Père Goriot

by

Honoré de Balzac

Père Goriot: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Two days later, Poiret and Mademoiselle Michonneau sit in the boarding house garden, talking to a detective named Monsieur Gondureau. Slyly discerning that both Poiret and Michonneau respect bureaucracy, Gondureau tells them that France’s Minister of Police has determined that Vautrin is actually an escaped convict from Toulon, known as Death-Dodger. He had been imprisoned for involvement in a forgery charge.  Vautrin’s real name is Jacques Collin, and he now serves as a kind of agent and banker for the inmates at Toulon, making a good living from this. Some of Death-Dodger’s money is also believed to come from the Society of Ten Thousand, an association of professional thieves, for whom Death-Dodger is an expert adviser. Death-Dodger’s resources and expertise “support a standing army of villains permanently at war with society.”
Vautrin’s background is finally revealed, and at this point, it’s not much of a surprise—his stance toward society (as a professional thief) matches his outlook on the world (society is there to be manipulated and used according to his liking). Vautrin’s position as a director and adviser of other thieves also matches his manipulative role in Rastignac’s life. He molds others in his own image in order to unleash them on society and do further damage.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Gondureau explains that the Minister wants to be sure he’s got the right man, so he needs Poiret and Michonneau to work undercover for him. Gondureau will give them a phial of a drug that, when mixed into someone’s drink and swallowed, makes a person look as if they’ve suffered a stroke. They’ll mix this into Vautrin’s wine or coffee and, after he collapses, have him carried off to bed. Then, they’ll sneak into his room, undress him, and check for the branding of a thief on Vautrin’s shoulder. If Vautrin does turn out to be Death-Dodger, Poiret and Michonneau will receive a reward of three thousand francs.
In a way, the inconspicuous boarders Poiret and Michonneau are being manipulated and corrupted, too—tempted with money to betray a fellow boarder. Although their intentions are arguably more noble than other characters’ manipulative ploys (after all, they’ll be bringing a criminal to justice), their involvement in this scheme shows that everyone in the world of the novel is motivated by financial gain to some extent.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
After Gondureau leaves, Mademoiselle Michonneau and Poiret discuss the ethics of the whole situation. Should she forewarn Vautrin, Mademoiselle wonders? After all, he’d probably reward her financially. On the other hand, if they don’t go through with this scheme and Vautrin murders the inhabitants of the boarding house, won’t they be culpable for those murders too? They don’t notice that Bianchon overhears bits of the whole conversation on his way home from his medical school lecture. They do, however, notice Rastignac and Victorine engaged in an intimate conversation as they enter the boarding house.
The two boarders try to decide if they want to be complicit in the scheme to arrest Vautrin. Mademoiselle Michonneau’s reasoning largely seems to be based on how the decision will affect her. Meanwhile, Rastignac’s manipulation of Victorine, set in motion by Vautrin, continues apace.
Themes
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This morning, Rastignac is in despair over Madame de Nucingen. Inwardly, he has given in to Vautrin’s plan, having made certain promises to Victorine. Victorine is decidedly in love. Rastignac, meanwhile, struggles with his conscience: he knows he’s behaving wrongly, but tells himself that he’ll make up for it by making Victorine happy.
Rastignac is deeply entangled in Vautrin’s plan and in the false rewards of high society. He soothes his feelings for Madame de Nucingen by using and betraying Victorine, based on the vague assumption that he’ll make it up to the young woman later.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon
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After Victorine goes to her room, Vautrin comes in and informs Rastignac that his friend who owes him a favor has instigated a quarrel with Victorine’s brother—all is going according to plan. Tomorrow the duel will take place, and by evening, Victorine will be an heiress. Rastignac slumps in shock, unable to respond, but Vautrin tells him that Taillefer’s vast fortune will set him straight. Rastignac quietly resolves to warn the Taillefers that evening.
