The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honoré de Balzac (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honoré de Balzac. It provides a thorough exploration of the book’s plot, characters and main themes, including jealousy, passion and female power. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 24-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Honoré de Balzac
• Presentation of The Girl with the Golden Eyes
• Summary of The Girl with the Golden Eyes
• Character study
  • Henri de Marsay
  • Paquita Valdès
  • Paul de Manerville
• Analysis of The Girl with the Golden Eyes
  • A text of contrasts
  • A picture of Paris: Balzacian sociology
  • Female power

About The Girl with the Golden Eyes

The Girl with the Golden Eyes is a novella which was written and published in 1834. It tells the story of an aristocratic young man, Henri de Marsay, who becomes infatuated with a beautiful and mysterious young woman with golden eyes and does everything in his power to win her heart. However, his discovery that she is involved with someone else awakens his violent jealousy, with terrible consequences.

About Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was one of the major French writers of the 19^th century, and is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the realist novel. He is best known for The Human Comedy, a monumental series of more than 90 novels and short stories which aimed to give a complete depiction of the society of his time. His work was hugely influential and inspired many later writers, including Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert and Henry James, and a large number of his books have been adapted for television and the cinema.