Die Entmundigung

La Comédie Humaine #26

by Honoré de Balzac, Hugo Kaatz (Translation)

Honore de Balzac: Die Entmundigung

Edition Holzinger. Taschenbuch

Berliner Ausgabe, 2016

Vollstandiger, durchgesehener Neusatz bearbeitet und eingerichtet von Michael Holzinger

L'Interdiction. Erstdruck 1836.

Herausgeber der Reihe: Michael Holzinger

Reihengestaltung: Viktor Harvion

Gesetzt aus der Minion Pro, 11 pt.

"

Genres: Classics, Fiction, French Literature, Short Stories, France, Historical Fiction, 19th Century

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1836

About the author

French writer Honoré de Balzac (born Honoré Balzac), a founder of the realist school of fiction, portrayed the panorama of society in a body of works, known collectively as La comédie humaine .

Honoré de Balzac authored 19th-century novels and plays. After the fall of Napoléon in 1815, his magnum opus, a sequence of almost a hundred novels and plays, entitled, presents life in the years.

Due to keen observation of fine detail and unfiltered representation, European literature regards Balzac. He features renowned multifaceted, even complex, morally ambiguous, full lesser characters. Character well imbues inanimate objects; the city of Paris, a backdrop, takes on many qualities. He influenced many famous authors, including the novelists Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles John Huffam Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac as well as important philosophers, such as Friedrich Engels. Many works of Balzac, made into films, continue to inspire.

An enthusiastic reader and independent thinker as a child, Balzac adapted with trouble to the teaching style of his grammar. His willful nature caused trouble throughout his life and frustrated his ambitions to succeed in the world of business. Balzac finished, and people then apprenticed him as a legal clerk, but after wearying of banal routine, he turned his back on law. He attempted a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician before and during his career. He failed in these efforts From his own experience, he reflects life difficulties and includes scenes.

Possibly due to his intense schedule and from health problems, Balzac suffered throughout his life. Financial and personal drama often strained his relationship with his family, and he lost more than one friend over critical reviews. In 1850, he married Ewelina Hańska, his longtime paramour; five months later, he passed away.

Reviews

[Ionuț Anastasiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mai curând un dublu portret din perspectivă morală a două caractere cu adevărat extraordinare, demne de toată admirația cititorului decât un roman în sine și aceasta deoarece intriga este aproape inexistentă. Judecătorul Jean-Jules Popinot, un om dedicat total realizării unor acte de caritate impresionante, este cel care trebuie să decidă dacă soțul marchizei d’Espard, ce este "o doamnă cu vază din înalta societate", va fi pus sub interdicţie, ca urmare a cererii soției sale. Marchiza este o femeie cu o foarte mare influență în lumea mondenă, de aceea nimeni nu se așteaptă ca cererea sa să fie refuzată. De altfel, termenii în care este redactată această cerere sunt foarte clari:„…are onoarea să vă aducă la cunoştinţă, Domnule Preşedinte, că în ultimul an, facultăţile morale şi mintale ale domnului d’Espard, soţul domniei-sale, au suferit o atât de mare alterare încât a ajuns, astăzi, la o stare de demenţă şi imbecilitate ce se încadrează în prevederile articolului 486 ale Codului Civil; de aceea, în interesul salvării averii şi persoanei sale şi în interesul copiilor săi, pe care îi ţine la dânsul, este necesar a se face aplicaţiunea dispoziţiunilor cerute de sus-numitul articol". Marchizul este acuzat că a donat veniturile sale unor persoane lipsite de orice fel de titlu nobiliar și că "de aproape zece ani de zile marchizul se ocupă într-un mod atât de asiduu de China, de obiceiurile, moravurile şi istoria ei, încât a ajuns să reducă totul în viaţă la chinezării; că. Întrebat asupra acestui punct, el încurcă treburile de azi, chiar întâmplările din ajun, cu fapte având legătură cu China; că făcând comparaţie cu ocârmuirea Chinei, critică acţiunile guvernului şi purtarea regelui – cu toate că, pe de altă parte, are toată evlavia pentru Maiestatea Sa... Această monomanie l-a împins pe marchiz la fapte necugetate..." Suntem în 1828, iar decizia lui Popinot este așteptată cu mare interes în cercurile mondene. Lectură plăcută!

