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* TheBeard: Eugénie is implied to have accepted Monsieur de Bonfons' marriage proposal in order to get herself off the marriage market and prevent further pressure to settle down. It is self-evident that on his side, he is only marrying her for her money.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Ebenezer Scrooge]] to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household![[note]]A particularly cheap gesture considering that the author tells us early in the story that Father Grandet received some of his farm rent dues in kind, which provided good foodstuffs for his family.[[/note]]
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who Grandet is caricatured as a miser to put [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Ebenezer Scrooge]] to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household![[note]]A particularly cheap gesture considering that the author tells us early in the story that Father Grandet received some of his farm rent dues in kind, which provided good foodstuffs for his family.[[/note]]
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* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
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* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
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* HonorThyFather: Eugénie's consistent filial piety toward her father is a particularly self-effacing example of the trope, and is shown towards a most undeserving father.
* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
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* HonorThyParent: Eugénie's consistent filial piety toward her father is a particularly self-effacing example of the trope, and is shown towards a most undeserving father.
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* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
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Crosswicked a trope.
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* HonorThyFather: Eugénie's consistent filial piety toward her father is a particularly self-effacing example of the trope, and is shown towards a most undeserving father.
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* SexilyModest: Mademoiselle Aubrion, the high-born young woman that Charles Grandet (the protagonist's cousin and love interest) ends up marrying, is devoid of natural beauty. Her mother teaches her a series of tricks meant "to counterbalance her personal defects", I.E.i.e. to make her appear passably attractive through artifice and guile; this includes teaching her "the manoeuvre of the foot, letting it peep beneath the petticoat, to show its tiny size, at the moment when the nose became aggressively red" and "high-pressure corsets".
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* SexilyModest: Mademoiselle Aubrion, the high-born young woman that Charles Grandet (the protagonist's cousin and love interest) ends up marrying, is devoid of natural beauty. Her mother teaches her a series of tricks meant "to counterbalance her personal defects", I.E.i.e. to make her appear passably attractive through artifice and guile; this includes teaching her "the manoeuvre of the foot, letting it peep beneath the petticoat, to show its tiny size, at the moment when the nose became aggressively red" and "high-pressure corsets".
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Crosswicked a trope.
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* SexilyModest: Mademoiselle Aubrion, the high-born young woman that Charles Grandet (the protagonist's cousin and love interest) ends up marrying, is devoid of natural beauty. Her mother teaches her a series of tricks meant "to counterbalance her personal defects", I.E.i.e. to make her appear passably attractive through artifice and guile; this includes teaching her "the manoeuvre of the foot, letting it peep beneath the petticoat, to show its tiny size, at the moment when the nose became aggressively red" and "high-pressure corsets".
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* {{Foil}}: Within ''La Comédie Humaine'', Balzac's greater opus, the meek, loving Eugénie and her selfish, greedy father are this to the doting father [[Literature/LePereGoriot]] and his uncaring, mooching daughters.
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* {{Foil}}: Within ''La Comédie Humaine'', Balzac's greater opus, the meek, loving Eugénie and her selfish, greedy father are this to the doting father [[Literature/LePereGoriot]] [[Literature/LePereGoriot Goriot]] and his uncaring, mooching daughters.
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Fixed a hyperlink
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* {{Foil}}: Within ''La Comédie Humaine'', Balzac's greater opus, the meek, loving Eugénie and her selfish, greedy father are this to the doting father [[LePereGoriot]] and his uncaring, mooching daughters.
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* {{Foil}}: Within ''La Comédie Humaine'', Balzac's greater opus, the meek, loving Eugénie and her selfish, greedy father are this to the doting father [[LePereGoriot]] [[Literature/LePereGoriot]] and his uncaring, mooching daughters.
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Added a trope.
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* {{Foil}}: Within ''La Comédie Humaine'', Balzac's greater opus, the meek, loving Eugénie and her selfish, greedy father are this to the doting father [[LePereGoriot]] and his uncaring, mooching daughters.
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Added a trope.
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* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]]
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* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]]
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* OldRetainer/UndyingLoyalty: Nanon was hired by Grandet when she was at a difficult point in her life. She remains permanently grateful to him for this and despite Grandet's stinginess will not consider taking a better-paid position in some other home. She is also cautiously supportive of Eugénie during the latter's falling out with her father and continues to work for Eugénie on her inheriting her father's wealth.
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* OldRetainer/UndyingLoyalty: OldRetainer / UndyingLoyalty: Nanon was hired by Grandet when she was at a difficult point in her life. She remains permanently grateful to him for this and despite Grandet's stinginess will not consider taking a better-paid position in some other home. She is also cautiously supportive of Eugénie during the latter's falling out with her father and continues to work for Eugénie on her inheriting her father's wealth.
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Added a trope.
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* OldRetainer/UndyingLoyalty: Nanon was hired by Grandet when she was at a difficult point in her life. She remains permanently grateful to him for this and despite Grandet's stinginess will not consider taking a better-paid position in some other home. She is also cautiously supportive of Eugénie during the latter's falling out with her father and continues to work for Eugénie on her inheriting her father's wealth.
