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Cousin Bette

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When I described my fascination with Balzac to a pal of mine, I said, "yeah, it is all about disillusioned and cynical people" and he replied: "I am already disillusioned and cynical, so why should I read it?"

Why indeed. This is indispuably one of the best of Balzac's novels, with clearly drawn characters and grim lives in an inexorable descent to self-destruction, which are the classic Balzac themes. It explores the life of a libertine as he ruins himself and his family for the sake of pursuing pretty girls. Unbekonst to him, he gets help from Bette, a cousin full of secret hatreds and bent on vengence. It is very sad to read. One minor character even commits suicide by repeatedly smashing his head into a nail, his only means to finish himself off he could find in his jail cell.

So why read it? Well, again, it is for the wider social portraits that you can find, which are offered almost as an aside. Balzac in one section explains the politics behind the statues you see all over Paris, which is fascinating. You also learn of the career of courtisans, as they use their sex to advance themselves. The book is simply full of these thngs, in addition to the psychology of the many interesting main characters.

Also unusual for Balzac is the coherency of the story, which does not degenerate into ramblings like many of his other novels as they weave the tapestry of his Comedie Humaine like so many threads, that is, as vehicles in his vast project to fully portray an entire society with characters re-appearing in different situations and venues throughout his interrelated novels. The characters stand on their own here and are more clearly drawn. Hence, it is a great intro to Balzac and may get you hooked for more, that is, if you are masochistic enough to subject yourself to it!

Warmly recommended.

If I had a time machine, I'd want to go back to 1840's Paris. Not the richly cultured Paris of Chopin, Berlioz, and Delacroix, but Balzac's Paris, a circus world where envy, avarice, and revenge drive passionate people to ridiculous extremes. One sin breeds another, and so an envious person can play off another's avarice in order to avenge a perceived slight. I sense that Balzac was essentially a moralist who felt that sins do greater service in comedy, but the sobering effect of tragedy is important for keeping balance.

In "Cousin Bette," the title character, Lisbeth "Bette" Fischer, is a plain, middle-aged spinster who has lived her whole life in the shadow of her pretty cousin Adeline. Adeline has married the Baron Hector Hulot D'Ervy, a high-ranking military and government official who nevertheless does not have much money and is an incurable womanizer, overtly keeping mistresses in spite of his wife's inexorable devotion to him. Their daughter, Hortense, becomes enamored with Bette's "boyfriend," a young Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, and marries him, believing that his (rather unremarkable) art will bring in a fortune. At this point, Bette feels she has been upstaged one too many times by the Hulot family and resolves to take revenge.

One night Baron Hulot spots a beautiful young woman in Bette's apartment building and immediately plots to make her his latest mistress. This is Bette's close friend Valerie Marneffe, whose husband happens to be menially employed in Hulot's department. Bette gets the idea to use Valerie as a siren to entrap the men who have deceived her and enrage their wives. In short order, Valerie seduces Hulot, his friend and romantic rival Monsieur Crevel, and Steinbock, securing for herself large sums of money and eventually marrying Crevel, who is a wealthy retired businessman.

I've only scratched the surface of the plot, and yet to reveal any more would be beside the point of a Balzac novel because the quality of his writing is more in the interaction between the characters than in the events that advance the story. I've not yet even mentioned the excellent supporting cast, including Hulot's conscientious son Victorin; his wife Celestine, who happens to be Crevel's daughter; the Brazilian playboy Montejanos, whose fiery passion for Valerie endangers the lives of her and everyone around her; a sinister old woman who goes by a number of aliases and arranges "accidents"; and her accomplice, an elegant courtesan called Carabine. All of these characters fit together perfectly like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle and elevate the novel to exciting new levels of intrigue.

Convention would dictate that Bette's revenge be fulfilled and Hulot learn his lesson by the end of the novel, but Balzac has a more realistic outlook than to concede to a reader's expectations. He is a novelist with the dialogue-oriented sensibilities of a playwright and a knack for devising unusually complicated plots by making the most out of a minimal number of characters. If, as he states in the novel, inspiration gives genius its opportunity, then "Cousin Bette" must be the product of the highest inspiration because there is plenty of genius on display.