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard the radio version long ago and listened again to hear how it compares which I remark in spoiler section. Many changes but the basic idea of a woman wanting her husband committed so she can control her money and pay off her debts. The benevolent lawyer break through all the characters and sees the truth but is it too late?
What lengths will one go to get rid of her husband.


I did not read this edition but a Delphi collection of Balzac, that included this brief introduction to this work.

"The 1836 novella L’interdiction opens on one evening in 1828, when the previously appearing characters Rastignac and Bianchon are walking home and discussing the hostess they have just left, the Marquise d’Espard, who has captured Rastignac’s attention. The Marquise is very vain and takes great pains with her appearance. She has fooled most of society as to her age, but not Dr Bianchon who enlightens his friend. Rastignac is interested in not only her looks, but her fortune and her influence."

The story in short- Marquise d'Espard wants her husband declared insane so she can control his money which he has given a large amount to an ugly pock marked face.

"The man is mad!” exclaimed Bianchon. “You think so, do you?” said his uncle. “If you listen to only one bell, you hear only one sound.”

The Weird Circle- September 26, 1943.

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...

From "The Bureaucrats"

"There’s the Marquise d’Espard who has just left the room; this is precisely what she thinks and does. She and I came to an understanding two years ago [the coxcomb!], and now she has only to write me a line and say, ‘My dear des Lupeaulx, you will oblige me by doing such and such a thing,’ and it is done at once. We are engaged at this very moment in getting a commission of lunacy on her husband."
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The radio version has many similarities but is quite different in many ways. In the radio version d'Espard's brother convinces his sister in law to declare her husband insane because of the large amount of money given to a fat ugly woman. The Marquise has the children's nurse changed to a woman who will help the cause of insanity and does poison his butler saying that d'Espard killed him, and he is sent to jail. Popinot finds out the reason for d'Espard giving money to the ugly woman, his family had killed and cheated her family long ago. Popinot sees what the Marquise is doing and is thrown of the case after having tea with the Marquise. He tries to tell the judge that the nurse killed the butler but they refused to listen and said he was convicted already. The Marquise bribed the judge. In the radio version Eugene is not mentioned and Bianchon declares he loves the Marquise.

The story d'Espard gives money to the merchant's survivor of the monies and property stolen. Eugene wants to help the Marquise and thinks she is younger but Bianchon dislikes her and knows she is older. Popinot is not swayed and tells the d'espard not to worry but then finds out that since he partook in tea which compromised all, and Pipinot is thrown off the case. He must go to trial and it does not look good. In the story the trial is concluded for a win for d'Espard.

"ESPARD (Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d’), born in 1795; wife of Marquis d’Espard; of one of the most illustrious houses of Faubourg Saint-Germain. Deserted by her husband in 1816, she was at the age of twenty-two mistress of herself and of her fortune, an income of twenty-six thousand francs. At first she lived in seclusion; then in 1820 she appeared at court, gave some receptions at her own home, and did not long delay about becoming a society woman. Cold, vain and coquettish she knew neither love nor hatred; her indifference for all that did not directly concern her was profound. She never showed emotion. She had certain scientific formulas for preserving her beauty. She never wrote but spoke instead, believing that two words from a woman were sufficient to kill three men. More than once she made epigrams to peers or deputies which the courts of Europe treasured. In 1828 she still passed with the men for youthful. Mme. d’Espard lived at number 104 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. The Commission in Lunacy. "