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[[caption-width-right:346:some caption text]]
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[[quoteright:346:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eugenie_grandet_8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:346:some caption text]]
[[caption-width-right:346:some caption text]]
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* PlotHole: In the scene where Eugénie's father banishes her to her room, the author specifically states that on her withdrawing to her room, "Grandet turned the key of the door." However, he leaves the house shortly after, and immediately Eugénie comes out and goes to her mother. Several later passages show Eugénie as not being constantly under lock and key, and there is even a hint that Father Grandet may have been aware that she would defy the letter of his orders to visit her mother.[[note]]When the Cruchots, Madame des Grassins and her son visit that evening, the excuse Grandet gives for his wife and daughter not being there is that his wife is not very well and that Eugénie is with her. Madame des Grassins even goes up to check on them and reports to the Cruchots when they have left the Grandets' that "The girl's eyes are red, as if she had been crying all day. Can they be trying to marry her against her will?" This would be impossible if she had not seen Eugénie with her own eyes.[[/note]]
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* PlotHole: In the scene where Eugénie's father banishes her to her room, the author specifically states that on her withdrawing to her room, "Grandet turned the key of the door." However, he leaves the house shortly after, and immediately Eugénie comes out and goes to her mother. Several later Later passages show Eugénie as not being constantly under lock and key, and there is even a hint that Father Grandet may have been aware that she would defy the letter of his orders to visit her mother.[[note]]When the Cruchots, Madame des Grassins and her son visit that evening, the excuse Grandet gives for his wife and daughter not being there is that his wife is not very well and that Eugénie is with her. Madame des Grassins even goes up to check on them and reports to the Cruchots when they have left the Grandets' that "The girl's eyes are red, as if she had been crying all day. Can they be trying to marry her against her will?" This would be impossible if she had not seen Eugénie with her own eyes.[[/note]]
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* PlotHole: In the scene where Eugénie's father banishes her to her room, the author specifically states that on her withdrawing to her room, "Grandet turned the key of the door." However, he leaves the house shortly after, and immediately Eugénie comes out and goes to her mother. Several later passages show that Eugénie as not being constantly under lock and key, and there is even a hint that Father Grandet may have been aware that she would defy the letter of his orders to visit her mother.[[note]]When the Cruchots, Madame des Grassins and her son visit that evening, the excuse Grandet gives for his wife and daughter not being there is that his wife is not very well and that Eugénie is with her. Madame des Grassins even goes up to check on them and reports to the Cruchots when they have left the Grandets' that "The girl's eyes are red, as if she had been crying all day. Can they be trying to marry her against her will?" This would be impossible if she had not seen Eugénie with her own eyes.[[/note]]
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* PlotHole: In the scene where Eugénie's father banishes her to her room, the author specifically states that on her withdrawing to her room, "Grandet turned the key of the door." However, he leaves the house shortly after, and immediately Eugénie comes out and goes to her mother. Several later passages show that Eugénie as not being constantly under lock and key, and there is even a hint that Father Grandet may have been aware that she would defy the letter of his orders to visit her mother.[[note]]When the Cruchots, Madame des Grassins and her son visit that evening, the excuse Grandet gives for his wife and daughter not being there is that his wife is not very well and that Eugénie is with her. Madame des Grassins even goes up to check on them and reports to the Cruchots when they have left the Grandets' that "The girl's eyes are red, as if she had been crying all day. Can they be trying to marry her against her will?" This would be impossible if she had not seen Eugénie with her own eyes.[[/note]]
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Added a trope and a quote.
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* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being of the type of woman who fears her husband. She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father's request to renounce her mother's inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property and thus strip her father of some of his power.]]
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* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being "one of the type of woman those women who fears her husband.are born to be down-trodden". She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father's request to renounce her mother's inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property and thus strip her father of some of his power.]]
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*PlotHole: In the scene where Eugénie's father banishes her to her room, the author specifically states that on her withdrawing to her room, "Grandet turned the key of the door." However, he leaves the house shortly after, and immediately Eugénie comes out and goes to her mother. Several later passages show that Eugénie as not being constantly under lock and key, and there is even a hint that Father Grandet may have been aware that she would defy the letter of his orders to visit her mother.[[note]]When the Cruchots, Madame des Grassins and her son visit that evening, the excuse Grandet gives for his wife and daughter not being there is that his wife is not very well and that Eugénie is with her. Madame des Grassins even goes up to check on them and reports to the Cruchots when they have left the Grandets' that "The girl's eyes are red, as if she had been crying all day. Can they be trying to marry her against her will?" This would be impossible if she had not seen Eugénie with her own eyes.[[/note]]
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household![[note]]A particularly cheap gesture considering that the author tells us early in the story that Father Grandet received some of his farm rent dues in kind, which provided good foodstuffs for his family.[[/note]]
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Ebenezer Scrooge Scrooge]] to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household![[note]]A particularly cheap gesture considering that the author tells us early in the story that Father Grandet received some of his farm rent dues in kind, which provided good foodstuffs for his family.[[/note]]
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One of the best-known novels of the French prose writer [[Creator/Balzac Honoré de Balzac]], ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a classic study of avarice and its effect on family life, as well as of the manners of the provincial bourgeoisie. Published in 1833/4, it is set in the small town of Saumur in Western France. The titular character is the daughter of Félix Grandet, a wine merchant who through business, acquisition of land, inheritance, and shrewd investments, has become fabulously wealthy. At the same time, Father Grandet is a miser of epic proportions, neglecting the old house in which he lives with his wife, daughter Eugénie and housekeeper Nanon, and living for nothing but for acquiring wealth and instilling it as a value in Eugénie. Unaware of how much wealth Father Grandet really has, mother and daughter lead a peaceful and uneventful life until one day in 1819, on Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, Father Grandet’s nephew Charles, whose bankrupt father has just committed suicide, pays them a visit that threatens to throw a spanner into the works of the old miser’s wealth-hoarding machinery.
