# Raoul Nathan — A Daughter of Eve character guide > Raoul Nathan in A Daughter of Eve by Honoré de Balzac. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Nathan, the penniless Nathan, M. Nathan **First appearance:** 0001-a-daughter-of-eve ## Snapshot A brilliant, penniless playwright and journalist whose fame opens aristocratic doors, he juggles a calculating mistress and a married countess with dangerous literary vanity. ## Who they are Raoul Nathan moves through Parisian salons and newspaper offices as a man whose talent has outrun his fortune, keeping the actress Florine as his mistress while pursuing the married Marie de Vandenesse. His pride is a live wire: he twists a glove to shreds when kept from Marie's opera box, and he insists he would never sell his love for literary profit. His double life, sustained by charm and audacity, drives the novel's central collision between ambition, appetite, and genuine feeling. ## Relationships ### [Marie de Vandenesse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/marie_de_vandenesse) _romantic_ Marie, a married woman, engages in a passionate and secretive affair with the ambitious journalist Raoul Nathan, risking her social standing. ### [Florine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/florine) _romantic_ Florine, an actress, is Raoul Nathan's long-term mistress, providing him with emotional and financial support despite his infidelities. ### [Du Tillet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/du_tillet) _professional_ Du Tillet, a banker and financier, collaborates with Raoul Nathan on business schemes, often manipulating him for financial gain. ### [Émile Blondet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/emile_blondet) _friendship_ Émile Blondet, a journalist and critic, is a close friend and intellectual ally of Raoul Nathan, sharing literary and social circles. ### [Comte Félix de Vandenesse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/comte_felix_de_vandenesse) _rivalry_ Comte Félix de Vandenesse, Marie's husband, views Raoul Nathan as a rival and threat to his marriage, leading to covert antagonism. ### [Eugénie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/eugenie) _social_ Eugénie, Marie's younger sister, is a curious observer of Raoul Nathan's interactions with her sister, often acting as a confidante. ### [Lady Dudley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/lady_dudley) _romantic_ Lady Dudley, a wealthy and manipulative Englishwoman, engages in a flirtatious and transactional relationship with Raoul Nathan. ### [Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/rastignac) _friendship_ Raoul Nathan and Rastignac are fellow social climbers and friends, often collaborating in Parisian high society and political intrigues. ### [de Marsay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/de_marsay) _rivalry_ De Marsay, a powerful dandy and politician, is a rival to Raoul Nathan in both love and political influence. ### [Octave de Camps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/octave_de_camps) _social_ Octave de Camps, a respectable nobleman, is a social acquaintance of Raoul Nathan, moving in overlapping aristocratic circles. ### [Florine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/florine) _romantic_ Florine, an actress, is Raoul Nathan's long-term mistress, providing him with emotional and financial support despite his infidelities. ### [Marie de Vandenesse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/marie_de_vandenesse) _romantic_ Marie, a married woman, engages in a passionate and secretive affair with the ambitious journalist Raoul Nathan, risking her social standing. ## In the story ### [A Daughter of Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/a-daughter-of-eve) A penniless writer and political schemer who represents the passionate, bohemian world that attracts Marie. ### [Sisterly Confidences](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/ii-sisterly-confidences) The man at the center of Marie's passion, whose debts threaten him with imprisonment within three days. ### [A Man of Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/iv-a-man-of-note) Introduced at Mme. de Montcornet's concert; described as a striking, eccentric literary and political figure with Napoleonic eyes and a disheveled appearance. He is a Republican posing as a puritan, and he confesses to Blondet and Rastignac his desire for a pure, noble love. ### [Florine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/v-florine) A journalist and Florine's lover, weary of his bohemian life and drawn to a pure love with Marie. He plans to launch a political newspaper with Blondet and others. ### [Love Versus Society](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/vi-love-versus-society) Deeply in love with Marie, he abandons his usual cynicism for sincere passion, though his past with Florine and his debts linger. ### [Suicide](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/vii-suicide) Struggling with debt and political ambition, he maintains a double life with Florine and Marie, unaware of the conspiracy against him. ### [VIII: A Lover Saved and Lost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/viii-a-lover-saved-and-lost) Lies ill in hiding after his suicide attempt, saved by Marie's intervention. ### [IX: A Husband’s Triumph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/chapters/ix-a-husband-s-triumph) Loses his share in the paper, fails in politics, and ends up with Florine, becoming a conventional figure with a sinecure. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters/raoul_nathan - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_eve_se/characters