Though Rastignac has been playing with fire by giving in to Vautrin’s plan so far, he still hadn’t accepted how high the stakes are—until Vautrin tells him that someone’s life is in the balance. The fact that Rastignac decides to intervene shows that his conscience isn’t totally corrupted.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Then, Goriot comes in and draws Rastignac aside. He tells Rastignac that he and Delphine have set aside a luxurious apartment for Rastignac to move into in three days’ time—it’s a surprise they’ve been working on. He asks Rastignac if he can move into the room above the apartment so that he can be closer to his daughter, wiping away tears of happiness at the very thought. Rastignac can hardly respond. The contrast between the impending duel and the prospect of having his dreams of Delphine realized is too overwhelming. Nevertheless, he happily accepts a beautiful watch that Delphine has sent him by way of Goriot. Before he goes to see Delphine personally, he asks Goriot to drop by Taillefer’s and ask him when Rastignac might drop by—Rastignac must speak with him urgently. Before Rastignac can explain why, however, Vautrin interrupts, standing in the doorway and singing loudly.
Two threads of Rastignac’s journey in society are coming together: his pursuit of success by way of Madame de Nucingen and his corruption by Vautrin. Their overlap suggests that, no matter what, the attempt to maneuver in Paris’s high society will end up corrupting a person one way or another. Vautrin, never far away, continues to disrupt Rastignac’s lingering good intentions, suggesting that Rastignac is now too entrenched in all of this to escape.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Family Relationships Theme Icon
Vautrin, Goriot, and Rastignac go downstairs to dinner together. Vautrin is in high spirits, dismaying Rastignac and drawing Mademoiselle Michonneau’s keen glance. Vautrin has brought a bottle of Bordeaux to share with the other boarders. He pours a glass for Rastignac and Goriot, and after the other two have already drunk, he samples some himself and decides it’s no good. Vautrin has Christophe get out bottles for everyone else, and soon everyone is roaring drunk. Goriot and Rastignac, however, grow drowsy—and just before Rastignac drops off to sleep, Vautrin whispers in his ear that he can’t outsmart “Papa Vautrin.”
Vautrin has obviously poisoned the wine he offered to Rastignac and Goriot, thwarting Rastignac’s intentions of disrupting his plan. Rastignac’s good intentions were too little, too late.
Themes
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Vautrin invites Madame Vauquer to go to the theater with him that evening. Sylvie hauls Goriot upstairs to bed, while Rastignac falls asleep on Victorine’s shoulder, to her delight. When Vautrin draws up with the carriage, Victorine wants to leave the room, afraid that Vautrin will make off-color remarks. But Madame Couture says that Vautrin is a good man, no matter how blunt he appears. When Vautrin comes in, he admires the young couple and tells Madame Couture that Rastignac is angelic, surely as beautiful in his soul as in his features. He asks to see Victorine’s hand, claiming that he knows something about palmistry. Studying her hand, he says that Victorine is destined to become a wealthy heiress before long.
Vautrin’s amiable character fools even the most good-hearted and innocent people, like Madame Couture. Vautrin’s pretended fortune-telling is chilling, since the audience knows what the women don’t: that Vautrin has already put in motion the murder of Victorine’s brother.
Themes
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Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon
After Vautrin and Madame Vauquer leave for the theater, Madame Couture and Victorine talk about Victorine’s future. Victorine says that she could never enjoy becoming an heiress if it cost her brother’s life. The two women help Rastignac to bed, and Victorine steals a kiss on his forehead, going to bed happy.
Victorine’s genuine emotions are heart-wrenching, contrasting with the insincerity, calculation, and manipulative efforts at control coming to fruition all around her. She is the only fully sincere character in the novel.
Themes
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Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon
That night’s revelry, which Vautrin intended as a way to get Goriot and Rastignac drunk, turns out to be costly for him, too. Bianchon, after getting drunk, forgot to ask Mademoiselle Michonneau about what he’d overhead on his way home. If Bianchon had said the name “Death-Dodger” at the dinner table, as he’d intended, Vautrin would have been put on his guard. Meanwhile, after Vautrin teased Michonneau in questionable taste, she decided to go ahead and betray Vautrin instead of warning him about the investigation. She and Poiret go to Gondureau to collect the phial of potion. Gondureau admits that he and his men are hoping for some violence during the arrest, so that they’ll have an excuse to kill Death-Dodger and avoid the expense of custody and trial. He will see them the next day.
Vautrin, for all his carefully laid plans and criminal expertise, is human, too—he can’t fully control the circumstances around him. And even a passing remark can cause a petty individual, like Mademoiselle Michonneau, to move against him. Gondureau’s intentions aren’t pure, either—like many people, he’d prefer to take questionable shortcuts in order to make life easier for himself.