"ESPARD (Charles-Maurice-Marie-Andoche, Comte de Negrepelisse, Marquis d’), born about 1789; by name a Negrepelisse, of an old Southern family which acquired by a marriage, time of Henry IV., the lands and titles of the family of Espard, of Bearn, which was allied also with the Albret house. The device of the d’Espards was: “Des partem leonis.” The Negrepelisses were militant Catholics, ruined at the time of the Church wars, and afterwards considerably enriched by the despoiling of a family of Protestant merchants, the Jeanrenauds whose head had been hanged after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This property, so badly acquired, became wondrously profitable to the Negrepelisses-d’Espards. Thanks to his fortune, the grandfather of the marquis was enabled to wed a Navarreins-Lansac, an extremely wealthy heiress; her father was of the younger branch of the Grandlieus. In 1812 the Marquis d’Espard married Mlle. de Blamont-Chauvry, then sixteen years of age. He had two sons by her, but discord soon arose between the couple. Her silly extravagances forced the marquis to borrow. He left her in 1816, going with his two children to live on rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Genevieve. Here he devoted himself to the education of his boys and to the composition of a great work; “The Picturesque History of China,” the profits of which, combined with the savings resultant from an austere manner of living, allowed him to pay in twelve years’ time to the legatees of the suppliant Jeanrenauds eleven hundred thousand francs, representing the value — time of Louis XIV. — of the property confiscated from their ancestors. This book was written, so to speak, in collaboration with Abbe Crozier, and its financial results aided greatly in comforting the declining years of a ruined friend, M. de Nouvion. In 1828 Mme. d’Espard tried to have a guardian appointed for her husband by ridiculing the noble conduct of the marquis. But the defendant won his rights at court. The Commission in Lunacy. "

Rastignac is becoming less in my mind. He likes the Marquise d'Espard and thinks she is younger than he thinks but Bianchon sees that she is older and does not care for her. Popinot sees all sides and tells d'Espard not to worry because he sees he is not insane. When Popinot saw the Marquise he had tea which his supervisor told him that he is thrown of the case and must retire. So the case will have to be proved later. A judge, Popinot, a kind benevolent man helping many poor and doing without. Bianchon has his uncle see d'Espard the marquise who has put in a commission for lunacy but soon finds Popinot was not fooled. He asks her questions which she answers to her detriment. He sees that she is in debt and not a great mother. He sees the old woman Jeanrenraud who d'Espard gives a lot of money to buy she tells him, she can not tell d'Espard's reason. Popinot sees him and finds out the reason which He wants to keepprivate, that his family stole from a merchant family and he wants to take the stain off his family by repaying which he does. Popinot sees he is not crazy and will judge in his favor and his sons love their father. Popinot is told by his superiors that tea with the marquise is held against him and he will retire so the case goes on.

