Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Cousin Bette
Cousin Bette
Cousin Bette
Ebook557 pages9 hours

Cousin Bette

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Honore de Balzac “Cousin Bette” is generally considered to be one of the writer’s most famous novels, his last great work before his death. It is a classic novel of revenge, passion, and vices. Along with her friend Valérie, the title character Bette strategizes for the overwhelming destruction of men in general and her cousin-in-law Baron Hector Hulot specifically. Hulot sacrifices his family and fortune on a series of extramarital seductions, and when he becomes interested in Valérie, she and Bette concoct a plan that will cost the Hulot family their happiness. Bette’s actions lead her entire family to self-destruct due to her insatiable rage and manipulative tactics. Balancing the immoral characters is the virtuous Adeline, Hulot’s wife. Her moral nature and forgiving personality give the dysfunctional family a touch of decency. The story examines the typical moralistic themes that are mirrored in Balzac’s earlier works. Also present are Balzac’s uncensored opinions and depictions of society, contrasted with the stereotypes of men and women during the high points of French culture during the 19th century. Critics also praise the novel for its realism and use of historical content and accuracy. This edition follows the translation of Ellen Marriage, pseudonymously as James Waring, and includes a biographical afterword.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 31, 2020
ISBN9781420968651
Author

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.

Read more from Honoré De Balzac

Related to Cousin Bette

Related ebooks

Classics For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Cousin Bette

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Cousin Bette - Honoré de Balzac

