Honore de Balzac

Baron Barsch de Penoen

Of all the former pupils of the College of Vendome, it seems that you and I alone have chosen the literary field - not without reason we were carried away by philosophy at an age when we were supposed to be carried away only by the pages of De viris. We met with you again when I was writing this story, and you were working on your wonderful works on German philosophy. So, we both did not betray our calling. I hope you are as pleased to see your name here as I am to put it.

Your old school friend de Balzac

Once, in the winter of 1829-1830, in the salon of the Viscountess de Granlier, two guests who did not belong to her family sat up until one o'clock in the morning. One of them, a handsome young man, having heard the chiming of the mantel clock, hastened to take his leave. When the wheels of his carriage rattled in the yard, the viscountess, seeing that only her brother and a family friend were left, who were finishing the picket party, went up to her daughter; the girl stood by the fireplace and seemed to be carefully examining the see-through pattern on the screen, but undoubtedly she was listening to the noise of the convertible driving away, which confirmed her mother's fears.

Camilla, if you continue to behave with the Comte de Resto as you did this evening, I will have to refuse him home. Obey me, baby, if you believe in my tender love for you, let me guide you in life. At seventeen, a girl cannot judge either the past, or the future, or some of the requirements of society. I will point out to you only one circumstance: Monsieur de Resto has a mother, a woman who can swallow a fortune of millions, a person of low birth - her maiden name was Goriot, and in her youth she caused a lot of talk about herself. She treated her father very badly and, really, does not deserve such a good son as M. de Resto. The young count adores her and supports her with a filial devotion worthy of all praise. And how he cares about his sister, about his brother! In a word, his behavior is simply excellent, but, - added the viscountess with a sly air, - while his mother is alive, in no decent family parents will dare to entrust this sweet young man with the future and dowry of their daughter.

I caught a few words from your conversation with Mademoiselle de Granlier, and I really want to intervene in it! the aforementioned family friend exclaimed. “I won, Count,” he said, addressing his partner. - I leave you and hasten to help your niece.

This is truly the rumor of a real solicitor! exclaimed the Viscountess. “Dear Derville, how could you hear what I was saying to Camille? I whispered with her very quietly.

I understood everything from your eyes, ”Derville answered, sitting down by the fireplace in a deep armchair.

Camille's uncle sat down next to her niece, and Madame de Granlier sat in the low, deceased chair between her daughter and Derville.

It is time for me, Viscountess, to tell you a story that will make you change your view of the situation in the light of Count Ernest de Resto.

History ?! Camilla exclaimed. - Tell me quickly, Mr. Derville!

The solicitor threw a glance at Madame de Granlier, by which she realized that this story would be of interest to her. The Vicomtesse de Granlier, in terms of wealth and nobility of the family, was one of the most influential ladies in the Saint-Germain suburb, and, of course, it may seem surprising that some Parisian solicitor would dare to speak to her so naturally and keep himself in her salon easily, but explain it is very easy. Madame de Granlier, returning to France with the royal family, settled in Paris and at first lived only on the assistance assigned to her by Louis XVIII from the sums of a civilian list - a situation for her intolerable. The solicitor Derville accidentally discovered the formal irregularities that the Republic had committed in the sale of Granlier's mansion, and declared that the house was to be returned to the Viscountess. On her behalf, he led the process in court and won it. Emboldened by this success, he started a slanderous lawsuit with a shelter for the elderly and secured the return of the forest in Lisne to her. Then he confirmed her ownership of several shares of the Orleans Canal and rather large houses, which the emperor donated to public institutions. Madame de Granlier's fortune, restored thanks to the dexterity of a young attorney, began to give her about sixty thousand francs an annual income, and then the law on compensation for losses to emigrants arrived in time, and she received huge money. This solicitor, a man of great honesty, knowledgeable, humble and well-mannered, became a friend of the Granlier family. By his behavior towards Madame de Granlier, he achieved honor and clientele in the best houses of the Saint-Germain suburb, but did not take advantage of their favor, as any ambitious person would have done. He even turned down the offer of the Viscountess, who persuaded him to sell his office and go to the judicial department, where, with her patronage, he could make a very fast career. With the exception of Madame de Granlier's house, where he sometimes spent his evenings, he was in the world only to keep in touch. He considered himself fortunate that, zealously defending the interests of Madame de Granlier, he had shown his talent, otherwise his office would have been in danger of decay, there was no cunning of a true solicitor in him. Ever since Count Ernest de Resto appeared at the viscountess's house, Derville, guessing Camille's sympathy for this young man, became a regular in Madame de Granlier's salon, like a dandy from the Highway d'Antin, who had just gained access to the aristocratic society of Saint-Germain. A few days before the evening described, he met Mademoiselle de Granlier at the ball and said to her, pointing with his eyes at the count:

It is a pity that this young man does not have two or three million. True?

Why "sorry"? I don’t consider it a misfortune, ”she replied. - Mr. de Resto is a very gifted, educated man, in good standing with the minister to whom he is attached. I have no doubt that an outstanding figure will emerge from him. And when "this young man" is in power, the wealth itself will come into his hands.

Yes, but if only he was already rich!

If he was rich ... - blushing, Camilla repeated, - well, all the girls dancing here would challenge him with each other, - she added, pointing to the participants in the quadrille.

And then, - remarked the solicitor, - Mademoiselle de Granlier would not have been the only magnet attracting his eyes. You seem to blush - why not? Are you not indifferent to him? Well, tell me ...

Honore de Balzac is called the king of novelists. He managed to raise the genre of the novel to artistic perfection and give it social significance. But his shorter works are worthy of all praise. The novel "Gobsek" is the best example of this.

"Gobsek"

The story was written in January 1830 and was included in the series of works "The Human Comedy". The main characters in it were the usurer Gobsek, the family of Count Resto and the lawyer Derville. Passion became the main theme of the story. On the one hand, the main character studies human passions - for wealth, women, power, on the other - the author himself shows that even a person who is wise in life can be ruined by an all-consuming passion for gold and enrichment. The story of this man can be learned from the story of Balzac "Gobsek". Read the summary in this article.

In the salon of the viscountess

The lawyer Derville told about Gobsek in the Viscountess's salon. Once the young Count Resto and he, who were received only because he helped her return the property confiscated during the revolution, stayed up late at her place. When the count leaves, she reprimands her daughter that she should not show her favor too frankly to the count, because no one will become related to the count because of her mother.

Of course, now nothing reprehensible was noticed behind her, but in her youth this person behaved very imprudently. Her father was a grain merchant, but the worst of all is that she squandered all her fortune on her lover and left her children without money. The Count is very poor and not a match for Camille. Derville, sympathizing with the lovers, intervened in the conversation and explained to the Viscountess how things really were. Let's start with Derville's story. summary "Gobseca" by Honore Balzac.

Acquaintance with Gobsek

In his student years he had to live in a boarding house, where he met Gobsek. This old man was very remarkable in appearance: yellow, like a ferret, eyes, a long pointed nose and thin lips. His victims threatened and cried, but the usurer kept his composure - "the golden idol". He did not communicate with his neighbors, he maintained relations only with Derville, and somehow revealed to him the secret of power over people - he told how he collected a debt from one lady.