Themes
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The next day is a momentous one for the Maison Vauquer. Most of the residents sleep late, and Mademoiselle Michonneau uses this opportunity to pour the potion into Vautrin’s usual cup. When breakfast finally begins, Rastignac receives a letter from Madame de Nucingen. Delphine writes to Rastignac that she waited up for him until two in the morning. She begs for reassurance and an explanation. Rastignac, frantic, asks what time it is. Vautrin, calmly stirring his coffee, informs him that it’s half-past eleven.
Vautrin succeeded in stopping Rastignac from fulfilling his plan to warn the Taillefers, to Rastignac’s horrified realization. But, in a point of dramatic irony, Vautrin is about to be thwarted anyway.
Themes
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Just then, a cab can be heard outside. One of Monsieur Taillefer’s servants hurries in. Victorine is urgently needed, he says—her brother Frédéric has been mortally wounded in a duel. Vautrin wonders how such a wealthy young man could have gotten into a quarrel—he muses that the young don’t know how to behave themselves. Rastignac shouts at him in horror. After Victorine and Madame Couture rush out, Madame Vauquer remarks that Vautrin seems like a prophet for having predicted the young woman’s match with Rastignac.
Vautrin’s seemingly detached musings show the extent of his coldness. Madame Vauquer’s naïve comment also shows that she’s willfully deluded about Vautrin, who’s actually orchestrated the whole situation between Victorine and Rastignac.
Themes
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Family Relationships Theme Icon
Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon
Rastignac, however, tells Madame Vauquer emphatically that he has no intention of marrying Victorine. He sends a message back to Madame de Nucingen that he’s on his way. Furious, he mutters to himself that “there’s no evidence.” Vautrin smiles, but right then, Madame Michonneau’s potion takes effect, and he falls over. Thinking Vautrin has had a stroke, Madame Vauquer sends for the doctor. After Vautrin has been maneuvered into his bed, Mademoiselle Michonneau sends Madame Vauquer in search of ether, while she and Poiret hastily get Vautrin’s shirt off and check his shoulder. Sure enough, they find the thief’s branding on his shoulder.
Rastignac worries that he’ll be implicated in Victorine’s brother’s death, a possibility that will tarnish Rastignac’s efforts to ingratiate himself with high society. Rastignac’s selfish concerns in this situation, as opposed to being worried about Victorine, exhibit the moral corruption associated with chasing wealth and status. And as the dramatic tension mounts, Mademoiselle Michonneau and Poiret confirm that Vautrin is definitely Death-Dodger.
Themes
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Rastignac takes a walk, wondering what to do. Will he be named as an accomplice in Vautrin’s crime? He interrogates his own conscience and finally concludes that Delphine’s love is his anchor. He will remain faithful to her, and he will treat Goriot like a father, he decides. Rastignac decides there is nothing sinful in their relationship. After all, they’re not lying to anyone, and Delphine and the Baron de Nucingen have lived apart for a long time.
Rastignac’s tortured musings suggest that, once a person becomes mired in the moral compromises inherent in Paris society, there is no end in sight. Rastignac plays the situations with Vautrin and with the de Nucingens off against each other at this point, desperate to quiet his conscience.
Themes
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Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon
Family Relationships Theme Icon
Back at the Maison Vauquer, Bianchon has given Vautrin an emetic and sent the results to his hospital for chemical analysis. Mademoiselle Michonneau tries to stop him, confirming Bianchon’s suspicions. By the time Rastignac returns, Vautrin is recovered and standing in the drawing-room. When Vautrin says that it would take much more to kill him, Bianchon speaks up that he’s heard of a fellow nicknamed “Death-Dodger” and that this title would suit Vautrin. Vautrin turns pale and staggers, and Mademoiselle Michonneau has to sit down. Vautrin’s jovial face turns ferocious.
Vautrin’s true nature is close to being revealed. Ultimately, though, he’s undermined by an overheard conversation and a deceitful old woman—suggesting that even a hardened criminal can be betrayed by someone who’s sufficiently motivated by self-interest. This is an ironic confirmation of Vautrin’s self-serving worldview.
