Père Goriot

***Le Père Goriot*** (, _"Old Goriot"_ or ***"Father Goriot"***) is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). It is in the _Scènes de la vie privée_ section of his novel sequence _La Comédie humaine_. It is set in Paris in 1819. It follows the lives of three characters: the elderly Goriot, a mysterious criminal named Vautrin and a naive law student named Eugène de Rastignac.

The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration. It brought major changes to French society. The struggle by individuals to reach a higher social status is a major theme in the book. Balzac analyzes through Goriot and others the nature of family and marriage that provides a pessimistic view of them.

## Publication

In the first book edition, the novel had seven chapters:

- In the first volume:
    - _Une Pension bourgeoise_ (_A Bourgeois Boarding House_)
    - _Les Deux Visites_ (_The Two Visits_)
    - _L'Entrée dans le Monde_ (_The Entrance into the World_)
- In the second volume:
    - _L'Entrée dans le Monde (Suite)_ (_The Entrance into the World (Continuation)_)
    - _Trompe-la-Mort_ (_Cheat-the-Death_, _Death-Dodger_, or _Dare-Devil_)
    - _Les Deux Filles_ (_The Two Daughters_)
    - _La Mort du Père_ (_The Father's Death_)

The character Eugène de Rastignac had appeared as an old man in Balzac's earlier philosophical fantasy novel _La Peau de chagrin_. While writing the first version of _Le Père Goriot_, Balzac named the character "Massiac", but he decided to use the same character from _La Peau de chagrin_. Other characters were changed in a similar way.

## Legacy

_Le Père Goriot_ is widely considered Balzac's essential novel. Its influence on French literature has been considerable, as shown by novelist Félicien Marceau's remark: "We are all children of _Le Père Goriot_."

In his book _Le Pére Goriot: Anatomy of a Troubled World_, Martin Kanes calls it "the keystone of the _Comédie humaine_". It is the central text of Anthony Pugh's study _Balzac's Recurring Characters_. Entire chapters have been written about the detail of the Maison Vauquer.

Thus, says Balzac biographer Graham Robb, "_Goriot_ is one of the novels of _La Comédie humaine_ that can safely be read in English for what it is."

According to the editor of the Norton Critical Edition, Peter Brooks, the book is now seen as "the most endurable and popular of Balzac's myriad works" and a "classic of the [18th]-century European novel".

A well-known line of this book by Balzac is when Vautrin tells Eugene, "In that case I will make you an offer that no one would decline."

This has been reworked by Mario Puzo in the novel _The Godfather_ (1969) and its movie adaptation (1972) as "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse".

It was ranked as the second most significant cinematic quote in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes (2005) by the American Film Institute.

## Bibliography

- Adamson, Donald: _Old Goriot_ presented in Everyman Books, 1991.
- Auerbach, Erich. _Père Goriot_. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. . pp. 279–289.
- Balzac, Honoré de. "Author's Introduction". _La Comédie humaine_. _The Human Comedy: Introductions and Appendix_. 1842. Online at Project Gutenberg. Retrieved on 19 January 2008.
- Balzac, Honoré de. _Father Goriot_. _The Works of Honoré de Balzac._ Vol. XIII. Philadelphia: Avil Publishing Company, 1901.
- Balzac, Honoré de. _Père Goriot_. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. .
- Baran, J. H. "Predators and parasites in Le Père Goriot". _Symposium_. 47.1 (1993): 3–15. .
- Barbéris, Pierre. "The Discovery of Solitude". _Père Goriot_. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. . pp. 304–314.
- Bellos, David. _Honoré de Balzac: Old Goriot (Landmarks of World Literature)_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. .

## Other websites

- _Father Goriot_ at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
- _Le Père Goriot_, audio version
- _Le Père Goriot_  (original version) with approx. 1000 English annotations at Tailored Texts