Countess Resto

We will continue the retelling of the summary of Honore de Balzac's "Gobsec" with the story of the moneylender about this countess. The money was lent from the moneylender by her lover, and she, fearing exposure, handed the moneylender a diamond. Looking at the young blond handsome man, the future of the countess could be easily predicted - such a dandy could ruin more than one family.

Derville completed a course in law and received the position of clerk in the solicitor's office. To redeem the patent, he needs one hundred and fifty thousand francs. Gobsek lent him at thirteen percent of the money, and at the cost of hard work with the usurer, Derville was able to pay off in five years.

Cheated husband

Let's continue to consider the summary of "Gobsek". Once Count Maximus asked Derville to introduce him to Gobsek. But the old usurer refused to give him a loan, because a man with three hundred thousand debts did not inspire confidence in him. After a while Maxim returned with a beautiful lady, and the solicitor immediately recognized the very countess. The lady was going to give the moneylender the magnificent diamonds, and the solicitor tried to prevent this, but Maxim hinted that he would commit suicide. The Countess agreed to the onerous terms.

The summary of "Gobsek" will continue with the story of how, after their departure to Gobsek, the countess's husband burst in with a demand to return the mortgage, explaining that his wife had no right to dispose of the ancient family jewels. The usurer advised the count to transfer his entire fortune to a reliable person by means of a fictitious sale. So he could save his children from ruin.

After some time, the count came to the solicitor to learn about Gobseck. To which he replied that he would trust such a person as a usurer, even his children. The count immediately transferred his property to Gobsek, wishing to protect it from his wife and her young lover.

Count's disease

What will the summary of "Gobsek" tell us next? The viscountess, taking advantage of the pause, sent her daughter to bed, for there is no need for a young girl to listen to what debauchery a woman who has violated certain norms reaches. Camilla left, and Derville immediately said that the conversation was about the Countess de Resto.

Soon Derville learned that the count himself was seriously ill, and his wife would not let the solicitor come to him to complete the deal. At the end of 1824, the Countess herself became convinced of Tray's meanness and broke up with him. She was so zealous in caring for her sick husband that many were ready to forgive her for her unworthy behavior. In fact, the Countess was simply on the lookout for her prey.

The count, not having achieved a meeting with the solicitor, wants to give the documents to his son, but the countess in every possible way prevents this. In the last hours of her husband, she begs for forgiveness on her knees, but the count remained adamant - he did not give her the paper.

The death of the usurer

The summary of "Gobsek" continues with the story of how the next day Gobsek and Derville came to the count's house. A terrifying sight was opened to their eyes: the countess, not ashamed of the fact that there was a deceased in the house, caused a real pogrom. Hearing their steps, she burned the documents addressed to Derville, and thereby predetermined the fate of all property: it passed into the possession of Gobsek.

The usurer left the mansion and began to spend time like a lord in his new possessions. To Derville's requests to take pity on the Countess and the children, he invariably answered: "Misfortune is the best teacher."

When Resto's son finds out the value of the money, then he will return the property. Derville, hearing about the love of the young count and Camille, went to the old man and found him dying. He bequeathed all his property to a relative - a public girl.

In the summary of the summary of "Gobsek" it should be noted that the old usurer did not forget about Derville - he instructed him to dispose of supplies. Seeing the rotten and rotten food, the solicitor was convinced that Gobsek's stinginess had turned into a mania. That is why he did not sell anything, because he was afraid to sell too cheap.

So the viscountess has nothing to worry about: young Resto will return his fortune. To which the viscountess replied that Camilla did not have to meet her future mother-in-law.

The tragedy of Gobsek

In the center of Honore de Balzac's story "Gobsec", the summary of which is set out above, is a man who has amassed a huge fortune, but at the end of his path remained completely alone. Gobsek - that is the name of this hero - does not communicate with anyone, leaves the house a little. The only person he trusts is Derville. The usurer saw in him a business friend, an intelligent interlocutor, and a good person.

A young solicitor, communicating with an old man, gains experience, asks for recommendations and advice. Observing the usurer, Derville concluded that two people live in him: a vile and sublime being, a curmudgeon and a philosopher.

Life experience taught the old man to evaluate a person at first sight, to think and analyze. He often talked about the meaning of life. But with age, the passion for money still prevailed and gradually grew into worship. Exalted feelings grew into selfishness, greed and cynicism. If in his youth he dreamed of knowing the world, then by the end of his life his main goal was the hunt for money. But they did not bring him happiness, he died alone with his millions.

As can be seen from the chapter summary, Gobsek and his whole life are not a tragedy of an individual person, but of a whole system. The life of Gobsek only confirms the well-known expression: happiness is not in money. Balzac, by his example, showed what the thoughtless worship of the hard coin leads to.

(the problem of socio-temporal determinism of a realistic nature)

When analyzing Honore Balzac's story "Gobsec", two main tasks arise: to identify the specifics of Balzac's own creative method and to get acquainted with French realism of the first half of the 19th century.

First of all, it is necessary to recall the main features of French realism, and then to understand the place of the story in the system of works of The Human Comedy and Balzac's own idea of \u200b\u200bhis creative tasks (see the plan of the Human Comedy and the Preface to the Human Comedy by the author).

A well-educated man, Balzac was aware of the latest scientific discoveries... The "Preface" (1841), grew up on the basis of the achievements of history, political economy, natural science and literary theories of his time. Stormy discussions of natural scientists (Cuvier and St. a unity of organisms, where each living being receives its distinctive properties in direct dependence on the environment in which it is "assigned to develop." "Having penetrated this system," Balzac wrote, "I realized that in this respect society is like Nature." However, the writer never forgot that man is a creature many times more complex than an animal; he is formed not only by nature, but also by society. He considers it his duty to portray "men, women and things, that is, people and the material embodiment of their thinking, in a word, to portray a person and life." Hence Balzac's attention to the material world around the hero - "the material embodiment of the" thinking "of people", because he is convinced that the street, dwelling, clothes of the character will necessarily reflect the characteristics of the characters, needs, habits of people of different social groups. The writer was going to create a drama with three or four or two or three thousand characters. At the same time, the heroes, according to Balzac's deep conviction, could become really alive if they were “a complete reflection of their time”, if the principle of historicism was observed. Each character must have a "human heart" and "a whole philosophy" must be hidden. The model of the novel for Balzac was W. Scott's novel, for the Scottish novelist "raised the novel to the level of a philosophy of history," that is, he not only conveyed the facts, but also comprehended them. In an effort to reproduce modernity in its entirety, Balzac argued that society itself should be a historian, and only its secretary should be a writer. However, he saw in the writer not a dispassionate recorder of events, but a researcher who has a definite opinion about human affairs, finds the main engine of society. Balzac himself considered the social engine to be this main engine. His social engine is based on economics, - it is no coincidence that F. Engels wrote that "in the sense of economic details" he learned more from the works of Balzac than from the books of specialists in this field. Study of the economic background human relations leads to the fact that ultimately the main social engine of the "Human Comedy" is money, gold.

