Editing Honoré de Balzac (section)

===Realism===
Balzac's extensive use of detail, especially the detail of objects, to illustrate the lives of his characters made him an early pioneer of literary [[realism (arts)|realism]].<ref>Brooks, 16</ref> Whilst he admired and drew inspiration from the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] style of Scottish novelist Walter Scott, Balzac sought to depict human existence through the use of particulars.<ref>Brooks, 21</ref> In the preface to the first edition of ''Scènes de la Vie privée'', he wrote: "the author firmly believes that details alone will henceforth determine the merit of works".<ref>Quoted in Rogers, 144</ref> Plentiful descriptions of décor, clothing, and possessions help breathe life into the characters.<ref>Brooks, 26</ref> For example, Balzac's friend [[Henri de Latouche]] had a good knowledge of hanging wallpaper. Balzac transferred this to his descriptions of the [[Vautrin|Pension Vauquer]] in ''Le Père Goriot'', making the wallpaper speak of the identities of those living inside.<ref>Robb, 152</ref>

Some critics consider Balzac's writing exemplary of [[French literature of the 19th century#Naturalism|naturalism]]—a more pessimistic and analytical form of realism, which seeks to explain human behavior as intrinsically linked with the environment. French novelist [[Émile Zola]] declared Balzac the father of the [[Naturalism (literature)|naturalist novel]].<ref>Robb, 421</ref> Zola indicated that whilst the [[Romanticism|Romantics]] saw the world through a colored lens, the naturalist sees through a clear glass—precisely the sort of effect Balzac attempted to achieve in his works.<ref>Brooks, 125</ref>

====Characters====
Balzac sought to present his characters as real people, neither fully good nor fully evil, but completely human. "To arrive at the truth", he wrote in the preface to ''[[Lily of the Valley (novel)|Le Lys dans la vallée]]'', "writers use whatever literary device seems capable of giving the greatest intensity of life to their characters".<ref>Quoted in Rogers, 161</ref> "Balzac's characters", Robb notes, "were as real to him as if he were observing them in the outside world".<ref>Robb, 254</ref> This reality was noted by playwright [[Oscar Wilde]], who said: "One of the greatest tragedies of my life is the death of [''Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes'' protagonist] Lucien de Rubempré.... It haunts me in my moments of pleasure. I remember it when I laugh".<ref>Robb, 156</ref>

At the same time, the characters depict a particular range of social types: the noble soldier, the scoundrel, the proud workman, the fearless spy, the alluring mistress.<ref>Helm, 23</ref> That Balzac was able to balance the strength of the individual against the representation of the type is evidence of the author's skill. One critic explained that "there is a center and a circumference to Balzac's world".<ref>Lehan, 45</ref>

Balzac's use of repeat characters, moving in and out of the ''Comédie''{{'s}} books, strengthens the realist representation. "When the characters reappear", notes Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see".<ref>Rogers, 182</ref> He also used a realist technique which French novelist [[Marcel Proust]] later termed "retrospective illumination", whereby a character's past is revealed long after she or he first appears.

[[Image:Balzac1901.jpg|thumb|left|''The Works of Honoré de Balzac'' (1901), including ''[[Le Père Goriot]]'']]
A nearly infinite reserve of energy propels the characters in Balzac's novels. Struggling against the currents of human nature and society, they may lose more often than they win—but only rarely do they give up. This universal trait is a reflection of Balzac's own social wrangling, that of his family, and an interest in the Austrian mystic and physician [[Franz Mesmer]], who pioneered the study of [[animal magnetism]]. Balzac spoke often of a "nervous and fluid force" between individuals, and Raphaël de Valentin's decline in ''La Peau de Chagrin'' exemplifies the danger of withdrawing from other people's company.<ref>Rogers, 73–74</ref>

====Place====
Representations of the city, countryside, and building interiors are essential to Balzac's realism, often serving to paint a naturalistic backdrop before which the characters' lives follow a particular course; this gave him a reputation as an early naturalist. Intricate details about locations sometimes stretch for fifteen or twenty pages.<ref>Helm, 5</ref> As he did with the people around him, Balzac studied these places in depth, traveling to remote locations and comparing notes that he had made on previous visits.<ref>Bertault, 36</ref>

The influence of Paris permeates ''La Comédie'': nature defers to the artificial [[metropolis]], in contrast to descriptions of the weather and wildlife in the countryside. "If in Paris", Rogers says, "we are in a man-made region where even the seasons are forgotten, these provincial towns are nearly always pictured in their natural setting".<ref>Rogers, 62</ref> Balzac said, "the streets of Paris possess human qualities and we cannot shake off the impressions they make upon our minds."<ref>Balzac. ''Histoire des Treize: Ferragus, chef des dévorants'', XIII, 13; quoted in Rogers, 45</ref> His labyrinthine city provided a literary model used later by English novelist Charles Dickens and Russian author [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]].<ref>Brooks, 22</ref> The centrality of Paris in ''La Comédie humaine'' is key to Balzac's legacy as a realist. "Realism is nothing if not urban", notes critic [[Peter Brooks (writer)|Peter Brooks]]; the scene of a young man coming into the city to find his fortune is ubiquitous in the realist novel, and appears repeatedly in Balzac's works, such as ''[[Illusions Perdues]]''.<ref>Brooks, 131</ref><ref>Lehan, 204</ref>

Balzac visited the Château de Saché in Touraine which was owned by his friend Jean de Margonne (who was also his mother's lover), between 1830 and 1837, and wrote many of his novels in the series ''La Comédie humaine'' there. It is now a museum dedicated to Balzac where one can see his writing desk and quill pen and chair.