The second installment of the Histoire des Treize trilogy sees Balzac exploring the torrid and ill-fated affair between Marquis de Montriveau and the Duchesse de Langeais, exploring the constraints on noble women, femininity, the difference between passion and love and much more of the complexities of the relationships between men and women. I really liked the dramatic opening of this which reeled me in from the beginning before it rewinds to tell the tale from its beginning, all the way to its romantic and bittersweet ending. Considering the focus largely remains on the two characters at its core with only small roles for other characters in La Comedie Humaine framework it manages to wring a lot from its premise. ( )

Both the Duchesse and Madame Jules in "Ferragus" entrust themselves to God at some point, as if the only way they can escape the snare of ever-present earthly conspiracy is by leaving this realm for one higher, through life or death. (It's also because Balzac cannot capture women well, or, to be more charitable, Restoration France allows for no suitably tragic resolution in the salons and boudoirs of the nobility.)

"...observation constitutes well-nigh the sum total of human genius." (Though how much can you really trust a translation from the French that, on the second page, saddles us with the Anglo-Saxon "beetling cliffs"?)

Existe uma razão do porquê Simone de Beauvoir escolheu Stendhal e não Balzac para fazer suas elucubrações a respeito de como um bom autor descreve suas personagens femininas, Balzac tão famoso por suas mulheres comete pecado atrás de pecado ao descrevê-las de maneira uniforme sem explorar a subjetividade – como se ser mulher consistisse de um amalgama social e não apenas um constructo. Resumindo, ele escreve bem pra caralho e aquela descrição do Fairbourg Saint German é uma obra prima à parte, mas não entende lhufas de mulheres e apenas reproduz o discurso do patriarcado. ( )