''La Vieille Fille'' (''The Old Maid'' or ''An Old Maid'') is a novel by the French writer
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
. Written in 1836, it was first published as a serial in
La Presse, then published by
Edmond Werdet
Edmond Werdet (6 November 1793 - 1870) was a French author and book publisher.
Life
He was married in June 1845 and had one son whose name was Oscar. He went bankrupt in 1837 and again in 1845, dying in poverty.
Author
The following books ...
in 1837 in ''Études de mœurs'', in the section ''les Scènes de la vie de province''. ''La Vieille Fille'' was republished in 1839 by éditions Charpentier, before being published alongside ''
le Cabinet des Antiques
''Le Cabinet des Antiques'' (''The Cabinet of Antiquities'') is a French novel published by Honoré de Balzac in 1838 under the title ''les Rivalités en province'' (''Rivalries in the provinces'') in '' le Constitutionnel'', then published as a ...
'' in the isolated ''les Rivalités'' group within ''Scènes de la vie de province'' in ''
la Comédie humaine
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'', published in 1844 by édition Furne.
The work was dedicated to Balzac's brother in law, an engineer in the corps royal des ponts et chaussées, Eugène Midy de la Greneraye Surville. Even so, Balzac offered its manuscript to
comtesse Guidoboni-Visconti,
[André Maurois, 1965, p. 324-326.] in 1844.
This short and incisive novel stands out for the density of its story and its rapid succession of events. Balzac takes time to carefully describe the house of Mademoiselle Cormon, the old maid, in the city of
Alençon
Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).
History
The name of Alençon is firs ...
, before entering directly into the heart of the matter.
The portrait of Mademoiselle Cormon is one of the most successful in ''The Human Comedy''. Balzac delivers in this novel one of his most nuanced analysis of a provincial town's social, political and financial affairs.
Bibliography
* R. Butler, « Restoration Perspectives in Balzac’s ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''Modern Languages: Journal of the Modern Language Association'', 1976, n° 57, p. 126-31.
* René Guise, « Balzac et ''Le Charivari'' en 1837 », ''L'Année balzacienne'', 1985, n° 5, p. 133-54.
* Fredric Jameson, « The Ideology of Form: Partial Systems in ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''Sub-stance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism'', 1976, n° 15, p. 29-49.
* Fredric Jameson, « The Political Unconscious », ''The Novel: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, 1900-2000'', éd. et intro. Dorothy J. Hale, Malden, Blackwell, 2006, p. 413-33.
* Patricia Kinder, « Un Directeur de journal, ses auteurs et ses lecteurs en 1836 : autour de ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''L’Année balzacienne'', 1972, p. 173-200.
* Nicole Moret, « Alençon, ville-corps », ''L’Année balzacienne'', 1985, n° 5: 297–305.
* Armine Kotin Mortimer, « Le Corset de ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''L’Œuvre d’identité : essais sur le romantisme de Nodier à Baudelaire'', éd. et intro. Didier Maleuvre, éd. et intro. Catherine Nesci, Montréal, Université de Montréal, 1996, p. 39-48
* Allan H. Pasco, « Dying with Love in Balzac’s ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''L’Esprit Créateur'', Winter 1995, n° 35 (4), p. 28-37.
* Lise Queffélec, « ''La Vieille Fille'' ou la science des mythes en roman-feuilleton », ''L’Année balzacienne'', 1988, n° 9, p. 163-77.
* Christopher Whalen Rivers, ''Face value : physiognomical thought and the legible body in Marivaux, Lavater, Balzac, Gautier, and Zola'', Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1994
* Michael Tilby, « Balzac and the Poetics of Ignorance : ''La Vieille Fille'' », ''Modern Language Review'', oct 2005, n° 100 (4), p. 954-70.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vieille Fille, La (Novel)
1836 French novels
Novels set in Normandy
Orne
Books of La Comédie humaine
Novels by Honoré de Balzac