Realizing the immensity of the task, the writer strove to depict society as if from the inside, for this he chose the family as the main link in the chain of his works, it became his center in which all the contradictions of time are intertwined.

“The novel should be a better world,” Balzac argued, implying that literature does not copy, but typifies, generalizes, explores, brings into the system what in reality sometimes appears as chaos.

Considering his task to depict men, women and things, seeing in sociality the main engine of the whole society, Balzac also finds the main engine of personality - this is passion. At the same time, the passions of Balzac's heroes are always socially and historically conditioned. He rarely puts passion-love in the foreground, much more often - money-grubbing, ambition: in them Balzac sees a sign of the time when a previously disenfranchised person from the third estate won the rights of the nobles. The writer sometimes turns his heroes into monomaniacs, romantically strengthening one of the sides of their characters, but his characters never break ties with their time and environment, never their characters are reduced to one all overwhelming passion, like romantics; their very passion is subjected to realistic research, its origins and essence are revealed.

The story "Gobsek" was originally written in 1830, in 1835, its final version appeared. In the years 1830-1831. Balzac also worked on the novel Shagreen Skin, which was included in the cycle of philosophical studies. In this novel, where, on a generalized, philosophical level, the question arose about the main engine of modern society and about the stages of human life,

Balzac has already called gold as the basis of the modern world, stages or states are called here by the verbs "to desire", "to be able" and "to know." "To desire" - burns us, - says the wise man-antiquarian, - "to be able" - destroys. " These are transient phenomena, for the heart can be broken, and the sensations become dull. True wisdom in another more sublime stage is "to know", for the brain does not wear out and experiences everything. "Thought," he says, "is the key to all treasures, it gives us all the joys of a miser, but without his worries."

Reflections of an antiquarian from "Shagreen Skin" become the seed from which "Gobsek" grows: before us in the image of Gobsek appears a miser-philosopher. "Shagreen skin" is a generalized philosophical reflection of reality with a number of symbols and abstractions. "Gobsek" is an everyday sketch illustrating the author's thesis.

"Gobsec" is not only the story of the degradation of the miser, but also, as is typical of most of the writer's works, a kind of cut of modern Balzac society, revealing that all relationships at all levels are based on money and sanctified by money, Graceful lady-aristocrat from Saint-Ger -mensky suburb is ready to forgive a moral fall and even a crime to a person if he is rich. A proud aristocrat - her brother accepts the scoundrel de Tray in his house, for he has good manners and money, even if they were knowingly received from his mistresses. Money, Balzac shows, unites everyone, sometimes displacing all other relations, except for naked calculation. Balzac achieves this effect due to a kind of frame composition: he puts the story of Gobseck into the mouth of the viscountess de Granlier, the reactions of the interlocutors and listeners characterize public incentives better than the author's annoying comments, giving a particular case features of regularity, turning the conversation in the salon into an analysis of the life of the whole society.

Gobsec remains the central figure, and his specific compositional role lies in the fact that he himself - in Derville's story - evaluates society, and he himself - both in Derville's story and in the reaction of the inhabitants of de Granlier's salon - is evaluated by those around him. In the novel "Father Goriot" Balzac wrote that one type of skirt of Madame Vauquet - the hostess of the boarding house made it possible to judge not only the owner of her, but about the living room, dining room, garden of her house, about the nauseating smell in it and even - which is especially important for the method Balzac - about the composition of her guests. (Indeed, on each of them - even on Rastignac - the reflection of the hostess's moral and physical uncleanliness falls. In "Gobsec" such a generalizing ability is possessed by the image and appearance of the protagonist. The principles of creating this character are typical of Balzac.)

A prerequisite for modeling an image for Balzac is a portrait. The author begins his acquaintance with the character with him. In the portrait of Gobseck, as always in Balzac, there are indications of the social and moral characteristics of the individual. The colors used by the author constantly remind of gold and silver - the main thing in the hero's life: the “yellowish pallor” of his face “resembled the color of silver from which the gilding had peeled off”, his hair was also ash-gray - “silver”, his eyes were yellow (“ gold "). His outward calmness (he always spoke "softly and softly") is not the serenity of old age, andsomething ominous, it's not for nothing that the writer compares his eyes with the eyes of a ferret - an evil and insidious predator. Balzac enhances this sense of hidden danger by hiding Gobseck's eyes under the visor of a battered cap. At the same time, the visor over the eyes will be mentioned more than once in the story, it plays a role similar to the role of Madame Vauquet's skirt - it characterizes not only its owner, but also his environment. Gobsek's nose looks like a gimbal, it seems to screw it into all events. The narrator Dsrvnl was more than once struck by Gobsek's peculiar clairvoyance when he predicted the death of Countess de Resto, then by omniscience, when the usurer told the solicitor the most seemingly hidden secrets of aristocrats or business people. It is no coincidence that Balzac compares Gobsec with the diplomat Talleyrand, famous for his craftiness and influence. The mystery for the narrator was not only the age, but, oddly enough, even the gender of the hero (remember that Gogol's Plyushkin was neither age nor gender). “If all the usurers are like him, then they probably belong to the category of asexual,” Derville sometimes thought. The author needs these doubts about age and gender in order to further emphasize the inhumanity, inhuman essence of his hero. Balzac will call him "machine-man", "bill-bill", compare him with a boa constrictor, give a translation of his surname: it means "swallower". About the atmosphere in his office, he will notice that there was usually silence, but "sometimes his victims were indignant, raised a frantic cry, then suddenly there was dead silence, like in the kitchen when a duck is slaughtered." His dwelling matches this sinister man (“In this gloomy damp house there is no courtyard, all windows face the street, and the arrangement of the rooms resembles the arrangement of monastic cells,” etc.). Reproducing the gloomy, oppressive atmosphere of the house of Gobsek, pointing out the state of the usurer's visitors, and finally summing up the general conclusion: “The house and the tenant were matched to each other - just like a rock and an oyster adhered to it,” Balzac remains true to his principle through the image men, women and things ”to give social analysis. In Balzac's image, the character of the character is as closely intertwined with the surrounding objective world as an oyster with a rock to which it is attached. Gobseck is unthinkable outside of his material environment, just as the depicted realities assume the presence of a character corresponding to them.

When analyzing, it is necessary to pay attention to the specifics of Balzac's descriptions: each individual object is depicted in him with all possible completeness. Balzac, unlike, for example, Dickens, who also reproduced the characters of the heroes in the obligatory environment of things, does not deform these things, does not enhance the illumination of their individual sides, he gathers around the hero those objects that correspond to his individual character and social position. But Balzac's world does not "crumble" into separate components, for Balzac often emphasizes the organic unity of man and everyday life with a generalizing phrase, like the one given above about an oyster and a rock.

The gloomy atmosphere is reinforced by constant indications of specific feelings manifested in actions: the pathological stinginess of Gobsek, the fear of confessing his wealth. In his fireplace, it is not firewood that burns, but smoldering brands, he protects his eyes with a visor from a frayed cap, etc. Gobsek gradually begins to fear people more and more: he acquires an entire huge house for himself in order to avoid witnesses, but lives in one room.

