Illusions perdues
Lost Illusions (French Illusions perdues ) by Honoré de Balzac was born 1837-1843 as a contemporary social criticism in ternary form of a novel. The novel is part of his monumental cycle ' The Human Comedy, where it is one of the scenes of provincial life ( Scènes de la vie de province ). Based on the rise and fall of Lucien Chardon Balzac exemplarily describes the mechanisms that he finds in France the restoration, especially in the literary world, journalism and the high society. As such, Lost Illusions is not just a novel, but a historical document.
Content
The two poets
The novel is set at the beginning (1821 ) in the town of Angoulême, which Balzac describes as follows: Between [ the suburb of ] l' Houmeau and Angoulême is a strange, caused by the social realities voltage, yes, you can safely say hostility. L' Houmeau is made rich by its distinguished trade, particularly through its paper mills. It is in the countryside. Anything that brings money, freight transport, post office, local restaurants and breweries, factories crowd below Angoulêmes together on the banks of the Charente. Top of the nobility and power down the trade and the money. Two social spheres, which are in perpetual opposition. The trade is rich, the nobility generally poor, and everyone takes revenge on others by contempt.
The strikingly beautiful and talented Lucien Chardon is the son of a petty-bourgeois pharmacist and a midwife who comes from the ancient family of de Rubempré and only by false testimony of a pharmacist, she then marries, is rescued from the scaffold. Lucien is a favorite of the Naïs de Bargeton, the first lady in Angoulême, and falls in love with the much older woman. Lucien's sister Eva and his friend - later Schwager - David Sechard, who has inherited a small, indebted printing, try with their limited resources Lucien the climb as much as possible to fund. Being in the public opinion Angoulêmes the Protegierung threatens to become a scandal, Lucien and Mme de Bargeton flee to Paris. Mme de Bargeton wants to make sure that Lucien does not only career as a poet in high society, but that he also - through relationships - may take the name of his mother by royal decree: Lucien de Rubempré. But the fine company is small, the scandal follows them to Paris.
A great man from the province in Paris
At the first opportunity Mme de Bargeton takes her attempt Lucien in the evocative Marquise d' Espard introduce by takes him to the opera. There, everything rank and name hits, but Lucien makes a bad figure, so Mme de Bargeton drops it on the advice of Marquise d' Espa. To make matters worse, the equipment for the first appearance costs three times a modest living. The impending ruin before his eyes, he disappears in poor conditions, but where he meets new friends: the circle " cénacle " to the philosophers and literati d' Arthez's, initiate of the literary business. They preach him that a real talent ultimately come to glory, even if it takes years. The journalist Etienne Lousteau, however, knows the rules of the newspapers, especially the literary criticism, theater criticism and the tabloid press. To make money, Lucien leaves on journalism in the naive belief that he could remain true to yourself. But with his talent and detail directed by Etienne Lousteaus he learns the true power of the media and can not suppress the desire to avenge himself on Mme de Bargeton and Marquise d' Espard - whose revenge is his downfall. His success brings money, but makes him careless. For the small fine company is able to forge a conspiracy in which all of their role play clean. Lucien is informed that the long-awaited royal decree is within reach, if he chooses to, instead of the previous writing for the liberal now for a new royalist newspaper. Packed to his vanity, Lucien leaves the liberal camp and his protection to be left to finally fall in royalist camp. Completely in debt because of his lavish life, with no prospect of income corresponding fall in the dregs of society. To pay his debts, he falsifies change his brother David, which he rips those and his sister Eva into misfortune. Finally, he returns to Angoulême.
The sufferings of the inventor
Meanwhile, it is David succeeded in developing the method for improved paper production that was lost with his father. But the brothers Cointet, competitors of David, it is now able to ruin them, in particular by David's ideas are explored and exploited by having a spy in the print shop. David goes bankrupt and is sent to prison. Lucien contributes partially to blame for this recent disaster and decides to commit suicide. But while he wants to drown himself, a Spanish abbot, Carlos Herrera, who prevents him appear. He offers him money and promises to be successful on the condition that he would obey him blindly. Lucien accepted this pact. He then sends David the necessary sum, so that he comes out of prison and goes with the foreign priest to Paris. David reached an agreement with the Cointets who use his invention, so he and Eva make a living. The subsequent events in the life of Lucien told in the novel splendor and misery of courtesans.
Expenditure
- Lost Illusions. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-15-002108-1
- Lost Illusions. The HÖRVERLAG, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-89940-085-2