Eugénie Grandet

novel by Balzac

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Article History

Eugénie Grandet, novel by Honoré de Balzac, first published in 1833 (revised edition, 1839). When Balzac later grouped many of his novels into schema in his multivolume La Comédie humaine (1834–37), Eugénie Grandet was included among the “scenes of provincial life” under the category “Studies of Manners.”

The action of the novel concerns the adult life of the title character, the daughter of a wealthy but miserly man living a simple life in the provincial town of Saumur. Eugénie’s inexperience leads her to fall in love with an unworthy man; she eventually pays his debts so that he can marry another woman. At the novel’s end, Eugénie is alone, living out a solitary, pinched life in the provincial house she has inherited.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.