What is the life of Balzac, the master of realism?

Balzac is a great French writer of critical realism in the19th century, the founder and outstanding representative of European critical realism literature. He wrote 96 ministers, short stories and essays in his life, with the overall title of "Human Comedy". Among them, the representatives are Eugenie Grandet and the old man Gao. /kloc-for more than 0/00 years, his works have spread all over the world, which has had a great influence on the development of world literature and the progress of mankind. Marx and Engels praised him as an "outstanding novelist" and a "master of realism".

Balzac was born into a bourgeois family and became rich after the French Revolution. After graduating from law school, he rejected the respected legal profession chosen by his family and decided to become a writer. In order to obtain the material guarantee of independent life and creation, he tried to write, dabble in business and engage in publishing and printing, but all ended in bankruptcy. All these provided him with extremely precious first-hand information to understand and describe the society. He constantly pursued and explored, and made in-depth research in philosophy, economics, history, natural science, theology and other fields, and accumulated extremely extensive knowledge. 1829, Balzac finished the novel Juan Party.

Juan Party is Balzac's first work published under his real name, which describes the 1800 royalist rebellion against * * * and the China government in Brittany. While giving heroes and soldiers the glory they deserve, the author also greatly beautified Marquis Mondolan, the leader of Juan Party, and showed sympathy for the nobles at that time. In order to write this novel, he carefully studied the historical documents about the riots, personally went to Brittany to investigate the situation of mountains and rivers and farmers' lives, visited the witnesses and participants of the riots, and collected many anecdotes about the Juan family from his friend Duchess Berry. The change from writing supernatural novels to writing historical novels is Balzac's first important step towards critical realism. What he described in "Being a Man" is not ancient history, but an important event belonging to the category of contemporary social life. Paying attention to reflecting contemporary social life is a feature of human comedies written by Balzac later.

183 1 year, Balzac joined the royalist party. But his political attitude is not completely consistent with that of the ultra-royalists. He is a liberal in the Party and unpopular in party member. He even publicly criticized the royalists, saying that "this party is disgusting" and "this is a failed party".

From 1829, Balzac's creation began to mature, that is, the period of human comedy (1829~ 1848). In 1930s and 1940s, he devoted himself to literary and artistic creation, and also went to salons of Paris upper class to write articles for several newspapers. His contact with life is very extensive.

Since this period, Balzac has made a deep exploration in realism theory. He believes that novelists must face real life and make themselves a historian of customs in contemporary society; It is also believed that the task of novelists is not only to describe social phenomena, but also to clarify the causes of these phenomena and point out the meaning behind people, desires and events. On the issue of portraying characters, he emphasized both characteristics and * * *; He said that the poet's mission is to create typical, individualize typical and typify personality; He also said that a typical character should combine the personality characteristics of people who are more or less similar to him. He also stressed that art must serve the society; It is believed that artists should not only describe evil and good, but also point out their educational significance. An artist must be both a moralist and a politician.

As Balzac's masterpiece, Human Comedy includes 96 novels, short stories and novellas, which are divided into three parts: custom research, philosophical research and analytical research. The study of customs is the main part, which is divided into six aspects: private life scenes, provincial life scenes, Paris life scenes, political life scenes, military life scenes and rural life scenes. This work was originally named Social Studies, and was later renamed Human Comedy, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.

From the perspective of contemporary custom historians, Balzac described the historical period of the alternation of French feudalism and capitalism in the first half of19th century in "Human Comedy". The characteristic of this period is that money gradually replaced aristocratic titles. 1830 after the revolution, the power of money rule was particularly strong. The bourgeoisie aims at making money in life, and they achieve their goals through various methods and means, but more often they plunder through fraud and violence. Balzac described the different classes, classes, occupations and places of activities in French society during the historical period from Napoleon Empire to Restoration Dynasty to July Dynasty, making his works a vast social picture composed of more than 2,000 characters, from which we can see the law that feudalism is inevitably replaced by capitalism and some drawbacks of the capitalist system.