*Cousin Bette*, or Part One of 'Poor Relations,' is considered to be Honore de Balzac's last great novel, the capstone on an oeuvre that spanned nearly a hundred novels. The author had already begun to ail from overwork by the time of its composition (1846-1847), his methods of genius - sixteen-hour writing days, coupled with crushing "motivational" debt and a penchant for gallons of black coffee - exacting a toll of stress that would claim his life three years later. But if the physical shell was failing, the instrument of the mind retained its strength and perception, as *Cousin Bette*, equal and in some ways superior to Balzac's other masterworks (*Lost Illusions*, *Pere Goirot*), gives ample testament. Of the ten or so works I've read of this French master, this novel was the easiest to dive into and, overall, the most spellbinding and page-turning, no doubt influenced by the manner of its creation.

For although Balzac had published a sixteen-volume set of The Human Comedy by the mid 1840's, he had not found the accolades his oeuvre so justly deserved; in fact, he stood in the shadow of Eugene Sue, at the time an enormously popular author who serialized his work in easy tidbits. The serialization of novels had only come about recently, with Dickin's *Pickwick Papers* and Balzac's *The Old Maid* appearing first in 1836. The catch, however, was that Balzac was not an author to chop up and present in segments: his novels work best as a slow, steady read, the tension and enjoyment arising through hundreds of devoured pages until climax and, usually, a pessimistic but realistic denouement. Thus: Sue wrote for the serial; Balzac wrote for himself, and suffered accordingly. The man's ego had to have taken a bruising:

"The present situation requires me to write two or three masterful works which will topple the false gods of this bastard literature, and which must demonstrate that I am younger, fresher, and greater writer than ever before!"

Vainglorious statements, perhaps, yet proven true by ink, sweat and the stench of unroasted coffee beans: Balzac set to work, composing *Cousin Pons* and *Cousin Bette* as the final duology of his vast sociology opus, emerging from the toil with a final masterpiece and a very good companion novel. Moreover, *Bette* benefited greatly from the conformity to serialization, making it a rare and unique jewel upon the author's tiara.

An experienced reader can spot the difference almost immediately. In every other novel I've read of the Human Comedy, the first forty to fifty pages are usually devoted to detailing the histories of the main characters and the environments they exist in. This helps to firmly delineate the particulars in the brain, and makes the resultant tragedy and sarcastic farce all the more potent - yet difficult, I would imagine, for serial readers to cope with. In *Bette*, however, we are thrown into the action immediately with the arrival of self-made magnate Captain Crevel to the House of Baron Hulot. Without preamble he relates to the Baron's wife, the long-suffering and almost intolerably virtuous Adeline Hulot de'Evry, that her husband has stolen his mistress and, as revenge, Crevel plans on making the Baroness his own mistress - tit for tat! To secure his claim, Crevel dangles the financial future of the Baroness' daughter over her head. The heated tension of this scene plunges the reader into the meat of the novel without them really realizing it: within one chapter we encounter the stigmatizing standards of high society, the lecherous egos of middle-aged adventurers, the wiles of the courtesan and the depths human beings will sink to reach a personal desire, a feverish vendetta; themes developed continually as the novel progresses through its almost 500 pages of psychological examination and high-drama theatrics. At the heart of it all, spinning her webs like a black widow, is the negative force of Cousin Bette, the plain-faced, masculine cousin of Baroness Adeline. Slights of the past, and of the present, gnaw at Bette's heart; she will employ the tactics of Machiavelli to destroy her family and benefactors, at any cost. A truly frightening creature, this Bette...and *almost* sympathetic, for the origin of her vengeance can be easily understood, if not forgiven. Thus the genius of Balzac shines through, painting gray within the villainous portrait, defying the archetypes serials require, all the while fashioning a set of character-clichés that epitomize the genre, from the hooker with the heart of gold to that murderously unpredictable Brazilian...

Yet Balzac had more on his mind than simple plot-dynamics. The introduction of the novel compares the twin passions of the Baron de'Evry (eternal skirt-chaser) and Cousin Bette (the spinster) with the Freudian concepts of eros and thanatos - one ever questing the physical act of love, and in that quest ruining all those who love and esteem him; and the other, twisted by the wrench of unrequited obsession, deliberately plotting a horrific revenge:

"(Introduction): Freud, in his later works, presented eros and thanatos [sic] as two sides of the same coin. Almost a century earlier, Balzac had imagined them as two members of the same family."

The best literature is timeless: modern readers can glean important lessons about life from the dusty pages of centuries-past. Balzac is timeless. He paints the French society in broad strokes, but never neglects the details; he tackles the essential quandaries and inconsistencies of human behavior with a sardonic - though never superior - tone. *Cousin Bette*'s ending, wherein we discover that the leopard cannot change its spots, will all at once inspire anguished tears, astonished laughter and a knowing shake of the head.

Highest Recommendation.

Balzac's brilliant commentary on the newly born French republic and the struggle for power underneath Napoleon as the old order was guillotined and enterprise had free reign is a marvellous expose of a society in flux. Opening with subtle alacrity the novo homo Monsieur Crevel pays a visit to his son-in-law's mother, the aristocratic Baroness Hulot d'Ervy to explain that his reason (as a tied member of their family now through her son) behind his hindrance of supplying the Baroness' daughter, Hortense, with financial surety is due to two reasons: The first due to the vast debts his son-in-law has run up which he must cover, the second, in an delightfully narrated scene of wickedly humorous selfishness, because the Baroness' husband (his libertine comrade-in-arms) has `stolen' away Monsieur Crevel's mistress, the now infamous singer, Josepha.
Monsieur Crevel insists that he must have the Baroness himself to avenge himself on her husband and, if she agrees, he will act as financial surety for her daughter Hortense. So, in true Balzac style, in the space of a few pages, we have a marvellously huge dilemma for the cuckolded Baroness for whom, within this society, social standing is everything. It is this sense of stolen love, echoing Moliere whom Balzac constantly refers to, that permeates the novel of revenge that is Cousin Bette.
What unfolds is a perfidy to subtle and over such a long period of time that its eventual terrible denouement is a tragic tale of requited love, treacherous money motivated mistresses and selflessly loving wives.
Cousin Bette has saved from suicide one Wencelas Steinbock, a Polish refugee, and has secreted him away in her tiny home for a few months financially caring for him whilst he begins to exercise his professed enormous artistic talent. Eventually she leaks her secret to her niece, Hortense who promptly falls in love with Wencelas and steals him away to marry her. In the interim, Josepha spurns Baron Hulot, who promptly turns his attentions to Madame Marneffe who lives next door to Cousin Bette. It is with Madame Marneffe that Cousin Bette finds the terrible instrument of he revenge as she inserts her into the Hulot social circle, Baron Hulot taking up with her and his lavish spending on his innocent mistress driving then entire family to penury. Madame Marneffe then comes to an agreement with Crevel to become his mistress thus stealing her from Baron Hulot and gaining his revenge on Hulot's stealing of Josepha. In the meantime the bewitching Marneffe secures herself more and more money from the slavering old men whilst carrying on with her returned Brazilian lover. Cousin Bette then gets Wencelas to obtain a loan from Madame Marneffe, knowing full well that he would fall in love with her causing Hortense's misery (and her mother's) to be absolute. By midpoint of the novel the plot is well in motion, the Hulot family is torn apart through husbands betrayals, their money is gone, wasted on a treacherous mistress who holds them all her thrall. A better siren there could not be all the time controlled by the wicked Cousin Bette.
Having reached the pinnacle of her revenge the tables begin to turn with further disgrace on Baron Hulot's part as he is founding guilty of defrauding the government in Algiers of two hundred thousand francs. His uncle and brother commit suicide and he is forced to hide in Paris (with Josepha's help). His brother's death, the Marshal, to whom Cousin Bette has secured a marriage - and hence an income - to means she begins to be revealed as a `sword of Damocles' over the Hulot family. Victorin Hulot, the son, commences to rebuild the family fortunes. Determined to restore the family fortune, Victorin sanctions the downfall of Madame Marneffe and her new husband, Crevel, through the enigmatic Madame Nourrison firstly through revealing her relationship with Crevel to Baron Montes whose rage knows no bounds, then lastly through a debilitating disease that claims the life of the Mayor and his lover. As Cousin Bette watches her evil mechinations fall apart with the death of her instrument of despair and then with Victorin restoring the family fortunes and the prodigal father's return she eventually dies, though not without some minor satisfaction at their mourning of her passing.
This is probably Balzac's most accomplished novel, a story of jealousy and envy spiralling into bitterness and a perfidious desire. Cousin Bette invents multiple reasons to hate her Hulot family and unerring hits the week points of their personalities in an attempt to ruin them and thence be seen as their saviour. The insatiably wandering eye of Baron Hulot, the vainglorious ineptitude of Wencelas, coupled with their wives who seek to retain the family dignity bring this once proud family to their knees until the son realises that by simply revealing the truths behind the lies will break apart Cousin Bette's tenuous web of despair and set them on the road to happiness again. Halfway through there is a pointed aside as Balzac gives his definition of what creates a great artist - namely hard work and fires a single shot across this reviewer by aptly pointing out that those who cannot themselves achieve greatness in their art end up being a critic of those who can. Still...this is one Balzac novel that is well worth the time.