The author gives an evolution of the character's character, which becomes an image of his degradation. At the end of his life, Gobsek's striving for hoarding finally lost its reasonable boundaries. Derville speaks of his stinginess as "devoid of any logic of passion." Before his death, Gobsek thinks that gold is rolling through his room, and he rushes out of his last strength to pick it up. Incredible pictures open up in front of Derville examining the house of the deceased usurer (“In the room adjacent to the deceased’s bedroom, there were indeed rotting pates and piles of all kinds of supplies, even oysters and fish covered with chubby mold,” etc.). The pictures of decay, the destruction of things, accompanying the death of the usurer, are not evidence of his senile weakness, but become a figurative proof of the senselessness of acquisitiveness, the uselessness of accumulation, for the repeated question of both Gobsek and Derville - "who will get this wealth" - remains unanswered. The death of things testifies to the spiritual death of a person.

Balzac's Gobsek is not just a money-grubber, but a philosopher whose belief system is a reflection of the essence of contemporary society. At the center of this system is gold. “In gold, everything is in the germ,” says Gobsek. This system presupposes an eternal struggle between rich and poor, and the struggle is inevitable, the moneylender believes. So he decided; "So it's better to push yourself than to let others push you." Everything else is relative to the miser. The hero's philosophy is revealed, as is characteristic of the Balzac method, in lengthy monologues or dialogues with an attentive listener.

By worshiping gold, Gobseck denies in principle all human ties based on feeling. This is evidenced by his relationship to Derville, Fanny Malvo, Count de Resto, niece. His position in relation to society was named by the antiquary from "Shagreen Skin" by the verb "to know." The whole world_ turns into a theater for him: “Great actors! And they give a presentation for me alone! But they never succeed in deceiving me. I have a gaze like the Lord of God; I read in hearts. Nothing can hide from me. " He even likes to play the role of a punishing judge, a kind of retribution. And I must say that Balzac partly has the right to assign Gobsek the role of retribution, because his victims are often noble gentlemen who squandered their fortune, those, according to Gobsek, who stole millions, sold their homeland. Gobsek comes to a stern, correct conclusion: "In order not to stain patent boots, pacing on foot, an important gentleman and anyone who tries to imitate him are ready to plunge headlong into the mud."

Gobseck's philosophy merges not only with the philosophy of the antiquary, but, which is especially significant, with the views of the treasurer of the hard labor camp Vautrin from "Father Goriot", who also loved to watch how the relations that had arisen developed at his will (he wanted to direct the life of Rastignac, subdued Lucien Chardon, Esther and others), and who believed that all people are like spiders in a jar, devouring each other. Hard labor, high society and usury are presented by Balzac as a single face of the modern world.

Gobsek's personality is gaining almost global proportions. The origin of his wealth is shrouded in mystery. From the age of ten he was left on his own, experienced many "terrible events." A cursory and schematic listing of the events of Gobsek's past throws a romantic nebulousness over his personality, although the character as a whole is created according to the laws of realistic social and temporal determinism.

The romantic combination of incredible adventures also characterizes the century when the unknown Corsican nobleman Napoleon Bonaparte (the Corsican nobility was not taken seriously in France) became the ruler of almost all of Europe, the emperor of France. Developing capitalism opened the way for personal initiative. Stendhal, paraphrasing Napoleon, argued that three-quarters of great people come from the third estate. Julien Sorel, the hero of Stendhal's novel Red and Black, keeps the portrait of Napoleon as a cherished relic, striving to follow in his footsteps. Charles Grandet from Balzac's own novel Eugene Grandet (1833) goes through the same path of enrichment as Gobsec, losing faith in goodness and ideals. The circumstances of their enrichment are so similar that the “romantic” mystery and globality in the system of Balzak's realistic pictorial means create not romantic exclusivity, but a typical generalization.

The fact that Gobsek in the story of the same name is not an exception, but a rule, is proved by the system of images: the usurer more than once names his comrades whom he deceives or who, on occasion, deceive him - these are Girard Palma, Verbrust, Gigonne. Gobsek tells how their sinister community has entangled the entire society with golden nets, what the power of the gold holders themselves is. Balzac's generalizations go even further: Gobsec and others like him in the story are the pillars of the modern bourgeois state, not only created by him, but also creating it, supporting the eternal, in their opinion, class struggle for their own good. Derville says that during the liquidation of the affairs of French subjects in Haiti, Gobsek was appointed a member of the commission, that is, the usurer is no longer a private person, but a representative of the government. Balzac emphasizes the value of the image as a typical figure of the time by repeatedly mentioning that the hero is like a statue. As a result of such repeated comparisons, the image acquires monumentality, a kind of symbolism. It is no coincidence that the author makes Derville, who in the story acts as a person who comprehends phenomena, to say: "This withered old man suddenly grew up in my eyes, became a fantastic figure, the personification of the power of gold."

One of the features of the Balzac method is that he creates secondary figures no less distinctly than central ones. The portrait characterization is as comprehensive as that of the main characters; these characters are just as closely connected with the world of things, with their time and the beliefs of their social group. Three images are especially vividly given, which seem to complement Gobsek: these are Maxime de Trai, Anastasi de Resto and Fanny Malvo. It is interesting that these characters are independent and simultaneously dependent on the central image, as it were, "shone through" by his perception of life and people. This is how Gobsek sees the Countess de Resto: “... what a beauty I saw here! In a hurry, she only threw a cashmere shawl over her bare shoulders and wrapped herself in it so skillfully that her entire stately figure loomed under this cover. She was wearing only a negligee trimmed with snow-white ruffle, which means that no less than two thousand francs a year were spent on a laundress, a fine linen mistress, "etc. With the last phrase, as in the depiction of Gobsek, Balzac sums up:" In everything there was beauty devoid of harmony, luxury and disorder. " This applies to both the external appearance of Anastasi and the caves surrounding her. This is also the connection of the oyster with its rock. By the way the usurer reproduces the picture he has seen, one can notice that he finds true pleasure in contemplating the beautiful countess. The position of "knowing" - the position of observing life - gives him the opportunity to become involved in everything, without bothering himself with suffering. However, in Gobsek's delight, the character of the moneylender shines through: “In a word, I liked this woman. It's been a long time since my heart beat like that. Well, that means I have already received the payment. " The joy from the perception of beauty is equated with the money received. However, the curmudgeon does not forget about money either. By lowering, grounding Gobseck's enthusiasm in accordance with his character, Balzac makes him appreciate the cost of washing the beauty's laundry.

The usurer treats the Countess with some sympathy, for she too is given to passion, only other than Gobsek. He knows how to drink passion. But to Maxime de Trai, he is merciless. This is what he read on his face: “This fair-haired handsome, cold, soulless gambler will go broke himself, will ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the children, squandering their inheritance, and in other cloaks he will wreak havoc with a cleaner battery than an artillery battery in the enemy troops ".

