''Gobseck'', an 1830 novella by French people, French author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), appears in the ''Scènes de la vie privée'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. ''Gobseck'' first appeared in outline form in ''La Mode'' in March 1830 under the title ''l'Usurier'' (''The Usurer''), and then in August 1830 in the periodical Le Voleur (journal), ''Le Voleur''. The actual novella appeared in a volume published by Mame-Delaunay under the title ''Les Dangers de l'inconduite''. This novella would appear in 1835 under the title of ''Papa Gobseck'' in a volume published by Madame Charles-Béchet. The definitive title of ''Gobseck'' originated in 1842 in the Furne edition of ''La Comédie humaine''.

Plot

The plot of ''Gobseck'', set during the French Restoration, is Frame story, framed within a conversation between lawyer Maître Derville and Vicomtesse de Grandlieu. Derville tells a story which focuses on Anastasie de Restaud, née Le Père Goriot, Goriot. Anastasie de Restaud is the daughter of a rich bourgeois who has married into the aristocracy, but is bored by her marriage, which is loveless and passionless.Patricia Mainardi, ''Husbands, wives, and lovers: marriage and its discontents in nineteenth-century France'' (Yale University Press, 2003), 169. Anastasie de Restaud has an affair with Maxime de Trailles, and spends her fortune on de Trailles. She turns to the Usury, usurer Jean-Esther van Gobseck for financial assistance. Maître Derville acts as Gobseck’s lawyer while Derville's future wife is also one of Gobseck's debtors. Anastasie's husband finds out about her debts, so he signs a convoluted contract with Gobseck which is supposed to benefit his and Anastasie's children. However, Anastasie destroys that contract during her irrational schemings. Subsequently, both Anastasie's marriage is destroyed and her family fortune is lost. Eventually, elderly Gobseck gains an even larger fortune through Factoring (finance), factoring. Shortly after his death, Derville discovers many treasures in Gobseck's home, including loads of spoiled food which Gobseck had intended to sell.

Film versions

*''Gobseck (1936 film), Gobseck'', USSR, Soviet film by Konstantin Eggert *''Gobseck (1987 film), Gobseck'', Soviet remake of the 1936 film by Alexandre Orlov. * Gobseck, Czechoslovak TV play, 1985 Gobseck (1985 TV film)
at the Czech-Slovak Film Database.

References

External links

* Books of La Comédie humaine Novels set in 19th-century France 1830 French novels Novellas by Honoré de Balzac French novels adapted into films {{1830s-novel-stub