Colonel Xia Bei

Author: Balzac
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: The three novellas—The Colonel's Honor, Ononina, and The Illustrious General—all revolve around tragedies within marriages. Three men of outstanding virtue and extraordinary character suffer cruel fates. The wives, driven by vanity, pleasure, money, and status, show no mercy, calling their husbands fools (The Illustrious General); or even accusing them of impersonation and wanting to see them dead (The Colonel's Honor). Ononina is the purest and most serious of the three women, but her pursuit of unrealistic and fantastical love, coupled with her impossible hopes for life, ultimately leads to an irreparable tragedy, where she dies alongside her husband. Each novella, like all of Balzac's works, presents a stark contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness. The virtuous and the wicked coexist, leaving readers with a sense of both laughter and sorrow. The three novellas in this book all revolve around tragedies within marriages. Three men of outstanding virtue and extraordinary character suffer cruel fates. The wives, driven by vanity, pleasure, money, and status, show no mercy, calling their husbands fools (The Illustrious General); or even accusing them of impersonation and wanting to see them dead (The Colonel's Honor). Ononina is the purest and most serious of the three women, but her pursuit of unrealistic and fantastical love, coupled with her impossible hopes for life, ultimately leads to an irreparable tragedy, where she dies alongside her husband.