Making a movie of it doesn't erase the world's crime of ignoring this great book. The equal of Dickens and James, Balzac has more energy and spirit, and a brighter palette. Cousin Bette has more plot than David Copperfield and sexier women than Valley of the Dolls. Madame Marneffe may be the most attractive monster (rhymes with itch) in literature, and Cousin Bette herself is all the Furies wrapped in an ugly old maid. One of the top fifty novels of all time.

When Balzac set out to describe the entirety of human emotion, occupation, education, society and mores in France he focused many of the novels on life in Paris. While some may view this book as "soap", it nevertheless artfully describes the incredible social undercurrents, from the high to the low, within Parisian life in that time (1830's). Rich, and aspiring rich men, really did keep courtesans and flaunted their trophies in the same way the rich do today. Their wives often tacitly tolerated these relations even when their husbands displayed their girlfriends in public. Men also came to Paris from the outlying areas to achieve success, fame and become wealthy. Balzac writes vividly about all of this and frames the story within plots and subplots that are interesting and realistic. I hope you enjoy reading it.

In this most paradoxical of all novels, Destiny takes revenge on the ungrateful cousin Bette, eptihome of ugliness of soul. Wonderful tale of unfaithfulness, deception, betrayal and lust, as well as hatred, set in middle Nineteenth century Paris, in the world of high finance and politics. The Hulots are a wealthy family. Hortense is Bette's cousin, who has made a fortunate marriage (to Bette's beloved, though). Hortense is good to her cousin, bringing her to live with them in a beautiful house. The Hulots are good to her, but she only wants revenge. And so, she tries with all her might to destroy the family. She has many chances to do it, because the Hulots are flawed, especially the men, who are womanizers of the highest sort. Intrigue is Bette's favorite sport, intrigue with meanness and cruelty. But no good comes from bad deeds, and life, the always ironic life, will not allow Bette's deeds to accomplish her revenge. She does accomplish much evil and disgrace, but the unfolding of events prevents her from triumph. Fortunately, since the good characters get to go on with their imperfect but mostly rewarding lives. This novel is one of Balzac's best (and there are many good ones). It belongs to the best canon of Western literature and will stand the test of time, once again because it touches on the universal features of human soul, ungratefulness being one of the most pervasive. Highly recommended, not least because the reader enjoys all the back-stabbing and the ultimate defeat of the ugly lady. Indeed, we see that envy is one of the worst sins.