As you can see, Balzac strives for brightness, capacity, imagery of his generalizations, for each of the heroes he invents his own specific comparison: for Countess de Resto - with Herodias Leonardo da Vinci, for ds Traya - with an artillery battery, for Gobsek - with marble or bronze busts, with an oyster stuck to its rock, and so on. These comparisons absorb the socio-psychological essence of the characters. De Tray's cynicism is boundless, a male prostitute is not ashamed of his, if one may say so, "craft." “Do you mean to say,” he turns to Gobsek, “that whoever whistles in his pocket has nothing to go broke? And you try to find a man in Paris with such a solid capital, like mine! - exclaimed the veil and, getting up, turned on his heels. " Dsrvil calls his trick almost serious: indeed, his body is his capital.

Balzac himself, as it were, illuminates his hero from different sides: he gives his portrait, then the perception of the usurer, then the incorruptible Derville, then the secular man of the Comte de Bohr, then forces him to characterize himself and his behavior, "sources" of income. However, it all comes down to one thing: this is one of those who have a place in hard labor, the one who, according to Gobsek, is afraid to get his patent leather boots dirty, but calmly plunges into the mud. It is necessary to pay special attention to the fact that self-characterization in the works of Balzac is no less important than the author's characterization or characterization on behalf of another character. At the Balzac stage in the development of realism, the character's spiritual world is conveyed through lengthy descriptions of various kinds.

Creating a novel (or story) as a "better world", giving the philosophy of history, a generalized image of his time, Balzac opposes a lofty spiritual ideal to the world of moral decay; in this case he is embodied in the image of the young seamstress Fanny Malvo. She appears against the background of a cleanly tidied up poor apartment, simply but elegantly dressed, all illuminated by the sun, busy constantly with work, and evokes the sympathy of even Gobsek, who was ready to offer her money himself from 12 percent, but, however, immediately repented of your generosity. Fanny becomes Derville's wife. However, she is not invited to the high-society salons, where the solicitor is, she was not invited: in the past she was just a worker, and now she is only the solicitor's wife. Balzac does not particularly focus on this, but the very fact that there is de Trap in the world, but Fanny is not called there, characterizes the emptiness, unscrupulousness of high society.

At the end of the lesson, it is again necessary to return to the composition, remembering its "framework" feature and that bringing to the fore Gobsek, Countess de Resto, de Tray and placing Fanny Malvo and Derville on the periphery of the action will create that "slice" of society in general, which is characteristic of Balzac's realistic skill.

Approximate lesson plan

1. The main features of the French realism of the Balzac period.

2. The main requirements of Balzac to art, set out in the "Preface" to the "Human Comedy".

3. "The Human Comedy" by Balzac and the place in it for the story "Gobsek".

4. Features of the composition of the story, giving it a generalizing meaning.

5. Ways of creating character in Balzac and the ideological content of the image of Gobsek:

a) portrait;

b) environment, description principles;

c) the evolution of the image;

d) Gobsek's philosophy, self-disclosure of characters;

e) romantic and realistic in the image;

f) Gobsek is a pillar of modern society, a figurative expression of this idea.

6. Characters of the second plan in Balzac, the principles of their creation and connection with the main character.

7. How do Balzac's aesthetic principles correlate with the method of depicting reality in "Gobsek".

Balzac O. Sobr. op. in 15 volumes, Moscow, 1951 - 1955, vol. I.

Vertsman I.E. Problems of artistic cognition. M., 1967 (chapter "Balzac's Aesthetics").

Oblomievsky D.D. Balzac. Stages of the creative path. M., 1961,

Reizov B.G. Balzac. Sat. stately. Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1900.

The story "Gobsec" was published by Honore de Balzac in 1830, and in 1842 it became one of the key works of the "Human Comedy", entering the section "Scenes of Private Life" ("Studies on Morals"). Today, this is Balzac's most widely read work, it is included in the school and university curricula, is the subject of many scientific studies, a wide field for analysis and a richest source of inspiration.

Like many of Balzac's works, Gobsec was originally published in parts. The first episode, entitled "The Usurer", appeared in the pages of the magazine "Fashion" in February 1830. Then the story appeared under the title "Daddy Gobsek" and was divided into semantic parts - "The Usurer", "Lawyer", "Death of the Husband". In 1842, the story was included in the "Human Comedy" under the laconic title "Gobsek" without division into chapters. It is this type of work that is considered to be classic.

The central character is the usurer Jean Esther van Gobseck (note - in this case, the surname Gobseck is "speaking", translated from French - Zhivoglot). In addition to the work in which he is a soloist, Gobsek also appears in "Father Goriot", "Cesar Biroto", "Marriage Contract" "Officials". The lawyer Derville, who is also the narrator, is the hero of Father Goriot, Colonel Chabert, The Dark Affair, and the novel The Glamor and Poverty of the Courtesans.

This iconic work has two film incarnations. In 1936, the story was filmed by the Soviet director Konstantin Eggert ("Bear's Wedding", "Lame Master"), the role of Gobsek was played by Leonid Leonidov. In 1987, the film of the same name was released under the direction of Alexander Orlov ("The Woman Who Sings", "The Adventures of Chichikov"), this time Gobsek was played by Vladimir Tatosov.

Let's remember the plot of this immortal masterpiece from the genius Honore de Balzac.

The story begins to develop in the salon of the Viscountess de Granlier. It was winter 1829-30. Snow was melting outside the window and none of the midnight inhabitants of the living room wanted to move away from the cozy warmth of the fireplace. The Viscountess de Ganlier was the most noble, wealthy and respectable lady of the Saint-Germain suburb. At such a late hour, she read her seventeen-year-old daughter Camilla for being too obvious about her affection towards the young Count Émile de Resto.

A family friend, lawyer Derville, witnesses this scene. He sees Camilla's cheeks glowing at the mention of the name of Count de Resto. No doubt the girl is in love! But why does the countess oppose the union of young hearts? There is a good reason for this - explains the Countess. It's not a secret to anyone how his mother behaved inappropriately. Now she, of course, settled down, but her past leaves an indelible imprint on the offspring. Besides, de Resto is poor.

- And if not poor? Derville grins slyly.
“That would change things a little,” the viscountess notes evasively.
- Then I will tell you a romantic story that happened to me many years ago.

Jean Esther van Gobseck

When Derville was twenty-five years old, he rented a room in a poor Parisian hotel. His neighbor was a famous moneylender named Gobsek. Not having met Gobsek personally, Derville had already heard a lot about him. Jean Esther van Hobseck lived alone in his neat, modest apartment. His past was hidden in secrets. They say that at the age of ten he was sent as a cabin boy to a sea vessel. For a long time Gobsek sailed the seas and oceans, and then came to Paris and became a usurer.

The last refuge for the suffering

Visitors came to his room every day, but they were not good friends, but heartbroken petitioners, strangled by vices and their own insatiability. In his modest chambers there were once successful merchants, young dandies, noble ladies, shyly covering their faces with veils.

They all came to Gobsek for money. They prayed to Gobsek like God, and, throwing off their arrogance, humbly pressed their hands to their breasts.

For his relentlessness and callousness, Gobsek was hated. He was called "the golden idol" and the familiar "daddy Gobsek", his philosophy was considered spiritless, and his unsociability, to say the least, strange - "if humanity is considered a kind of religion, then Gobsek could be called an atheist." But all this did not in any way affect the number of clients of daddy Gobsek. They went to him, because only he could give a chance for salvation, or at least postpone a complete collapse.

