Eugénie Grandet · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Félix Grandet
major
Also known as M. Grandet, Grandet, old Grandet, Goodman Grandet, père Grandet, Master Grandet
Once a plain master cooper, Grandet parlayed his wife's dowry and a shrewd Revolutionary land grab into a fortune the whole town whispers about but never sees. In his gloomy house on the steep street, he rations candles, bread, and affection with the same iron thrift, keeping even his wife and daughter in anxious dependence. His avarice is the engine of the early story: every visitor, suitor, and family crisis must first pass through his ledger.
Eugénie Grandet
major
Also known as Mlle. Grandet, Mademoiselle Eugénie, Eugénie, Cousin Eugénie, Mademoiselle Grandet
Raised in a silent, candle-counted house in Saumur, Eugénie knows little of the world beyond her mother's prayers and Nanon's kitchen. When her Parisian cousin Charles arrives, her untested generosity and her father's frozen parsimony collide, and she begins to discover what her own heart is worth. Her quiet awakening gives the novel its moral center, measuring the cost of devotion against the arithmetic of greed.
Charles Grandet
major
Also known as Charles, Cousin Charles, M. Charles, M. Charles Grandet
Charles arrives at his uncle's door trailing elegance, letters, and a fashionable indifference to the dull town around him. The collapse of his father's affairs strips him of everything except charm and ambition, forcing him to reckon with relatives who count every sou. His presence in the Grandet house turns Eugénie's sheltered life inside out and sets the story's central question: what is love worth when money is the only language anyone trusts?
Mme. Grandet
supporting
Also known as Mme., Grandet, the Mme, old Grandet
In the Grandet household she moves softly, dressed in threadbare patience, her health and her opinions alike kept small by her husband's rule. Her devotion to Eugénie is the one luxury she permits herself, and it makes her quietly complicit in the small deceits that keep the house bearable. Frail and fading, she embodies the human cost of Grandet's hoarding and sharpens the reader's sense of what Eugénie stands to lose.
Nanon
supporting
Also known as Big Nanon, Poor Nanon, Nanon
Taken in half-starved and worked like an ox, Nanon has become the one person in the house Grandet trusts, because she asks for nothing and gives everything. Her plain strength and simple faith make her both comic relief and the household's conscience, quietly devoted to Eugénie and Mme. Grandet. She is the measure of what Grandet values: not beauty or wit, but a body that costs almost nothing to keep.
Mme. des Grassins
supporting
Also known as Mme., Mme. des Grassins, The des Grassins
In a town where everyone watches everyone, Mme. des Grassins is the most watchful of all, hosting the rival evening parties that orbit around Eugénie's inheritance. She promotes her son Adolphe as the obvious match, matching wits with the Cruchot faction over the girl's future and Grandet's gold. Her scheming gives the early chapters their social comedy and shows how thoroughly money has colonized even the town's affections.
M. des Grassins
supporting
Also known as des Grassins, Adolphe, M. Adolphe des Grassins, Adolphe des Grassins, Grassins
Des Grassins belongs to the small circle that orbits the Grandet parlor, where two families maneuver for Eugénie's hand with the patience of chess players. As a banker he offers the modern lure of liquidity and Parisian connections against the Cruchots' clerical respectability, and his son Adolphe is groomed as bait. His rivalry sets the comic, mercenary temperature of the courtship plot before the story's larger shadows fall.
Cruchot de Bonfons
supporting
Also known as M. Cruchot, de Bonfons, Cruchot, M. Cruchot de Bonfons, the notary Cruchot, President de Bonfons, M. le Président de Bonfons
Cruchot de Bonfons advances under the wing of his uncle, the notary, whose client list and social weight give the Cruchot faction its leverage in Saumur. He is patient, formal, and quietly hungry for the fortune and standing that marriage to Eugénie would secure. His courtship, set against the des Grassins' counter-campaign, turns the Grandet household into a theater of provincial strategy.
Annette
minor
Also known as Dear Annette, dear Annette, the fair Annette
Charles's mistress in Paris, a fashionable woman of the world.
Alphonse
minor
Also known as Alphonse
Minor acquaintance or suitor mentioned in passing.
Abbé Cruchot
minor
Also known as the Abbé Cruchot, The Abbé Cruchot, the Abbé, Abbé
Priest and uncle of Cruchot de Bonfons, part of the Cruchot faction.
Guillaume Grandet
minor
Also known as Guillaume, Guillaume Grandet, Victor-Ange-Guillaume Grandet
Charles's father and Félix's brother, a Parisian merchant who commits suicide.
Cornoiller
minor
Also known as old Cornoiller, Mme. Cornoiller, Antoine Cornoiller
Gardener and later husband of Nanon, a simple country man.
Marquis de Froidfond
minor
Also known as Froidfond, de Froidfond, the Marquis de Froidfond
Aristocratic landowner from whom Grandet buys estates.
M. Bergerin
minor
Also known as M. Bergerin
Business associate of Grandet, involved in financial dealings.
Mme. de Bonfons
minor
Also known as Mme. de Bonfons
Eugénie's title after marriage, though she remains devoted to Charles.
Old M. de la Bertellière
minor
Also known as de la Bertellière, old M. de la Bertellière, Old M. de la Bertellière
Eugénie's maternal grandfather, a wealthy landowner.
Jean
minor
Also known as Jean
Servant or minor worker in the Grandet household.
Charles X
minor
Also known as Charles X, Charles
King of France during the novel's setting, mentioned in historical context.
Jeremy Bentham
minor
Also known as Jeremy Bentham, Bentham
Philosopher referenced in passing by the narrator.
