New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-04
COUSIN BETTE.
THE WORST WOMAN IN FICTION

COUSIN BETTE. BY noNoRE DE BALzAC; Trans an:
~ LATED by KATHARINE PREsCoIr "oN'irIHh'
l2mo, PIP. 55T. Roberts Brothcrs'
Taine has said that Balzac dissected human lie
with the feeling of naturalist, being only con-
cerned to get at and to set down the ac'ai iac's'
and treating good and evil with the same
calm scientific impartiality. lie is,' said
the critic. interested in it for itself, In ali
.i,s manifestations in all its gradations ne
loves il: he Only demands to watch Its move
ments under every aspect NJ Tame thought
that because of this large point OF view oai]ac
was inevitably concerned in speclal way WIN
the ANALYSIS of typical subjects and with the OBJ
servation of those striking social phenomena from
which general laws might be deduced In MS
eyes, he continues. toad is not less interesting
than butterfly; bat attracts HIM as strongly
rs nightingale" Cousin Bette" is an example
Of this tendency One of the most powerful and
sombre Of social tragedies, written with Balzacs
most concentrated energy and force full of figures
whose lifelilscness is unapproachaby realistic, 1t
is at the same time in a marked and special
manner study Of typical influences, carried
forward and wrought out with that answering
passionless, pitiless fidelity to human nature ana
human weakness which gives to so many OF TINS
great writer's works an impression as of the tread
OF destiny.
Il has been said that Balzac dealt by preference
with great passions. 1t might also have peen
said that, In dealing with great passions .ne
breadth of his general view. the extent OF his
canvas the intense vividness OF his coiors' ana
the latent sense which he conveys to his readers
Of some awful dominant influence bearing down
all opposition and steadily pushing its appointed
victims TO the end assigned. he produces That I'M
pression of dark, implacable Fate, which con-
stitutes the atmosphere and the fascination OF
Greek tragedy Yet his methods arc entlrely
modern. The tremendous ultimate catastropheS
which whelm his sinners affect us so powerfully
for the reason that they are never 1oitultous'
We are shown the whole process of degradation
which leads to the climax We are made 10 unoer-
stand how evil habit grows, expands, aosorps
more and more of the nature. creeps up like a
slowly rising food about the victim, eXunguishes
his or her good clements one by one, and finally
takes possession Of and in so doing ruins, the
whole being No such appalling application OF
this method has been made as in Balzacs
study of Baron Huot dErvy. This man Is INTRO
duced to US prosperous, tourishng. full OF honors
and emoluments blessed in his family, with every
opportuntv and incentive to noble living But he
harbors the vice of sensuality, and 1t proves q
deadly ineradicable disease. Step by step he goes
down. He betrays his wife. lmpoverlshes HIS
children. sacrifices his relatives; he loses seh-re-
spect; his sense of honor becomes dulled; ne RODS
the State is forced 10 relnquish all his appoint
ments sinks lower and lower. Age but ln'ehsl-
fes his vice. lie is no longer man, but
temperament" lie grows wholly shameless, AMI
malized brutal. And his end how frlghtful!
weaker artist than Balzac would have held MS
hand at the return of the prOdlgal father
would have allowed it TO be supposed that Hulot
thenccforward reformed and lived quietly at home
But the Hulots do not reform, any more than
man RECEIVERS from general paresis They have
killed all the influences which might have saved
them, or, to speak more precisely, they have
blocked all the avenues by which curative agencies
conld approach the centre of morbid action
Uulot's final infamy is the necessary sequence of
all that preceded it, The wretch had ceased TO
possess a conscience. All the higher part IN him
was dead He had sacrificed every one and every
thing to his vice. lie ended by the surrep6ers0f
his last grain of manhood fe~.raA I'd 1870 bahf'
There are three lines of typical study in Cousin
Bette" The Marnefe is the second; wonderful
piece of work, repulsIve, no doubt, bnt not the
most repellant figure in the book. Tor the Mar
peffe is frankly wicked, brilliantly vicious, deti-
tute by nature and training of all doubt heslta-
ton and scruple, employing her seductive arts
with latent sense of professionalism. There IS
nothing to suggest the idea that Valerie is fallen
angel. On the contrary, it is made clear that her
her kind With all her cunning and duplicity,
moreover. the Marnetfe is only instrument in
the hands OF yet more evil prll-
cipal She is moved almost like puppet, this
way and that even when she thinks that she
is directing events. Her tendencies and in
stincts arc all evil, no doubt. Such women as
Josepha are saints in comparison with her. She
is the incarnation of peridy, as may be seen
in the audacious playing of of her LOVERS one
against the other. She is also rapacty per
sonifed though that lmitless greed of gain
she shares with the whole class of demi-mondaines
But bad and vile the Marneffe appears, She
is after all is said, less startling less completely
sinister character than the dreadful creature
who gives her name to the book. Cousin Bett
is, we are inclined TO consider, the worst woman
in fiction Her nature-far stronger than tina
of Valerie Marnene-is not vulgary wicked i
is essentially diabolicaL She Is a woman il
whom the natural forces and emotions, diverted
from their normal employments, have all beel
concentrated upon The frution of a hate as i'm
placable and persistent as it is without justif
cation
In the coarse peasant nature. the contrasts O
accident and fortune have long ranked. Brough
up with Adene, the future wife Of Baron llulot
Bette has been subjected constantly to the humili
alton of being used foil TO the beauty. Adelin
makes great marriage. Bette remains an OBJ
kcure peasant The attempts of the Hulots Il
find her a husband only exasperate her more
She knows she is not prepossessing, and she RACES
against the fact. She hates Adeline for her beauty
for her pety, for her purity, for her husband
She hates her especially because Adeline is good
and she herself is evil-minded. But this hatred
which fills her whole being and dominates he
life, 10 entertained in cold-blooded, deliberate
htent manner, which is peculiarly horrible. Tn
ingrained vice of Bette is shown in her friend
ship for the Marneffe. Without passion hersel
She nevertheless derives strong enjoyment fror
the contemplation Of its effects in her FRIEND