One day young Derville also appeared on the doorstep of his neighbor's house. He did not have a penny in his heart, but having received his education, he dreamed of opening his own legal business. The ambitious young man liked the old man Gobsek, and he agreed to invest in him with the condition of paying a solid interest. Thanks to talent, backed by diligence and healthy frugality, Derville eventually settled completely with Gobsek. During the cooperation, the lawyer and the usurer have become good friends. They met twice a week for lunch. Conversations with Gobsek were for Derville the richest source of life wisdom, seasoned with the unusual philosophy of the usurer.

When Derville made the last payment, he asked why Gobsek continued to charge him, his friend, huge interest, and did not render the service unselfishly. To this the old man wisely replied: “My son, I saved you from gratitude, I gave you the right to believe that you owe me nothing. And that's why you and I are the best friends in the world. "

Now Derville's business is flourishing, he married for love, his life is continuous happiness and prosperity. So it's full about Derville, because a happy person is an unbearably boring topic.

Once Derville brought his friend Maxime de Tray to Gobsek, a handsome man, a brilliant Parisian womanizer and a rake. Maxim was in dire need of money, but Gobsek refuses a loan to de Tray, because he knows about his many unpaid debts. The next day, a beautiful lady comes to ask for Maxim. Looking ahead, we note that it was the Countess de Resto, the mother of the very Emile de Resto, who today is unsuccessfully wooing Camille de Granier.

Blinded by her passion for the scoundrel de Tray, the countess laid the family diamonds for him. It must be said that a few years ago the Countess paid de Tray's first bill of exchange from Papa Gobsek. The amount was small, but even then Gobsek predicted that this scoundrel would pull all the money from the de Resto family.

Soon, Count de Resto, the lawful spouse of the extravagant countess and the owner of the pledged diamonds, burst into Gobsek. The usurer refused to return the jewelry, but advised the count to secure his inheritance, otherwise his children would not be destined to see the money. After consulting with Derville, the count transfers all his property to Gobsek and draws up a counter receipt stating that the sale of the property is fictitious - when the eldest son becomes an adult, the usurer will transfer the property management rights to the legal heir.

The count invokes Derville to keep the receipt with himself, since he does not trust his greedy wife. However, due to the evil mockery of fate, he falls seriously ill and does not have time to hand over the document on which the fate of his boy depends. While the count is bedridden unconscious, the countess does not leave his room, plausibly portraying a grief-stricken wife. No one, except Gobsek and Derville, knows the true background of this "affection." Like a predator, the countess is waiting for the cherished hour when her victim will breathe his last breath.

Soon the count dies. Derville and Gobsek rush to de Resto's house and witness a terrible picture. Everything in the count's room was turned upside down, in the midst of this chaos, disheveled with sparkling eyes, the Countess rushed about. She was not embarrassed by the presence of the deceased, his body was contemptuously thrown to the edge of the bed, like a more unnecessary thing.

Some papers were burning out in the fireplace. It was a receipt. "What have you done? - cried Derville - you just ruined your own children. These documents provided them with wealth ... "

The countess seemed to have enough blow. But nothing could be fixed - Gobsek became the full owner of de Resto's estate.

Gobsek refused to help the young heir to de Resto. “Misfortune is the best teacher. In misfortune, he learns a lot, learns the value of money, the value of people ... Let him float on the waves of the Parisian sea. And when he becomes a skilled pilot, we will make him captain ”.

The humanist Derville could not understand the cruelty of Gobsek. He moved away from his friend, over time, their meetings came to naught. Derville made his next visit to Gobsek many years later. They say that all these years Gobsek led a wealthy life, and in recent times became completely unsociable and did not leave his magnificent chambers.

Derville found Gobsek dying. The usurer told an old friend that he had made him his executor. He bequeathed all the acquired fortune to his sister's great-granddaughter, a public girl nicknamed Ogonyok. "She is as good as Cupid," the dying man smiled weakly, "find her, my friend." And let the legal inheritance now return to Emile de Resto. Surely he became a good person.

Examining the house of Gobsek after his death, Derville was shocked: the pantries were full of food, most of which was missing. Everything was spoiled, swarmed with worms and insects, but the distraught curmudgeon did not sell his goods to anyone. "I saw what avarice can go to, turned into an unaccountable passion devoid of any logic."

Fortunately, Gobsek managed to transfer his own and return someone else's wealth. Madame de Granlier listened to the lawyer's story with great interest. “Okay, dear Derville, we’ll think about Emile de Resto,” she said. “Besides, Camille doesn’t need to see her mother-in-law often.”

The image of Gobsek in creativity Balzac - the image of a huge generalizing force.

- Do you recognize the characters in our classic literature? Name them and their works, authors.

- What unites these images?

“And he began to tell me how wicked, capricious she was, that as soon as the mortgage was overdue by one day, the thing disappeared, and she took five or even seven percent a month, etc.”
(Alena Ivanovna, old woman-pawnbroker, F. M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment")

“And in fact, after him there was no need to sweep the street: it happened to a passing officer to lose a spur, this spur instantly went to a certain heap; if a woman, somehow gape at the well, forgot the bucket, he would drag off the bucket too. However, when the peasant who noticed him caught him right there, he did not argue and gave the stolen thing; but if only she fell into a pile, then it was all over: he swore that his thing was bought by him then, from someone else, or inherited from his grandfather. In his room, he picked up everything he saw from the floor: sealing wax, a piece of paper, a feather, and put it all on the bureau or on the window. "
(Plyushkin, N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls")

All day I waited for a minute when I get off
To my secret basement, to the faithful chests.
Happy day! I can today
In the sixth chest (the chest is still incomplete)
Pour in a handful of accumulated gold.
Not much, it seems, but little by little
Treasures grow ... (Baron, A. Pushkin "The Covetous Knight")

- All characters worship the power of money, and this worship destroyed their "living soul". It is impossible not to exclaim, watching them:

“And a person could condescend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgust! Could have changed so much! And it looks like the truth? Everything looks like the truth, everything can happen to a person. "

Question-tie:

“There is an opinion that all the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold, that a person is the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich. And it is inevitable. It’s better to push yourself than to let others push you. ”

– Do you agree with this statement?

Teacher:

In a short story by O. Balzac "Gobsek" (1830), a grotesque, ugly figure of the true master of life appears, an image of a huge generalizing force: a usurer, a moneymaker out of money. The image of Gobsek is much deeper than the above-mentioned heroes of Gogol, Pushkin and Dostoevsky.

Balzac was by nature a monarchist. All his life he dreamed of becoming a representative of an aristocratic society and hated the bourgeoisie for its inertia and thirst for money. But above all, Balzac was a genius writer, so his talent forced him to truthfully and comprehensively show representatives of various segments of the population.

The elements of Balzac's philosophical pessimism are precisely based on the unshakable truth of Gobseck's thoughts about bourgeois society. Of course, the emotional attitude to such conclusions is fundamentally different: what makes the writer suffer inevitably serves as the basis for the activities of a successful usurer.

