55 pages 1 hour read

Honoré de Balzac

Le Père Goriot

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1835

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“The pallid corpulence of this dumpy woman is the product of this sort of life, as typhus is caused by the effluvia of a hospital.”


(Part 1, Page 6)

Honoré de Balzac presents the Maison Vauquer boarding house as a rundown, filthy place. In this way, it reflects the moral character and physical appearance of its owner, Madame Vauquer. The opening of the novel establishes a clear symbolic connection between the characters and their environments that the novel will later subvert. The wealthy characters, Rastignac discovers, are immoral and cynical, while those who live in the poorest, most rundown rooms—such as Goriot or Bianchon—are better people.

Quotation Mark Icon

“If Pere Goriot had daughters as rich as all the women who come to see him appear to be, he would not be living in my house, on the third floor, at forty-five francs a month, and he would not dress like a pauper.”


(Part 1, Page 26)

Madame Vauquer is confidently wrong about everything, including Goriot. She has no interest in learning more about the world around her; she would rather project her misguided assumptions onto everything and then loudly proclaim her opinions to the world. She is incurious and unrepenting in her ignorance.

Quotation Mark Icon

“You are still too young to know Paris properly.”


(Part 1, Page 41)

Rastignac is still new to the city, so his understanding of the intricacies of Paris is young and naïve. He is still dazzled by the shining lights and the luxurious homes, so he does not yet understand the moral rot that is hidden beneath these fancy veneers—particularly The Hypocrisy of 19th-Century French Society. Vautrin may be a cynic and a criminal, but he is not wrong about Paris’s immorality.

Related Titles

By Honoré de Balzac

Plot Summary

logo

A Passion in the Desert

Honoré de Balzac

A Passion in the Desert

Honoré de Balzac

Plot Summary

logo

Cousin Bette

Honoré de Balzac

Cousin Bette

Honoré de Balzac

Plot Summary

logo

Eugenie Grandet

Honoré de Balzac

Eugenie Grandet

Honoré de Balzac

Plot Summary

logo

Sarrasine

Honoré de Balzac

Sarrasine

Honoré de Balzac