Love and Marriage

Where it surfaces

• Shorts from Scenes from Private Life

  Explored through the romantic entanglements and marital strategies of characters like Emilie de Fontaine.

• At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

  The chapter explores the contrast between passionate love and pragmatic marriage, as seen in Augustine's unhappy union and her sister's contented, businesslike marriage.

• The Purse

  Hippolyte's growing affection for Adélaïde hints at a romantic interest that transcends social and economic differences.

• A Second Home

  The chapter explores the failure of a marriage due to religious bigotry and jealousy, and the Count's decision to find love and happiness in a second home with another woman.

• Domestic Peace

  The chapter explores infidelity (Madame de Vaudremont's shift from Soulanges to Martial) and the constraints of marriage, as the mysterious lady's married status complicates courtship.

• The Imaginary Mistress

  The chapter explores the dynamics of Clémentine and Adam's marriage, and Paz's self-sacrificing love that leads him to feign a degrading affair to preserve their union.

• A Study of Woman

  The Marquise's marriage to the Marquis de Listomère is one of convenience and ambition, while Rastignac's attachment to Madame de Nucingen highlights the complexities of romantic entanglements outside marriage.

• La Grande Bretêche

  The marriage of Monsieur and Madame de Merret, initially seen as a handsome match, ends in tragedy due to jealousy and suspicion.

• The Message

  The chapter explores the passionate, secret love affair between the young traveler and the married Comtesse de Montpersan, highlighting the tension between marital duty and romantic desire.

• Honorine

  The discussion of Comtesse Honorine's seclusion with a painter explores the ideal of self-sacrificing love and the tension between romantic devotion and societal expectations.