The book details the landscape, usages and psychology of some inhabitants of rural France. It spells out how Grandet’s increasing greed poisons his family life, and contrasts it with the veneration and naivety shown him by his wife and his daughter Eugénie. The daughter falls in love with her cousin Charles, an unscrupulous globetrotter who does not return her love. Eugénie, deceived, wants to enter the religious life, but ends up marrying a man with whom she is not in love, so as to look after his estate. Upon her husband’s death she gives away almost all of his fortune to charity. The end remains open. The author directs his irony on how his characters adapt themselves and exploit the political situations of the day so as to thrive and get rich. It is a realistic novel, inserted by the author in his Comédie Humaine, where Balzac pours his life experiences. The work stands out for its narrative fluency, agility and ingeniousness. There are both positive and negative references to religion, but hardly relevant.
M.L. (Spain, 2016)
Eugenia Grandet
Moral assessment:
Type: Literature
Nothing inappropriate.
Some morally inappropriate content.
Contains significant sections contrary to faith or morals.
Contains some lurid passages, or presents a general ideological framework that could confuse those without much Christian formation.
Contains several lurid passages, or presents an ideological framework that is contrary or foreign to Christian values.
Explicitly contradicts Catholic faith or morals, or is directed against the Church and its institutions.
Literary quality:
Recommendable:
Transmits values:
Sexual content:
Violent content:
Vulgar or obscene language:
Ideas that contradict Church teaching:
The rating of the different categories comes from the opinion of Delibris' collaborators