Examples of hoarding in literature Gobsek Father Gorio. “Tragic images of the heroes of Balzac’s works (“Père Goriot”)

15. The system of images and composition of the novel “Père Goriot.”

Honore Balzac is the son of a notary who became rich during the Napoleonic wars. His novels became, as it were, the standard of realism of the first half of the 19th century. Writer of the bourgeoisie, master of a new life. That is why he turned away from V. Hugo’s statement that “reality in art is not reality in life,” and saw the task of his great work in showing not “imaginary facts,” but in showing what “happens everywhere.” “Everywhere” now is the triumph of capitalism, the self-affirmation of bourgeois society. Showing an established bourgeois society - this is the main task set by history for literature - and B. solves it in his novels.

Thought about unified system works arose in Balzac in 1833, when he realized that his desire to give a broad panorama of life in France, which led to the emergence of side plot lines, could not be realized in one novel. This is how the “Human Comedy” began to take shape with its characters moving from novel to novel, of which, according to the author’s own plan, there should have been at least 2-3 thousand. The author arranged the novels of The Human Comedy into the following sections: 1) etudes of morals, which included scenes of private, provincial, Parisian, political, and rural life; 2) philosophical studies; 3) analytical studies.

The novel Father Goriot marks new stage in the creative development of Balzac, like the whole of 1835. In it, behind the external façade of everyday life, the greatest tragedies of human life are hidden. “Père Goriot” is not the story of the life of one character - it is a cross-section of the life of society at a certain period of its development. The movement of the novel through the sections of the “Human Comedy” is interesting: in 1843 it was included in “Scenes of Parisian Life”; the author’s notes indicate that he decided to place this novel in “Scenes of Private Life”. The path is the same as that of Gobsek: scenes of private life absorb a larger number of facts and phenomena; they characterize society as a whole.

And private life is the life of families. The Human Comedy, as Balzac wrote, depicts the world through the prism of the family. Rastignac reveals himself in letters to his sisters and aunt, Victorine Taillefer's fate is built on relationships with her father and brother, Goriot's fate is, in fact, the fate of his two dissolute daughters. True feeling is missing. Families are connected only by monetary relations. Even the provincial Rastignac, who differs from the Parisian public, begs for money to get into high society.

The novel was created when the idea of the “Human Comedy” had already taken shape in the author’s mind. Balzac has no other work that would combine such a large number of characters and would represent almost all strata of his contemporary society. The only exception can be “Gobsek”. The events take place mainly in the boarding house of Madame Vauquer, this is a Parisian philistine, where Rastignac, a provincial nobleman, as well as the future doctor Bianchon, a creative personality, appears next to Michono and Poiret. With the help of Rastignac, the reader enters the aristocratic salons - de Beauseant and de Resto, through Delphine - we see the environment of Nunsingen - one of the richest bankers in the Human Comedy. This is how a group of characters enters the novel, who actually determined the politics of France in the 1820s and 30s. However, for Balzac it is not so important to show all levels of the social hierarchy as to demonstrate their similarity in the perception of life values and beliefs. The heterogeneous environment here turns into a monolith, where there is nothing higher than the desire to get rich.

At the center of the story is the Voke guesthouse. It is a kind of concentration, perhaps even a symbol of the social and moral laws inherent in Balzac's contemporary France. It is no coincidence that Rastignac brings together the judgment on the laws of society of Viscountess Beaucean and Vtorain. The convict, speaking about people, understands the world as spiders in a jar, but the Viscountess compares people to horses that can be driven and changed at every post station. The norms of life in all circles of society are essentially dirty, but the Vauquer house demonstrates them more openly. Things again help Balzac to make generalizations and connect social groups at the level of moral laws. With their help, portraits are created, for example, the name of the Voke boarding house indicates the level of culture of the hostess and boarders, or, rather, their indifference to what surrounds them. "Family boarding house for both sexes and others." A detailed description of the boarding house where the heroes live, which is a generalization of the environment itself, demonstrates the wretchedness of the existence of heroes who are brought up depending on this environment. The character's appearance, his manner of behavior and even dressing (Mrs. Vauquer's skirt) are inextricably linked with what surrounds them.

The narration is told from a third person, but Balzac’s task is not to present readers with a ready-made morality, but to show how life itself flows, how people perceive their place in life, their capabilities, and this is what the author brings to the concept. novel of the new century. The abundance of reasoning of the characters, as well as the mass of author's descriptions, relieves the author of the need for didacticism, allowing the reader himself to draw conclusions about the morals prevailing in Balzac's contemporary society of 19th century France.

Images in the novel “Père Goriot”

Let's start looking at the images with the image of Father Goriot. The most glaring heartlessness is shown in the story of his life, which Rastignac observes. Goriot is a rich merchant who did not get his wealth quite honestly. More than anything in the world, he loves his two daughters, for whom he provided a luxurious happy life, fulfilled every whim for them, married one to a count, the other to a banker, gave both a large dowry. But soon after marriage they began to be ashamed of their simple father, they remembered him only when they needed money for entertainment and lovers.