[Armin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gegenstück zu Madame Firmiani unter stärkerer Beteiligung von HC-Personal. Auch hier gerät ein Ehrenmann unter falschen Verdacht, weil er das Familienvermögen an Fremde verschwendet, tatsächlich aber das Unrecht der Vorfahren an den Nachfahren der geschädigten Familie wieder gut zu machen versucht. Der Fall der angestrebten Entmündigung des Grafen d'Espard durch seine Ehefrau, bzw. die Einmischung Lucien de Rubemprés zu Ungunsten der Klägerin spielt eine wesentliche Rolle in Glanz und Elend, leider bleibt dieser Teil in The Commission in Lunacy/Die Entmündigung komplett ausgespart. Als wäre Balzac nicht mehr dazu gekommen, das entscheidende Kapitel zu schreiben, da das große Finale fehlt, wie auch jeder Hinweis auf den vorläufigen/fragmentarischen Charakter, bin ich doch ziemlich enttäuscht.
Dabei begann die Geschichte so gut, Rastignac, der als Dauergeliebter der Frau von Nucingen die Nachteile des Junggesellendaseins wie der Ehe in Kauf nehmen muss, ohne die finanziellen Vorzüge zu genießen, will sich über eine Beziehung mit der angesagten Frau d'Espard sanieren, Zudem wirkt die Hoffnungsträgerin deutlich jünger... Mit 36 ist Delphine von Nucingen nicht mehr standesgemäß für einen Beau in ungesicherten Verhältnissen. Maurice Bianchon klärt seinen Freund über das wahre Alter und den Charakter des neuen Zielobjekts auf, das den Arzt für die eigenen Zwecke instrumentalisieren will, denn der zuständige Richter ist Ms Onkel, der doch so nett sein soll, der kränklichen Dame den Weg in die Amtsräume zu ersparen.
Der Hausbesuch des Richters Popinot gerät zum Moment der Wahrheit, in dem der zum Stubentiger degradierte Salonlöwe Rastignac erfährt, dass er sich vor den Augen seines Freundes für eine Dame demütigt, die ebenfalls hoch verschuldet ist und ihren Mann für unmündig erklären lassen will, um sich dessen Vermögen zu krallen. Eine großartige Szene, deren Konsequenzen auf den Karrieristen im Verlauf des Textes leider kein Thema mehr sind. Hauptheld ist der seltsame Richter Popinot, eine unbestechliche Natur, der in seiner vermeintlichen Schusseligkeit, die aktuelle Königsmacherin im eigenen Salon entlarvt und sich den Fall auch nicht weg nehmen lässt als die Verliererin ihn als befangen bloß stellen will, weil er so nett gewesen ist, das Verhör in ihrem Haus abzuhalten.
Mit einem angemessenen Finale wäre die Erzählung sicher ein Meisterwerk, so ist es eher das Portrait eines unbestechlichen Richters, der in dem seltsamen Ehrenmann Baron d'Espard eine verwandte Natur findet.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short novella that holds the reader's interest even through 3 separate long roundabout descriptions of houses and characters that hold up the pace of this very engrossing story. It doesn't feel like Balzac is writing fiction here, the story is so alive and full of anticipation. Too bad we don't get to see how the trial ends since our judge is sidelined at the end... Somewhat frustrating, but it makes it feel even more lifelike.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way that the more Balzac I read, the better I know the characters. Familiar ones keep popping up and their stories rounded out. The descriptions of interiors in this are as good as any I have read, I took a star off for the slightly unsatisfactory if realistic end.

[Stéphane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dans la même trame que le Colonel Chabert mais en plus intéressant

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novel about a lower level Paris judge, who is assigned the case of a marquis (the marquis d'Espard) whose wife is trying to have him declared mentally incompetent (I think that the English translation is titled "the commission in lunacy"). The story of the marquis has similarities to the plot of Mme. Firmiani. Here, Balzac is more cynical; the honesty of the judge and the marquis are contrasted to the general corruption around them. With this novella, I have finally finished the first and longest division of the Comédie Humaine, "scènes de la vie privée" (according to the list on Wikipedia, although the Norph-Nop edition I am reading assigns it to the third division, "scènes de la vie parisienne" -- Balzac moved things around in different editions and I'm not sure the order and divisions really matter that much.) Now according to my original plan, I will just read the most important novels of the other divisions -- including at least the ones I have print copies of; I'll see whether I can limit myself to that or not.

[Jeffrey Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novel is based on the efforts of the estranged wife of an aristocrat to seize her husband's assets by having him declared incapable of managing his own affairs: his interdiction.
I found it one of the most interesting and engaging of the works of Balzac that I've read so far, although the characters are hardly convincing, either extremely admirable or quite despicable. It begins with two characters we have met before, in "Pere Goriot": Rastignac, a self-seeking opportunist, and Bianchon, a generous medical genius. They are discussing Rastignac's intention to throw over his current mistress, the wife of a banker and daughter of Goriot, for la marquise d'Espard. Bianchon advises him not to do it, because, among other things, the marquise is much older than she pretends to be.
She is the one who is trying to seize control over her husband's assets. Rastignac asks Bianchon to prevail upon his uncle, the judge in charge of the suit, to visit the marquise and hear her side of the story. Rastignac's uncle, with the slightly absurd last name, "Popinot," could have inspired the TV detective Colombo, an extremely cunning investigator who conceals his intelligence and entraps witnesses by making them think he is stupid.
Two contradictory features of Balzac's worldview appear in "L'interdiction": deep compassion for the poor and adulation of the nobility. What he admires most is generosity.
Although this novel is plot-driven, Balzac gives a lot of space to descriptions of places and to painting portraits of his characters, something he excels at.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un très court roman, si c'en est un, je dirais plutôt une nouvelle, où l'on retrouve l'ambitieux Rastignac et son estimable ami médecin, Bianchon, maintenant un peu mieux établis. Mais le mélodrame qui nous occupe ici est celui du marquis des Essarts, homme que sa femme tente de dépouiller de sa fortune en le faisant passer pour fou alors que [attention, spoiler] l'on s'aperçoit à l'enquête menée par le juge d'instruction que l'homme est en fait un saint moderne.