Balzac described all kinds of bourgeoisie with the characteristics of the times in Human Comedy, which reflected the history of the bourgeoisie. There are primitive low-level usurer Gao Sai Bu (usurer, 1830), old Grandet who knows the function of coins (Eugenie Grandet, 1833), and advanced financial giant Newchingen (Newchingen Bank, 1838). They are the real masters of the bourgeois world; Under the protection of national laws and the support of public opinion, in order to satisfy their greed, they plundered openly, and each had its own characteristics in the way of plundering. Gao Sai Boo is an old-school exploiter. He hasn't learned the "latest" way to get rich. He would rather store goods at home than multiply them as capital. He stores money by hoarding goods. Grandet has a wide range of activities. He is a shrewd, cunning and treacherous speculator, who has changed from an old exploiter to a capitalist enterprise. He knows how to put money into profitable enterprises and accumulate more money. In his mind, money is the purpose of life. He is very stingy and uses all the people around him to serve his purpose of robbing money. Baron Neuchingen, a banker, is a new bourgeoisie rising in the form of an exchange nouveau riche. His strategy is to keep all capital in constant motion. He used the protection of the law to fake bankruptcy, forcing thousands of small depositors to go bankrupt, but he got millions of gold himself. He didn't pretend to be poor and stingy, hiding his wealth, like Gao Sai Bu and Grandet, but he was extravagant and showed off his wealth in various ways. He shows the characteristics of pleasure, gold and blood mixed together. He was a typical figure of the French financial bourgeoisie during the July Dynasty.

Balzac created the image of bourgeois individual careerists in human comedies, such as Raphael de Valentine (The Story of Donkey Skin, 183 1) and Rasty Nie (Gao Laotou,1834; Bank of Neuchingen; A comedian who doesn't know himself, 1846) Lupumplay (disillusioned,1837 ~1843; Prostitutes' honor and disgrace 1838~ 1847) and voltaren (high old man, disillusionment, prostitutes' honor and disgrace). Apart from catching a cold, when they first entered the society, they all wanted to find a personal way out through "proper" channels. Later, they were corrupted by the bad habits of the upper class. Valentine came to Paris from other provinces, dreaming of the glory of scholars and working hard. Since he met Mrs. Fudola, he has tried every means to pursue money. Rasty's Nie is a successful careerist. He found the secret of success from his contact and observation of Paris society, and a convicted fugitive, Fortolin, was his guide. Although Rasty Nie sometimes had doubts and regrets, he finally went astray and became a shameless rogue politician and an agent of the financial bourgeoisie. Lv Chongpo Lai is a talented young poet. He came to Paris from other provinces, eager to find a shortcut to get ahead. Reporter Ross told him the inside story of the current literary world. He sold his talent and became a literary critic by hook or by crook. But in order to succeed, he must do more bad things. Once the guide of Rasty's Nie, he took off the cold here. He planned a plot for Lu Pompley, trying to make Lu Pompley gain millions of property by forcing his mistress to death. Voltaire also committed other murders, while Lou Pang Plein was arrested on suspicion of complicity and died in prison. Fu Tuoling is the most prominent typical figure of bourgeois personal ambition, and all the evils of personal ambition are concentrated on him; He appeared as a cynic and lashed out at bourgeois morality and law, but in fact he was spreading such morality and law. Rasty Nie and Lu Pompley are two greedy youths under his command. One climbed into the ruling clique and the other died in prison.

Balzac described the tragedy of the bourgeois family in "Human Comedy". Under the rule of money principle, family has become a place where people cheat and plunder each other. A daughter exhausted her father's property and then threw him away like a lemon (tall old man). A father killed his wife for money and ruined his daughter's life (Eugenie Grandet). A mother tried to seize her husband's will in order to deprive her children of their property (usurer). A wife declares that her husband is an idiot and demands to take charge of his estate (forbidden property, 1836), or simply disowns her husband (Colonel Xia Bei, 1832). For selfish reasons, he did not hesitate to harm the happiness of his relatives (Aunt Bei, 1847) by despicable means, or to insult poor relatives at will. Once a poor relative becomes rich, he will be brutally killed and his property seized (Uncle Burns, 1846).