Themes
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Then, everyone hears a group of men marching down the street. Before Vautrin can escape, four armed soldiers appear at the door, while others block the various exits. Everyone’s eyes are fixed on Vautrin. The chief of the soldiers knocks Vautrin’s wig off his head, revealing closely cropped red hair. Seeing his cunning intelligence, mounting rage, and animalistic energy, everyone suddenly understands who Vautrin really is.
There’s a certain humor in this scene—apparently, all it takes is the removal of Vautrin’s wig to reveal him for the terrifying criminal he really is. This suggests that, in reality, the truth about Vautrin is never far beneath the surface—it’s just that people, all too willing to be manipulated, haven’t been willing to see it for themselves.
Themes
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Quotes
Vautrin subdues his anger and calmly submits to arrest, to the onlookers’ admiration. He admits to everyone present that his name is Jacques Collin, known as Death-Dodger. When Madame Vauquer, shocked, says that he went to the theater with him last night, Vautrin replies that it did her no harm. In fact, he goes on, none of the boarders are any better than him—the brand of the thief is no worse than what these people have in their hearts. He tells Rastignac that their deal is still on, and that even from prison, he knows how to collect payment.
Vautrin’s claim to Madame Vauquer is that, in a certain way, he’s more honest than the rest of them are—it’s just that he’s acted on the criminal intentions of his heart, while others conceal them. Everyone, in other words, is somehow complicit in the failings of a corrupt society.
Themes
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Quotes
Vautrin correctly guesses that Mademoiselle Michonneau is his betrayer and says that he would have paid her off handsomely if she had warned him of the coming arrest. The others look at Michonneau in disgust. Before Vautrin leaves, he says goodbye to Rastignac in a gentler tone. After he’s gone, everyone except for Poiret refuses to continue eating with Mademoiselle Michonneau. If Madame Vauquer throws her out, they say, they’ll all keep quiet about the incident with Vautrin. At last, Poiret offers his arm to Mademoiselle, and the two depart in the midst of the other boarders’ mockery.
Vautrin seems to harbor a real fatherly affection for Rastignac—but whether this is because he admires the young man’s lingering innocence, or because he sees in Rastignac a younger version of himself, is left for the audience to decide. Meanwhile, the boarders, still not reconciled to the truth about their friendly housemate, are more scandalized by Mademoiselle Michonneau’s betrayal than by the criminal charges.
Themes
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Then, a messenger comes in with the news that Victorine’s brother died that afternoon. Madame Couture and Victorine will now live with Taillefer, who has accepted his daughter. Madame Vauquer laments that disaster has come upon her boarding house. Soon, Père Goriot arrives in a cab and insistently takes Rastignac out with him to dine with Delphine in Rastignac’s new apartment.
Events are unfolding as Vautrin had predicted and plotted that they would. But Madame Vauquer can only think about the consequences to herself—just another example of how, in Balzac’s view, people are primarily self-interested in their emotions.
Themes
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Leaving the boarding house in the cab, Rastignac feels disoriented by the events of the day. Goriot is joyful at the prospect of dining with his daughter for the first time in years. Soon, they’re in Rastignac’s new bachelor apartment, tastefully furnished and overlooking a garden. There they find Delphine, whom Rastignac embraces, weeping with relief.
Though Goriot seems to have a genuine affection for Rastignac, he mainly sees the young man as a means for getting closer to his daughter. At the same time, for Rastignac, Delphine mostly seems to symbolize escape from his circumstances.
Themes
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After touring the apartment, Rastignac tells Delphine that he cannot accept it. Vautrin’s arrest is still too fresh in his mind; he realizes how much he’s been spared, and he can’t deny his ideals now. He feels depressed. Goriot tries to change Rastignac’s mind, telling him that success is written on his face. He says that he’s offering Rastignac the weapons needed in order to succeed in modern society. Goriot surprises both Rastignac and Delphine by admitting that he has paid for it all himself—Rastignac can pay him back later. Living upstairs, after all, Goriot can get by on almost nothing. When Rastignac says that he will try to be worthy of Goriot’s actions, Goriot tells Delphine that Rastignac is going to refuse Victorine and her millions for Delphine’s sake. Rastignac wishes that the old man had kept silent about that.