N'en déplaise à Wikipédia, j'ai décidé d'appeler cet ouvrage une nouvelle parce qu'il en a, outre la brieveté, la structure. C'est frappant, tellement c'est rare pour Balzac, qui met là la conclusion de son histoire - si ce n'est en doute - du moins en suspens, interrompant soudainement une histoire qui commence in media res, rebondit fortement, puis s'achève sur une dernière surprise (un peu annoncée, hélas, mais enfin Balzac se contient comme jamais pour ne pas tout nous dire à l'avance). On n'en retrouve pas moins les descriptions quasi-physiognomistes des lieux et personnages, et le désir sociologique incontournable de l'auteur. Ramené dans les proportions de cette courte histoire, pourtant, il me semble que même les allergiques à Balzac pourraient se délecter de cette vignette de la vie des ambitieux parisiens, et de son soigneux emboitage dans sa période historique, ce début du 19ème siècle en prise avec les conséquences de plusieurs siècles de remise en cause de la noblesse.

[Jaime Fernández Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balzac nos vuelve a introducir, en esta vigesimoprimera escena, en el mundo de la judicatura fallida. Y lo hace llevándonos de nuevo a la dicotomía entre los lugares más prominentes de París y los más pobres, en este caso el Distrito XII, que si hoy está lleno de zonas verdes a principios del siglo XIX era un lodazal con casas malamente construidas.

Aquí habita un hombre al que su mujer intenta separar de su fortuna que supuestamente está dilapidando, pidiendo para ello la interdicción del título, que consiste en declararle demente para poder ella gestionar el dinero a través de un tercero. Para contarnos la historia introduce Balzac a un juez desgarbado y mal vestido de nombre Popinot que resulta ser una especie de detective privado que entrevistará a la mujer, al supuesto manirroto e incluso a otra mujer que se está beneficiando de la aparente locura del hombre, obsesionado con la cultura china.

Los interrogatorios del juez nos demostrarán que lo que parece una obviedad no lo es tanto y que hay meros intereses económicos en plantar esa interdicción. Que no hay locos, pero sí un gran sentido de la justicia y del deber de restauración de bienes robados con la religión de por medio.

Eso sí, una vez más en Balzac, el juez que consigue encontrar la verdad descubrirá que la justicia depende más de las apariencias y de los títulos que de la realidad.

[Derek Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though part of Balzac's Comedie Humaine, it just doesn't have the heft of works like "Pere Goriot." It seems more like an exercise in disparaging a weak and worthless upper class, leftovers from the turmoil of the Revolution and Napoleon's brief glory and having no function but to entertain each other in a kind of spiritual debauchery. Granted, but without a worthwhile plot or a reason to be, the story simply goes nowhere. There's no enough here for a novel and it goes on too long for a short story.

[David Sterritt]

Solid, engaging tale.

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Histoire d’un juge d’instruction d’une valeur morale ne permettant la corruption, confronté à l’intervention de l’exécutif de l’état manipulé car la noblesse du moment.

[Elf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, except for the ending, hence four stars not five. I am too much of a lover of tied-up ends for what the author actually gave us, though I can appreciate that it was heading too obviously in one direction to not at least be given some form of twist or turn. The last couple of pages did, howeve, leave me feeling a touch let down, hence the rating.

[Willy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très intéressant, étude approfondie de la moralité dans des milieux différents.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

La muestra de que a veces las buenas intenciones no son suficientes. Popinot resulta ser objetivo y justo aunque al final ni siquiera eso parece alcanzar.