    T$Rabook_preview_excerpt.html}˒ב1*jh(5A`8͌G%+mg=ZtfdwUL&2#ï?Ѕ]_ߟo7/߿Y|kg~0=|Yl>\z͛oŋ7_sEc5s}h:,O7_+v4 U[|1G:/Om[QPv&wCO2He]Ƕx _ocqoOӫO~wW/R'yuM*ЏLjt.%M8(TNXnUӈHM5bdqC{.o'Y4qWO%;1a<|?wx}U;cC-?TN02Xt}%:D[toa93乛"~n@]">/~i"7TV:<}O̩,vQۦVVM G1{USލ8-m#""k 'EUד¾/"ӿ?+ˀ6y'kXtOwI>Xաuw¦]|#{[G}5T#_t]_o?y߼O/x7اZa/n|Wů/߿7߾X}HB΁ r x!~]"GM{uAdr,w"z[hcōȞ68rZ}tyͫd R88ȗ䐥> Ec/]cz,sRl6Xjs_mSN_읈6WB^*ɹ.ˢer%O{QW33)DBqmuh~/kPlW8/؀UP$:i<\P[wѡn.pOe~Q.6M%+EI*uTބ;LJqR&NvY~%{/L򟲂PD᤟DJ_U{&]6T)Y"Q}'NJvz!DF!Z{ĒaXZ$A&Nqd=~S7Ĉ˩^W&ٚkiz `gI i8{9 ~~j9,^#HXAfPEJ(՝-?%&x M9ɗ*4)]OU!ʲYfs3u$8D>|~QS2иcO86]GW4g{Y<ʧ|]}C j 5F-Zcqa:(T(zwzD-HD@;NV3]2z<k( ϒG C&1q]QS&}{Y䵵48wS'=N`#,JW̒*~禰~(rGQQs6xŽP3_6-/䷱{YV%I]}aQV,jҿw+z$um&Y퀃Fr!2›TKŃ7tH0]!fzX]ջh"{+8Y:A@sE5zN p=;2S*831,/2UhL"AWB-yk-YIa#ʅbSGݙG[?x 1RACp|boe}ՏW\ש ,VWFvHq%*秡) DU9S@ʳOD&j; Zn۟KԈ}Wŝk# Ej?VȠ_$1B"ݾYNrr 8˜-~"|Ⱥ7`\{{%J 2F@YThҦsin\W$~< ~~ 'FFxlO%OU@"qlyQ{aEh*kveĊ.. <-ƇfKINj^װ*3?N`@Kp,+aM]Hy; ,V9qY^|!<9$z=t f*cKJw[qIIuX# {c?հMޠNk*|+yJ*mQ A²WdbŎ`_|x8/2b iCD;~9# H0IK"ŻHDRߵxv Y}~ Vd΅c0̨#\ɚ|'Ņ͗g&,'"r.ߛ_IH彑iղS}ChhLJ&oc,fo9 b"7 @ͱͷ6olXnX: ?w Wٷ6l},U4}?}ȝDW$pT- Źny J[s!j1lP#6:o}]vE)[ %6Hnc8pt∘,LmLu\ވ~%bV$7MR!y Nt*8Po4Y𥽨`Vl6ӿWmuÏ!S,E'$a k1Q?'u"<q-aв&6>?PELɩWsUPAWp; ۳{yN>1J8[K8Dw*|F1E?~*K֟6~w[j`*LDK`hƩ^r 8/|[xIJcc{`[y#6t1qK BC4gk>?D|) c[Ruqw@tyFl3u9`+f,|;_ox+H4,O\`~/YsHMeD76xhD8404NTqU*u7ۛ$R1( <rW78Sj}VɎ7"TSВLTarTCYIlQ# ( y(@&+"!ENƪ ^!D12u.1 rUrɒ1$~[^?c[3X^"@}Tq%D4F+n&HLω#v]X65|e^ Eő(+[1} gG ϲ w#Ip]g\O>0c5Ulchd; \v9Nm;բ YvK\V@Ay7l0V?C$&t%qHQ!eY3N#bQ7Ced,-~2YZǵ(#+v^=Ď&AWXb*,PLlĶuЪϏ.@ hGTڢ13bW* 0U9gxiQ9e!b/W j'9虪Vc~>%Ɩ=1Gv?~^zeL>c If:$/, ǷMī7$P}%N|EFe3uCfhBXZrA{%[8@"z YCRQ Fez ƀ_P)採aL $sb'Au zd<)@5s#hTt/g`F }~j!=?°8A.(EQD[)d\yOTFeDrހ 2R.0SoV3*8FC܈9~l4$,i3eV?޿CexLVF[btHz|:r_YH/"HA7xP~E?r_{-.Q w<`:]]U8b?C'j>= _-cqeo@N4(l[ -5Uaqe@]=0LX=f AύfY{q'Q`!/8/F}'9gF8a#b5Vg  Lƭ$xney˅+(!)fyXA jm+u+).clQ' =Lgރ$(ģq-uUA'M(~FͮBNu*p&08LfvN=0*C"uq>qk6y3v: Z!6d4OK~Ispz..:'IJϰ8RkjuhIY#saІ/{UB3D ֘ " }<췈RܐSlZ^&pD n~APU{Lp͈h;+ ݁(9&vm !e^; ?)g;rmᐓ_>Z_<~nH$6}I73@{TVzM2gDg`V,0@`\-{@:Xsy{&`ȵ2|<} %+cO2)<  6b"34\Yv989w-soC 2 ;YN %"?* pC @Ooً=T6/ !