But my father was happy to serve, even as a purse, he gave, gave, and gave everything, becoming completely impoverished. The climax of the novel was the following scene. Father Goriot gave his last money for the happiness of one of his daughters, but then the second daughter unexpectedly came and asked for a very large sum of money, since shame and poverty awaited her. Goriot's heart was breaking because he could not help; the old man was ready to do anything: rob a bank, sell himself as a soldier, if only his daughters were happy. His heart could not stand it, and he died in terrible poverty; his daughters did not even show up for the funeral.

Father Goriot is a vivid example of how obsession, the unreasonable development of passion, leads to the complete destruction of personality. Goriot was completely immersed in parental feelings; he did not think about anyone except his daughters. His passion developed on a selfish basis, and the very power of this passion led Father Goriot to death.

The image of Paris in the novel should also be highlighted. Paris is a city with a rich history that has experienced many changes during its existence. His specific image, his social and moral contrasts have long attracted the attention of writers. They depict not only the grandeur of Paris, its temples and palaces, but also the prevailing customs, laws, and the contrast between wealth and extreme poverty.

Balzac creates a generally realistic image of the city, taking a reliable image of life as an aesthetic credo.

Balzac's Paris is depicted from different sides. It is necessary to highlight two main types of epic in his novels. Relatively speaking, this is prose of exceptional reality (prose of the ideal, absolute prose) and prose of dominant, ordinary reality (relative prose).

Absolute epic is spiritual, bright Paris. The central characters are Pauline Godin, student Lavril, student Bianchon - people who have a hardworking and selfless loving soul.

Balzac's relative prose is manifested in the creation of an image of Paris that is typical, earthly, and imperfect. These are the images of Eugene de Rastignac and the rebel Vautrin.

Honore de Balzac quite fully revealed the image of Paris. According to B.G. Reizov, in his (Balzac’s) work, Paris is “a lighthouse city of provincial ambitious people who flock to it like moths to a flame.”

The novel “Père Goriot” marked the beginning of the depiction of Paris in the works of Balzac. The author strives to show the drama of life of that time and its hidden springs; he displays and interprets external reality. Here he depicts greatness and wealth at the same time as wretchedness. At the beginning of the novel we move to the catacombs of Paris. Pension Vauquer is not an elegant Paris, but a suburb where small urban people live.

Vautrin, observing Madame Vauquer's boarders, defines each of them in one word, containing not only their character, but also their interests, fate and opportunities. Similar comments related to the character’s history belong to the narrator, who, while maintaining the features of an “omniscient author,” still ensures that the reader remains precisely the spectator, before whose eyes the scenes unfold “in real scale time." An example is the “parade” of the inhabitants of Madame Vauquer’s boarding house, who take turns passing in front of the reader.

B.G. Reizov notes in this regard that “the drama of the novel develops in the Parisian “hell”, one of the tortures of which is vulgarity and poverty.”

The life of Paris is revealed to Rastignac as an arena of struggle. “Life in Paris is a continuous struggle,” he writes to his mother, “I must go on a campaign.”

The big city is both a civilizer and a corrupter, because in order to use their abilities, young people must first melt them: turn youth into perseverance, intelligence into cunning, gullibility into hypocrisy, courage into hidden cunning.

But Rastignac does not go to fight against the dissolute world that he knew, but only to fight for his personal achievement of success. He does not think about the break in the device, but perceives it as it is, enters the “game” and accepts its “rules”, well assimilates the morality of the masters of life, which Vautrin taught him.

Through several of Balzac's works we meet Baron Rastignac, peer of France. The ambitious student was reborn under the influence of Paris and became decisive. A person either dies or capitulates and becomes corrupted in Paris.

Thus, in the novel one can highlight the image of the “king of hard labor” - Vautrin, his life philosophy; the image of Father Goriot - a man of passion; the image of Madame Vauquer's boarding house as a symbol of “society in miniature”, the image of Paris.

Chapter 2 Conclusions

Balzac's novel "Père Goriot" is built on the principle of a dramatic work, which is manifested in the special development of the conflict and the construction of intrigue, in the specifics of the "building" of the scene and the characteristics of the characters, their appearance and actions in the novel, which turns into a kind of huge stage where the reader turns into a viewer, and the author - first of all, into a director.

In it one can highlight such problems as the problem of forming the character of a provincial, the moral choice of Eugene Rastignac - the “young ambitious man”, the motive of temptation; problem " powerful of the world this”; family and family relations in the bourgeois world.

In the novel one can highlight the image of the “king of hard labor” - Vautrin, his life philosophy; the image of Father Goriot - a man of passion; the image of Madame Vauquer's boarding house as a symbol of “society in miniature”, the image of Paris.

Paris is a city where incredible luxury and abject poverty are combined together. Paris is like a caustic acid, it eats away some, it forces others to lie low, and some in this atmosphere crystallize, turn to stone, like Eugene Rastignac.

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INTRODUCTION

Relevance of the topic course research is the growth of scientific interest in the literature of realism in France and. In particular, to the work of O. Balzac

The novel “Père Goriot” marks a new stage in Balzac’s creative development, as did the entire year of 1835. In the novel, behind the external façade of everyday life, the greatest tragedies of human life are hidden. “Père Goriot” is not the story of the life of one character - it is a cross-section of the life of society at a certain period of its development.

The degree of development of the problem. Dedicated to the work of Balzac a large number of works of foreign and domestic researchers.