It isn't really about Cousin Bette at all, but about Baron Hulot, a truly sick man, who has no resistance to a young girl, even as he ages into his 70's. It is his despicable behavior, not Bette's, which drives his family down. And money, money, everywhere. It's always all about money. Madame Marneffe seems almost unbelievable, that she could so completely deceive four men all at the same time. Her end seems contrived, as if she must suffer her just desserts. All the men, with the exception of Victorin, are just plain stupid; they are used simply for their money. Only Adeline is a saint, perhaps too much so. What would have happened if she had acted differently, instead of Balzac's pure model of true Christian love?

"Beauty is the greatest of human powers. All autocratic unbridled power with nothing to counterbalance it, leads to abuse, mad excess. Despotism is power gone mad. In women, despotism takes the form of satisfying their whims". This remark engulfs Balzac's opera: To collate the audience with the obliterating debauchery society of 18th century France. Lisbeth Fischer aka Cousin Bette lurks in every chapter as a concealed beast coveting her prey (The house of Hulot) under the same roof. Perhaps Balzac's major achievement in this master piece, is to portrait a flauntering society feigned by its ostentatious opulence but immerse on a licentious and decadent life. "The savage has feelings... only the civilized man has feelings and ideas." Balzac seems to banter at Parisians with this idea: how civilized, civilized society can be. I strongly recommend this book if you intend to follow De Laclos work in Les Liasions Dangereuses. As an amateur reader I founded the characters difficult to identify at the beginning, however is an strategy smartly set by Balzac and very much appreciated as soon as you start to realize and pace through the richness of the narration.

Balzac created a wickedly funny book about rich men and their mistresses. Here is yet another French novel about what the French are obsessed with--adultery and sex. Although French society mildly disapproves of adultery and mistresses, chasing after a new mistress is really the only thing that makes life worth living. Balzac doesn't get too serious though--you can almost hear him laugh through every scene as Baron Hulot keeps running through mistresses. As time goes on and he turns into an old man, he chooses ever younger and lower class ones. He is eighty and still playing the game!

Balzac focuses principally on one middle class mistress. Madame Marnoff, who is such an enchantress that she keeps five men while the five men think they keep her.

Cousin Bette, is the Ugly Betty character of the story who is trying to exact revenge against her cousin, Madame Hulot, for being beautiful. When she was a child, she tried to break her pretty nose. But as she matured, she learned to become more civilized, patient, and cunning with her plot to avenge herself. Because Bette was ugly and eccentric, she was made to work for a living in an upper class family in which the women did not usually work. There is a lot of talk of revenge in the novel and nearly everyone is trying to take advantage of one another in a cordial way as they pursue their self-interest. The help given often has ulterior motives. It is a little depressing not see much sincerity or true love in the book.

People are constantly talking about their financial transactions and how they are scheming to afford a better house or how to afford the extravagant expense of having a mistress. Karl Marx liked to use the book as example of the corruption of capitalistic and bourgeois society with its obsession with money and materialism. Balzac himself really is not that critical of it. The characters are often focused on getting the latest fashions or buying one of a kind artwork in which the model is broken so no one else has a copy. Hulot ends up robbing the government to pay for his mistress by abusing the power of his bureaucratic office. He ruins the finances of his family while his wife turns to religion to find comfort in the role of the ever forgiving and suffering saint. Although the book sounds serious, Balzac always keeps up a lighthearted and droll tone as the characters follow one folly after another. Until it comes time to pay the piper, they have a lot of fun partying.

Cousin Bette is not successful with her revenge and dies from disappointment that she did not succeed. She wanted the Hulots to go begging for their bread because of the poverty that she lived in her early years while her cousin lived in luxury. The book is true to life in the sense that life often is more about competition, betrayal, lust, hatred, and revenge than about love or sentimentality.