Madame Anastasie de Restaud Character Analysis in Père Goriot

Anastasie is one of Goriot’s two daughters and the sister of Delphine, with whom she is locked in a petty social rivalry. She is a dark-eyed, curvy, yet dainty woman. She catches Rastignac’s eye at a ball, but she bars him from her house after he makes an embarrassing reference to her father, whom she is forbidden by her husband, Monsieur de Restaud, to visit. Anastasie also has a lover, Comte Maxime de Trailles. She visits her father for the last time after he falls unconscious, and she fails to attend his funeral.

Madame Anastasie de Restaud Quotes in Père Goriot

The Père Goriot quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Anastasie de Restaud or refer to Madame Anastasie de Restaud . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

By pronouncing the name of Père Goriot Eugène had again waved the magic wand, but this time with an effect quite contrary to that produced by the words ‘related to Madame de Beauséant.’ He was in the situation of someone admitted as a favour into the house of a curio collector who inadvertently knocks into a cabinet full of sculptured figures, breaking off three or four insecurely fastened heads. He wished the earth would swallow him up.

Related Characters: Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant, Madame Anastasie de Restaud

Page Number and Citation: 56

Explanation and Analysis:

‘Their father […] is said to have given each of them five or six hundred thousand francs to ensure their happiness by marrying them well, and only kept back eight or ten thousand livres a year for himself. He thought that his daughters would remain his daughters and that in their homes he had created two places where he would be able to live, two houses where he would be adored and spoilt. Within two years his sons-in-law had banished him from their society as if he were the most wretched of wretches…’

Related Characters: Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant (speaker), Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 68

Explanation and Analysis:

‘You can understand that under the Empire the two sons-in-law did not make too much fuss about receiving in their homes the old revolutionary of '93; it was still all right under Buonaparte. But when the Bourbons came back, the old chap was an embarrassment to Monsieur de Restaud, and still more so to the banker. The daughters, who may perhaps still have been fond of their father, tried to play a double game, keeping their father and their husbands sweet at the same time. […] Personally, my dear, I believe that genuine feelings are neither blind nor stupid, so the poor old 93er's heart must have bled.’

Related Characters: Madame la Duchesse de Langeais (speaker), Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen , Monsieur de Restaud, Baron de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 70

Explanation and Analysis:

‘All right, let Père Goriot win you admission to Madame Delphine de Nucingen's house. The beautiful Madame de Nucingen will be the standard you bear. Enjoy the marks of her favour and women will dote on you. […] You will be very successful. In Paris success is everything, it is the key to power. If women believe you to have wit and talent, so will men, unless you disillusion them. Then you can set your heart on anything, every door will be open to you. Then you will learn what the world is really like: an assembly of dupes and knaves. Don't be counted with either.’

Related Characters: Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant (speaker), Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Related Symbols: Doors

Page Number and Citation: 73

Explanation and Analysis:

‘You stand at the crossroads of your life, young man, you must choose. You have already made one choice; you went to see your Beauséant cousin and had a taste of luxury. You went to visit Madame de Restaud, Père Goriot's daughter, and had a taste of how Parisian women live. That day you came back with a word marked on your forehead, and one I could read easily enough: Succeed! succeed at any price. Bravo! I said, there's a lad after my own heart.’

Related Characters: Vautrin (speaker), Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud

Page Number and Citation: 96

Explanation and Analysis:

The student walked back from the Théâtre-Italien to the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, his head full of the most alluring plans. He had not failed to notice how closely Madame de Restaud had observed him, both in the vicomtesse's box and in that of Madame de Nucingen, and he presumed that he would no longer find the comtesse's door closed to him. He could already count on four major contacts in the most select Parisian society […]

'If Madame de Nucingen takes an interest in me, I will teach her how to manipulate her husband. Her husband is a very successful businessman, and he'll be able to help me make my fortune in less than no time.'

Related Characters: Eugène de Rastignac (speaker), Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant, Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen , Baron de Nucingen

Related Symbols: Doors

Page Number and Citation: 117

Explanation and Analysis:

‘My word,’ he said with seeming indifference, ‘what good would it do me to live in greater comfort? I really can’t explain that sort of thing; I can’t put two words together properly. That's what it's all about,’ he added, striking his heart. ‘My life, my own life, is all in my two daughters. If they enjoy themselves, if they are happy and finely dressed, if they have carpets to walk on, what does it matter what clothes I wear or what sort of bedroom I have? I don't feel cold if they are warm. I never feel sad if they are laughing. My only sorrows are theirs.’

