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Cousin Bette
''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette'') is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family. Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men. One of these is Baron Hector Hulot, husband to Bette's cousin Adeline. He sacrifices his family's fortune and good name to please Valérie, who leaves him for a well-off merchant named Crevel. The book is part of the ''Scènes de la vie parisienne'' section of Balzac's novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'' ("The Human Comedy"). In the 1840s, a serial format is known as the ''roman-feuilleton'' was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable ''feuilleton'' author in France. Writing quickly and with intense f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Cain
Georges-Jules-Auguste Cain (16 April 1856, Paris - 4 March 1919, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator and writer, who specialized in the history of Paris, its monuments and its theaters. Biography His grandfather, Pierre-Jules Mêne and his father, Auguste Cain were both animal sculptors. He studied with Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Georges Vibert, but was most heavily influenced by Édouard Detaille. In 1878, he made his debut at the Salon with ''Fumeur de l'époque Louis XV'' (Smoker from the Time of Louis XV) and continued to exhibit there on a regular basis until 1900. He illustrated the ''Barber of Seville'' by Beaumarchais and several works by Honoré de Balzac, including ''La Cousine Bette'' and ''La Bourse''. His works may be seen in the in Bayeux, the Musée de Picardie in Amiens, and the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, where he served as Curator from 1897 to 1914. His brother Henri was a famous librettist. A square in Le Marais, near the Musée Carnavalet, has b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War And Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published serially, then published in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as Tolstoy's finest literary achievement and remains an internationally praised classic of world literature. The novel chronicles the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families. Portions of an earlier version, titled ''The Year 1805'', were serialized in ''The Russian Messenger'' from 1865 to 1867 before the novel was published in its entirety in 1869.Knowles, A. V. ''Leo Tolstoy'', Routledge 1997. Tolstoy said that the best Russian literature does not conform to standards and hence hesitated to classify ''War and Peace'', saying it is "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical loss. Once ultrasound or histological evidence shows that a pregnancy has existed, the used term is clinical miscarriage, which can be ''early'' before 12 weeks and ''late'' between 12-21 weeks. Fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation is also known as a stillbirth. The most common symptom of a miscarriage is vaginal bleeding with or without pain. Sadness, anxiety, and guilt may occur afterwards. Tissue and clot-like material may leave the uterus and pass through and out of the vagina. Recurrent miscarriage (also referred to medically as Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion or RSA) may also be considered a form of infertility. Risk factors for miscarriage include being an older parent, previous miscarriage, exposure to tobacco smoke, obesity, dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ewelina Hańska
Eveline Hańska (; 6 January – 11 April 1882) was a Polish noblewoman best known for her marriage to French novelist Honoré de Balzac. Born at the Wierzchownia estate in VolhyniaJuanita Helm Floyd ''Women in the Life of Balzac''. Page 136.''Kessinger Publishing'', 2004 reprint. . Retrieved October 8, 2011. (now Ukraine), Hańska married landowner Wacław Hański when she was a teenager.Frederic Ewen''Heroic imagination: the creative genius of Europe...'' Page 498.''New York University Press'', 2004 reprint. . Hański, who was about 20 years her senior, suffered from depression. They had five children, but only a daughter, Anna, survived. In the late 1820s, Hańska began reading Balzac's novels, and in 1832, she sent him an anonymous letter. This began a decades-long correspondence in which Hańska and Balzac expressed a deep mutual affection. In 1833, they met for the first time, in Switzerland. Soon afterward he began writing the novel ''Séraphîta'', which includes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. Melete, Aoede, and Mneme are the original Boeotian Muses, and Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania are the nine Olympian Muses. In modern figurative usage, a Muse may be a source of artistic inspiration. Etymology The word ''Muses'' ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai) perhaps came from the o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European root (the basic meaning of which is 'put in mind' in verb formations with transitive function and 'have in mind' in those with intransitive function), or from root ('to tower, mountain') since all the most important cult-centres of the Muses were on mountains or hills. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illusions Perdues
''Illusions perdues'' — in English, ''Lost Illusions'' — is a serial novel written by the French writer Honoré de Balzac between 1837 and 1843. It consists of three parts, starting in provincial France, thereafter moving to Paris, and finally returning to the provinces. The book resembles another of Balzac's greatest novels, ''La Rabouilleuse'' (''The Black Sheep'', 1842), that is set in Paris and in the provinces. It forms part of the ''Scènes de la vie de province'' in ''La Comédie humaine''. Background The novel's main character, Lucien Chardon, works as a journalist, and his friend David Séchard is a printer. These were both professions with which Balzac himself had experience. Balzac had started a printing business in Paris in 1826, which went bankrupt in 1828. His experiences influenced his description of David Séchard's working life."Introduction" by Herbert J. Hunt from Penguin Classics edition of ''Lost Illusions'', 1971 Balzac had bought the newspaper ''La Chro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Peau De Chagrin
''La Peau de chagrin'' (, ''The Skin of Shagreen''), known in English as ''The Magic Skin and The Wild Ass's Skin'', is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen (untanned skin from a wild ass) that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. ''La Peau de chagrin'' belongs to the ''Études philosophiques'' group of Balzac's sequence of novels, ''La Comédie humaine''. Before the book was completed, Balzac created excitement about it by publishing a series of articles and story fragments in several Parisian journals. Although he was five months late in delivering the manuscript, he succeeded in generating sufficient interest that the novel sold out instantly upon its publication. A second edition, which included a series of twelve other "philosophical tales", wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Chouans
''Les Chouans'' (, ''The Chouans'') is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in the ''Scènes de la vie militaire'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. Set in the French region of Brittany, the novel combines military history with a love story between the aristocratic Marie de Verneuil and the Chouan royalist Alphonse de Montauran. It takes place during the 1799 post-war uprising in Fougères. Balzac conceived the idea for the novel during a trip to Brittany arranged by a family friend in 1828. Intrigued by the people and atmosphere of the region, he began collecting notes and descriptions for later use. After publishing an ''Avertissement'' for the novel, he released three editions – each of them revised significantly. The first novel Balzac published without a pseudonym, he used many titles as he wrote and published, including ''Le Gars'', ''Les Chouans ou la Bretagne il y a trente ans'', and ''Le Dern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potboiler
A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means "to provide one's livelihood." Authors who create potboiler novels or screenplays are sometimes called hack writers or hacks. Novels deemed to be potboilers may also be called pulp fiction, and potboiler films may be called "popcorn movies." Usage High culture "In the more elevated arenas of artistry such a motive...was considered deeply demeaning."http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pot1.htm "Potboiler" at World Wide Words If a serious playwright or novelist's creation is deemed a potboiler, this has a negative connotation that suggests that it is a mediocre or inferior-quality work. Historical usages *In 1854 ''Putnam’s Magazine'' used the term in the following sentence: “He has not carelessly dashed off his picture, with the remark that ‘it wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors Guild Award and five Golden Globe Awards. Additionally, she is the second actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the third actress and first performer since 1943 to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year, the fifth actress and ninth performer to win Oscars in both the lead and supporting acting categories, and tied for the sixth most Oscar-nominated actress. Lange holds the record for most nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. She is the only performer ever to win Primetime Emmy Awards in both the Outstanding Supporting Actress and Outstanding Lead Actress categories for the same miniseries. Lange has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
