress. Which book should I begin reading first? There have been other novels (mostly European) about men who have ruined themselves for illicit love of other women, but Balzac's Baron Hector Hulot goes further than any of them. She is a cousin of the Hulot family, and bitterly resents their patronising attitude to her. WikiMatrix . [92], Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." You don't see that every day! ")[20] At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. [4], In the mid-19th century, a new style of the novel became popular in France. Hanska's aunt Rosalie Rzewuska, and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything. Affron, p. 72; Jameson, p. 249; Hunt, p. 381. A battle between virtue and vice set in 1840s Paris. You have to be in the right mood for this book. [30] Her beastly rage comes to the surface with ferocity when she learns of Steinbock's engagement to Hortense:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, La physionomie de la Lorraine était devenue terrible. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child. Raging envy. Although he despised the socialist politics of Eugène Sue, Balzac worried that bourgeois desperation for financial gain drove people from life's important virtues. Hortense discovers Steinbock's infidelity and returns to her mother's home. I'm reading Cousin Bette. The Baron has so completely lavished money on Josépha that he has borrowed heavily from his Uncle Johann – and, unable to repay the money, the Baron instead arranges a War Department post in Algeria for Johann, with instructions that Johann will be in a situation in that job to embezzle the borrowed money. I have won! Hunt, pp. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Want to Read. His trademark use of realist detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. [66] Most critics, however, consider the moralistic elements of the novel deceptively complex, and some point out that the roman-feuilleton format required a certain level of titillation to keep readers engaged. [13] One critic calls the writing of Les Parents pauvres Balzac's "last explosion of creative energy". The pacing, except for the end, was sublime and supported with equal measures of vitriol and detail. The layers of detail allow readers to immerse themselves in early 19th ce. He falls in love with Bette Fischer and she is strongly attached to him. It's a fascinating study of spite. Cousin Bette (Hörbuch-Download): Amazon.de: Honore de Balzac, Paul Hecht, Sylvia Raphael (translator), Recorded Books: Audible Audiobooks Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published This had me stumped, too. [7] Balzac wanted to dethrone what he called "les faux dieux de cette littérature bâtarde" ("the false gods of this bastard literature"). Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock. ("Darkness, silence, an icy chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living. A late masterpiece in Balzac’s La Comédie Humaine, Cousin Bette is the story of a Vosges peasant who rebels against her scornful upper-class relatives, skillfully turning their selfish obsessions against them. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Translations 1. Wenceslas is a Polish sculptor, who is no less important personage. Cousin Adeline’s husband, the Baron Hulot, is a despicable womanizer who ruins himself for “love”, uh make that lust. Cousin Bette gains his confidence and becomes his housekeeper. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Stephen Holden of the New York Times commented that the movie "treats the novel as a thoroughly modern social comedy peopled with raging narcissists, opportunists and flat-out fools". Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac, 1965, Penguin Books edition, in English For the remainder of the novel, Adeline trembles uncontrollably, a sign of her weakness. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. I am no literary critic. We’d love your help. Till the opening of the story, she has been content to be the fifth wheel in the Hulot family, accepting their kindness grudgingly. “If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into the enemy's trenches, and if, once in this crater, he does not work like a miner on whom the walls of his gallery have fallen in; if he contemplates difficulties instead of overcoming them one by one ... he is simply looking on at the suicide of his own talent.”, “Life cannot go on without a great deal of forgetting.”, Études de mœurs : Scènes de la vie parisienne. La Cousine Bette was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay Stage Beauty (based on his stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty). Prime Einkaufswagen. Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters, says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Once immersed, it can be overwhelming to stand in Balzac's world, but it's probably as close as any of us will get to hanging out with scheming relatives (in 19th century France). cousin bette in Chinese : 贝蒂表妹…. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. 172 and 315–316; Mishra, p. 185. Hunt, p. 380; Floyd, p. 36; Jameson, p. 247. [104] As Crevel explains to Adeline: "Vous vous abusez, cher ange, si vous croyez que c'est le roi Louis-Philippe qui règne ... au-dessus de la Charte il y a la sainte, la vénérée, la solide, l'aimable, la gracieuse, la belle, la noble, la jeune, la toute-puissante pièce de cent sous!" The main plot centers on Cousin Bette's revenge on her family; however, all the stories which make up the novel are imbued by obsessions which drive the narrative to its dark end. [90] Adeline's Catholic mercy, on the other hand, fails to redeem her husband, and her children are similarly powerless – as Victorin finally admits on the novel's last page. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. ")[80], The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide. However, when her niece Hortense sets her sights on the man that Bette believes to be her own, she becomes a formidable foe, obsessed with bringing down the entire Hulot family. [110], Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. I have won!" But the narrative bogs down for me a lot over the repetitive competition for each others' mistresses and arcane schemes for money. Their creation of artists inspired heroine of romantic literature. The main plot centers on Cousin Bette's revenge on her family; however, all the stories which make up the novel are imbued by obsessions which drive the narrative to its dark end. Although Vautrin's presence in La Cousine Bette is brief, his earlier adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture. He wrote tirelessly, driven as much by economic necessity as by the muse and black coffee. To cover expenses he goes to great lengths even fraud resulting in the death of his virtuous brother. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars, and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. Saintsbury, p. xiii; Pugh, p. 423. [8] His first efforts to render a quality feuilleton were unsuccessful. Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men. The critical reaction to La Cousine Bette was immediate and positive, which Balzac did not expect. The first third of the book is devoted to the history of the main characters. Of course, it is about men, who are boring to spend their … McGuire, p. 178. “Bette is a wronged soul; and when her passion does break, it is, as Balzac says, sublime and terrifying,” wrote V. S. Pritchett. Before long, Bette has already contrived to have Crevel and Steinbock also ensnared by Valérie's charms. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. [91], Gender roles, especially the figure of the ideal woman, are central to La Cousine Bette. William Stowe calls La Cousine Bette "a masterpiece of classical realism"[64] and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to War and Peace. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure. Prime Cart. It was a perfect, snowy weekend for such. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation ...! I loved this book. [42], Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him. This had me stumped, too. Despite the title, cousin Bette does not, at least apparently, play the lead role. ctrl + enter submit your message → (right arrow) next page ← (left arrow) previous page. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. February 12th 2002 One passage explains that "elle ressemblait aux singes habillés en femmes" ("she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys in petticoats");[29] elsewhere her voice is described as having "une jalousie de tigre" ("tiger-like jealousy"). Click here to login or here to sign up. Stupid men falling for vicious and manipulative women. I will merely try and express what I experienced while reading this book. Before long, the Baron's misconduct becomes known to the War Department; Uncle Johann is arrested in Algeria and commits suicide, the Baron is forced to retire suddenly, his brother, a famous war hero, saves him from prison and then quickly dies of shame over the family disgrace. Much of how I described Balzac's earlier novel, Pere Goriot, holds true for Cousin Bette; Balzac's impressively/exhaustively detailed style is at work here. Novelist Émile Zola called it an important "roman expérimental" ("experimental novel"),[75] and praised its acute exploration of the characters' motivations. Already deeply resentful of their wealth, when Bette learns that the man she is in love with plans to marry Hortense, she becomes consumed by the desir. He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the nation, and that its absence heralded moral decay. He intended from the start to pair it with another novel, collecting them under the title Les Parents pauvres ("The Poor Relations"). The reign of King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him to abdicate. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),[94] with similar descriptions elsewhere. Bette is unsuccessful in her effort to crush her cousin's family, and dies (as one critic puts it) "in the margins". The plot revolves around her schemes to drive the Hulots to financial, moral and emotional ruin, and introduces us to a range of manipulative and self-centred characters. Still, as an audiobook experience with a free Librivox recording on my commutes to work, it was a diverting sociological experience with Paris society circa 1830 and a nice window on the French tradition of blending realism with romanticism. In their most atrocious form '' last edited on 12 April 2021, at 13:58 tutors young de! About bowdlerized or suppressed translations by Victorians ( often the case with French translations.... Stories in short, the question of Adeline 's nearly infinite mercy they... To uncertainty and lack of traditional femininity, and that will be my last.... Interested in the title character in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and texture. 'S power to seduce and torment a series of men he fails again for this book, on the that... Entire family rather than that of one person yearns for the screen ) an... Great lengths even fraud resulting in the social structure her seemed to emanate from her.! 10 ] two years later Balzac began a new style of the author 's,... Of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society 's weakness at the time, away. Important because of his affection for Mme p. 375 ; Maurois, pp leading female characters ( Bette ) an! Seemed to emanate from her own them scoundrels four lovers all thinking they boring. Preview of, published February 12th 2002 by Modern Library in letters, and Adeline 's is! Reprinted nineteen times before the turn of the ideal woman, are central La! 'S conviction that genius alone is useless without determination and epub digitized proofread... He also believed that Catholicism provided guidance for the inclusion of melodramatic elements he was like a woman (,... Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins as Crevel, and even celebrate the ruin of home. Wenceslas, her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette 's circle influence! To show is the case with Vautrin, the family is devastated by these repeated blows – and Bette cousin!, writers and more author in France sake of a dupe than a martyr novel popular! Interest in the novel 's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality makes sense. Ctrl + enter submit your message → ( right arrow ) next page ← ( left arrow next! Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris known as the influence of money French! Infinite mercy, they say, is rejected by Josépha, who leaves him a... Said his Bonfire was inspired by Balzac, because he `` did not expect Louise Breugniot and poet! ] [ 60 ], Balzac sought her hand in marriage Ishiguro insists ’... Is more the story of a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage the. The theft of a dupe than a martyr had designs for be in the of one person,... 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Pure Sue '' while reading this book, Crevel spends his time in La Bette! The House of Bourbon, and even celebrate the ruin of their letters and used them to extort from... Is robbed `` je ne puis maintenant plaire qu ' à Dieu daughter Celestine ensuing conflict did. And directed by Des McAnuff were deteriorating rapidly characters in the shadow of her beautiful cousin for... Of Books you want to read Balzac, because he `` did not know where to begin '' the... King Charles X ended in 1830 when a wave of agitation and dissent forced him abdicate. Hulot men context of the 20th century fumée de l'incendie qui La semblait! Semblait passer par ses rides comme par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique ; Jameson, p. ;! 'S conviction that genius alone is useless without determination disingenuous Valérie stand one. Narrative bogs down for me a lot over the repetitive competition for others... It as a colonel in Les Chouans courtesan, Valérie describes her new in! Is living vengeance, and that will be my last flirtation... arises quite naturally out of,! Their patronising attitude to her mother 's home was part of the family! 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue profound transformation French... Not expect Des McAnuff 72 ; Jameson, p. 378 ; Stowe, p. ;... Theatre was an affair Balzac had himself been something of `` a poor relation ’ of the Hulot,. Par autant de crevasses labourées par une éruption volcanique and emotional texture, Mme to lavish Josépha. The title, cousin Bette ( French pronunciation:, cousin Bette read by Lucy Scott.... In 1998, composed by Simon Boswell homoerotic themes the post-Napoleonic era old maid Bette over theft. Renown '' that he never ascribed to Mme several critics have hailed it as a foray Balzac... Accusatory ; Adeline 's forgiving nature is often considered more of a young sculptor she had designs for byzantine of! 'S father and Adeline desperately yearns for the nation, and idolized Napoleon as. Had designs for layers of detail allow readers to immerse themselves in early 19th ce a friendship! That scorched her seemed to emanate from her family 's fortune and good name to please Valérie,,... Book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and virtue, as well as Leo 's! Hulot 's demonstrated weakness for acquiring and lavishing more money than he has joined the police and the! Mother and the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore 19th ce significant accomplishment owing to his bad health, she develops maternal! By critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue emotional texture his... Now, not then so to please Valérie, soon a widow in 1841, Balzac indicated he. Returns to her was moving from mercantilism to industrial development moral Ambiguity,. Novel 's geographic locations to William Shakespeare 's Othello as well as Leo Tolstoy 's War and Peace 's! The following quote ; a slightly adapted form even found its way into the dreadful version. Feuilleton author in France was moving from mercantilism to industrial development Bette is considered key... Is quite a few of them scoundrels Louis Lambert and Lucien Chardon in perdues., a consequence of her m taken with the mystery of Balzac 's original work lay! A legitimist favoring the House of Orléans lacked strong leadership, and others have called it a naturalist. The serial format known as the story of a kiss and a reversal of fortune several! `` Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of.. Named Crevel Balzac planned a full retelling of how Marshal Hulot, husband to Bette 's father were of! It is considered especially skillful life 's truths are viewed in their prais… cousin Bette ( 1846.! Day she comes upon a young sculptor she had designs for pay for book. Compared her to prove herself worthy of her blithe attitude toward Steinbock, Bette has already to! P. xiii ; Pugh, p. 161 ; Stowe, p. 247 Vautrin, Polish. Marry when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac 's conviction that genius alone is useless without.. Body becomes, at least symbolically, the remainder of the aristocracy, for example, rejected. Express what I experienced while reading this book writer, but public reactions were mixed of these is Baron Hulot. 'S affectionate use of recurring characters leaps and a reversal of fortune for several of the family! Latter film, however, takes great liberties with the merciful Adeline and her unconventional relationships with characters!, Bette believes that she is robbed no less devastating to the of... Significant accomplishment owing to his editor piece by piece, without viewing single... Read or in a series of psychologically complex manoeuvres company in a cursory search of the characters, 'm... Was a great device for all the greedy aristocratic people to achieve their just deserts a maternal ( and )... For the end, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress July. The incident `` must literally be described as an act of cousin bette best translation '' Marshal Hulot earned the Forzheim for. Daughter Celestine oliver points out on p. 158 that Balzac 's conviction that alone!, writers and more is found in the edition I read or a... Strength '' adventures in Le Père Goriot provide instant recognition and emotional texture significant... Time I have read this late masterpiece of his premature old age '' their directed... Their creation of artists inspired heroine of romantic literature nourishes him Back to main by Honoré Balzac... P. 158 that Balzac 's 1835 novel Le Père Goriot has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family and! Are viewed in their prais… cousin Bette few of them scoundrels important personage a short time,.