The Hated Son

THE HUMAN COMEDY – Honoré de Balzac XVth volume of works of Honoré de Balzac edited by widow André Houssiaux, publisher, Hebert and Co, successors, 7 rue Perronet – Paris (1874)

Philosophical studies

THE HATED SON (1831 – 1836)

Dedicated work TO MADAME LA BARONNE JAMES ROTHSCHILD

Analysis of the work L’enfant maudit is a historical novel set in the early 17th century, during the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII. It is presented in two parts. It begins like a “noir” novel, a drama of terror: a frightened young wife, a child born at seven months old; sickly and pale, his father relegates him to a beach below the castle, where he grows up dreamy, poetic, frail, contemplating the sky and the sea. An unforeseen event makes this son heir to the ducal name and title, and he becomes a precious offspring. A father’s absence allows an idyll: Angelism, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Paul and Virginie. The father, returning with ideas of a duke and a fiancée, gets carried away, draws his sword: the emotion is too strong and kills the cursed child. The history of the editorial team explains this singular work. François Germain, who has studied the manuscript, believes it was begun in 1825, and is similar to Balzac’s early novels. Others even say 1822. This date explains the place, the time, the atmosphere. The first part appeared in 1831 in the Revue des deux mondes Balzac published his Novels and philosophical tales The lonely childhood of the “enfant maudit”, his gifts, his visions, his understanding of nature, his instinct for invisible connections, all resemble Balzac’s portrait of Louis Lambert. The second part appeared in 1836 in La Chronique de Paris: Balzac was in a hurry, and had to supply copy to this magazine, which devoured a lot of it. In a letter to Madame Hanska, he states that this second part was written in one night. These writing conditions explain the implausibility of the plot and the author’s facile style, which is irritatingly literary and mawkish. Should we adopt the Freudian interpretation that has sometimes been given to this story, or more simply Balzac’s childhood, an unwanted and sacrificed child? These exegeses are more ingenious than convincing. The story is related to the philosophical tales because it tells of a sudden death caused by a violent impression. Perhaps this is what Balzac wanted to show.

The story The story is set under the Terror in 1591, a time of civil war in France when laws were not respected. The excesses of the League and the advent of Henri IV surpassed all the calamities of the Wars of Religion. Through the rigor of his executions, the Count of Herouville, one of Normandy’s most ardent royalists, kept this entire part of the province bordering Brittany under Henry IV’s obedience. Head of one of the richest families in France, he had considerably increased the income from his numerous lands by marrying, seven months earlier, Jeanne de Saint-Savin, aged 18 and sole heiress to the House of Saint-Savin. An ungainly, ugly man, the bloodthirsty, boorish Count is convinced that no woman can harbor a passion for him. This presumption hardens him all the more, as he hates beauty and everything that goes with it. In those days, the legitimacy of children born ten months after the husband’s death, or seven months after the first wedding night, was questioned. Such is the case of the young Countess d’Hérouville, who gives birth at seven months (from her wedding night) to a sickly, ailing child whose fragile beauty reminds her of her mother. From that moment on, the Count banished Etienne, this child whom he did not know, especially as the suspicion of his paternity weighed heavily on his mind. The Comte d’Hérouville knew of the love between Jeanne and her poor young cousin, Georges de Chaverny, before their union. The cursed child is sent away from the castle to live as an outcast in one of the estate’s outbuildings. This child, hidden from everyone, isolated, lives only through the love of his mother. The Countess gave birth to a second child, Maximilien, who received all the Count’s love and protection, having taken on the father’s character and traits.

Jeanne will perish from the psychological wounds constantly reactivated by the Count and his execrable son, Maximilien. Before she died, she entrusted Etienne to the care and vigilance of the good doctor Beauvouloir. Maximillien, Baron of Livron, dies in an ambush. The Count, aged and anxious to perpetuate his name after his death, suddenly remembers this hated, weak and sickly son. He sets out to find him a fiancée so that he can give her an heir. Little does he know that Etienne has been in love with Beauvouloir’s daughter Gabrielle for many months. The Count will do everything in his power to destroy this idyll in favor of his decision to marry Etienne to the heiress of the estates of a younger branch of the House of Grandlieu. When Etienne refused, the Count became so enraged that he drew his sword to kill Gabrielle and Etienne, who died of fright. The final motto of the Comte d’Hérouville will be to marry Mademoiselle de Grandlieu, who will give him his long-awaited heir. Paris 1831- 1836

The characters Hérouville family: One of France’s greatest names. In the 16th and 17th centuries, this family was represented by : A bibliophile cardinal; The Count, then Duke d’Hérouville, grand-nephew of the previous Duke, born in 1537; Married Jeanne de Saint-Savin, born 1573, died 1593, from whom : Etienne, died in 1617; Maximilian, killed in 1617.

Widowed, the duke married a Grandlieu. From an affair with a courtesan known as La Belle Romaine, the duke had previously had a daughter, who married Beauvouloir. In the 19th century, the family was represented by : An old marshal who died in 1819; A sister of the former, an old maid; A son of the Marshal, born in 1796, a small, sickly man; A sister of the previous owner, Hélène. Beauvouloir Antoine: 16th-century family including a bonesetter named Antoine, his wife née Gertrude Marana, and their daughter Gabrielle.  

1) Source analysis/history: Preface compiled from the complete works of the Comédie Humaine (Tome XXIII) published by France Loisirs 1987 under the auspices of the Société des Amis d’Honoré de Balzac.

2) Character genealogy source: Félicien Marceau “Balzac et son monde” – Gallimard.