As a remnant of history, feudal nobles occupy an important position in human comedy. When portraying these images, Balzac often shows deep sympathy for the aristocratic class. For example, in "The Old Man", he described the love tragedy of Viscount Bucylon in an exclamation style, beautified her aristocratic integrity in every way, and described her expression when she was forced to bid farewell to Paris with the Greek goddess and Roman fighter. Another example is the Marquis of Esbar, who is called an extraordinary aristocrat in the Forbidden Production, because he maintains a clean and honest family style; Another example is "Lily of the Valley" (1835), which praised Mrs. Mosuo's prayer to drive away evil thoughts and restrain lust. She thinks that the unknown struggle between Mrs. Mosuo and her love for the young aristocrat Felix is almost as great as the famous battle in history. However, on many occasions, Balzac's satire and mockery of feudal nobles was also extremely sharp. Knight de Farrow (spinster, 1836) is a cunning aristocrat who thinks highly of himself and is arrogant, but he is embarrassed by the tough liberal Du Busgill in the marriage competition. The Marquis of Esglion (Antiquities Exhibition Room, 1836~ 1838) is the embodiment of "loyalty", "firmness" and "nobility" in the patriarchal society. But his "moral character" can't solve any problems in real life, and can't even guarantee that there are no children in his family who will ruin the family style. His son Victor Liyan was accused by banker Du Croaz of forging checks. Later, only by acting according to Du Croix's will, did he put down his aristocratic airs and become a nephew of a banker, so as to avoid bankruptcy and keep his reputation. In Balzac's works, the Marquis de Grion is a plaything that has lost the significance of the times and is only suitable for the "antique showroom", while his son is a playboy who is corrupted in the bourgeois money relationship.

Balzac is also an admirer of Napoleon. Napoleon's image has been reflected in human comedies for many times, such as The Country Doctor (1833), An Unsolved Case (184 1) and The Woman of Thirty (1831~ 65438). At the same time, the author also focuses on the image of imperial officers related to Napoleon.

In "Human Comedy", Balzac described the hero of * * * and socialism with admiration. For example, in the author's works, mihir Christine in Disillusionment is a politician with the charm of Dandong and St. Just. He advocated European federalism, which was a great threat to the European aristocracy. 183 1 year, when Paris * * * and communist party revolted, he died heroically in the battle, just like an ordinary soldier. His sacrifice caused deep condolences to all who knew him, and people often missed him. Another example is Nizlong in The Farmer (1844), a peasant-born veteran of the * * * doctrine, "as strong as steel and as pure as gold." He gave up the property he deserved in the Great Revolution and was willing to live a poor life. He once sent his only son to the front to participate in the war to defend the motherland. Because he hates rich people, he is especially loved by farmers.

The changes brought about by the increasingly powerful capitalism invading the countryside are deeply reflected in The Farmer. The Farmer describes the conflict between the land ownership of the aristocratic manor and the small land ownership of the bourgeoisie. The farmer is caught between these two social forces, just like a bug caught between a hammer and an anvil. Coubertin and Coulee, representing the interests of the bourgeoisie, defeated General Mongolian Nai, representing the interests of aristocratic landlords. However, the peasants attracted by usury merchants and rich peasants got nothing, but fell into a new kind of slavery and met a more vicious master. Balzac described the poverty situation in rural areas after the bourgeois revolution under the dual exploitation of landlords and bourgeoisie, the strong hatred of peasants against exploiters, and the dependence on usurers determined by peasants' economic status at that time.

In "Human Comedy", Balzac sympathetically described the poor life of working people. When describing the uprising of textile workers in Lyon, he pointed out the justice and social reasons of the uprising: "When the order stops, the workers starve to death; Even if there is work to do, he is almost half dead. Any prisoner is happier than them. " (Neuchingen Bank)

Balzac tried to summarize the whole picture of French capitalist society in the first half of19th century with Human Comedy, and wrote the novel as the custom history of French capitalist society, but it did not include the "workers' life scenes". The contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in 1930s and 1940s was only reflected in human comedies sporadically and indirectly. Balzac wrote about the poor life and tragic fate of peasants, but he always held a negative attitude towards peasant riots, describing the peasants' struggle against nobles as cruel and barbaric revenge (peasants). He praised the heroes of * * * and the achievements of Napoleon, but his sympathy for feudal nobles was also obvious. His complicated political attitude and ideological tendency are the reflection of his position of free aristocrats and royalists, including both feudal and capitalist factors.

The novel Gao Laotou published by 1834 occupies a very important position in human comedy. There have been many important characters in human comedies in "Gao Laotou". Judging from the character system, Gao Laotou can be said to be a prelude to human comedy.

This novel tells the story of a young college student who gradually degenerated under the influence of the bourgeois society in Paris during the Restoration Dynasty. The author criticizes the bourgeoisie's extreme egoism and interpersonal relationships based on ruthless cash transactions, and at the same time affirms the decadent and parasitic life principles of the bourgeoisie in the name of "fatherly love" beyond class.