>$GvPEV"O>&qVqj~ l/+d1S~aA,t:= =:CQ-ڀTcy@3eWJ%P-Bxh#ݘS&[Ez>Q^Ä mCpT/spk6h7 #|JB u86F.:ps6mxiw%k Hw]߉>5X́ǏP^-1.%1M(Pc顱3I`bAe `M;U@I!Jw5 8Gݤh/@mʹ}&ä,,9,>ү-)@'̂yb&di'Ȑ&|+seTp5r/v*%)G@$&s:θ>Vf 48xrJǶ rpdrq'LbBqrr)| .c rpMj/+{B ~f.'6@!f[m4SϜɕ]X9JZ,ql!^Om8p~H ˢ$0j(U (/K\*G Izj\Y]/E_,))ɪTe7yjFBQP !B1GW09x>XN4'ЋZ 4ګ; wAXp>2(8o,DEV(kWFuq _3[^Q~(SpAD}t 4T܎34 7:;ǟ,:]"K+m xVo0'#1ȲjLc7|պGR}xĭ=pJhTZ^Kʖ@$pm_H$tok$+ e&/6P$|8-<ݙCwV)@Zʬ58IbGh*o@Fx6ړʣ/FF<|(NiG̪&^1}@UB^ů31PQe9im"Se $5c2P05+vkk@alݥ:GC1xPijQS\{SYDߦj,Tt֟Ad,ɮ% m\\kuRv3h֪2&fBɲȧ_/Qlu2RИvwS: 5s]|w<[d4LQ+F B`|4J<#Әj-w;7!e֛%бx%3g`ay Uhy i?L9d2X5@lkt.``W+3Z v2GHLŅakE8nԐB5YK|gz덝ۀ"wJOL4ZD#,h B@Eړy)5Ttcպ2Wr? A2Y]ZuduðBܐ{`K)>FF^/\&iIB(k;wCSbxEVP%OoJ}1^w9L\O0YD⡣(H434K_g}q=8[Bfp\!y3QDH T2( Lo9q35+ s=l.s1 Eii>DJcns9#_:np-GY, 'cxڏCL[sA깵&['%d<0iaJ{DuF+R~MGd'44:v܄v8ި04 OjdbX`-ZFoRa:~⒯4(/ YChEv?e+:`, \/eAo['g(6S6dsvj&ߛF-AkFCm0KAqwkB]RtvX^ř{HCAyubxE2p9xz`%Q7L4CRܵP&-(~4bК{-b5!!9"2ajB~33sR0gHV"QIc Ւ&!+]Vtƚ2ib(ܙ׋W oZ+rm໩3;YYr-&r80Vj-[CSy+͎ ܬ]2U~4rse9phV5;ti}!2QD3*yB>z1UϨ5uԲR\+=hQI&bunWb@=hiAVWo+ђ+aL`͖%ywLIUc=.fbpZP^!J%]TzȽ-;<*>Xr+vV1Μ:$ʺVGPUc~_j]E%bI܈$$fumz͜082# YeM|wxÙ,\ċ]/'#{{ IH?Fy.mX>E 1_ݢ.\UWcKyz~t[O"_]X})PgDžlاR2ُRgRЏ`fG 0KYLqԂ^mل g $@gR(냨e{Y jm̩gi\UMҲB#,ʹZ1rYmϝ"0c\f2HIrǞqwlPI4ci',cύ"xx^3QaG/g{ؑ@k=!1^2Ԕe2mu۳Y*r$''5! mQ#Iwo:lUH8;] W/b++s6,X90. coлbL;r؝z=s@4M,snO:ne]AڤǿVX L$1q*3Fk@6-V̚GʍC? 2%6h ݿY ޙOa ~iY4ͱDܨU)Ȱ~ޒagr9gJ) m- 07[y z *xESOPƂbhTT0ˤNȼkA}dH.a =i@` +Y=fDk1eA_ի(ITϦPp'j, Ve1Nytc24gCf;)0GG?'{/P bOG{?,}vUm^ge&têfG=woS FmM?jʕ`K=CԸAA^Uūv6B(abI#HEc==γ1kp t KgR0X͇+ɹ]I`d!K9 skR.pb6> u {b&~#qr6S?Fn(A@;׹:\#Bu8-am/X!)<<1\ƊkPݼt5ۙ&:&Q!Yt_R[;,㵧䕧b6xsMxK&8) LɵOp:Ős0BȎ j>@c٣cx^3U* >+-CTZE<&^'#UZܞ}Vt)ߺv*#ϊG-qŲMv).Z{/rQ *>jIbi('c.>V7 _iGEv3ZEˌZ8nYMo %Ń; l4$fBzkثe9TNFG {_cNsRςz0 N+B`#zPљN={GkF:(#e~"{[SJi$*Ld؋_M8| iU*&U;=WqL`xfuDGpc&vҶmV@8=|:I^2LXu*+1+/;:U[7O/L"bI){Fv_L;N 6y{ؘYEo2w!GO%PN8Z#wyv0k`9ùʩA}TްِGxPhɺjJ |V&_"RʰF>V<@^e"5.꺟,ҼЃv<3 ,\eQFa[sLTS^'087gSWz9)tnQhU%n9A'>&1_6le`J7jE }YnKA/P$}=vPFiPBd@*Qrkq2HC.y+ p@ka\_%=>NnEVN3$ ,lb0ap 2Ge*U GGDT:e,!>}+{KH\ѱ)xk̵ߧGYѫS(J)Le: ~bYJ M5,8HಭC&]ʚe-$,cFH98{Uir\:ܚZ=]y&agKl/[bVQOV>1 =O( Q{j-&G!E[S7"JM;~WY bVZt>,73rJpnQ1 LN=ⶖ!L"0+: ?:r=X *,IS$3wy0d_*;$1?0S C.