Honorine by Honoré de Balzac - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)

By Honoré de Balzac

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Honorine by Honoré de Balzac - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Collected Works of Honoré de Balzac’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Balzac includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

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* The complete unabridged text of ‘Honorine by Honoré de Balzac - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’
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* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781788775168

Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist, short story writer, and playwright. Regarded as one of the key figures of French and European literature, Balzac’s realist approach to writing would influence Charles Dickens, Émile Zola, Henry James, Gustave Flaubert, and Karl Marx. With a precocious attitude and fierce intellect, Balzac struggled first in school and then in business before dedicating himself to the pursuit of writing as both an art and a profession. His distinctly industrious work routine—he spent hours each day writing furiously by hand and made extensive edits during the publication process—led to a prodigious output of dozens of novels, stories, plays, and novellas. La Comédie humaine, Balzac’s most famous work, is a sequence of 91 finished and 46 unfinished stories, novels, and essays with which he attempted to realistically and exhaustively portray every aspect of French society during the early-nineteenth century.

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HONORÉ DE BALZAC

The Stepmother

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2014

Version 1

COPYRIGHT

‘The Stepmother’

Honoré de Balzac: Parts Edition (in 116 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 90890 966 4

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

Honoré de Balzac: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 108 of the Delphi Classics edition of Honoré de Balzac in 116 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The Stepmother from the bestselling edition of the author’s Collected Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Honoré de Balzac, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Honoré de Balzac or the Collected Works of Honoré de Balzac in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

