Honoré de Balzac

Literature / Writers Datebook: May 20

 

Biography and works of French writer Honore de Balzac, novelist, playwright and short story writer, considered one of the greatest novelists of France.

 

Balzac was a great French novelist and playwright. Some people say he was the greatest novelist of all time. His works have had a huge influence on the development of the modern novel, and along with his colorful life that has become part of literary legend.

 

Early Life of Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in the French city of Tours. His prosperous, middle-class family moved to Paris when he was 15, and he was forced by his father to study law, but eventually after he completed it in 1819, he promptly began to write fiction and persuaded his family to support him so that he could be a writer.

From the age of 22, Balzac wrote tirelessly from the age of twenty-two. He worked very long hours regularly producing stories, magazine articles and plays. But his first plays and novels are not very good and earned him no money.

The Novelist

When he was thirty years old, he produced his first novel, The Chouans, which tells about the peasants during the French Revolution. Wanting to get more money to support his writing, he undertook various business ventures, most of them incurred him more debts. But he persisted and for the rest of his life he was pursued by creditors. This was also primarily because he insisted on living beyond his means. His appetite for food, wine and frolic was legendary.

The Human Comedy 

In his mid-30s, Balzac began organizing his novels and plays in a more systematized form under the collective title La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), which he wrote between 1842 and 1848. It's considered his greatest work. The word 'comedy' also meant 'story' in Balzac's time. This work is Balzac's attempt to create a complete picture of the French society in terms of its human behavior and specific conditions, including military and political life.  

Literary Contribution

When he died in August 17, 1850, at the age of fifty-one, Balzac completed nearly 100 books in the series. Many of them were individual masterpieces. There were over 2000 characters from all sections of society, some of whom appear at different stages of their lives.

 

Books by Honoré de Balzac

The Chouans, 1829

The Wild Ass's Skin, 1831

The Thirty-Year Old Woman, 1831-34

The Girl with the Golden Eyes (La Fille aux yeux d'or), 1834-1835

Droll Stories, 1832-1837

Eugénie Grandet, 1833

Father Goriot (Pere Goriot), 1835

Lost Ilusions (Illusions perdues), 1837-1843

Cousin Bette, 1846

 

Photo Credit:

Honoré de Balzac. Public Domain

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. Larousse (1994)

McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern. Chambers (2002)

Ousby, Ian. Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge. (1993)

 

 

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