~>vwY f0By9Y^o= <5vkNl`ۥ1g% 4̈́vK|}ʩeGҕݳ"pX0舂rB˽ EgEg^RYAuEmI[h< sRX18 ,7z;(G ~vD UZ$CM%d%l,4sLfj )4׻RsCPԕ 2+leYs~فc˄ҿK)~2/~!{ =\T}sWNr=*l!Lͭ3_VN-3n0jdl!0Ԋbv?Ͳݘ=/.k:$´;^ eei%WIuܾ.Tȴ3 .'UFpdB^d]OĐdN5Ʋ5aZuu;\}{&D!q1R>~-*K늫ؤ/d1͕8sK+̕H0Sg=Vl֍TҘXLɃ(a OayG! NϿ_>f}D\Hn8Umk~u^,g;EC"͟~OWށR^xA[e+tk/xR Bu(C:SVaXdl2l/S_wxHZcoJ+"Q $vbfk (rRFE7C/Y:7gO|zE¼E\.S} 8X\i7K] ^QۺHgjR)ءaSӰB6O {`7 *Oİ"RL:mfZ\W$<$F>V_zvAPN>oBȖ?T.x6ppb%e|ٚ:罆|#>u@[eO$`U0=#>΅ /[4-FQe7;`=c+rBM:i׼iS~B4gM(ѻpw12 J ` bx~- ha#UcM&3tP/!!(yQ\uqjbax5^5'تgw4%!]IFuv@%5bP[* |Ic}H}IYxDFxrRo)5M=%417F޹{s۳O '\#ޮ)"1;g .o}X!'j c;Ú;7}cm{c K˰99֠/b'U!zH&ϲZZV\F*aqq=+4ajEl( :%+sLnvQ VghW"'K* D~(ɠ_TJ'Pd*̼`*k-wlVaI3'h_6 W%fe*Y L[韵Tdju)R i+ :Š3ɯY9qa[xJM3ƋK/A9tVs^V̪_WJb (x3sn{mw˨.C{Mz/3fnxxQ6Q.hW #ӕf7 -Fe]a,ޫbh`5xCG)th[/hO3=gZv ?Z[΍Yi9zDm/P ?rCa6{G[ˮ`x%^5?$1ilㇻv9sj4-OeuRM* ߍ7j~?>rؘRz>{7h2 7SHϬg|wޖ'y6[1ݰ|"-vx98KȦ"S*EkE+yoRRiM~/{.1:`-p{m M:e=1xZ{_ӏѧ+~Iԏ8hSЋ5)P͐S*9[\UCUAMH0]Ө`on]8x< Z v!rۺs.RJ%Ɯ{D;<͓?NL㇔6{]T ͉ -x8 ) `bo̖GQeqYvSfkh}>h U^F9T*U,:*qn0͋@0US~N3jvHY  Tt,%D] h~VpoYE0.VR..#QC`=3$ &W&ݡ[p mܕ=z=2s-մ6r,U[XM//֮?Zehr\^@TE~I6}f[ptߖ,Q';Pcl>VLzt=rsrKGvTْȐcUl@>1D&ɀ<#\%@S{Ü]쀷 ڋI[:B5^#< wt@xM#W'tVxܟyQBr]1bܫq>zujܺB+IzPg#iZjK3 e%p͐H@ gWmVкMNx]xbڵɫ4ݹ J HQtj0{5椦nmmѡCK͔uXSIj ! y%;H+3kE7'h2d2Ɣo< f좝-@mX&zc2oS_h6[7 8|lX}מz]iVl/[bv=Du;F⥵]?{f2ldk=d1 VLύdբ7 G+c5,lt( C4% ̟ H\?;hvf? Ée;տa9":&GE}}WWj F$mD{)>+ף[9~|`KG@%ͦ=J.F[ů5&Y0E(EX/3ʣ>J5 !o{3py7d!7qc3Q ة0ܳq)&ݭ^cZÜTeOn\PIdz?Pq]8#yR >E|hѯ7hvqߋ6sFiWR攆}B**ϵHC}t^nK lK'`z×̛dlM=3yFnaerv~"eeɜBf=CÝq靸oBh멍yzF͛yN"̿egWꇬ4̹^aϜ5{@bT$۳56go0COoD ?d2XmCE&$W`@CJOEU\yoqϨi)يG㯉EzE%Ef/@BVdy!:dGO%qֶ|x~xd2dU#^=j3r>=4#`hWt9&*¦~3KSЖަC}VpŃyH[Ni]u HpY|;[taBl+(IiV=jdU )N} w[xM9+fڋs'|-'t1ߦtDo=+No7Bs( qph,o Ө@L\rO=ӿ2mL0#2zp⩀4Ʊ/n;ZKrT`3RsTi)tÜrY:-\:_V3 f>v`](c<#S5;5POc_7֤#03kY SU${5AJܱ|Do7 57XLv\Uƾv}JX1ʱgfM#b2;JVӎ8RuTF́y?Lz/ y\Xف>tyZ_DV797ua Q 9SG8c-ڣ!w:R NOeeJo0kAc) _jGY(xAPiA#!x9'1y<(8,81+ |[д [zκo4\yPXyo aОBo阧wj{.7JW *ȥW^['_x~wƓxB._hmIÕeY^zi*J ˦$. ȳu`t^_mrBoY*TV9 M1fy!+5T&qoƣqƣ
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1