# Victorine Taillefer — Father Goriot character guide

> Victorine Taillefer in Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mlle. Taillefer, Victorine, Mlle. Victorine

**First appearance:** 0001-father-goriot

## Snapshot

A pale, silent boarder whose father's fortune hovers just out of reach, Victorine embodies the quiet cruelties of the Maison Vauquer.

## Who they are

Victorine Taillefer lives at Mme. Vauquer's on crumbs while her wealthy father refuses to acknowledge her, and her meekness makes her almost invisible at the dinner table. Rastignac's passing kindness stirs something in her, but her situation also becomes the bait in a darker scheme being laid around her. She matters because her helplessness tests what the men around her are willing to do for money.

## Relationships

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_social_

Eugène is a polite acquaintance of Victorine at the boarding house, though Vautrin tries to push them together for inheritance schemes.

### [Vautrin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/vautrin)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_social_

Delphine and Victorine are distant acquaintances at the boarding house, with Delphine viewing her as beneath her social station.

### [Poiret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/poiret)

_social_

Poiret is a fellow boarder who interacts with Victorine in the mundane routines of the Maison Vauquer.

### [Vautrin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/vautrin)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Poiret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/poiret)

_social_

Poiret is a fellow boarder who interacts with Victorine in the mundane routines of the Maison Vauquer.

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_social_

Eugène is a polite acquaintance of Victorine at the boarding house, though Vautrin tries to push them together for inheritance schemes.

### [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac)

_social_

Eugène is a polite acquaintance of Victorine at the boarding house, though Vautrin tries to push them together for inheritance schemes.

### [Vautrin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/vautrin)

_psychological_

Vautrin coldly plots to use Victorine as a pawn in his scheme to have Eugène marry her for her father's fortune.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_social_

Delphine and Victorine are distant acquaintances at the boarding house, with Delphine viewing her as beneath her social station.

### [Poiret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/poiret)

_social_

Poiret is a fellow boarder who interacts with Victorine in the mundane routines of the Maison Vauquer.

### [Delphine de Nucingen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/delphine_de_nucingen)

_social_

Delphine and Victorine are distant acquaintances at the boarding house, with Delphine viewing her as beneath her social station.

## In the story

### [Father Goriot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/chapters/father-goriot)

Returns from a visit to her father Taillefer with red eyes, indicating rejection.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters/victorine_taillefer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/father_goriot_se/characters