HONORÉ DE BALZAC

IN 116 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

Scenes from Private Life

1, At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

2, The Ball at Sceaux

3, Letters of Two Brides

4, The Purse

5, Modeste Mignon

6, A Start in Life

7, Albert Savarus

8, Vendetta

9, A Second Home

10, Domestic Peace

11, Madame Firmiani

12, Study of a Woman

13, The Imaginary Mistress

14, A Daughter of Eve

15, The Message

16, The Grand Breteche

17, La Grenadiere

18, The Deserted Woman

19, Honorine

20, Beatrix

21, Gobseck

22, A Woman of Thirty

23, Father Goriot

24, Colonel Chabert

25, The Atheist’s Mass

26, The Commission in Lunacy

27, The Marriage Contract

28, Another Study of Woman

Scenes from Provincial Life

29, Ursule Mirouet

30, Eugenie Grandet

The Celibates

31, Pierrette

32, The Vicar of Tours

33, The Two Brothers

Parisians in the Country

34, The Illustrious Gaudissart

35, The Muse of the Department

36, The Old Maid

37, The Collection of Antiquities

Lost Illusions

38, Two Poets

39, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

40, Eve and David

The Thirteen

41, Ferragus

42, The Duchesse de Langeais

43, Girl with the Golden Eyes

44, Rise and Fall of César Birotteau

45, The Firm of Nucingen

Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life

46, Esther Happy: How a Courtesan Can Love

47, What Love Costs an Old Man

48, The End of Evil Ways

49, Vautrin’s Last Avatar

50, Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan

51, Facino Cane

52, Sarrasine

53, Pierre Grassou

The Poor Relations

54, Cousin Betty

55, Cousin Pons

56, A Man of Business

57, A Prince of Bohemia

58, Gaudissart II

59, Bureaucracy

60, Unconscious Comedians

61, The Lesser Bourgeoisie

The Seamy Side of History

62, Madame de La Chanterie

63, The Initiate

Scenes from Political Life

64, An Episode Under the Terror

65, An Historical Mystery

66, The Deputy of Arcis

67, Monsieur de Sallenauve

68, Z. Marcas

Scenes from Military Life

69, The Chouans

70, A Passion in the Desert

Scenes from Country Life

71, Sons of the Soil

72, The Country Doctor

73, The Village Rector

74, The Lily of the Valley

PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES

75, The Magic Skin

76, Christ in Flanders

77, Melmoth Reconciled

78, The Unknown Masterpiece

79, Gambara

80, Massimilla Doni

81, The Alkahest

82, The Hated Son

83, Farewell

84, Juana

85, The Recruit

86, El Verdugo

87, A Drama on the Seashore

88, Maitre Cornelius

89, The Red Inn

Catherine de’ Medici

90, The Calvinist Martyr

91, The Secrets of the Ruggieri

92, The Two Dreams

93, The Elixir of Life

94, The Exiles

95, Louis Lambert

96, Seraphita

ANALYTICAL STUDIES

97, Physiology of Marriage

98, Little Miseries of Conjugal Life

Pathology of Social Life

99, Traité de La Vie Élégante

100, Théorie de La Démarche

101, Traité Des Excitants Modernes

The Short Stories

102, Droll Stories

103, The Napoleon of the People

The Plays

104, Introduction to Balzac’s Dramas by J. Walker Mcspadden

105, Vautrin

106, The Resources of Quinola

107, Pamela Giraud

108, The Stepmother

109, Mercadet

The Criticism

110, The Criticism

The Biographies

111, Honoré de Balzac by Albert Keim and Louis Lumet

112, Honoré de Balzac, His Life and Writings by Mary F. Sandars

113, Balzac and Madame Hanska by Elbert Hubbard

114, Balzac by Frederick Lawton

115, Women in the Life of Balzac by Juanita Helm Floyd

116, Glossary of Characters in ‘La Comédie Humaine’

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The Stepmother

Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley

Presented for the First Time in Paris

At the Theatre-Historique

May 25, 1848

CONTENTS

PERSONS OF THE PLAY

ACT I

ACT II

ACT III

ACT IV

ACT V

PERSONS OF THE PLAY

Comte de Grandchamp, a Napoleonic General

Eugene Ramel, a State’s Attorney

Ferdinand Marcandal

Doctor Vernon

Godard

An Investigating Magistrate

Felix, servant to General de Grandchamp

Champagne, a foreman

Baudrillon, a druggist

Napoleon, son to General de Grandchamp by his second wife

Gertrude, second wife to General de Grandchamp

Pauline, daughter to General de Grandchamp by his first wife

Marguerite, maid to Pauline

Gendarmes, Sheriff’s Officer, the Clergy

SCENE: Chateau of the General de Grandchamp, near Louviers, Normandy

TIME: 1829

ACT I

SCENE FIRST

(A richly decorated drawing-room; on the walls are portraits of Napoleon I. and his son. The entry is by a large double glass door, which opens on a roofed veranda and leads by a short stairway to a park. The door of Pauline’s apartments are on the right; those of the General and his wife are on the left. On the left side of the central doorway is a table, and on the right is a cabinet. A vase full of flowers stands by the entrance to Pauline’s room. A richly carved marble mantel, with a bronze clock and candelabras, faces these apartments. In the front of the stage are two sofas, one on the left, the other on the right. Gertrude enters, carrying the flowers which she has just plucked, and puts them in the vase.)

Gertrude and the General.

Gertrude I assure you, my dear, that it would be unwise to defer any longer giving your daughter in marriage. She is now twenty-two. Pauline has been very slow in making her choice; and, in such a case, it is the duty of parents to see that their children are settled. Moreover, I am very much interested in her.

The General

In what way?

Gertrude The position of stepmother is always open to suspicion; and for some time it has been rumored in Louviers that I am the person who throws obstacles in the way of Pauline’s marriage.

The General That is merely the idle gossip of little towns. I should like to cut out some of those silly tongues. And to think that they should attack you of all people, Gertrude, who have been a real mother to Pauline — whom you have educated most excellently!

Gertrude It is the way of the world! They will never forgive us for living so close to the town, yet never entering it. The society of the place revenges itself upon us for slighting it. Do you think that our happiness can escape envy? Even our doctor —

The General

Do you mean Vernon?

Gertrude Yes, Vernon is very envious of you; he is vexed to think that he has never been able to inspire any woman with such affection as I have for you. Moreover, he pretends that I am merely playing a part, — as if I could do it for twelve years! Rather unlikely, I should think.

The General No woman could keep up the pretence for twelve years without being found out. The idea is absurd! And Vernon also is —

Gertrude Oh, he is only joking! And so, as I told you before, you had better see Godard. I am astonished that he has not yet arrived. He is so rich that it would be folly to refuse him. He is in love with Pauline, and although he has his faults, and is somewhat provincial, he is quite able to make her happy.

The General

I have left Pauline quite free to choose a husband for herself.

Gertrude There is no cause for anxiety. A girl so gentle, so well brought up, so well behaved, is sure to do right.

The General

Gentle, did you say? She is headstrong, like her father.

Gertrude

She, headstrong? And you, come now, do you not always act as I wish?

The General You are no angel, and always wish what pleases me! By the bye, Vernon takes dinner with us after his autopsy.

Gertrude

Was it necessary to tell me that?

The General

I only told you, in order that he might have his favorite wines.

Felix (enters, announcing)

Monsieur de Rimonville!

The General