Père Goriot Themes

In Père Goriot, the lives of a young law student, Rastignac, and an elderly neighbor in his boarding house, Goriot, intertwine in 19th-century Paris. Neither of these men has much money—Rastignac was born on a struggling country estate, and Goriot is a retired pasta-maker—yet they both end up ensnared by a society that values wealth above all else. The naïve Rastignac, once introduced to Goriot’s wealthy daughters, begins to desire their lifestyle…

While wealth is one aspect of the allure of Parisian society, it’s not the only temptation that awaits a young, idealistic man from the provinces, like Rastignac. Rastignac comes from a hardworking background and arrives in Paris eager to launch a career that will let him distinguish himself and also support his struggling family. But he soon discovers that truly succeeding involves more than becoming a good lawyer—it also necessitates learning how to navigate…

The very title of Père Goriot suggests the centrality of a paternal relationship to its plot (père is French for “father”). Goriot, an elderly, retired pasta-maker, has devoted decades to providing for his daughters, Anastasie and Delphine. By outward measures, he appears to have succeeded: both women enjoy socially advantageous marriages above the class into which they were born. Under the surface, though, things are less harmonious: Goriot’s sons-in-law snobbishly refuse to…

In Père Goriot, Balzac often sees characters as products of their environment. For example, the narrator describes the Paris setting as follows: “a valley full of suffering that is real, and of joy that is often false, where life is so hectic that it takes something quite extraordinary to produce feelings that last.” The environment, in other words, stirs up fleeting emotions that don’t endure and that sometimes prove to be inauthentic. This environment…