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One of the best-known novels of the French prose writer [[Creator/Balzac [[Creator/HonoreDeBalzac Honoré de Balzac]], ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a classic study of avarice and its effect on family life, as well as of the manners of the provincial bourgeoisie. Published in 1833/4, it is set in the small town of Saumur in Western France. The titular character is the daughter of Félix Grandet, a wine merchant who through business, acquisition of land, inheritance, and shrewd investments, has become fabulously wealthy. At the same time, Father Grandet is a miser of epic proportions, neglecting the old house in which he lives with his wife, daughter Eugénie and housekeeper Nanon, and living for nothing but for acquiring wealth and instilling it as a value in Eugénie. Unaware of how much wealth Father Grandet really has, mother and daughter lead a peaceful and uneventful life until one day in 1819, on Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, Father Grandet’s nephew Charles, whose bankrupt father has just committed suicide, pays them a visit that threatens to throw a spanner into the works of the old miser’s wealth-hoarding machinery.
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One of the best-known novels of the French prose writer Honoré de Balzac, ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a classic study of avarice and its effect on family life, as well as of the manners of the provincial bourgeoisie. Published in 1833/4, it is set in the small town of Saumur in Western France. The titular character is the daughter of Félix Grandet, a wine merchant who through business, acquisition of land, inheritance, and shrewd investments, has become fabulously wealthy. At the same time, Father Grandet is a miser of epic proportions, neglecting the old house in which he lives with his wife, daughter Eugénie and housekeeper Nanon, and living for nothing but for acquiring wealth and instilling it as a value in Eugénie. Unaware of how much wealth Father Grandet really has, mother and daughter lead a peaceful and uneventful life until one day in 1819, on Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, Father Grandet’s nephew Charles, whose bankrupt father has just committed suicide, pays them a visit that threatens to throw a spanner into the works of the old miser’s wealth-hoarding machinery.
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One of the best-known novels of the French prose writer [[Creator/Balzac Honoré de Balzac, Balzac]], ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a classic study of avarice and its effect on family life, as well as of the manners of the provincial bourgeoisie. Published in 1833/4, it is set in the small town of Saumur in Western France. The titular character is the daughter of Félix Grandet, a wine merchant who through business, acquisition of land, inheritance, and shrewd investments, has become fabulously wealthy. At the same time, Father Grandet is a miser of epic proportions, neglecting the old house in which he lives with his wife, daughter Eugénie and housekeeper Nanon, and living for nothing but for acquiring wealth and instilling it as a value in Eugénie. Unaware of how much wealth Father Grandet really has, mother and daughter lead a peaceful and uneventful life until one day in 1819, on Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, Father Grandet’s nephew Charles, whose bankrupt father has just committed suicide, pays them a visit that threatens to throw a spanner into the works of the old miser’s wealth-hoarding machinery.
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* AngstWhatAngst: Balzac does not record Eugénie's emotions at the time of her kind, loving mother's death. Odd considering that when her selfish ''father'' is at the point of death, which father's actions caused both Eugénie and her mother such grief and directly or indirectly contributed to the mother's death, the author does depict Eugénie as shedding tears and tenderly asking for his blessing.
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Added a trope and a note; made minor edits for punctuation.
* AngstWhatAngst: Balzac does not record Eugénie's emotions at the time of her kind, loving mother's death. Odd considering that when her selfish ''father'' is at the point of death, which father's actions caused both Eugénie and her mother such grief and directly or indirectly contributed to the mother's death, the author does depict Eugénie as shedding tears and tenderly asking for his blessing.
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* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author's intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
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* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author's intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, rather than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
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* GenerationXerox: After inheriting her father's wealth, Eugénie continues living according to the habits established in the household during his lifetime hoarding her revenues and not spending anything substantial upon herself or her house. However, her large donations to charity save her from becoming a miser in the full sense of the word.
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* GenerationXerox: After inheriting her father's wealth, Eugénie continues living according to the habits established in the household during his lifetime lifetime, hoarding her revenues and not spending anything substantial upon herself or her house. However, her large donations to charity save her from becoming a miser in the full sense of the word.
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* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles X. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
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* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon Upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles X. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household!
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* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household! household![[note]]A particularly cheap gesture considering that the author tells us early in the story that Father Grandet received some of his farm rent dues in kind, which provided good foodstuffs for his family.[[/note]]
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Minor cleanup
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* AbusiveParents: Father Grandet is stingy and despotic toward his kind-hearted wife, daughter and housekeeper and has absolutely no tolerance for any defiance on their part. When Eugénie gives away the collection of gold coins that he had gradually gifted her to her impoverished cousin Charles and refuses to reveal the secret of who she gave it to, he takes both the loss of the gold, which in his mind is still ''his'' property, and Eugénie's refusal to confide in him, personally, furiously berates her, declaring at one point that Eugénie [[IHaveNoSon "has no father"]], and forces her to stay in her room as long as she insists on hiding from him who she gave the coins to. [[spoiler: He only ends the punishment when he thinks he can have a financial advantage from being in his daughter's good books, and his persistence in ostracizing her until then causes his wife's death.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying, former theorizes that they are trying to marry her against her will. Ultimately any such arrangements are averted and Eugénie does not marry until after her father’s death, [[spoiler: though she does so due to social pressure rather than for love.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying, former theorizes that they are trying to marry her against her will. Ultimately any such arrangements are averted and Eugénie does not marry until after her father’s death, [[spoiler: though she does so due to social pressure rather than for love.]]
