Reading Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet (1833) in Julien Green’s Adrienne Mesurat (1927)

[...]the two novels under scrutiny here both have titles bearing their respective heroines' names, a similar structure, a scathing indictment of provincial life, a tyrannical father figure, and an emphasis on binary oppositions (light/dark, open/closed spaces, dreams/reality). First of all, it...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Comparatist 2018-10, Vol.42 (1), p.226-245
Main Author: CHRISTIANSEN, HOPE L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Balzac, Honore de (1799-1850)
Comparative literature
Criticism and interpretation
Escritores
French literature
GENERAL ARTICLES
Green, Julien
Green, Julien (1900-1998)
Héroes
Literary techniques
Literatura comparada
Literatura francesa
Novela
Novelists
Novels
Plot (Narrative)
Structure (Literature)
Suicides & suicide attempts
Writers
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Summary:[...]the two novels under scrutiny here both have titles bearing their respective heroines' names, a similar structure, a scathing indictment of provincial life, a tyrannical father figure, and an emphasis on binary oppositions (light/dark, open/closed spaces, dreams/reality). First of all, it was quite impossible for her to change the material circumstances of her case. [...]Eug&énie finds her own way to satisfy la meute by agreeing to marry one of the Bonfons, but strictly on her terms, which include refusing to give up her virginity and making her intended—who, significantly, pledges to be her slave (250)—swear to give her nothing less than her freedom: "Jurez de me laisser libre pendant toute ma vie […]" [...]a day arrives when, at one stroke, endurance reaches its term.
ISSN:0195-7678
1559-0887
1559-0887
DOI:10.1353/com.2018.0011