# Eugénie Grandet — Character guide

> Key figures in Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac.

- [Félix Grandet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/felix_grandet.md): 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,
- [Eugénie Grandet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/eugenie_grandet.md): 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 fr
- [Charles Grandet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/charles_grandet.md): 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
- [Mme. Grandet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/madame_grandet.md): 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 h
- [Nanon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/nannon.md): 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 
- [Mme. des Grassins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/madame_des_grassins.md): 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, matc
- [M. des Grassins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/monsieur_des_grassins.md): 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 
- [Cruchot de Bonfons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/cruchot_de_bonfons.md): 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 stan
- [Annette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/annette.md): Charles's mistress in Paris, a fashionable woman of the world.
- [Alphonse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters/alphonse.md): Minor acquaintance or suitor mentioned in passing.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugenie_grandet_se/characters