[Manolis P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

τιμιο

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ação se passa em 1828 e temos os amigos Horace Bianchon e o barão de Rastignac vários anos após seu primeiro encontro na pensão Vauquer em O Pai Goriot.
O barão procura Bianchon a fim de que o amigo intervenha junto ao seu tio, o juiz Popinot, que deverá julgar o processo de interdição do marquês D'Espard solicitado por sua esposa a marquesa d'Espard, com quem o ambicioso Eugene se encontra envolvido.
A marquesa alega que o marido está louco por se deixar espoliar por uma mulher e seu filho em detrimento de seus dois filhos. E caberá ao juiz conhecer os fatos e descobrir a verdade oculta nas intenções da marquesa.
Popinot é um personagem maravilhoso: desprezado pela sociedade por sua falta de interesse em eventos sociais, é extremamente relapso no vertir-se sendo por isso motivo de piada. São poucos os que o valorizam por seus feitos caridosos. Aparência de idiota, será delicioso assisti-lo interrogando a astuta marquesa.
Novela publicada em 1836, só em outro título da CH teremos o resultado do pedido de interdição mas isso é o que menos importa aqui.



Histórico de leitura

66% (43 de 65)

"As mães são tão astuciosas para se aproximar dos filhos como as moças são capazes de sê-lo para levar a bom ou mau termo uma intriga amorosa."

52% (34 de 65)

"O juiz não é Deus, sua missão consiste em adaptar os fatos aos princípios, julgar espécies variáveis ao infinito servindo-se duma medida determinada. Se o juiz tivesse o poder de ler na consciência e deslindar os motivos a fim de proferir sentenças justas, cada juiz seria um grande homem."

17% (11 de 65)

"Em 1828, à uma hora da madrugada, duas pessoas saíam dum palacete situado no Faubourg Saint-Honoré, preto do Élysée-Bourbon; uma delas era um médico famoso, Horace Bianchon; a outra, um dos homens mais elegantes de Paris, o barão de Rastignac, ambos amigos havia muito tempo."

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rastignac is beginning to worry that if he doesn't marry soon he will end up in the same rut as a married man without any of the advantages. And he's in debt, he says. Dr Bianchon warns him against the Marquise d'Espard; she's not as young as Rastignac thinks she is.
Still he agrees to approach his uncle Popinet, the judge who is presiding over Madame d'Espard's application to have her husband declared insane. For as the previous story showed, (The Deserted Woman) there were few options for a woman when divorce was just about impossible.
Popinet is a noble fellow: passed over for promotion for political reasons, he ministers to the poor, but he agrees to see the lady.
This is a fatal mistake, because when he has concluded his investigations and concluded that the case is vexatious, he is removed from the case because although everyone knows he has behaved with propriety, 'justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done'.
His replacement - the wily Camusot.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Balzac-würdiger Frauencharakter versucht, den Gatten entmündigen zu lassen, da der Geld wegschenkt. Ein Onkel Rastignacs soll das bewerkstelligen. Der jedoch ist ein ungewöhnlich integrer Mann. Es gab da einen Familienskandal, der durch die Zahlungen ein wenig wieder gutgemacht werden soll.

[Hélène Lamboley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une belle histoire assez moralisatrice mais qui fait réfléchir sur l’origine des fortunes et l’idée d’une noblesse qui soit aussi morale. Comme souvent chez Balzac les descriptions sont longues et le récit assez lent à venir mais le roman est court et reste assez équilibré

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

nach knapp einem Jahr habe ich das Buch innerhalb eines morgens beendet. es war doch irgendwie spannend. das ich das so lange mit mir herum geschleppt habe, verstehe ich auf einmal nicht mehr.

[Song · Rating 4 out of 5]

卑贱者为了利益不惜造谣污蔑，高尚者仰赖善心而得以澄清。巴尔扎克写的是社会传奇。

[Tom Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb

Beautifully written as always with a complex and moving human and political plot. The clever ending is unexpected. A gripping read.