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* AbusiveParents: Father Grandet is stingy and despotic toward his kind-hearted wife, daughter and housekeeper and [[ControlFreak has absolutely no tolerance for any defiance on their part.part]]. When Eugénie gives away the collection of gold coins that he had gradually gifted her to her impoverished cousin Charles and refuses to reveal the secret of who she gave it to, he takes both the loss of the gold, which in his mind is still ''his'' property, and Eugénie's refusal to confide in him, personally, furiously berates her, declaring at one point that Eugénie [[IHaveNoSon "has no father"]], and forces her to stay in her room as long as she insists on hiding from him who she gave the coins to. [[spoiler: He only ends the punishment when he thinks he can have a financial advantage from being in his daughter's good books, and his persistence in ostracizing her until then causes his wife's death.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying,former theorizes that they are trying to marry her against her will. Ultimately any such arrangements are averted and Eugénie does not marry until after her father’s death, [[spoiler: though she does so due to social social/religious pressure rather than for love.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying,
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* TheBeard: Eugénie is implied to have accepted Monsieur de Bonfons’ marriage proposal in order to get herself off the marriage market and prevent further pressure to settle down. It is self-evident that on his side, he is only marrying her for her money.
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* TheBeard: Eugénie is implied to have accepted Monsieur de Bonfons’ Bonfons' marriage proposal in order to get herself off the marriage market and prevent further pressure to settle down. It is self-evident that on his side, he is only marrying her for her money.
Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author’s intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
to:
* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author’s author's intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
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* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being of the type of woman who fears her husband. She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father' s request to renounce her mother' s inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property.]]
to:
* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being of the type of woman who fears her husband. She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father' s father's request to renounce her mother' s mother's inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property.property and thus strip her father of some of his power.]]
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* TheBadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
to:
* TheBadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives lives, and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
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* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Implied. Charles' descent from an ideal youth to a cynical businessman starts with his finding it profitable to engage in the slave trade.
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* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Implied. Charles' descent from an ideal innocent youth to a cynical businessman starts with his finding it profitable to engage in the slave trade.
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Changed line(s) 9 (click to see context) from:
* BadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
to:
* BadGuyWins: TheBadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
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* TheFoil: Madame Grandet and Eugénie are genuinely kind and modest as opposed to Father Grandet, who is avaricious and self-serving; he takes advantage of this. In the wider universe of Balzac's ''magnum opus'', the ''Comédie Humaine'', the relationship of Eugénie and her father is a polar opposite of that of the generous [[Literature/LePereGoriot Old Goriot]] and his unloving daughters.
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* HonorBeforeReason: One of the reasons that Eugéniegives Monsieur de Bonfons and Notary Cruchot for not wanting to sue her father in order to end his harsh treatment of her is that "To blame my father is to attack our family honor."
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* HonorBeforeReason: One of the reasons that Eugéniegives Eugénie gives Monsieur de Bonfons and Notary Cruchot for not wanting to sue her father in order to end his harsh treatment of her is that "To blame my father is to attack our family honor."
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* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles IX. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
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* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles IX.X. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
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* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[note/]]
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* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, [[note]]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[note/]][[/note]]
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Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]]
to:
* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]][[note/]]
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Created a page for the work "Eugenie Grandet"
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One of the best-known novels of the French prose writer Honoré de Balzac, ''Eugénie Grandet'' is a classic study of avarice and its effect on family life, as well as of the manners of the provincial bourgeoisie. Published in 1833/4, it is set in the small town of Saumur in Western France. The titular character is the daughter of Félix Grandet, a wine merchant who through business, acquisition of land, inheritance, and shrewd investments, has become fabulously wealthy. At the same time, Father Grandet is a miser of epic proportions, neglecting the old house in which he lives with his wife, daughter Eugénie and housekeeper Nanon, and living for nothing but for acquiring wealth and instilling it as a value in Eugénie. Unaware of how much wealth Father Grandet really has, mother and daughter lead a peaceful and uneventful life until one day in 1819, on Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, Father Grandet’s nephew Charles, whose bankrupt father has just committed suicide, pays them a visit that threatens to throw a spanner into the works of the old miser’s wealth-hoarding machinery.
This tightly-written classic of French literature offers a picture of how stinginess can be acquired and passed through generations. It also has a lot to say about the oppression of women through patriarchy and religious indoctrination. As such, it may be read as a proto-feminist work.
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!! This work provides examples of:
* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: [[spoiler: Once Charles goes out into the world and begins to amass wealth, his passion for Eugénie evaporates. Eventually, supposing that she would not be suited for the worldly lifestyle that he wants to lead and wishing to get ahead in society, he contracts a marriage with the plain daughter of a nobleman.]]
* AbusiveParents: Father Grandet is stingy and despotic toward his kind-hearted wife, daughter and housekeeper and has absolutely no tolerance for any defiance on their part. When Eugénie gives away the collection of gold coins that he had gradually gifted her to her impoverished cousin Charles and refuses to reveal the secret of who she gave it to, he takes both the loss of the gold, which in his mind is still ''his'' property, and Eugénie's refusal to confide in him, personally, furiously berates her, declaring at one point that Eugénie [[IHaveNoSon "has no father"]], and forces her to stay in her room as long as she insists on hiding from him who she gave the coins to. [[spoiler: He only ends the punishment when he thinks he can have a financial advantage from being in his daughter's good books, and his persistence in ostracizing her until then causes his wife's death.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying, former theorizes that they are trying to marry her against her will. Ultimately any such arrangements are averted and Eugénie does not marry until after her father’s death, [[spoiler: though she does so due to social pressure rather than for love.]]
* BadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
* TheBeard: Eugénie is implied to have accepted Monsieur de Bonfons’ marriage proposal in order to get herself off the marriage market and prevent further pressure to settle down. It is self-evident that on his side, he is only marrying her for her money.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: The very religious Eugénie and her mother bear father Grandet's despotism in large part out of respect for the father's supposedly God-ordained status as head of the household. When the father forces Eugénie to remain in her room until she tells him who she gave her gold to, Notary Cruchot and Monsieur de Bonfons suggest suing him for wrongful cruelty; Eugénie remonstrates that "My father is master in his own house. As long as I live under his roof I am bound to obey him. His conduct is not subject to the approbation or the disapprobation of the world; he is accountable to God only." Her mother agrees. [[spoiler: Eugénie is finally released when Cruchot suggests to her father that by reconciling with her, he will increase the chances of her accepting to renounce her mother's inheritance in his favor. This Eugénie does - to Cruchot's horror without any resistance whatsoever - in exchange for an allowance (which her father fails to pay her, except in the form of giving her some of the gold that Charles gave him on leaving France).]]
* BlatantLies: Father Grandet hides the fact that he is extremely wealthy, in order to justify his avaricious behavior. Shortly after his nephew Charles comes to Saumur, Grandet, who has just found out that Charles' father has gone bankrupt and committed suicide, tells him straight out: "You may perhaps hear people say that I am rich,—Monsieur Grandet this, Monsieur Grandet that. I let them talk; their gossip does not hurt my credit. But I have not a penny; I work in my old age like an apprentice whose worldly goods are a bad plane and two good arms."
* BrawnHilda: The mannish servant woman Nanon stands 5 feet 8 inches and was taken on by Father Grandet when he was setting up his household because he judged her physically strong enough to be able to get a substantial amount of labor out of her. She is not referred to as "la Grande Nanon" by the townsfolk for nothing.
* TheDandy: Cousin Charles is a well-dressed Parisian youth who stands in contrast to his provincial relations. He aims to impress them and comes to Saumur at his most elegant and fashionable, with curled hair, an eye glass on a chain, a carrying cane, and a whole wardrobe of finery in his luggage. The guests who are present when he arrives find him odd, but the novelty of such an impeccably attired young man impresses Eugénie.
* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author’s intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
* DrivenToSuicide: Father Grandet's brother commits suicide shortly after sending his son Charles to the former, due to having gone bankrupt.
* EasilyForgiven: Eugénie is not seen to hold any resentment toward her father for his awful treatment of her and her mother. Once his anger abates and he has restored a veneer of tenderness towards her, their relationship continues as it had before their falling out as if nothing had ever happened. She even showers her love on him and feels sorry when he is on the point of death.
* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being of the type of woman who fears her husband. She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father' s request to renounce her mother' s inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: Father Grandet has mannerisms which give off a certain ''bonhomie'' and which suggest to those who come in contact with him that he has the potential for joviality and affability. In fact, this is all a pose, and when push comes to shove, his actions are those of a corrupt, self-serving, despotic miser.
* FaceHeelTurn: Cousin Charles starts off as a romantic youth with genuine moral principles; when he hears of his father's bankruptcy and suicide, he is genuinely grieved that he has lost a father and is not concerned that he is now impoverished and will have to make his own way in the world. However, his good principles do not run deep, and once Charles actually gets the chance to do business, he becomes corrupt and greedy.
* FirstLove: Cousin Charles is this for Eugénie.
*TheFoil: Madame Grandet and Eugénie are genuinely kind and modest as opposed to Father Grandet, who is avaricious and self-serving; he takes advantage of this. In the wider universe of Balzac's ''magnum opus'', the ''Comédie Humaine'', the relationship of Eugénie and her father is a polar opposite of that of the generous [[Literature/LePereGoriot Old Goriot]] and his unloving daughters.
* GenerationXerox: After inheriting her father's wealth, Eugénie continues living according to the habits established in the household during his lifetime hoarding her revenues and not spending anything substantial upon herself or her house. However, her large donations to charity save her from becoming a miser in the full sense of the word.
* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: One of the reasons that Eugéniegives Monsieur de Bonfons and Notary Cruchot for not wanting to sue her father in order to end his harsh treatment of her is that "To blame my father is to attack our family honor."
*{{Hypocrite}}: Father Grandet. He exploits and invokes religion to exact obedience from his wife and daughter, while not being shown to be particularly religious himself, and in fact flagrantly committing the deadly sins of avarice and wrath.
** Cousin Charles makes his fortune abroad as a ragamuffin adventurer, where he starts going by the pseudonym of "Charles Shepherd", so that his actions will not sully his reputation and good name back home in France.
* TheIngenue: Eugénie knows nothing of the world but her little provincial town and the teachings of her austere father and complacent mother. She will suffer serious disappointment as the novel progresses.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Father Grandet's enraged reaction to Eugénie's giving away her gold pretty much boils down to this, as do his actions in general.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Monsieur de Bonfons dies eight days after having been elected deputy of Saumur. The author specifically attributes this to God’s punishment [[spoiler: for having married Eugénie in hopes that she will predecease him, allowing him to inherit her wealth.]]
* LastNameBasis: There is some of this between the members of the Grandet family. The mother refers to the father as "monsieur"; Cousin Charles is so unknown to Eugénie and her mother that the latter refers to him in the same way after he has spent one night in their home and he has to tell them to call him Charles.
* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles IX. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
* MyWayOrTheHighway: Miserly father Grandet gets furious at his daughter Eugénie for giving away her gold coins; and pulls this card after essentially losing the debate to her well-argued defense of her actions: "Eugénie, you are here, in my house,--in your father's house. If you wish to stay here, you must submit yourself to me." - [[GroundedForever and promptly banishes her to her room until further notice]].
* OutdatedOutfit: Father Grandet always wears the exact same outfit of breeches with silver buckles and a striped waistcoat and "those who saw him to-day saw him such as he had been since 1791."
* ParentalMarriageVeto: The day after Cousin Charles' arrival, Eugénie has already fallen in love with him and Notary Cruchot has already marked him out as a suitor for her. To her dismay, when Cruchot mentions out loud to her father the idea of Charles marrying her, Grandet, who knows that Charles is penniless and currently has no prospects, replies that he would rather fling his daughter into the Loire than give her to her cousin. Later, when attempting to make up with her after their quarrel over her giving Charles her gold, an offhand comment he makes in his ramble is that she may marry Charles if she wants.
** Later, the Marquis D'Aubrion will not give his daughter to Charles until his father's bankruptcy debt has been paid. The Marquis would have relented in this matter on the intercession of a Duchess, but Eugénie voluntarily pays off the debt for him, allowing Charles to proceed with the marriage either way.
* PassingTheTorch: In the five years between Madame Grandet's death and his own, Father Grandet introduces Eugénie to his shrewd and avaricious methods of managing his assets. His last words to her before dying pass the torch in his usual authoritarian way: "Take care of it all [the fortune she is about to inherit]. You will render me an account yonder [i.e. in the next life]!"
* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household!
* SelfMadeMan: Originally a cooper by trade, Father Grandet rose to be a civil servant during the French Revolution, had a stint as Mayor of Saumur, became a successful wholesale wine merchant, and added farms and a commercial woodlot to his name. Through his exploitation of vineyards, other land, and ruthless investments, he became a multimillionaire. Truth be told, the dowry that he received when he married his wife helped, as well as the three inheritances that he and his wife got in one year.
* SexlessMarriage: As a condition of marrying him, Eugénie requires Monsieur de Bonfons not to require sex of her. [[spoiler: She persists in this course when she realizes that her husband hopes she will predecease him in order to inherit her fortune.]]
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Implied. Charles' descent from an ideal youth to a cynical businessman starts with his finding it profitable to engage in the slave trade.
* StopOrIShootMyself: When Father Grandet finds that Charles has given Eugénie a case decorated with gold, he wants to remove the gold as compensation for that which she had given Charles. Eugénie grabs a knife and tells him that she will pierce herself through if he disturbs the gold from the case, which she must return intact to Charles. He gives in.
* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: Madame Grandet dies as piously as she has lived; happy to leave this world for the next. Her last words to Eugénie are: "My child, there is no happiness except in heaven; you will know it some day."]]
This tightly-written classic of French literature offers a picture of how stinginess can be acquired and passed through generations. It also has a lot to say about the oppression of women through patriarchy and religious indoctrination. As such, it may be read as a proto-feminist work.
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!! This work provides examples of:
* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: [[spoiler: Once Charles goes out into the world and begins to amass wealth, his passion for Eugénie evaporates. Eventually, supposing that she would not be suited for the worldly lifestyle that he wants to lead and wishing to get ahead in society, he contracts a marriage with the plain daughter of a nobleman.]]
* AbusiveParents: Father Grandet is stingy and despotic toward his kind-hearted wife, daughter and housekeeper and has absolutely no tolerance for any defiance on their part. When Eugénie gives away the collection of gold coins that he had gradually gifted her to her impoverished cousin Charles and refuses to reveal the secret of who she gave it to, he takes both the loss of the gold, which in his mind is still ''his'' property, and Eugénie's refusal to confide in him, personally, furiously berates her, declaring at one point that Eugénie [[IHaveNoSon "has no father"]], and forces her to stay in her room as long as she insists on hiding from him who she gave the coins to. [[spoiler: He only ends the punishment when he thinks he can have a financial advantage from being in his daughter's good books, and his persistence in ostracizing her until then causes his wife's death.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: Eugénie having reached an age at which, according to the customs of the day, it was high time for her to get married, there is competition for her hand by those who seek to benefit from the match. Father Grandet implies that he will arrange a marriage for her with a wealthy husband; when the conflict over her gold erupts, Madame des Grassins, on seeing that Eugénie has been crying, former theorizes that they are trying to marry her against her will. Ultimately any such arrangements are averted and Eugénie does not marry until after her father’s death, [[spoiler: though she does so due to social pressure rather than for love.]]
* BadGuyWins: Pretty much holds true for Father Grandet; it is certainly a case of KarmaHoudini. He confirms who Eugénie gave her gold coins to (the answer to which was likely obvious to him anyway), retains control over his household and all the family wealth as long as he lives and never has to suffer consequences for the wrong he has done to his wife and daughter. At least, he croaks (of old age) in the end.
