# Madame de Sérizy — A Woman of Thirty character guide

> Madame de Sérizy in A Woman of Thirty by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mme. d'Aiglemont, Mme, de Sérizy, Mme. de Saint-Héreen

**First appearance:** 0003-ii-a-hidden-grief

## Snapshot

A widowed society marquise whose married daughter Moïna eclipses her, leaving her to smile through solitary evenings and gossip's quiet cruelties.

## Who they are

Madame de Sérizy moves through Parisian drawing rooms as a mother whose grown daughter, Moïna, has become the reigning attraction — her salon, her box at the Italiens, her flirting. The dowager's devotion is genuine but costly: she is admired for her patience and quietly pitied for her solitude, her own musical past and social standing displaced by the younger woman's brilliance. Her tender, self-effacing love, and the gossip it provokes, sets the emotional weather of the novel's later movement, where maternal sacrifice and filial indifference are weighed without easy verdict.

## Relationships

### [Charles de Vandenesse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/charles_de_vandenesse)

_friendship_

Friends and allies in high society, with mutual respect and shared confidences.

### [Moïna de Saint-Héreen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/moina_de_saint_hereen)

_social_

Social acquaintance and occasional mentor figure in aristocratic circles.

### [Lord Grenville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/lord_grenville)

_friendship_

Friendly acquaintances who share a social circle and concern for Julie's wellbeing.

### [Lord Grenville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/lord_grenville)

_friendship_

Friendly acquaintances who share a social circle and concern for Julie's wellbeing.

### [Charles de Vandenesse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/charles_de_vandenesse)

_friendship_

Friends and allies in high society, with mutual respect and shared confidences.

### [Moïna de Saint-Héreen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/moina_de_saint_hereen)

_social_

Social acquaintance and occasional mentor figure in aristocratic circles.

### [Lord Grenville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/lord_grenville)

_friendship_

Friendly acquaintances who share a social circle and concern for Julie's wellbeing.

## In the story

### [I: Early Mistakes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/chapters/i-early-mistakes)

Julie's rival, who hosts the concert and attempts to undermine Julie with feigned sympathy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters/madame_de_serizy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_woman_of_thirty_se/characters