Politicizing Gender: Narrative Strategies in the aftermath of the French Revolution
Politicizing Gender: Narrative Strategies in the aftermath of the French Revolution
Excerpt
AN ANOMALOUS AND SEEMINGLY insignificant detail appears near the beginning of Honoré de Balzac Le Père Goriot where the reader learns that the sign on the Vauquer boardinghouse specifies "Pension bourgeoise des deux sexes et autres." So anomalous is this "sign"--this telling written notice and semiotic detail--that instead of its literal translation ("Lodgings for both sexes and others") baffled translators have chosen either to omit it ("Family Boardinghouse for Ladies and Gentlemen") or mistranslate it altogether ("Lodgings for both sexes; meals)."
Balzac's novel is quite representative of the works considered in this book and many other nineteenth-century novels in dwelling obsessively on a story that stems from fathers' relinquishing patriarchal authority, in this case Goriot's divesting himself of his fortune. The novels begin symbolically with the fall from power of the king. What follows are descriptions of degraded sexual relationships within small social units such as the family or the board-