* TheBeard: Eugénie is implied to have accepted Monsieur de Bonfons’ marriage proposal in order to get herself off the marriage market and prevent further pressure to settle down. It is self-evident that on his side, he is only marrying her for her money.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: The very religious Eugénie and her mother bear father Grandet's despotism in large part out of respect for the father's supposedly God-ordained status as head of the household. When the father forces Eugénie to remain in her room until she tells him who she gave her gold to, Notary Cruchot and Monsieur de Bonfons suggest suing him for wrongful cruelty; Eugénie remonstrates that "My father is master in his own house. As long as I live under his roof I am bound to obey him. His conduct is not subject to the approbation or the disapprobation of the world; he is accountable to God only." Her mother agrees. [[spoiler: Eugénie is finally released when Cruchot suggests to her father that by reconciling with her, he will increase the chances of her accepting to renounce her mother's inheritance in his favor. This Eugénie does - to Cruchot's horror without any resistance whatsoever - in exchange for an allowance (which her father fails to pay her, except in the form of giving her some of the gold that Charles gave him on leaving France).]]
* BlatantLies: Father Grandet hides the fact that he is extremely wealthy, in order to justify his avaricious behavior. Shortly after his nephew Charles comes to Saumur, Grandet, who has just found out that Charles' father has gone bankrupt and committed suicide, tells him straight out: "You may perhaps hear people say that I am rich,—Monsieur Grandet this, Monsieur Grandet that. I let them talk; their gossip does not hurt my credit. But I have not a penny; I work in my old age like an apprentice whose worldly goods are a bad plane and two good arms."
* BrawnHilda: The mannish servant woman Nanon stands 5 feet 8 inches and was taken on by Father Grandet when he was setting up his household because he judged her physically strong enough to be able to get a substantial amount of labor out of her. She is not referred to as "la Grande Nanon" by the townsfolk for nothing.
* TheDandy: Cousin Charles is a well-dressed Parisian youth who stands in contrast to his provincial relations. He aims to impress them and comes to Saumur at his most elegant and fashionable, with curled hair, an eye glass on a chain, a carrying cane, and a whole wardrobe of finery in his luggage. The guests who are present when he arrives find him odd, but the novelty of such an impeccably attired young man impresses Eugénie.
* DownerEnding: This appears to have been the author’s intention. [[spoiler: Despite having inherited a vast fortune, Eugénie has only learned to hoard her money and continues to live under the austerity regimen originally instituted by her father, including only lighting the fire from November 1 through March 31, regardless of the weather. The money that she does spend is on donations to charity rather, than on herself. And she seems to be fated, for the time being at least, to a life of solitude without a family of her own.]] On the other hand, she is now able to live life on her own terms, and not on those of her greedy menfolk, and seems to be the wiser as regards the ways of the world than she was at the beginning.
* DrivenToSuicide: Father Grandet's brother commits suicide shortly after sending his son Charles to the former, due to having gone bankrupt.
* EasilyForgiven: Eugénie is not seen to hold any resentment toward her father for his awful treatment of her and her mother. Once his anger abates and he has restored a veneer of tenderness towards her, their relationship continues as it had before their falling out as if nothing had ever happened. She even showers her love on him and feels sorry when he is on the point of death.
* ExtremeDoormat: Madame Grandet is described as being of the type of woman who fears her husband. She defers to Father Grandet in everything. Her daughter Eugénie grows up in the same vein. Her one attempt at asserting herself is crushed when her father punishes her by ordering her to remain in her room at his pleasure. Not only does she patiently bear her punishment, she refuses an offer to fight his treatment of her in court because "my father is master in his own house". Later, after the conflict has ended, [[spoiler: she slavishly accepts her father' s request to renounce her mother' s inheritance in favor of him retaining the entire estate in his own name, thereby giving up the opportunity to become the mistress of a lot of property.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: Father Grandet has mannerisms which give off a certain ''bonhomie'' and which suggest to those who come in contact with him that he has the potential for joviality and affability. In fact, this is all a pose, and when push comes to shove, his actions are those of a corrupt, self-serving, despotic miser.
* FaceHeelTurn: Cousin Charles starts off as a romantic youth with genuine moral principles; when he hears of his father's bankruptcy and suicide, he is genuinely grieved that he has lost a father and is not concerned that he is now impoverished and will have to make his own way in the world. However, his good principles do not run deep, and once Charles actually gets the chance to do business, he becomes corrupt and greedy.
* FirstLove: Cousin Charles is this for Eugénie.
*TheFoil: Madame Grandet and Eugénie are genuinely kind and modest as opposed to Father Grandet, who is avaricious and self-serving; he takes advantage of this. In the wider universe of Balzac's ''magnum opus'', the ''Comédie Humaine'', the relationship of Eugénie and her father is a polar opposite of that of the generous [[Literature/LePereGoriot Old Goriot]] and his unloving daughters.
* GenerationXerox: After inheriting her father's wealth, Eugénie continues living according to the habits established in the household during his lifetime hoarding her revenues and not spending anything substantial upon herself or her house. However, her large donations to charity save her from becoming a miser in the full sense of the word.
* IWillWaitForYou: Eugénie waits for Charles for ''seven long years'', idealizing him all the time together with her mother and Nanon, even though he never writes. Finally, [[spoiler: Charles sends her a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] in which he encloses a check to cover the gold she gave him before he departed, with interest, and in which he explains that he has decided to marry for convenience purposes.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: One of the reasons that Eugéniegives Monsieur de Bonfons and Notary Cruchot for not wanting to sue her father in order to end his harsh treatment of her is that "To blame my father is to attack our family honor."
*{{Hypocrite}}: Father Grandet. He exploits and invokes religion to exact obedience from his wife and daughter, while not being shown to be particularly religious himself, and in fact flagrantly committing the deadly sins of avarice and wrath.
** Cousin Charles makes his fortune abroad as a ragamuffin adventurer, where he starts going by the pseudonym of "Charles Shepherd", so that his actions will not sully his reputation and good name back home in France.
