New-York tribune., 1891-03-08
BALZAC IN ENGLISH.
A STUDY OF SELFISHNEsS.
THE IrI.y OF TIE VALLEY. By lionore de bllSac'
translated by Katharine Prescott Worme'y
i5mo mo- 3li Boston: Roberts Erotllefs.

THE Lihh od o hy Katharine Prescott wormecy
| iamo pp. 3ii Dostoh Roberts Erothers.
D,boc's lie Iys dams In Vallce' has always
hccn one of his most popular WORKS In tranre'
| Whether however his coun1rymch nave iu,S
soundcd the depths Of the story IS h"' SO c'i'in'
7, l. ,,rbons mainly for It's sca:uen' that II has
! boon read ard for the woDGer'u! bcaulV oi ITO
| dcScription In its superficial ASPECT IL IS s'riN-
inrlv original and patLc!ic hut there are ie"'"Ie'
| about il which rIlSht prove rcpciicht - "Ilen
rcodor, rot aware Of lis full significance. y
| novel with Tess action in it was certainly never
written It. is a record of emotional states es'
scntially: 81 n formidable struggle between two
souls. u combat, n outrancc' between man
ard woman under trc euisc Of love. But II Is
more tban this It might bear rs subtitle. the
| words a. Study Of Mans SellshncsS; 4; for
| This. IN truth is its inner meaning and import,
and 10 cornprchcnd y thoroughly this must be
borne in mind from first to last. Bazac said that
he had bestowed iniinitc pains upon th, book. ana
| there is no line in il. no detail of arrangement.
which has not il, definite purpose. II is set
forth in narrative form Felix de Naudcncs'e
| tells the story 10 Natalie dc Mancryillc, whose
| hand he seeks in marriage 1t is the record Of
the narrators relations with Madame dc Mort
,auf, whose tragic death il commcli"rat.s
| In this narrative FcliN is made - exhibit the
salient defects of his character in manner 50
| subtle that a has'y reader may ovcraos the sig
| niiicance Of the revelation The point OF view
from which he writes is naturally that of self
Justification. lie has t, tell tragic story. IN
| which the wrctchcd life and most unhappy death
| Of woman who loved him constitute the principal
| features. II is his purpose 50 to represent the
| circumstances 10 the living woman whom hc al
dresses and whom he is chdcavorinG Ia court
| through this confidential communication, that Shc
| may regard him as having played heroic part.
and that She may ascrihc 10 evil destiny, and not
to any fault Of his. the tragic end OF the drama.
| But being a profound cgotS' Felix lacks III"
capacity for pcrcriyinS the conditions under when
| lie is liable 10 hctray himself: and So he
! proceeds. ever putting his own feelings and
his own iufclicitics into the foreground and
| uuc0nsciouSly disparaging aHd hht'llnS those
noble qualities of Madame dc Nori,aGt the mani
fcs'ation Of which. however misunderstood by
him. are 10 an impartial observer at once proof
| of her superiority and Of his scIlshncsS. Even he
| cannot observe the fine features of This lady's
| Character for his Own narrow and scli-,bSorbcd
! nature j. 50 clearly exposed at early stage of
| the narrative that all his interpretations ere
| nccisSarly taken with large allowance. The man
| has in truth made himself morally accountable
! for the death Of the woman hc profcSscs t. have
| loved, and MalcmoisaIlc dc Mancrylllc. in the
caustc letter with which she replies 10 his yer
| SION Of the story. pit.lrssy tears away the dis
| auses he has assumed t"l.s him in the paincSi
| language what. according Is hi own showing. hc
stands convicted of; and rejects his salt wi'h an
uncompromising decision which emphasizes the
feelings evoked in her ly Bis sc!lc0ndcmGatory
statement
So arfully has Balzac constructed the narrative
Of Felix, however, and 50 thoroughly coherent and
I ..tI -
of the man himself that the careless reader may
miss the finest meaning Of it all until he comes 10
Maicmoiscllc Dr. Mancryilies letter. That. Of
course, instantly sweeps away all obscuritcs and
puts Felix de Vaudcncssc in his trnc place. as the
type and embodiment Of n form Of masculine
cgotism and covert brutality which has always
hccn represented in human society and most OBJ
| noXousy in what are called highly cultivated
| circeS Some curious risiudgmcntS have been
placed on record by superficial critics concerning
this book Angl0-SaXOn PhstiniSm has seen in
il only hyper sentimcntasm and mawkshness =
| French critic, have sometimes utterly msundcr
stood il. taking the narrative Of Felix as an en-
| trry sober and accurate Representations and
| strangely ignoring the thousand little points and
| indications which contradict his version. and AT
| the same time suggest the trucr ore. Few books
indeed, require to he read more between the lines
well worth the labor in this case. The very fact
| that Balzac was never given 10 excessive snnti-
mcntalism should have given pause 10 those who
characterized this work 50 hastily He wrote al
ways with a purpose and each of his books is
| study of some human tendency. vice or virtue and
some social problem or situation. In the pre;eat
| instance the object of his inquistion is or should
be- evident enough. II is the exposure Of a hoary
social evil: the pursuit Of the pure woman by the
impure man under the specious disguise of love.
Such subject, if treated by Bourgrt, n
| Faubcrt, or a Maupassant would he probably
more offensive than instructive. But Ialzac
had a lighter hand and more refined and delicate
art He avoids ali unclcanneSs, all nlturai site
debasement and yet succeeds in showing the beauty
Of the noble womanly spirit and the pettincs, and
meanness of the man in the most decided man.
| ner Madame de Mortsauf, it is true is not repre-
sented as free from weakness; that is 10 say she
is not represented as superhuman. But her faults
| are few and venial, and when contrasted with
Ler virtues they sink into in3gnicancc II is char.
acerstc of Felix that he realizes the nature
and extent Of her sufcrincs saVe they indirectly
affect himself he r.crcts her domestic position
| far less because it, renders her unhappy than
because il disturbs his own tranquility The
story is in one sense q study IL morbid psychology,
| and of n remarkable kind. The setting forth of
| this human tragedy is masterpiece, and toe
| more closely il is examined the more wonderful
| will it, appear. Such psychGOgicai studies are
| only for a few great masters, of whom B2lZac
is "facile prnccps," and the American public
| owes Miss Wormcley debt of thanks for the