The story takes place in a dilapidated, vulgar and shabby apartment. There are three tenants in the apartment that attract people's attention: Rasty Nie, a college student who aims to find a personal way out, Votolan, a suspicious commentator, and a tall old man who is frail and depressed. Lao Gaoman has two daughters, the eldest daughter became a countess, and the second daughter married a banker, Neuchingen. Due to the introduction of my cousin Viscount Buseron, Rasty Nie got to know the two daughters of Gao Laoman, and took a special fancy to the second daughter, Mrs. Neuchingen, in an attempt to use her as a springboard for personal success. But Rasty had no money and could not win the favor of Parisian aristocratic women. Fu Tuoleng guessed his heart, preached to him the fallacy that you can't be afraid of getting your hands dirty if you want to succeed, and planned a plot for him to kill for money. Votoring turned out to be a famous convict and fugitive, and he was finally arrested. Soon, Mrs. Boucylon died because of frustration in love. But what happened to these two guides was a new life lesson for Rasty Nie, who was determined to accept bourgeois egoism and the law of money first. At the same time, the fate of the old man Gao also played an important role in Rusty's Nie. Lao Gaoman loved his two daughters all his life. In order to satisfy their vanity and money desire, he sacrificed all his furniture, only to be abandoned by them and die of poverty and disease. This tragic ending of the old man made Rasty once again accept the bourgeois selfish life education, which prompted him to finally decide his own path: he was determined to climb up by hook or by crook and become a "hero" in the bourgeois world.

Rasty's clever cunning, cool-headed; In the face of the temptation of evil, he is not without worries, and sometimes even feels ashamed of his absurd behavior, but because of his inner struggle, evil always prevails. In order to make a beautiful suit, he wrote to his mother and sister urgently; When the reply came, he was moved to tears and blamed himself for using the feelings of his loved ones so cruelly. He really wanted not to take the money, but in a blink of an eye, he was so proud that he could wear new clothes in and out of the communication field and felt that the whole world was his. Fortolin suggested to him that Miss Victoria's brother should be murdered, making her the only heir. If he marries her, he can get 1 million to marry him. Although he rejected this evil plan, he did not stop his love affair with Miss Victoria: as long as the evil behavior was not his own, he could not enjoy the fruits of evil until the beginning. After learning about the tragedy of the old man Gao, he became the only person who sympathized with him in the rich apartment. He was concerned about the old man's illness and begged his two daughters to let his father die. He pawned his watch and arranged the funeral for the old man Gao. Almost only he attended the funeral of the old man Gao. However, the ambition to climb up still got the upper hand. After burying Lao Gaoman, he went to Mrs. Newchin's house for dinner. Rasty Nie did not go astray from other provinces and came to Paris, but he gradually degenerated under the influence of the social environment in Paris. Later, when he reappeared in the New Hinggan Bank, he was a helper who made a fake bank collapse; In this unwitting comedy, he was knighted and became a minister.

Fu Tuoleng is a ferocious predator in the bourgeois world. Being hunted down, he violently rebelled against society. From Balzac's later novels, we know that he is managing a temporarily undisclosed property for a group of prisoners in Paris. Among the tenants of Fugai apartment, he met the fledgling Rasty Nie, tried every means to seduce him, and talked with him privately about the secret of being a man. He cursed the meanness of the upper class in Paris, but what he pursued was to earn a sum of capital to sell slaves in the United States. He puts himself above morality and law, opposes immorality with immorality and opposes lawlessness with lawlessness. He fought other marauders by biting each other's throats. Whoever is strong will win. Fu Tuoling's attack on bourgeois society was caused by personal hatred for the failure of plunder. As long as his personal ambition is satisfied, he can stop attacking. Later, in The Honor and Disgrace of Prostitutes, Fu Tuoleng became the director of the Paris secret police.

Gao Laotou was a noodle merchant who made a fortune by speculation during the bourgeois revolution. He wanted to climb higher, but with more and more powerful financial resources, his fantasy could not be realized, so after his wife died, he transferred all his hopes and feelings to his two daughters. When the two daughters were fifteen, they had their own carriage and lived in luxury. Just like a mistress raised by a rich old gentleman, as long as they speak, the most absurd desires will be satisfied. Later, Lao Gaoman ended his noodle business in order to earn face for his two daughters who married into a noble family. When he knew that his two sons-in-law didn't want to receive him publicly, he secretly went to see his daughter from a side door like a beggar, or waited by the side of the road to watch her pass by in a gorgeous carriage. He was the object of ridicule in the rich apartment, and it was his great happiness to learn from Rasty Nie that his two daughters were happy, so Rasty Nie became his bosom friend. As for his two daughters, they only come to him when they are cornered by their creditors, and he always tries his best to meet their needs in order to have the opportunity to meet them. When he was seriously ill and dying, he longed to see his daughter, but none of them would sacrifice a chance to attend the dance in order to let his father die. When Lao Gao Man died, his howling and cursing were mixed with sadness and crying for his two daughters. He even made a determined effort to do pasta business again and earned millions back, because money can buy everything and his daughter. When he saw that he had been completely abandoned by his daughter, he couldn't help shouting. He wants to protest: if his father is trampled underfoot, won't the country perish? Lao Gaoman's funeral was only because his friend Nierasti and his young medical student Bian Xun were running around. Instead of attending the funeral, the two daughters and son-in-law gave them an empty car with a knight's medal and followed them to the cemetery.

Gao Laotou also successfully portrayed many minor characters, such as Madame Vogue, Baron Neuchingen, Pian Xun and so on. Mrs. Vogue is a representative figure of a city citizen. She can change from a dancer's smile to a creditor's ruthlessness. She tries her best to save money on the tenant's meal, collects the wine left by the tenant in bottles, and looks at the apple trees in her garden every year and worries about the poor apple harvest. The tragic death of Lao Gaoman only caused her anxiety when she was afraid that it would bring her some extra expenses. Qin Yunlong is a representative of the financial bourgeoisie. He has appeared many times in human comedies and is one of the protagonists of human comedies. Although we only made our debut in Gao Laotou, we can already see the essence of this bourgeois robber. Pi Anxun is a positive figure in the author's works. He is diligent, and Rasty's path is completely opposite. He also appeared in Balzac's other novels, but he did not become the central figure of any novel, and his typicality was far less prominent than the negative image in human comedy.

As a representative writer of critical realism, Balzac's creative characteristics are mainly manifested in the following aspects.

Balzac reflected extensively on the social life at that time in Human Comedy. He depicted the history of French society in the first half of19th century with the contradiction between aristocrats and bourgeoisie as the central picture and the principle of money rule as the clue of this picture, and pointed out various reasons or one reason of these phenomena with a critical attitude, clarified the significance hidden in this pile of people, passions and events, exposed the sins of aristocrats and bourgeoisie, and provided us with rich materials for understanding French society at that time.

Many important figures in Human Comedy (such as Rasty Nie, Fu Tuoling, Count Newchingen, Pian Xun, etc.). Repeatedly appearing in different novels clearly reflects their different life stages and their mutual relations, thus deepening the integrity and coherence of the vast social picture of human comedy.

The characters in human comedy are typical. Balzac, though idealistically thinking that "desire" is the basic element of human beings, emphasized that "desire is the whole world; Without desire, religion, history, novels and art are useless, but he always studies the specific development process of a "desire" character in a certain living environment and never describes it in isolation. His basic principle of realism, that is, the establishment of shaping characters' personalities through living environment, is also related to his belief that people are the product of environment. The central figures and even some minor figures in Balzac's works are extremely prominent. Grandet is different from the miser Albagon described by Moliere in the17th century, and from any miser and capitalist described in19th century.

Balzac focuses on describing the physical environment, such as houses, the environment around houses, cities, streets, interior decoration, daily necessities and so on. What kind of environment to arrange for what kind of people. Romantic writers express the characters' inner feelings through the description of nature, while Balzac depicts the characters' characters through the description of the material environment (but sometimes it is inevitable), which is a unique technique of Balzac. He pushed the realistic creative method to a new stage. His works expose abscesses and ulcers in the capitalist world, and point out how the bourgeoisie hates the normal development of human feelings and talents, which makes people fall into a state of unconsciousness and moral degradation. A "human comedy" is actually an indictment of bourgeois society. Marx and Engels once spoke highly of Balzac. Marx thought Balzac was a famous writer who had a deep understanding of the realistic relationship, and Engels wrote: "Yes, Balzac is politically orthodox; His masterpiece is an endless elegy for the inevitable collapse of the upper class; All his sympathy is for this doomed class. However, in spite of this, when he let those noble men and women who he deeply sympathized with act, his sarcasm was unprecedented sharp and his satire was unprecedented spicy. The figures he often publicly praised were his political sworn enemies, the * * * of St. Mary's Abbey and the heroes in the party, and they were the people who truly represented the people at that time (1830~ 1836). In this way, Balzac had to violate his class sympathy and political prejudice; He saw the inevitability of the demise of his beloved nobles, thus describing them as people who did not deserve a better fate; He saw such a person in the only place where he could find a real person in the future at that time-all this I think is one of the greatest victories of realism and one of the most important characteristics of old Balzac. "