General aspects of Balzac's literary heritage were studied in the works of M.E. Elizarova, E.P. Kuchborskaya, I. Lileeva,. A. Maurois, D.D. Oblomievsky, E.A. Petrova, R.A. Reznik, I. Ten and others.

V.R. turned to Balzac’s artistic method. Grib, Balzac as an author of realistic novels of the 19th century was studied by V.A. Desnitsky, A.I. wrote about the nationality of his work. Zasimova, about aesthetics - N.E. Wertzman,

Let us note the works devoted directly to the work “Père Goriot”. First of all, this is a fundamental study by V.Ya. Bakhmutsky, which generally covers the main issues of the work, as well as B.G. Reizova. E.A. Varlamova, in her dimmerization, considered the work “Père Goriot” in the aspect of the Shakespearean tradition. In another dissertation, M.V. Fedotova, based on the analysis of the novels “Père Goriot” and others, the theatricality in the works of Balzac is demonstrated.

At the same time, in the works of Ukrainian scientists, Balzac’s novel “Père Goriot” has not been sufficiently studied.

It should be noted the general work of D. Nalivaiko, as well as the article by D. Yunina and N. Litvinenko, which highlights the image of Paris in the novel.

Object of study- O. Balzac’s novel “Père Goriot”.

Subject of study- problems and images in O. Balzac’s novel “Père Goriot”.

Purpose of the study- analyze the features of problematics and imagery in O. Balzac’s novel “Père Goriot” in the context of the literature of realism.

Research objectives.

1. Analyze the theoretical basis of the literature of realism.

2. Consider the features of imagery and problematics in the literature of educational realism.

3. Determine the features of the problematics of O. Balzac’s work “Père Goriot”.

4. Consider the system of images in O. Balzac’s novel “Père Goriot”.

Research methods- analysis, synthesis, comparison.

Chapter 1. THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF THE STUDY OF PROBLEMATICS AND IMAGARITY IN THE LITERATURE OF REALISM

Balzac novel Goriot realism

1.1 Imagery in literature

In science from the 20s of the twentieth century to the present day, there are two different approaches to studying the nature of the artistic image. Some scientists interpret the artistic image in literature as a purely linguistic phenomenon, as a property of the language of works of art. Others see in an artistic image a more complex phenomenon - a system of concretely sensual details that embody the content of a work of art, not only details of the external, linguistic form, but also internal, objectively pictorial and rhythmically expressive.

In modern literary criticism, the image of a hero is considered as a specific and at the same time generalized picture of human life (N.A. Gulyaev), created with the help of fiction and has aesthetic significance. In an artistic image, real life characteristics are creatively transformed by the author and manifested as part of a special artistic reality (V.V. Vinogradov, L.I. Timofeev).

A literary and artistic portrait of a character is born on the basis of the totality of all linguistic and stylistic means related to him. I.V. adhered to the same position. Gübbenette, emphasizing the importance of describing the “external” and “internal” state of the hero, as well as showing his actions, relationships with other characters, manner of speaking and thinking

The image of a character cannot be considered outside of textual connections, i.e. outside the category of author's attitude, connects and organizes the text of a work of art (V.V. Vinogradov).

The concept of “artistic image” is broader than the concept of “literary character”. “Image” is an artistic depiction of nature, interior, man and all aspects of his existence, while “character” is an artistic depiction of a person.

So, to designate the people shown in the work in Russian literary criticism, several terms are used: character, character, character, type, image.

Character and character are concepts that are used to designate the person shown in the work, regardless of the extent to which it is deeply and correctly depicted by the writer.

Character is a more definite concept; we can talk about character if a person is depicted in a work with sufficient completeness and certainty, so that a specific norm of social behavior is felt behind him. A work may have ten characters, actors, and only one or two characters. In turn, not every character is a type.

Type is already, to a large extent, a typical character, the highest form of character. In this case, there is a great artistic generalization.

Perhaps the most pressing issue in literature and literary criticism has always been the problem of character. Comparing the character with other characters, one can notice the degree of artistic generalization by the writer of life phenomena. The different degrees of artistic generalization are especially evident when comparing works written on similar or the same material.

In S. Bocharov’s article “Characters and Circumstances,” theorizing and judgments were so significant that they not only determined further development problems for about two or three decades, but from them, in fact, its revival began at the turn of the 20th - 21st centuries.

The beginning of theorizing about character was a definite result of a comprehensive study, namely: the specifics of the artistic image of V. Kozhinov, the internal structure of the image of P. Palievsky, the development of figurative consciousness in the literature of G. Gachev. S. Bocharov himself pointed to this directly and indirectly.

The integrated approach consisted mainly in the development of Bakhtin's ideas, which helped develop those methodological principles, which remain in the arsenal of literary criticism.

The ascending position of S. Bocharov in developing the problem of character was the concept of imagery as the “matter” of a work of art, that is, its entire presence, its “visible flesh” - characters, plot collisions, compositional alignments, etc., which the researcher designated as " image modifications ". There is a character, like other modifications of the image, that were conceptualized as partial of it (an image of manifestation, as a part of a literary work (according to Aristotle), as a type of literary image.