Rastignac continues to vacillate over the path he’ll take in life; Vautrin’s arrest has scared him, and it’s enough to tarnish the glamor of Delphine’s offer. Interestingly, Goriot’s attempts to persuade Rastignat echo Vautrin’s—suggesting that there are many paths to corruption, whether they’re Vautrin’s naked self-interest or Goriot’s desperation for his daughters’ affection.
Themes
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Over dinner, Goriot is almost childish in his fawning attentions to Delphine. Rastignac can’t help feeling a little jealous. As he and Goriot return to the boarding house by carriage, they try to outdo each other with praise of Delphine. Rastignac admits to himself that Goriot’s love is purer and deeper than his own, and that his own can never surpass it.
Now that Goriot is close to his goal of being closer to Delphine, it doesn’t actually seem to elevate him. In Rastignac’s case, the indulgence of desires seems to bring out emotions that are more self-serving, not less.
Themes
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Quotes
When they get home, Madame Vauquer is sitting up with Sylvie and Christophe, lamenting the disappearance of her boarders—now Goriot and Rastignac will join the rest. She tells the others that Vautrin was such a good man, it’s hard to believe he could really have been a criminal. The next morning, Madame Vauquer has collected herself, but she laments that the boarding house seems to be cursed—she’s sure that somebody will die within 10 days. Who will it be?
Madame Vauquer continues to see the whole situation in a self-serving way. More than that, she can’t reconcile herself to the truth about Vautrin. She continues to delude herself that he’s a decent human being, supporting Balzac’s argument that people are generally happy to be manipulated if it allows them to maintain their delusions.
Themes
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That noon, Rastignac receives an invitation to give to the de Nucingens, to a ball held by Madame de Beauséant. He can’t wait to convey this desirable news to Delphine. A man’s first love in Paris can never be rivaled, because love in Paris is unlike love anywhere else. Such love is false and excessive, almost a religion, and it leaves devastation in its wake. Only those who live in isolation manage to escape its demands. Rastignac is not such a person—he wants to remain engaged in the world, attempting to master love without having any sense of the end goal.
All along, Madame de Nucingen has been longing for the social status gained through an introduction to Madame de Beauséant, and she finally has it. Rastignac knows full well that this is primarily what she wants from him, but as the narrator points out, it doesn’t even matter to him at this point—his passion for Delphine has degraded into a kind of fanaticism that doesn’t worry about the implications.
Themes
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Despite Rastignac’s attraction to the aristocratic life, he had always remained a nobleman at heart. However, now that he’s seen the apartment Delphine furnished for him, his mind has changed. He’s gotten a taste of material wealth, and there is no going back. He is like a different Rastignac from the one who first arrived in Paris a year ago.
Rastignac, like his friend Bianchon, hails from the effectively middle-class nobility of the rural provinces. But, unlike his friend, Rastignac can no longer be content with that life. The temptation of wealth has corrupted his ambition too thoroughly.
Themes
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Quotes
As predicted, Delphine is delighted to receive the invitation to Madame de Beauséant’s ball. She embraces Rastignac and tells him that she’s ready to make any sacrifice for him. She also tells Rastignac some rumors concerning her sister Madame de Restaud. Anastasie is said to have sold her diamonds in order to pay off her lover Monsieur de Trailles’s massive debt. For that reason, she’s planning to appear at the ball in a fine new dress. Delphine is therefore determined to appear at the ball, too, so that she won’t be outshined by her sister.
Delphine and Rastignac’s relationship is transactional, and they both acknowledge this fact. Delphine’s relationship with her sister, meanwhile, is characterized by jealousy and rivalry. In both cases, the overriding concern is one’s reputation in society—not one’s genuine feelings.
Themes
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Later that evening, as Delphine and Rastignac say a lingering goodbye, Delphine admits that she has a premonition of some catastrophe, as if she must pay for her happiness. But Rastignac goes home happy, planning to leave the boarding house for good the next day. As he passes Goriot’s room, Goriot says that tomorrow, they’ll start their life of happiness.
Delphine’s ominous premonition echoes Madame Vauquer’s prediction that someone will die in the next 10 days. No matter how Delphine tries to delude herself otherwise, her so-called happiness isn’t genuine. It’s implied that the same must be true of Goriot, though he appears cheerfully unsuspicious of this fact. 
Themes
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Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon