Madame Firmiani
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
---|---|
Language | French |
Series | La Comédie humaine |
Publication date | 1832 |
Publication place | France |
Preceded by | La Paix du ménage |
Followed by | Étude de femme |
Madame Firmiani is a short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1832 and is one of the Scènes de la vie privée of La Comédie humaine.[1] The title character was based on Balzac's older lover, Laure de Berny [fr].[2]
Plot summary
Madame Firmiani is a beautiful young woman who is the subject of gossip in Paris. However, her husband's whereabouts are unknown. One day she receives a visit from Monsieur de Bourbonne, who is concerned about a rumour that his nephew Octave de Camps is having an affair with her, and has ruined himself financially because of her. Monsieur de Bourbonne is charmed by Madame Firmiani, but when he mentions that Octave is his nephew, the conversation is brought to an abrupt end.
The next day he visits his nephew Octave, who is making a living by teaching mathematics and living in poverty. Octave explains to his uncle that he and Madame Firmiani are in fact married, and that her first husband died in Greece in 1823. They are waiting for evidence of his death so that they will be able to inherit his money. Octave also says that he has renounced his late father's money, after Madame Firmiani learned that he had come by the money dishonestly. Octave also says that he has given most of his money to the Bourgneuf family whom his father had wronged. Madame Firmiani then comes in, and announces that she has finally received confirmation of her first husband's death. They are then all reconciled.
References
External links
- "Madame Firmiani", translation (by Katharine Prescott Wormeley) at Project Gutenberg (full text)
- v
- t
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- La Maison du chat-qui-pelote
- Le Bal de Sceaux
- La Bourse
- La Vendetta
- Madame Firmiani
- Une double famille
- La Paix du ménage
- La Fausse Maîtresse
- Étude de femme
- Autre étude de femme
- La Grande Bretèche
- Albert Savarus
- Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées
- Une fille d'Eve
- La Femme de trente ans
- La Femme abandonnée
- La Grenadière
- Le Message
- Gobseck
- Le Contrat de mariage
- Un début dans la vie
- Modeste Mignon
- Béatrix
- Honorine
- Le Colonel Chabert
- La Messe de l'athée
- L'Interdiction
- Pierre Grassou
- Ursule Mirouët
- Eugénie Grandet
- Pierrette
- Le Curé de Tours
- La Rabouilleuse
- L'illustre Gaudissart
- La Muse du département
- La Vieille Fille
- Le Cabinet des Antiques
- Le Lys dans la vallée
- Illusions perdues
- Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes
- Un prince de la bohème
- Un homme d’affaires
- Gaudissart II
- Les Comédiens sans le savoir
- Ferragus
- La Duchesse de Langeais
- La Fille aux yeux d'or
- Le Père Goriot
- César Birotteau
- La Maison Nucingen
- Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan
- Les Employés
- Sarrasine
- Facino Cane
- La Cousine Bette
- Le Cousin Pons
- Les Petits Bourgeois
- Une ténébreuse affaire
- Un épisode sous la Terreur
- Madame de la Chanterie
- L'Initié
- Z. Marcas
- Le Député d'Arcis
- Le Médecin de campagne
- Le Curé de village
- Les Paysans
- La Peau de chagrin
- La Recherche de l'absolu
- Jésus-Christ en Flandre
- Melmoth réconcilié
- Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu
- L'Enfant maudit
- Gambara
- Massimilla Doni
- Les Marana
- Adieu
- Le Réquisitionnaire
- El Verdugo
- Un drame au bord de la mer
- L'Auberge rouge
- L'Elixir de longue vie
- Maître Cornélius
- Sur Catherine de Médicis
- Louis Lambert
- Les Proscrits
- Séraphîta
- La Physiologie du mariage
- Petites misères de la vie conjugale
- Fernand Lotte: Armorial de la Comédie Humaine