Essays on literary works - 2023

Honoré de Balzac “Gobsek” Tale
Honore de Balzac

The lawyer Derville tells the story of the usurer Gobsek in the salon of the Vicomtesse de Granlier, one of the most distinguished and wealthy ladies in the aristocratic Faubourg Saint-Germain. One day, in the winter of 1829/30, two guests stayed with her: the handsome young Count Ernest de Resto and Derville, who is easily accepted only because he helped the mistress of the house to return the property confiscated during the revolution. When Ernest leaves, the viscountess reprimands her daughter Camilla: one should not show affection to the dear count so frankly, because not a single decent family will agree to intermarry with him because of his mother.

Although now she behaves impeccably, in her youth she caused a lot of gossip. In addition, she is of low birth - her father was a grain merchant Goriot. But worst of all, she squandered her fortune on her lover, leaving the children penniless. Count Ernest de Resto is poor, and therefore not a match for Camille de Granlier. Derville, sympathetic to the lovers, intervenes in the conversation, wanting to explain to the viscountess the true state of affairs. He starts from afar: in his student years he had to live in a cheap boarding house, and there he met Gobsek. Even then he was a deep old man of a very remarkable appearance - with a "moon face", yellow eyes like a ferret, a sharp long nose and thin lips. His victims sometimes lost their temper, cried or threatened, but the usurer himself always kept his cool - he was a “man-bill”, a “golden idol”.

Of all the neighbors, he maintained relations only with Derville, to whom he once revealed the mechanism of his power over people - the world is ruled by gold, and the usurer owns the gold. As an edification, he tells how he collected a debt from a noble lady - fearing exposure, this countess without hesitation handed him a diamond, because her lover received the money on her bill. Gobsek guessed the future of the countess from the face of a blond handsome man - this dandy, spendthrift and player is able to ruin the whole family.

After graduating from a law course, Derville received a position as a senior clerk in the attorney's office. In the winter of 1818/19, he was forced to sell his patent - and asked for it one hundred and fifty thousand francs. Gobseck lent money to the young neighbor, taking only thirteen percent of him "for friendship" - usually he took no less than fifty. At the cost of hard work, Derville managed to get even with his debt in five years.

Once, the brilliant dandy Count Maxime de Tray begged Derville to set him up with Gobsek, but the usurer flatly refused to give a loan to a man who had debts of three hundred thousand, and not a centime for his soul. At that moment, a carriage drove up to the house, the Comte de Tray rushed to the exit and returned with an unusually beautiful lady - according to the description, Derville immediately recognized in her the countess who issued the bill four years ago.

This time she has pledged magnificent diamonds.

Derville tried to prevent the deal, but as soon as Maxim hinted that he was going to take his own life, the unfortunate woman agreed to the onerous terms of the loan. After the lovers left, the countess's husband burst into Gobsek demanding the return of the mortgage - his wife did not have the right to dispose of the family jewels. Derville managed to settle the matter amicably, and the grateful usurer gave the count advice: to transfer all his property to a reliable friend through a fictitious sale deal is the only way to save at least children from ruin. A few days later, the count came to Derville to find out what he thought of Gobsek. The lawyer replied that in the event of an untimely death, he would not be afraid to make Gobsek the guardian of his children, because in this miser and philosopher there live two creatures - vile and sublime.

Taking advantage of a pause in the conversation, the viscountess sends her daughter to bed - a virtuous girl does not need to know to what a fall a woman who has transgressed certain boundaries can reach. After the departure of Camilla, there is no need to hide the names - the story refers to the Countess de Resto. Derville, having never received a counter receipt for a fictitious transaction, learns that Comte de Resto is seriously ill. The Countess, sensing a trick, does everything to prevent the attorney from approaching her husband. The denouement comes in December 1824. By this moment, the Countess was already convinced of the meanness of Maxime de Tray and broke up with him. She is so jealous. she looks after her dying husband so that many are inclined to forgive her former sins - in fact, she, like a predatory beast, lies in wait for her prey. The count, unable to get a meeting with Derville, wants to hand over the documents to his eldest son, but his wife cuts off this path as well, trying to caress the boy. In the last terrible scene, the countess begs for forgiveness, but the count remains adamant. That same night he dies, and the next day Gobsek and Derville come to the house. A terrible sight appears before their eyes: in search of a will, the countess made a real rout in the office, not even ashamed of the dead. Hearing the steps of strangers, she throws papers addressed to Derville into the fire - the count's property thereby undividedly passes into the possession of Gobsek. The usurer rented out the mansion, and began to spend the summer like a lord, on his new estates. To all Derville's entreaties to take pity on the repentant countess and her children, he replied that misfortune is the best teacher. Let Ernest de Resto learn the value of people and money - then it will be possible to return his fortune. Learning about the love of Ernest and Camilla, Derville once again went to Gobsek and found the old man near death. The old miser bequeathed all his wealth to his sister's great-granddaughter, a public girl nicknamed Ogonyok. He instructed his executor Derville to dispose of the accumulated food supplies - and the lawyer really discovered huge stocks of rotten pate, moldy fish, and rotten coffee. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. The old miser bequeathed all his wealth to his sister's great-granddaughter, a public girl nicknamed Ogonyok. He instructed his executor Derville to dispose of the accumulated food supplies - and the lawyer really discovered huge stocks of rotten pate, moldy fish, and rotten coffee. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. The old miser bequeathed all his wealth to his sister's great-granddaughter, a public girl nicknamed Ogonyok. He instructed his executor Derville to dispose of the accumulated food supplies - and the lawyer really discovered huge stocks of rotten pate, moldy fish, and rotten coffee. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. He instructed his executor Derville to dispose of the accumulated food supplies - and the lawyer really discovered huge stocks of rotten pate, moldy fish, and rotten coffee. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. He instructed his executor Derville to dispose of the accumulated food supplies - and the lawyer really discovered huge stocks of rotten pate, moldy fish, and rotten coffee. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house. By the end of his life, Gobsek's stinginess turned into a mania - he did not sell anything, fearing to sell too cheap. In conclusion, Derville reports that Ernest de Resto will soon regain his lost fortune. The viscountess replies that the young count must be very rich - only in this case he can marry Mademoiselle de Granlier. However, Camille is not at all obliged to meet with her mother-in-law, although the countess is not ordered to attend receptions - after all, she was received at Madame de Beausean's house.