# Abbé Birotteau — The Celibates character guide

> Abbé Birotteau in The Celibates by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Abbé Birotteau, The Abbé Birotteau, Birotteau, the Abbé, Abbé Birotteau, poor Birotteau

**First appearance:** 0003-story-ii-the-vicar-of-tours

## Snapshot

A gout-ridden, gentle priest whose twelve-year dream of a canonry makes him easy prey for the quiet cruelties of a domestic conspiracy.

## Who they are

Birotteau is a short, apoplectic abbé of sixty who has spent years coveting his friend Chapeloud's rooms and library, a longing he never dares translate into action. His good heart and narrow intellect leave him defenseless when the household around him begins to close in, and his simple wish for comfort becomes the wedge that others use against him. His patient suffering gives the Tours story its quiet, devastating center.

## In the story

### [Story II: The Vicar of Tours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_celibates_se/chapters/story-ii-the-vicar-of-tours)

The protagonist, a naive vicar who desires Chapeloud's rooms and becomes entangled in a power struggle.

### [The Vicar of Tours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_celibates_se/chapters/the-vicar-of-tours)

The weak and naive priest who becomes the victim of Mademoiselle Gamard and Abbé Troubert's machinations. He is forced to renounce his rights and is left isolated.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_celibates_se/characters/abbe_birotteau
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_celibates_se/characters