La Vieille Fille (novel)
Encyclopedia
La Vieille Fille is a novel by the French writer Honoré de Balzac
. Written in 1836, it was first published as a serial in La Presse, then published by Werdet in 1837 in Études de mœurs, in the section les Scènes de la vie de province. La Vieille Fille was republished in 1839 by éditions Charpentier, before being published alongside le Cabinet des Antiques
in the isolated les Rivalités group within Scènes de la vie de province in la Comédie humaine
, published in 1844 by édition Furne.
The work was dedicated to Balzac's brother in law, an engineer in the corps royal des ponts et chaussées, Eugène Midy de la Greneraye Surville. Even so, Balzac offered its manuscript to comtesse Guidoboni-Visconti, in 1844.
This short and incisive novel that stands out for the density of its story and its rapid succession of events. Balzac takes time to carefully describe the house of Mademoiselle Cormon, the old maid, in the city of Alençon
, before entering directly into the heart of the matter.
The portrait of Mademoiselle Cormon is one of the most successful in The Human Comedy. Balzac delivers in this novel one of his most nuanced analysis of a provincial town's social, political and financial affairs.
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
. Written in 1836, it was first published as a serial in La Presse, then published by Werdet in 1837 in Études de mœurs, in the section les Scènes de la vie de province. La Vieille Fille was republished in 1839 by éditions Charpentier, before being published alongside le Cabinet des Antiques
Le Cabinet des Antiques
Le Cabinet des Antiques is a French novel published by Honoré de Balzac in 1838 under the title les Rivalités en province in le Constitutionnel, then published as a work in its own right in 1838 by the Souverain publishing house.With la Vieille Fille, the work fits into les Rivalités, an...
in the isolated les Rivalités group within Scènes de la vie de province in la Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
, published in 1844 by édition Furne.
The work was dedicated to Balzac's brother in law, an engineer in the corps royal des ponts et chaussées, Eugène Midy de la Greneraye Surville. Even so, Balzac offered its manuscript to comtesse Guidoboni-Visconti, in 1844.
This short and incisive novel that stands out for the density of its story and its rapid succession of events. Balzac takes time to carefully describe the house of Mademoiselle Cormon, the old maid, in the city of Alençon
Alençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
, before entering directly into the heart of the matter.
The portrait of Mademoiselle Cormon is one of the most successful in The Human Comedy. Balzac delivers in this novel one of his most nuanced analysis of a provincial town's social, political and financial affairs.