Alphonse de Lasalle

Author: Balzac
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: The Father of High is one of Balzac's outstanding works. Critics call it the modern King Lear. But in terms of social perspective, it holds deeper and broader significance than Shakespeare's famous play. Balzac's characters are not just individuals but typical figures of their era; the tragic elements are not limited to personal temperament but are particularly rooted in the decadent social environment. Madame de Bassompierre represents the declining aristocracy, ending her days in seclusion; Rastignac and Vautrin embody two contrasting styles of the emerging class: one infiltrates society like a plague, while the other crashes into it like a cannonball. The struggle for fame and fortune among the ambitious, intertwined with the desperate paternal love of the father, makes the novel's content even more fantastical and gripping.