Madame Delphine de Nucingen Character Analysis in Père Goriot

Delphine is Goriot’s second daughter and the sister of Anastasie de Restaud, with whom she is locked in a petty social rivalry. Delphine is married to Baron de Nucingen, who is very rich, but because Delphine hasn’t been recognized at the French court, she is desperate for social advancement. For that reason, Rastignac pursues her as a potential lover, hoping to offer her a social connection with his cousin, Madame de Beauséant—but he quickly develops genuine feelings for her. Delphine furnishes a luxurious apartment for Rastignac, though it’s never clear to what degree her affection for him is genuine. She refuses to visit her father on his deathbed or attend his funeral, showing how selfish she truly is.

Madame Delphine de Nucingen Quotes in Père Goriot

The Père Goriot quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Delphine de Nucingen or refer to Madame Delphine de Nucingen . 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:

‘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:

He was ashamed of what he had written. How intense would be their heartfelt wishes for him, how pure their fervent prayers to heaven! How they would delight in their self-sacrifices! How his mother would grieve if she could not send the whole sum! He would use such fine sentiments, such fearful sacrifices as rungs in a ladder to reach Delphine de Nucingen. Tears, a last few grains of incense cast on the sacred altar of the family, fell from his eyes.

Related Characters: Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 78

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:

In the course of the next few days Rastignac led an extremely dissipated life. He dined almost every day with Madame de Nucingen, and went everywhere as her escort. He would come home at three or four in the morning, rise at midday to get ready to go out, and then go for a turn in the Bois when it was fine. He wasted time like this, heedless of the cost, and absorbed all the lessons and allurements of luxury […] He played for high stakes, losing or winning a lot of money, and finally grew used to the extravagant life of the young man in Paris.

Related Characters: Eugène de Rastignac , Vautrin, Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 140

Explanation and Analysis:

Rastignac was indeed in a state of perplexity which must be familiar to many young men. Whether she really loved him or was just leading him on, Madame de Nucingen had inflicted on Rastignac all the pains of a genuine passion […] For the past few months she had so inflamed Eugène's senses that she finally affected his inward heart. If in the initial stages of his liaison the student had believed himself to be the master, Madame de Nucingen had now gained the upper hand[.]

Related Characters: Eugène de Rastignac , Vautrin, Madame la Vicomtesse de Beauséant, Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 143

Explanation and Analysis:

It was midnight. […] Père Goriot and the student returned to the Maison Vauquer talking about Delphine with increasing fervour, each trying to outdo the other, expressing the strength of his passion in curious contention. Eugène could not deny that the father's love, unblemished by any selfish interest, left his own far behind in scope and persistence. For the father, his idol was always pure and beautiful, and his worship was intensified by all that lay in the past as well as in the future.

Related Characters: Père Goriot , Eugène de Rastignac , Vautrin, Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 199

Explanation and Analysis:

By enjoying the material advantages of wealth, as he had so long enjoyed the moral advantages of noble birth, he had sloughed off his skin as a provincial, and smoothly moved into a position from which he could look forward to a fine future. So, as he waited for Delphine, seated comfortably in this charming boudoir, which he was beginning to regard as almost his own, he saw himself so far removed from the Rastignac who had come to Paris the year before, that, looking closely at that person through some trick of mental vision, he asked himself if at that moment there was any resemblance between his two selves.

Related Characters: Eugène de Rastignac , Madame Delphine de Nucingen

Page Number and Citation: 204

Explanation and Analysis:

Today I have only one fear, I can imagine only one disaster, and that would be to lose the love which has made me glad to be alive. Apart from that love, nothing matters, nothing else in the world means anything to me. You are everything to me. If I enjoy being rich, it is to enable me to give you more pleasure. I am, to my shame, more lover than daughter. Why? I don't know. My whole life is in you. My father gave me a heart, but you made it beat. The whole world may condemn me, what do I care?

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

Page Number and Citation: 224

Explanation and Analysis:

He saw society as an ocean of mire into which one had only to dip a toe to be buried in it up to the neck. 'The only crimes committed there are petty ones!' he said to himself. 'Vautrin was a bigger man than that.' […] In his thoughts he returned to the bosom of his family. He remembered the pure emotions of that tranquil life, he recalled days spent among those who held him dear. By following the natural laws of hearth and home, those dear creatures found complete, unbroken, untroubled happiness. Despite such worthy thoughts, he did not feel bold enough to go to Delphine and confess the faith of pure souls by bidding her follow Virtue in the name of Love.

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

Page Number and Citation: 232

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 Delphine de Nucingen Character Timeline in Père Goriot

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

...is crazy about both his daughters, even though they barely acknowledge him. His second daughter, Delphine de Nucingen, is married to a German baron. (full context)

...her afterwards if you can, otherwise just use her.” Père Goriot will introduce Rastignac to Delphine, and Rastignac will quickly find himself sought-after and successful. (full context)

Before attempting to befriend Delphine de Nucingen, Rastignac gathers more information about her father. Before the Revolution, Jean-Joachim Goriot was... (full context)

...a dowry. Because Anastasie wanted to enter the aristocracy, she chose Monsieur de Restaud. Because Delphine loved money, she chose the Baron de Nucingen, a German banker. Goriot’s daughters and his... (full context)

...to the theater at the vicomtesse’s side, the talk of onlookers. The vicomtesse points out Delphine de Nucingen, and Rastignac can’t take his eyes off of her. He asks his cousin... (full context)

...gratitude for Rastignac quietly surrendering his seat, the vicomtesse asks d’Ajuda to introduce Rastignac to Delphine de Nucingen. Madame de Nucingen offers Rastignac the seat that her husband, the Baron de... (full context)

As Rastignac heads home, having secured the opportunity to call on Madame de Nucingen before the upcoming ball, he feels delighted with what he perceives as success. He doesn’t... (full context)

...transforms his whole appearance, goes to bed disheartened. Though he pretended otherwise, Rastignac knows that Delphine didn’t even send a message to her father. (full context)

At home, Rastignac receives a note from Madame de Nucingen , inviting him to dinner and the opera. He suspects that she is using him... (full context)

Rastignac finds Madame de Nucingen in a depressed mood. During a carriage ride, he finally gets her to admit her... (full context)

Madame de Nucingen explains that half the women in Paris live this way: even if they live outwardly... (full context)

...he becomes. When he tells Goriot about the evening, Goriot is jealous and dismayed that Delphine didn’t come to him for money instead. Goriot’s passionate emotions prompt Rastignac to want to... (full context)

...introduction to the duchesse who’s throwing the ball, allowing him to attend. Rastignac also sees Madame de Nucingen in her finery. During the ball, Rastignac notices that his relationship to Madame de Beauséant,... (full context)

Rastignac begins dining daily with Madame de Nucingen and escorting her wherever she goes. He spends excessive amounts of money, gambles, and wastes... (full context)

...the other boarders have gone back to their rooms. At this point, no matter if Madame de Nucingen ’s feelings toward him are genuine or not, Rastignac is infatuated; his heart is involved... (full context)

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.... (full context)

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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...Goriot arrives in a cab and insistently takes Rastignac out with him to dine with Delphine in Rastignac’s new apartment. (full context)

...they’re in Rastignac’s new bachelor apartment, tastefully furnished and overlooking a garden. There they find Delphine, whom Rastignac embraces, weeping with relief. (full context)

After touring the apartment, Rastignac tells Delphine that he cannot accept it. Vautrin’s arrest is still too fresh in his mind; he... (full context)

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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

As predicted, Delphine is delighted to receive the invitation to Madame de Beauséant’s ball. She embraces Rastignac and... (full context)

Later that evening, as Delphine and Rastignac say a lingering goodbye, Delphine admits that she has a premonition of some... (full context)

...the Maison Vauquer. Around noon, Madame de Nucingen shows up. In his room, Rastignac overhears Delphine’s conversation with her father: she’s in financial trouble. She’s just learned that Baron de Nucingen... (full context)

Baron de Nucingen has promised to mend his ways and grant Delphine freedom with her money, if only she will do this. He’s at her mercy and... (full context)

...to allow her husband to get away with his shady financial dealings, using her money. Delphine doesn’t even know how to trace all the tremendous sums that her husband has paid.... (full context)

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

...he will pay it off. Anastasie is furious that Rastignac has overheard her and accuses Delphine of allowing this knowingly. Goriot collapses on his bed in grief. (full context)

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

Delphine changes the subject, explaining that the Marquis d’Ajuda’s marriage contract with Mademoiselle de Rochefide is... (full context)

That night Delphine sends a letter reminding Rastignac to take her to the ball tonight and that, after... (full context)

Rastignac can’t stop thinking about Goriot, but Delphine refuses to visit him until after the ball. At the ball, all of society has... (full context)

...Madame de Restaud was discussing business matters with her husband but promised to come afterward. Madame de Nucingen is still sleeping after last night’s ball, and her maid refuses to disturb her. Goriot... (full context)

...Goriot collapses again, almost lifeless. Rastignac leaves Bianchon, who has just run in, the watch Delphine gave him with instructions to pawn it for Goriot’s expenses. When he reaches the de... (full context)

When Rastignac gets to the de Nucingens’ house, Delphine complains of a chill and says she’d better not go out; she doesn’t believe Goriot... (full context)

Delphine’s maid arrives just then, asking for Rastignac—Delphine has fainted after a heated argument with her... (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... (full context)

...below him, “It’s between the two of us now!” Then, he goes to dine with Madame de Nucingen . (full context)