Related Characters: Père Goriot (speaker), Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 120

Explanation and Analysis:

‘They are busy, they are sleeping, they won't come. I knew it. You have to be dying to learn what children are. Ah! my friend, don't get married, don't have children! You give them life, they give you death. You bring them into the world, they drive you out of it. No, they won't come! For ten years I have known how it would be. I sometimes said so to myself, but I didn't dare to believe it.’

Related Characters: Père Goriot (speaker), Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Anastasie de Restaud , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 244

Explanation and Analysis:

Madame Anastasie de Restaud Character Timeline in Père Goriot

The timeline below shows where the character Madame Anastasie de Restaud appears in Père Goriot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...thinking over his introduction to Parisian nobility. At the ball, a young woman named Comtesse Anastasie de Restaud caught his eye. To Rastignac, she is the ideal lady. While they danced,... (full context)

...debt. Just then, Goriot himself enters, and he sends Christophe on a secretive errand to Madame de Restaud ’s. It seems that Goriot was paying off her debt. (full context)

Manipulation, Delusion, and Betrayal Theme Icon

Emotions, Sincerity, and Calculation Theme Icon

...talking about last night’s ball, Victorine glances shyly at him. When Rastignac mentions having met Anastasie de Restaud, Goriot looks up in surprise, and everyone else notices his interest. They gossip... (full context)

The next afternoon Rastignac dresses elegantly and heads off to visit Madame de Restaud . When he gets to her house, he notices the servants’ scornful looks because he... (full context)

When Madame de Restaud greets both men, Maxime gives her a look that clearly conveys his desire for Rastignac... (full context)

When Madame de Restaud rejoins Rastignac and Monsieur de Restaud, Rastignac brings up his neighbor, Père Goriot. When he... (full context)

...warm look contrasting with the cold appraisal of the duchesse. Rastignac describes his experience with Madame de Restaud , her husband, and her lover. The vicomtesse explains that Madame de Restaud really is... (full context)

...sisters are also locked in a rivalry. Because her husband is in the French nobility, Madame de Restaud has been presented at Court and enjoys social acceptance, while Madame de Nucingen, married to... (full context)

In the following days, Rastignac returns to Madame de Restaud ’s house several times, but she never lets him in. By now, he is neglecting... (full context)

...let each of them choose her husband, receiving half his fortune as a dowry. Because Anastasie wanted to enter the aristocracy, she chose Monsieur de Restaud. Because Delphine loved money, she... (full context)

...vacated. Rastignac reveals that he is Goriot’s housemate and that he unintentionally insulted Delphine’s sister Anastasie and was barred from her house. Madame de Nucingen is charmed by Rastignac. She admits... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...in order to save Maxime—the rumors are true. Now her husband knows everything, however, and Anastasie faces ruin. He has made her promise that she will grant him authority to sell... (full context)

Anastasie and Delphine begin squabbling over which of them is a more loyal daughter and which... (full context)

...into Goriot’s room, pretending to have been asleep until their conversation woke him. He tells Anastasie to cash the bill of exchange and he will pay it off. Anastasie is furious... (full context)

Anastasie leaves and Rastignac sees Delphine home, but then he returns to the boarding house, worried... (full context)

...he explains that Goriot overdid things earlier that day. He’s also had a visit from Anastasie, who couldn’t afford her new gown for the ball, and Goriot couldn’t bear that she... (full context)

Christophe has been sent to summon Goriot’s daughters. When he returns, he reports that Madame de Restaud was discussing business matters with her husband but promised to come afterward. Madame de Nucingen... (full context)

...Goriot, he says, has only caused him trouble. But he finally lets Rastignac speak to Anastasie, who is crying and appears to be totally cowed by her husband. She tells Rastignac... (full context)

...fainted after a heated argument with her husband over money for her father’s care. Then, Madame de Restaud arrives. She kisses Goriot’s lifeless hand and asks for forgiveness. She tells Rastignac that she... (full context)

When Rastignac goes to check on Delphine and Anastasie later that day, neither of them will receive his call; he’s told that both are... (full context)