S. Bocharov considered the problem of character in the aspect of historical poetics. One of the results of this approach was a thorough analysis of “character” among literary terms and the conclusion that it was not rooted in this area, its absence even in textbooks on literary theory, although it was very widespread in literary critical practice. This marginal status of the concept of “character” determined the direction and content of his research, which unfolded in several directions: building the conceptual content of character, comprehending its artistic content in the process of analyzing world and Russian classics and trying to give a literary definition of it. At the same time, S. Bocharov emphasized the key aspects of the problem. Involving comparative methods in the analysis of schools and concepts, the scientist came to the conclusion about the specific interaction of imagery and character, which are always “a special and new quality in any possible prototype, “nature,” real personality, types of real life. Literary theory has always sought to understand and express this special quality of the image. It could not be defined either in the categories of sociologically understandable “content”, or by the oppressive interpretation of “form”: in both cases, the artistic meaning was left behind - that specific “x”, which for the science of literature is its own subject of study."

S. Bocharov revealed the content of the “artistic” in character. In their integrity, that is, artistic and character, they revealed “that new and special quality that provides the image of a person with an independent and active role in his relationship with any possible prototype. If the character is taken outside the structure of the work into the subject, the hero immediately loses his meaningful meaning: it will remain an empty shell and, in fact, will merge with the plot...".

Extensive excursions into the history of character, the involvement in the study of classical philological developments, the works of young scientists who were able to free themselves from the burden of ideological dogmas, the synthesis of various methods in the analysis of works of art allowed the scientist to give conceptual definitions of character. At the same time, S. Bocharov applies the methodology developed by M. Bakhtin, who, comprehending this or that concept, gave it numerous definitions, each time clarifying, expanding, even polemicizing with himself in search of its completeness, as was the case, for example, with the justification of the concept "hero". This technique appealed to S. Bocharov, as evidenced by a number of definitions of character in the work, among which we emphasize the following: “... in order to define the concept of “literary character”, it is necessary to distinguish it from those meanings that are associated with the concept of character in other sciences and in everyday life. The character that interests us is not the subject of the image, but precisely this image, one of its sides, the type of literary image."

The determining factor, according to Bocharov, was also problematization: “The problem of character in literature... - This is the problem of the backlash of a person experiencing trials that are extremely intensified compared to the past, in the form of pressure from the objective world.”

In his research, S. Bocharov built a conceptual series of character, namely: image, hero, character, type. This is not a synonymous concept. In our opinion, the scientist filled them with peculiar significance artistic designs, about which A. Gulyga wrote: “a typological image in art is a kind of contour image. It is more schematic than a typical image, but more capacious. Concreteness does not disappear, it only loses a share of clarity.”

When examining characters, one should distinguish not only them ideological and artistic essence, but also to comprehend the means of their individualization, in other words, the methods of their creation (representations of the hero’s actions and actions, his portrait, linguistic, psychological, indirect characteristics and self-characteristics, author’s assessments, etc.). Techniques for reflecting a character’s internal state in a literary work are important.

In S. Martyanova’s work “The Image of Man in Literature: From Type to Individuality and Personality,” the researcher returns to the consideration of a person as an object of artistic depiction, and, above all, a character, exploring its correlation with such concepts of theoretical poetics as character, type, content form. She states as a fact that “the character in his classical, “pre-modern” essence, if not denied in new theories, then does not receive a satisfactory characterization,” while the questions: “what is a person?”, “what is character?” relevant again. No less relevant, in her opinion, is the study of character, character, type in the aspect of aesthetic categories.

1.2 Features of the problematic of a work of art

Problematics is one of the aspects of content literary works As a rule, even within the same topic chosen by the writer, it is possible to pose a variety of problems. Any work is multi-problem.

It should be borne in mind that the formulation of problems in a literary work differs from the formulation of problems in a scientific treatise or journalistic work. In a scientific or journalistic work, problems must be accurately and clearly formulated and discussed using all the necessary arguments. In a work of art, problems are posed and revealed in figurative form.

Therefore, you should not look for precise logical formulations and ready-made answers to the questions posed. Writers highlight and enhance in phenomena, people or events what seems to them the most important and significant. This is especially clearly visible in the choice of characters, in the characteristics of their relationships (everyday, social, ideological).

Even if there are thematic similarities between the works, there will certainly be differences in the formulation of problems and in their solution.

However, the range of problems that concern writers within the framework of their chosen topic is very different. Each of them interprets the topic in its own way, highlighting different aspects of it and highlighting the most important problems in selected life material.

While some of the secondary problems posed by writers may be similar or consonant, the central problems of these works are deeply different.

The problems of literary works depend on a number of factors, among which in the first place are the features of the worldview, personality, and life experience of the writers. The formulation of problems and their solution are also determined by the writers’ ideas about the essence of man, about the relationships between people, about social development. Even if writers develop “eternal themes,” their approach to them, the problems of the works they create, to a large extent depend on the state of social and ideological life. A theme for a writer is always just a “field” on which each artist collects his own “harvest” of problems.

O. Balzac directed his activities towards improving the moral and ethical norms behind which the individual lives, and the social structure of the state as a whole. His task was not to reproduce, but to transform reality. Because of this, his work is aimed at social issues. At the level of individual works, he paid attention not only to the “disorders” of human life, but also proposed a completely “visible” positive ideal to which one should strive.

