Editing Honoré de Balzac

{{Infobox politician|name=Honoré de Balzac|image_size=250|birth_name=Honoré Balzac|birth_date=20 May 1799|death_date=18 August 1950|nationality=French|image=Honoré de Balzac.png}}

'''Honoré de Balzac''' (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1950) was a French novelist and playwright. He wrote 30 novellas and short stories and 60 full-length novels, including ''The Human Comedy'', a detailed portrayal of French society between the overthrow of [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] and the [[French Revolution of 1848|revolutions of 1848]] that includes around 2,000 characters.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Ben Curry|newspaper=In Defence of Marxism|title=The revolutionary dialectic of Balzac’s 'Human Comedy'|date=2024-05-24|url=https://www.marxist.com/the-revolutionary-dialectic-of-balzac-s-human-comedy.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612220855/https://www.marxist.com/the-revolutionary-dialectic-of-balzac-s-human-comedy.htm|archive-date=2024-06-12}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Balzac was born in 1799, the same year that Napoleon took power.<ref name=":0" />

== ''The Human Comedy'' ==
Balzac wrote ''The Human Comedy'' as a series of several books. The first volume, ''Les Chouans'', is set in 1799 and depicts revolutionary [[Peasantry|peasants]] fighting against guerrillas who joined the monarchist cause just to rob dead [[Republicanism|republicans]]. The [[Counterrevolution|counterrevolutionaries]] ask their leader for titles and estates in exchange for their allegiance to the deposed [[Louis XVII Bourbon|king]]. The later volumes ''Lost Illusions'' and ''Père Goriot'' occur after the nobility was restored to power but was not able to reestablish feudal property relations due to the rising [[bourgeoisie]]. ''Lost Illusions'' praises the revolutionary republican Michel Chrestien, whom Balzac described as "one of the noblest creatures who every trod on the soil of France." ''Père Goriot'' is a modern retelling of the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] tragedy ''King Lear'' centered around the impoverished nobleman Eugene de Rastignac, who can become rich either by seducing the daughter of the [[Bank|banker]] de Nucingen or by working with the criminal Vautrin. Rastignac chooses Vautrin and agrees with him that "wealth is virtue."<ref name=":0" />

== Political views ==
Balzac believed that [[religion]] and [[monarchism]] were necessary for society and hoped to be able to join the aristocracy through [[marriage]]. Although he did not consider himself a [[Materialism|materialist]] or a [[Revolution|revolutionary]], but he wrote in a realist style and rejected the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] [[Idealism|idealization]] of the [[Kingdom of France (987–1792)|past]]. His works portrayed the [[aristocracy]] negatively.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
[[Category:Writers]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balzac, Honoré}}