In the role of denouncer of an unjust society, Gobsek is right. He directly asserts that the state in a society of personal interest is being bought out by its wealthy part: "To protect their wealth, the rich have chosen tribunals, judges, a guillotine ..."

Noble gentlemen are not at all different from the bourgeois in their venality, selfishness, complete lack of moral principles and civic virtues. The thirst for money-grubbing “compels them to steal millions in a decent manner, to sell their homeland.

Cards, chatting about art, frivolous intrigues, playing politics, gluttony and bragging about a carriage, a horse, a piquant connection ... "Madmen and sick people", "fools", "simpletons", "boobies" make up this society. Gobsek does not want to be like them.

- Why did Gobsek choose to become a usurer?

Gobsek deliberately chose the profession of a usurer. He considers money to be a commodity that can be bought and sold profitably. Therefore, he does not see anything immoral in lending money at high interest rates and making a profit from it. These are the rules of any trade.

- What is the essence of the Gobsek doctrine?

Everything in the world is illusion and vanity, everything is false, “of all earthly blessings there is only one reliable enough to make it worth a person to chase after him. This is ... gold ”, life is“ a machine that is driven by money; "Gold is the spiritual essence of the entire current society."

- What has this man achieved thanks to his innumerable treasures?

- Rich man. Only five people in Paris can match him in terms of wealth.

Teacher:

Hobseck's accumulation and usury, as a result of which nothing is ordered, nothing is created, but only an unthinkable combination of wealth is formed, the consequence of which is the destruction of healthy principles of social life, the collapse of human destinies, the antisocial nature of the activity of finance capital - the main object of Balzac's criticism.

The monumental, integral, exaggerated figure of Gobseck is an artistic sentence to him.

Gobsek means Slaughter.

Tell us about Derville. How does it relate to the image of the main character?

- Derville helps readers understand legal terms and concepts mentioned in the work.

- Derville and Gobsek are people of the same profession.

- Derville is a solicitor. This is a young man who made a career solely with his hard work and professional integrity.

- Derville is a "man of high honesty" (this is how the heroes of the work speak of him) Derville is a decent man, so we can trust his opinion.

- He's a friend of Gobsek.

- Thanks to Derville, we see Gobsek as if “from the inside” (what he is like in everyday life, what are his human predilections and weaknesses, we learn his background and outlook on life).

- What happens to a person who has chosen money as his idol? Determine your attitude towards him.

- The very appearance of Gobsek, his manners, gait evoke a feeling of closeness to a soulless machine, a metal robot: “it was some kind of automatic machine,” a “man-bill of exchange” with an ingot of metal in his chest instead of a heart.

"The facial features ... seemed to be cast in bronze ... The sharp tip of the long nose ... looked like a gimbal."

- Collecting bills, he ran all over Paris "on thin, lean legs like a deer."

- Heartlessness brought to the degree of automatism :: "... he took care of vital energy, suppressing all human feelings in himself."

- This person, not accessible to prayers, a person who "turned into a golden idol"

- Indifference to people, complete indifference to their destinies become a life principle: "If humanity, communication between people is considered a kind of religion, then Gobsek could be called an atheist."

Teacher:

This character is not an ordinary usurer, he is a genius of usury, a usury-man in a terrible romantic glimpse of an extraordinary intellect and a harmonious philosophy of endless contempt for humanity.

- Where did this philosophy of endless contempt for humanity come from?

Find in the text evidence of Gobseck's cruel ordeals.

“His mother put him on a ship as a cabin boy, and at the age of ten he sailed to the Dutch possessions of the East Indies, where he wandered for twenty years. The wrinkles of his yellowish face kept the secret of terrible trials, sudden terrible events, unexpected successes, romantic vicissitudes, immeasurable joys, hungry days of trampled love, wealth, ruin and newly acquired wealth, mortal dangers, when life, hanging by a thread, was saved by instantaneous and, to be maybe cruel actions justified by necessity. "

- Before visiting Gobsek by Maxim de Trai, the usurer prepares pistols, saying: "... I am confident in my accuracy, because I happened to walk on a tiger and on the deck of a ship to fight in a boarding fight not to the stomach, but to death ..."

- In a conversation between Derville and Count de Resto, the solicitor says this about Gobsek's past: “I don't know anything about his past. Perhaps he was a corsair; perhaps wandered around the world, traded in diamonds or people, women or state secrets; but I am deeply sure that no human soul has received such a cruel hardening in trials as he did. "

- Why do you think, being a rich man, he eked out a miserable existence, was afraid to advertise his wealth (did not raise the gold one), he went to clients and humiliatingly collected payments?

- And although wealth makes him independent and an inner feeling of superiority over them lives in his soul, the fear of losing what he had acquired forever settled in his soul and turned him into an ugly creature.

According to the narrator Derville, a friend of Gobsek, he is "a curmudgeon and a philosopher, a vile creature and a sublime."

– What is its "elevation" manifested in?

- Gobsek is an educated person.

- Knows all the subtleties of jurisprudence, is well versed in politics, art (it is no coincidence that the author compares him with a statue of Voltaire - one of the most educated people of his time).

- Gobsek traded in old paintings - he knew a lot about art, he was familiar with classical literature - he borrows comparisons from Moliere.

- Gobsek admires the beauty of the Countess de Resto's diamonds.

- This is a large, strong character: "... a Dutchman worthy of the brush of Rembrandt."

- Judges, officials, businessmen, people of art - all are under the tacit supervision of powerful capital. No wonder Gobsek is suddenly seen as "a fantastic figure, the personification of the power of gold." But he says with good reason:

"I am rich enough to buy a human conscience, to rule all-powerful ministers ..."

- Derville is forced to admit that "Mr. Gobsek is an honest man."

- How did it happen that you became a "mean creature" and a "curmudgeon"?

- Gobsek is a product of its time. He lives by the laws of this world, accepts the rules of the game and honestly (!) Fulfills them. It is no coincidence that Derville, in a conversation with Count de Resto, directly says about Gobsek: "... in these matters he is a man of the most scrupulous honesty in all of Paris."

Gobsek is a skeptic and a materialist, he went through a lot and lost faith in everything.

So, it is worth remembering how once he “spared a woman” and “trusted her”, and she “plucked” him well, which made him finally establish himself in the depravity of people.

- Can we say that everything human died in Gobsek?

We think not. Fanny Malvo's sincerity, spiritual purity, trustfulness, hard work, religious belief in goodness aroused affection even in Gobsek. Perhaps he even regrets that he cannot believe in anything but gold, when he notes with affection that the seamstress Fanny ... into something believed. "

He prefers to be friends with a worthy man Derville.

- But why didn't the usurer even make an exception to him and gave the necessary amount at high interest rates?

"I have saved you the gratitude and now we are the best friends in the world."

Gobsek acted in such a way as to, in his opinion, save Derville from the humiliating position of a dependent person.

Maxime de Tray is a kind of Gobsek's double in the story.

- How does the hero himself speak about this?

"You and I are necessary for each other, as soul and body."

- Why Gobsek refuses to accept the challenge to a duel from Maxim de Tray?