In the moral and ethical sphere, such an ideal was the behavior of a “natural” person. People's morality contrasted with ethical relativism, licentiousness, and unprincipledness of the ruling elite.

Balzac's work is characterized by journalisticism, evaluativeness, frank tendentiousness and straightforwardness of judgment, didactic pathos, which in some places develops into a mentoring tone. The heroes of the works became carriers of the author's ideas, and therefore were deprived of individualized characteristics. The depiction of characters was marked by schematism, abstraction and superficial psychologism (baseness was absolutized into positive and negative characters). At the same time, as N.L. rightly notes. Kalenichenko, “defending the value of a person regardless of his position, the democratic orientation of the works; deep interest in folklore and the ethnographic and everyday environment - these best features of educational realism left a deep mark on literature, influencing subsequent generations.”

The educational focus on moral and ethical issues also developed; some of his works, due to the expansion of ontological issues and the deepening of psychologism, are characterized as works of “ethical realism”.

They are marked by an in-depth analysis of socio-political processes, psychologism, intellectualism, and the formulation of important ontological problems of human existence. According to D. Nalivaiko, critical realism affirms a socio-historical approach to man, in contrast to other directions, the integration of the social into the psychological, and the dialectical connection of the hero with the environment. Moreover, “the absolutization of the role of the environment, which leads to the destruction of character, is already a property of naturalism, generally not inherent in realism,” although it was prepared by certain movements and tendencies of realism of the 19th century, especially French.

In Russian literary criticism there was no shortage of research aimed at identifying the differences between these artistic systems. “In the theoretical understanding of the typology literary trends The contradictory nature of their correlation and interconnection, the movability and transitivity of their boundaries does not always find proper reflection, says I. Stebun. - This applies, in particular, to the typological characteristics of realism and romanticism. They emphasize mainly what distinguishes and atomizes each of these directions, and not what brings them together and makes them related, binds them with ties of heredity and predetermines the continuity of the literary process as a historical whole.”

The formation of Balzac's work took place in conditions of opposition to the romantic-idealistic direction of literature. It proves the existence of such unity at the level of specific works of art. According to N. Kalenichenko, “realism of the late XIX - AD. XX century In general, he used a lot from the poetics of romanticism, thereby enriching his artistic media” .

The principle of historicism remains one of the leading ones in realistic art. Realists, like romantics, are interested in the historical past of a people, although they stylize it in their own way.

The romantic problem of nature gives way to the problem of the city, where the main social conflicts unfold. The problem of money, previously perceived as a destructive principle in the abstract, comes to the fore as a completely real engine modern society. The sublime problem of the artist and the problem of love are combined with economic interest, otherwise the one who romantically perceives these two leading phenomena of romanticism is doomed to death.

Balzac gravitates towards depicting broad pictures, towards studying causes and consequences, therefore his main genre becomes the novel - social, socio-psychological, less often - the novel of education, for the latter type is associated with the personality of one person, however, the features of the novel of education are present in almost every realistic novel , where the evolution of character is presented.

The drama at this stage is less developed; it gains strength only towards the end of the century, with the increasing conflict of the era.

Chapter 1 Conclusion

The problematic of a work is the selection, highlighting, and strengthening in the selected material (topic) of those aspects that seem to the writer the most significant from a social, ideological, moral and psychological point of view. The issues, to a greater extent than the themes, reflect the writer’s personality, his life experience and worldview.

Chapter 2. PROBLEMS AND IMAGES IN O. BALZAC’S NOVEL “FATHER GORIO”

2.1 Problems of the novel “Père Goriot”

Balzac's novel "Père Goriot" is a socio-psychological novel that explores not an individual personality, but the psychology of social relations, the psychology of urban society.

In the novel we observe the opposition of two social worlds: above, bourgeois and high society society, below, the boarding house Voke - the world of the poor. At the center of each of these worlds, Balzac placed a female figure: on the one hand, the representative of the Saint-Germain suburb, the Viscountess where Beaucean, on the other, the owner of the boarding house, Madame Vauquer.

At first glance, these two worlds are completely different and separated by an impenetrable abyss. But in reality they are tightly connected with each other; the author’s task was to show the internal connection between the lower and upper classes of bourgeois society. This is what he discovered in the fate of Rastignac, who simultaneously belonged to both worlds.

While in the Viscountess's salon, Rastignac mentions the boarding house: “Eugene's thoughts for one moment transported him to the family boarding house - he was seized by great horror...”, and in the boarding house, Rastignac thinks about high society.

The theme of the “boarding house” and the theme of “light” in the novel intersect all the time, and in the end they are intertwined into one whole. The same laws govern the bottom and the top.

The novel has two plot lines: the first is the tragic story of Father Goriot, who lost not only all his wealth, but also the most precious thing in life - the love of his children. Before his death, he was convinced that money gives everyone.

The second line is the story of Rastignac, who, having buried Father Goriot, challenges Paris: “Well, now who will win!”

The characteristics of the boarding house emphasize the obsolescence and old-fashionedness of the things and people who are in it. “Here there is furniture “expelled from everywhere, indestructible and placed here, as the waste of civilization is placed in a hospital for the incurable,” furniture “old, barely alive”; “disgusting engravings that make you lose your appetite.” Here, in the end, one constantly encounters faded, faded eyes, “wrinkled” faces, bodies that have retained only “remnants of beauty.”

Madame Vauquer's boarding house is a kind of concentration, a symbol of the social and moral laws characteristic of France during the life of Balzac.

This general atmosphere of poverty, decay, and coldness of the boarding house is enhanced by the boring smell that lingers here. “It feels musty, moldy, rotten; it causes a shudder, hits something wet on the nose, soaks clothes, gives it to the dining room where they finished dinner; it stinks of the kitchen, the servant’s, the coachman’s.”

The author not only shows us the room, but also makes us inhale the poisonous, terrible smell that the residents of the boarding house breathe.

The description of Madame Vauquer’s house ends with a generalization: “In short, here is the kingdom of poverty, where there is no hint of poetry, the poverty of the shabby, stingy, condensed. Although they are still without holes and without rags, they will soon turn into decay.”

This depiction of the environment already contains the previous characterization of the acting characters. The features of their general portrait are contained in the description of the housing. Thus, the reader is immersed in the atmosphere of this small world.

But the boarding house is not the only center of the novel.

The salon of the Saint-Germain suburb, aristocratic mansions - this is another part of the city. These are the two poles of Paris - bottom and top, earth and sky, hell and heaven. Above is luxury, below is poverty. Balzac constantly compares these two worlds. Poverty against the background of luxury, luxury against the background of poverty. Balzac's top and bottom collide one with the other, one is displayed in one, one depends on the other - they seem to create a dual image. Here Goriot, Rastignac, Vautrin, the Viscountess where Beauseant can almost equally lay claim to the main place in the work. Moreover, each of them represents a separate social group and the view corresponding to it: Goriot - the bourgeoisie, Rastignac - the provincial philistinism, the Viscountess - the Parisian high philistinism, Vautrin - the underworld.

Thus, in the novel one can highlight such problems as the problem of forming the character of a provincial, the moral choice of Eugene Rastignac - a “young ambitious man”, the motive of temptation; the problem of the “powers that be”; family and family relations in the bourgeois world;

2.2 Images in the novel “Père Goriot”

Let's start looking at the images with the image of Father Goriot. The most glaring heartlessness is shown in the story of his life, which Rastignac observes. Goriot is a rich merchant who did not get his wealth quite honestly. More than anything in the world, he loves his two daughters, for whom he provided a luxurious, happy life, fulfilled every whim for them, married one to a count, the other to a banker, and gave both a large dowry. But soon after marriage they began to be ashamed of their simple father, they remembered him only when they needed money for entertainment and lovers.

Father Goriot is a vivid example of how obsession, the unreasonable development of passion, leads to the complete destruction of personality. Goriot was completely immersed in parental feelings; he did not think about anyone except his daughters. His passion developed on a selfish basis, and the very power of this passion led Father Goriot to death.

Balzac creates a generally realistic image of the city, taking a reliable image of life as an aesthetic credo.

Balzac's Paris is depicted from different sides. It is necessary to highlight two main types of epic in his novels. Relatively speaking, this is prose of exceptional reality (prose of the ideal, absolute prose) and prose of dominant, ordinary reality (relative prose).

Absolute epic is spiritual, bright Paris. The central characters are Pauline Godin, student Lavril, student Bianchon - people who have a hardworking and selfless loving soul.

Balzac's relative prose is manifested in the creation of an image of Paris that is typical, earthly, and imperfect. These are the images of Eugene de Rastignac and the rebel Vautrin.

Honore de Balzac quite fully revealed the image of Paris. According to B.G. Reizov, in his (Balzac’s) work, Paris is “a lighthouse city of provincial ambitious people who flock to it like moths to a flame.”

Vautrin, observing Madame Vauquer's boarders, defines each of them in one word, containing not only their character, but also their interests, fate and opportunities. Similar comments related to the character’s history belong to the narrator, who, while maintaining the features of an “omniscient author,” still ensures that the reader remains a spectator, before whose eyes the scenes unfold “in real time.” An example is the “parade” of the inhabitants of Madame Vauquer’s boarding house, who take turns passing in front of the reader.

B.G. Reizov notes in this regard that “the drama of the novel develops in the Parisian “hell”, one of the tortures of which is vulgarity and poverty.”

The life of Paris is revealed to Rastignac as an arena of struggle. “Life in Paris is a continuous struggle,” he writes to his mother, “I must go on a campaign.”

The big city is both a civilizer and a corrupter, because in order to use their abilities, young people must first melt them: turn youth into perseverance, intelligence into cunning, gullibility into hypocrisy, courage into hidden cunning.

But Rastignac does not go to fight against the dissolute world that he knew, but only to fight for his personal achievement of success. He does not think about the break in the device, but perceives it as it is, enters the “game” and accepts its “rules”, well assimilates the morality of the masters of life, which Vautrin taught him.

Through several of Balzac's works we meet Baron Rastignac, peer of France. The ambitious student was reborn under the influence of Paris and became decisive. A person either dies or capitulates and becomes corrupted in Paris.

Thus,

Chapter 2 Conclusions

In the novel one can highlight the image of the “king of hard labor” - Vautrin, his life philosophy; the image of Father Goriot - a man of passion; the image of Madame Vauquer's boarding house as a symbol of “society in miniature”, the image of Paris.

Paris is a city where incredible luxury and abject poverty are combined together. Paris is like a caustic acid, it eats away some, it forces others to lie low, and some in this atmosphere crystallize, turn to stone, like Eugene Rastignac.

CONCLUSION

An artistic image is a universal category of artistic creativity, a form of interpretation and exploration of the world from the position of a certain aesthetic ideal, through the creation of aesthetically affecting objects.

The problematic of a work is the selection, highlighting, and strengthening in the selected material (topic) of those aspects that seem to the writer the most significant from a social, ideological, moral and psychological point of view. The issues, to a greater extent than the themes, reflect the writer’s personality, his life experience and worldview.

In it one can highlight such problems as the problem of forming the character of a provincial, the moral choice of Eugene Rastignac - the “young ambitious man”, the motive of temptation; the problem of the “powers that be”; family and family relations in the bourgeois world.

In the novel one can highlight the image of the “king of hard labor” - Vautrin, his life philosophy; the image of Father Goriot - a man of passion; the image of Madame Vauquer's boarding house as a symbol of “society in miniature”, the image of Paris.

For Balzac, Paris is a city of light, a cultural center in which all provincials, obsessed with the passion to show their talent and conquer the world, strive to live. Some invisible force forces them to leave their provinces and hometowns and go to Paris. This is their battlefield. Balzac created an image of a city that was predominantly beautiful and enchanting both in its purity and in its sins. Paris is a city where incredible luxury and abject poverty are combined together. Paris is like a caustic acid, it eats away some, it forces others to lie low, and some in this atmosphere crystallize, turn to stone, like Eugene Rastignac.

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Founder of realism in literature

Balzac was born into a wealthy French family of the peasant Bernard. He spent his childhood in the city of Tours. Initially, the family had the surname Balsa, but upon learning that their surname sounded very similar to one of the nobles, the father quickly changed it to Balzac. And Honore himself, already at the age of thirty, added the particle “de”; this fact finally elevated the Honore de Balzac family to the nobility.

Most critics believe that Balzac paid a lot of attention in his works to the theme of relationships between spouses. IN summary"Père Goriot", you can trace the history of his personal experiences. These assumptions are related to the situation in the family of Honore de Balzac, which became known to the public. His father was thirty years older than his mother, the young woman had connections with other men.

IN adolescence the future writer loved to read a lot. While living in a college boarding house in the city of Vendôme, the boy felt very lonely. His peers did not understand his passion for reading and studying. Later he will reflect this period in the novel with a philosophical bent, “Louis Lambert”.

From lawyer to writer

As a twenty-year-old boy, Honore entered law school. However, his successful career as a clerk is interrupted by an unexpected love of writing.

In the 20-30s of the 19th century, Balzac's first action-packed novels were published, in which he came up with a code of morality and correct behavior in secular society. Initially, his work was anonymous. But gradually the popularity of his novels began to gain momentum, particularly among the female population. The writer was helped in understanding female psychology by his first lover, who was not only twenty-two years older than the writer, but was also in an official relationship. As a result, one of the readers achieved the direct attention of Honore and became his wife (Polish Countess Hanska).

By 1840, the writer was at the peak of his popularity, but this did not make his life serene. Being an adventurous person, Balzac invested a lot of money in completely unprofitable projects. For example, buying a country house without good financial security or founding a periodical that became a complete failure.

The main idea of Balzac's books

The initial goal of Balzac's writing was to depict modern society with all its inherent vices. He described society, dividing it into types, explaining his choice by the variety of external conditions and the difference in human characters.

He compared the idea itself with something material, tried to convey the meaning of the enslavement of the human mind by a sick goal, which will ultimately lead to the death of the owner, despite his social status. For example, this can be noticed when reading the summary of "Père Goriot". The heroes of Balzac's novels are entire stories of clashes between their crazy passions and social realities.

Plot lines of the novel

Balzac's novel "Père Goriot" is considered the author's main work. This is an epic that includes a dozen different characters. The storyline centers on the loss of youthful hopes and illusions. The novel is divided into three thematic lines, which at first seem different, but ultimately the reader finds links connecting them.

The reader will be the first to learn the story of the devotion of the father - the old man Goriot, who gave his last pants to his daughters, and he himself went into another world as beggars. This plot reveals the main problem of humanity - the power of money over people.

The second story is the theme of ambition. It tells the story of a student from a provincial town, Eugene Rastignac, who uses every opportunity to become part of the high society of Paris.

The third storyline of the novel “Père Goriot” is the theme of the philosophy of crime. As an escaped convict, Vautrin fights for the right to disregard the law for strong individuals like him.

Novel "Père Goriot": main characters

The central character is Father Goriot. His attitude to the world is perceived through his love for each of his daughters, and the meaning of life is to fulfill their whims. He appears as the so-called martyr of parental devotion.

The youngest of the children, Delphine de Nucingen, is the wife of a banker. However, her married life immediately cracked and subsequently she and her husband began to live completely different lives: sleeping in different rooms and having affairs on the side, not hiding them from each other.

The eldest daughter, Anastasi de Resto, married the count and fell in love with social life with all her heart. Goriot's eldest daughter is also far from an angel. It turns out that all her children were conceived by her lover Maxime de Traya. After repeatedly asking her father for help in covering Maxim's debts, Anastasi runs away with her lover, leaving her family behind.

