# Colonel Chabert — Shorts from Scenes from Private Life character guide

> Colonel Chabert in Shorts from Scenes from Private Life by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Chabert, poor Chabert, the Colonel, the said Chabert, Hyacinthe Comte Chabert

**First appearance:** 0018-colonel-chabert

## Snapshot

A Napoleonic cavalry colonel, presumed dead on the battlefield, who returns to Paris to find his name, rank, and wife all claimed by others.

## Who they are

Chabert moves through Restoration drawing rooms as a ghost of the Empire, a man whose military glory belongs to a France that has already moved on. In the passages here he appears among the gossips at a ball, trading dry remarks about weeping women with the lawyer Martial, his soldier's bluntness cutting through society's polished surfaces. His struggle to be recognized — legally, socially, personally — makes him the emotional center of a story about how thoroughly history can erase a man who outlives his moment.

## Relationships

### [Derville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/derville)

_professional_

Derville acts as Colonel Chabert's lawyer, striving to restore his legal identity and rights after his presumed death.

### [Count Férédia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/count_feredia)

_rivalry_

Colonel Chabert and Count Férédia are antagonists, clashing over legal claims and social standing after Chabert's return.

### [Count Férédia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/count_feredia)

_rivalry_

Colonel Chabert and Count Férédia are antagonists, clashing over legal claims and social standing after Chabert's return.

### [Derville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/derville)

_professional_

Derville acts as Colonel Chabert's lawyer, striving to restore his legal identity and rights after his presumed death.

### [Derville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/derville)

_professional_

Derville acts as Colonel Chabert's lawyer, striving to restore his legal identity and rights after his presumed death.

### [Count Férédia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/count_feredia)

_rivalry_

Colonel Chabert and Count Férédia are antagonists, clashing over legal claims and social standing after Chabert's return.

## In the story

### [Shorts from Scenes from Private Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/chapters/shorts-from-scenes-from-private-life)

His story highlights the clash between personal identity and social recognition.

### [Colonel Chabert](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/chapters/colonel-chabert)

Found in debtor's prison, disillusioned and refusing to assert his rights; expresses contempt for material life and loyalty to Napoleon.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/colonel_chabert
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters