Eugenie Grandet

Author: Honoré de Balzac
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-02-01
Features: This compilation preserves the main plot of the original work while condensing and rewriting some narration and descriptions, striving to maintain the linguistic style of the original and the completeness of the story. It emphasizes the portrayal of typical environments and the development of typical characters. It is hoped that young readers, after reading this, will not only initially appreciate the artistic charm of Balzac's novels but also remember typical characters such as Grandet, Goriot, Charles, and Rastignac. This book selects two representative works from Balzac's critical realist novels. Eugenie Grandet tells the story of the miser Grandet. This shrewd cobbler accumulated a million fortunes through speculation and cunning, yet he was extremely frugal, causing his wife and daughter to suffer greatly. The families of Grassin and Cruchot engage in a fierce struggle over Grandet's only daughter, and the cunning Grandet decides to use his daughter as bait. Grandet's son Charles comes from Paris to join his uncle but soon falls in love with his cousin Eugenie. However, Grandet sends him to India.
The plot of Goriot follows two threads: One thread is about Goriot, a Parisian banker. Under his nurturing, his eldest daughter became a countess, and his youngest daughter married a banker, each receiving an eighty-thousand-franc dowry. However, soon after, Goriot was driven out of his daughter's house and lived a impoverished life in the H?tel de la Régence. He died a miserable death, and no relatives were present at his funeral. The other thread is about Rastignac, a poor provincial student whose family sacrifices to educate him. Yet he cannot resist the temptation of the luxurious life of high society, resorting to all means to climb the social ladder.