In describing the summary of “Père Goriot,” special attention should be paid to a young student from a village family, Eugene de Rastignac, who becomes one of Delphine’s lovers. However, he is practically the only character who shows respect for old Goriot.

The criminal Vautrin, who leads a secretive life, is an escaped convict, a real cynic, he plays with the destinies of people. But, despite his bad character, he is the voice of conscience, he is straightforward, he has no fear of condemnation from society when he expresses his point of view. Vautrin sympathizes with the student, offering him to become the husband of a millionaire's daughter. The student has a cousin, a viscountess. She is married, but had a relationship with a certain marquis, after whose wedding she fled from grief to the north, to her husband’s estate.

The owner of the boarding house is a widow of fifty years old. Voke had certain types to Father Goriot. However, he rejected her, so she treats the old man aggressively and with open hostility.

And finally, Dr. Bianchon, who is a student and friend of Eugene. He comes to the aid of his friend when he reports that Father Goriot is seriously ill. He assists in organizing the old man's funeral.

The story takes place in the boarding house "House of Vauquet", named after the dowager mistress. The four-story building is inhabited by characters of completely different characters. The fourth floor is the cheapest, the second is the best and most expensive. Moreover, two widows live on the second floor: the owner herself and Madame Couture, the wife of the deceased commissioner, who also supports a young pupil, Quiztina Taillefer. The third floor is occupied by the old man Poircet and the former convict Vautrin. On the fourth floor are the apartments of the old maid Mishano, father Goriot (formerly the owner of a pasta factory), as well as the young student Rastignac. There is also an attic floor where the cook and servant Christophe live. The residents of the boarding house wear shabby clothes, and their faces are downcast, except for the girl Victorina, who was not recognized by her millionaire father.

At the center of all events is the old man Gorio. After retiring from the factory in 1813, he settled in a boarding house and, having money, took a room on the most prestigious floor. The widowed mistress wanted to marry him, however, not having achieved her goal, she literally inflamed with hatred of Goriot. Over time, the old man became poor and had to move to the top floor. He was given the nickname "Dad". Sometimes his daughters come to him, who are dressed and shod very richly, unlike their father.

Events at Goriot are developing sadly. Vautrin finds him going to a moneylender who accepts old silver cutlery, which he informs the hostess about. He is trying to prove to everyone that the father supports his daughters.

Turbulent events in the life of the boarding house

Then the cycle of events begins. The student encounters her husband and her lover, Count Maxim, in Anastasi’s house. However, after the mention of Father Goriot, Rastignac is escorted out, and he goes to the house of the Viscountess de Beauseant. At this moment, the viscountess's lover, the Portuguese d'Ajula Pinto, without disappointment, hastily leaves her house so as not to admit to treason. But his associate in sin hears about his intentions to marry another lady.

At this moment, the Duchess de Langeais appears at the de Beauseant house. The most interesting thing is that the student had no idea about the family ties between Goriot and Anastasi. Eugene also learns that his father earned his fortune during the bourgeois revolution in France and gave his daughters a huge amount of money as a dowry (five hundred thousand francs each). Then Beaucean invites Eugene to start a relationship with the youngest of his daughters and tells him what manners he needs to learn in order to win the favor of the ladies of high society.

After returning to the boarding house, Rastignac takes on the role of guardian to old Goriot. At this moment, Vautrin negotiates a deal with the student, the meaning of which is for Eugene to find him a bride with a million francs as a dowry. Rastignac immediately realized that if Victorine’s father was intimidated in order to recognize paternity, then there would be no need to look for anyone. As a result, events turn out the way the student wants, but he refuses Vautrin’s money for the work done. And he has his own hidden agenda for this.

Eugene finally meets Delphine and gives her money, which she does not see at all from her husband. Over time, the student realizes that he has fallen in love with Goriot's youngest daughter and is left without funds.

At the same time, Poircet and Mishano find out that Vautrin is an escaped convict who calls himself “Cheat Death.” Vautrin informs the student about the duel with Victorine's brother.

Goriot's daughters have problems. It turns out that the youngest's husband was involved in illegal activities. The eldest daughter is trying by hook or by crook to help her lover pay off his debts. Amid worries about his children, Goriot fell ill with a serious illness. However, none of the daughters are worried about their father. Goriot dies a very painful death, and only the student is at his bedside all this time. In his dying delirium, Goriot admits to himself that the children did not love him at all. Eugene becomes convinced of this during the funeral, which he organizes with his own money.

Film adaptations of the novel

There are five film adaptations of "Père Goriot" with the same names.

The very first of them appeared in 1910 (directed by Armand Numes). The next film adaptation was released after the end of the war, in 1945. The Italians made their version in 1970. Two years later, a television film based on the novel “Père Goriot” appeared.

2004 film adaptation

The most recent adaptation is a 2004 television film (directed by Jean-Daniel Verhauck). Charles Aznavour embodied the image of the unfortunate Father Goriot on the screen. The plot of the film is almost identical to the book. Father Goriot pays a high price for his love for his daughters, giving them all his savings. His feelings of fatherly love are rather a kind of insanity.

The image of the student mentioned in the summary of “Père Goriot” is also well revealed in the television film. He was played by actor Malik Zidi.