* TheIngenue: Eugénie knows nothing of the world but her little provincial town and the teachings of her austere father and complacent mother. She will suffer serious disappointment as the novel progresses.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Father Grandet's enraged reaction to Eugénie's giving away her gold pretty much boils down to this, as do his actions in general.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Monsieur de Bonfons dies eight days after having been elected deputy of Saumur. The author specifically attributes this to God’s punishment [[spoiler: for having married Eugénie in hopes that she will predecease him, allowing him to inherit her wealth.]]
* LastNameBasis: There is some of this between the members of the Grandet family. The mother refers to the father as "monsieur"; Cousin Charles is so unknown to Eugénie and her mother that the latter refers to him in the same way after he has spent one night in their home and he has to tell them to call him Charles.
* MarriageOfConvenience: [[spoiler: upon returning to France, Cousin Charles decides to marry the unattractive daughter of the Marquis D'Aubrion as it would give him an aristocratic title and the place of gentleman-of-the-bed-chamber to King Charles IX. In the letter that he sends to Eugénie to explain why he will not be marrying the latter, he openly admits that he does not love Mademoiselle D'Aubrion and that his marriage will strictly be one of convenience.]]
* MyWayOrTheHighway: Miserly father Grandet gets furious at his daughter Eugénie for giving away her gold coins; and pulls this card after essentially losing the debate to her well-argued defense of her actions: "Eugénie, you are here, in my house,--in your father's house. If you wish to stay here, you must submit yourself to me." - [[GroundedForever and promptly banishes her to her room until further notice]].
* OutdatedOutfit: Father Grandet always wears the exact same outfit of breeches with silver buckles and a striped waistcoat and "those who saw him to-day saw him such as he had been since 1791."
* ParentalMarriageVeto: The day after Cousin Charles' arrival, Eugénie has already fallen in love with him and Notary Cruchot has already marked him out as a suitor for her. To her dismay, when Cruchot mentions out loud to her father the idea of Charles marrying her, Grandet, who knows that Charles is penniless and currently has no prospects, replies that he would rather fling his daughter into the Loire than give her to her cousin. Later, when attempting to make up with her after their quarrel over her giving Charles her gold, an offhand comment he makes in his ramble is that she may marry Charles if she wants.
** Later, the Marquis D'Aubrion will not give his daughter to Charles until his father's bankruptcy debt has been paid. The Marquis would have relented in this matter on the intercession of a Duchess, but Eugénie voluntarily pays off the debt for him, allowing Charles to proceed with the marriage either way.
* PassingTheTorch: In the five years between Madame Grandet's death and his own, Father Grandet introduces Eugénie to his shrewd and avaricious methods of managing his assets. His last words to her before dying pass the torch in his usual authoritarian way: "Take care of it all [the fortune she is about to inherit]. You will render me an account yonder [i.e. in the next life]!"
* TheScrooge: Taken UpToEleven with Father Grandet, who is caricatured as a miser to put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. Although a multimillionaire of feudal proportions, he limits the repairs made to the house, claims to his family that he does not have money, sometimes wanting to borrow back from his wife and daughter what he gives them, and on one occasion even intends to have crows shot to make soup for his household!
* SelfMadeMan: Originally a cooper by trade, Father Grandet rose to be a civil servant during the French Revolution, had a stint as Mayor of Saumur, became a successful wholesale wine merchant, and added farms and a commercial woodlot to his name. Through his exploitation of vineyards, other land, and ruthless investments, he became a multimillionaire. Truth be told, the dowry that he received when he married his wife helped, as well as the three inheritances that he and his wife got in one year.
* SexlessMarriage: As a condition of marrying him, Eugénie requires Monsieur de Bonfons not to require sex of her. [[spoiler: She persists in this course when she realizes that her husband hopes she will predecease him in order to inherit her fortune.]]
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Implied. Charles' descent from an ideal youth to a cynical businessman starts with his finding it profitable to engage in the slave trade.
* StopOrIShootMyself: When Father Grandet finds that Charles has given Eugénie a case decorated with gold, he wants to remove the gold as compensation for that which she had given Charles. Eugénie grabs a knife and tells him that she will pierce herself through if he disturbs the gold from the case, which she must return intact to Charles. He gives in.
* TakingTheVeil: After Eugénie has been in her inheritance for some time, she gets a visit from the local priest, who, being a relative of the Cruchots, wishes to hint to her that she should marry Monsieur de Bonfons, who is of this family himself. The pastor tells her that in order to assure her salvation, she needs to either get married or become a nun. Eugénie brings up the possibility of entering a convent but the priest advises her against it, claiming that "Marriage is life, the veil is death" and that, given the charitable gifts that she makes from her wealth, it would be wrong of her to give everything up, and stop living in the world. She chooses to ask Monsieur de Bonfons to marry her.[[note]Earlier, upon Eugénie's first attempt to challenge her father, when she noted that he could use a recent financial gain that he made to help Cousin Charles, father Grandet became furious and threatened to send her to the Abbaye des Noyers with Nanon if she continued to talk about this subject. However, as he was the owner of this old abbey, it probably would not have been populated by nuns anymore; Eugénie had already stayed there during the vintage, and it would have been a matter of her father sending her away from his presence rather than one of immuring her in a convent as a nun.[[/note]]
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: Madame Grandet dies as piously as she has lived; happy to leave this world for the next. Her last words to Eugénie are: "My child, there is no happiness except in heaven; you will know it some day."]]