Gobsek is a shrewd person, he perfectly knows the low and insidious nature of people like Maxime de Trai, so he refuses to accept his challenge to a duel. Finishing his speech with very precise words: "In order to shed your blood, you must have it, my dear, and you have dirt in your veins instead of blood."

We will not find a single positive feature in the characterization of Maxim de Trai.

Please provide relevant quotes.

“Yes, Count Maxime de Trai is the strangest being, fit for everything and worthless, a subject inspiring both fear and contempt, a know-it-all and a complete ignoramus, capable of doing good deeds and committing a crime, now a scoundrel, now nobleness itself, a brute, more stained with mud, than stained with blood, a person who can be tormented by worries, but not remorse, who is more interested in feelings than thoughts, in appearance the soul is passionate and ardent, but inwardly cold as ice ... "

The narrator calls him "an elegant bastard."

“Fear him like the devil, I whispered in the old man's ear,” Derville recalls.

"... I looked with disgust at her young companion, who is a killer, although he had such a clear brow, ruddy, fresh lips, a sweet smile, snow-white teeth and an angelic appearance."

– Explain what is the force of the impact of Maxim de Trai on others?

- Why even Derville, who knows the low nature of Maxime de Tray, fell under his influence?

Answer:

Maxime de Tray knows how to deftly manipulate people. He is able to find the innermost strings in every person and play the melody he needs on them. He knows very well that Countess de Resto is seriously carried away by him and is afraid of losing him, so he whispers in her ear: “Farewell, good Anastasi. Be happy. And I ... tomorrow I will get rid of all worries. "

And a distraught woman in love is ready to commit a crime to keep their connection.

Knowing the scrupulous honesty and decency of Derville, Maxime de Trai entangles him with words. Monsieur de Tray "bewitched" him. “This Chrysostom de Trai just managed to entangle me with his speeches with magic dexterity, screwing me into them, and always very appropriate, such words as“ honor ”,“ nobility ”,“ countess ”,“ decent woman ”,“ virtue ”, “Misfortune,” “despair,” and so on, "the narrator recalls.

– Why did Gobsek hate his heirs?

Answer:

Gobsek too often witnessed such pictures: “We would see a terrible picture if we could look into the souls of the heirs who surrounded the bed. How many intrigues, calculations, malicious tricks are here - and all because of the money! " This is why Gobsek hated the heirs so much.

Teacher:

The death scene of Count de Resto is one of the most dramatic episodes of the story. The count's son with an indignant and mournful expression on his face blocked Gobsek's way to the door so that his mother could say goodbye to the dying and atone for her sins before God. But the usurer "laughed with his soundless laugh," threw the young man away like a feather, opened the door and ... as always, he was right.

Let's reread this episode :

“What a sight before us! There was a genuine smash in the room. The Countess stood motionless, disheveled, with an expression of despair on her face, and looked at us in bewilderment with sparkling eyes, and around her were scattered the deceased's dress, papers, crumpled rags ... one of those envelopes that were lying on the floor, because now it was just an unnecessary shell. "

- What conclusion can be drawn?

The countess, instead of belated remorse, burned papers, thinking that this was her husband's amended will.

Question: Gobsek is always only a usurer; his interest is only profit. The author says: "In this big swindle, Gobsek was an insatiable boa constrictor."

– What kind of scam are we talking about?

He received a fidekomiss, that is, the legal right to use other people's property to transfer it in the future to a third party.

– How does Gobsek behave in this situation?

Answer:

Even making the deal, the hero behaved with dignity. He did not take advantage of the favorable situation and did not “warm his hands” on the count's inheritance, but, on the contrary, multiplied it.

But Gobsek is true to himself. Until he came of age, he gave Ernest an extremely meager content.

Question:

- How does he explain this decision?

Answer:

“Misfortune is the best teacher. In misfortune, he will learn a lot, he will know the value of money, the value of people - both men and women. Let him float on the waves of the Parisian sea. And when he becomes a skilled pilot, we will make him a captain. "

Teacher:

The author ends his story about the life and death of a usurer with an absolutely natural scene - a description of wealth. This description is worthy of the brush of Flemish painters, just as the image of Gobsek himself “is worthy of the brush of Rembrandt”.

Let's go back to the question of the life position of the usurer:

"Gold is the spiritual value of today's society"

“You believe everything, but I don’t believe anything. Well, save your illusions if you can. I will now summarize your human life. What causes delight in Europe is punished in Asia. What is considered a vice in Paris is recognized as a necessity for the Azar Islands. There is nothing lasting on earth, there are only conventions, and in every climate they are different ... all our moral rules and beliefs are empty words ... So live with mine, you will find out that of all earthly goods there is only one reliable enough to make a person chase behind him. Is this gold".

All the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold ... And as for morals, people are the same everywhere: everywhere there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, everywhere. And it is inevitable. It’s better to push yourself than to let others push you. ”

- Can a human soul, true human values \u200b\u200bbe interested in a world with such a philosophy?

Of course not. That is why the “simple-minded creation” of Fanny the seamstress is so atypical and uninteresting to anyone in the “light”, and the pastoral history of the idyllic union of Derville and Fanny Malvo is not curious to those around him.

The fate of people is therefore tragic where “dead souls” with a stranglehold dictate to people the laws of life on earth.

Teacher:

And let Gobsek be touched by Fanny's "sweet girlish image", sympathy, remorse, kindness in his life position will never be inherent in him. He is inaccessible to noble motives, the very concept of gratitude is alien to him. Even the solicitor Derville, a young man for whom he seems to feel a favor, becomes the object of undisguised, shameless profit; according to Gobsek, this is also an educational measure: so that later the young man was relieved of the feeling of gratitude to the benefactor.

In this world, where gold reigns, Gobsek chose to remain a Slayer, a misanthrope, a "machine-gun", a "bill-man", a "golden idol", a "savage", a "curmudgeon", a "skaligy".

And yet the scene of Gobseck's death is filled with tragic pathos.

Let's read it:

“He sat up in bed; his face stood out as clear as bronze against the white pillow. Stretching out his withered hands, he grabbed the blanket with his bony hands, as if he wanted to hold on to it, looked at the fireplace, as cold as his metallic gaze, and died in full consciousness, showing his gatekeeper, the invalid and me an image of alert attention, like those old men ancient Rome, which Letiere depicted behind the consuls in his painting "Death of the Children of Brutus."

- Well done paid off, old skvalig! - the invalid rapped out like a soldier. "

Question:

– Why, after all, it is impossible not to pity Gobsek?

Following Derville, one must feel sorry for the old man who put all the values \u200b\u200bof the world on the line of his greed: friendship, love of loved ones, a prosperous existence.

All the good he had acquired fell into disrepair or remained unclaimed.

The world of profit, of which Gobsek was a part and whose power over himself he did not want to recognize, nevertheless swallowed him into the abyss.

Teacher:

And again comes to mind the appeal to the younger generation from the poem by N.V. Gogol " Dead Souls":" Take away with you on the way, leaving the mild youthful years in the harsh hardening courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, do not pick it up later! "

Homework: