Literature has always developed hand in hand with society and was a logical reaction to what was happening in society. That is why in the work of absolutely any great author you will certainly find hints of the historical context. Thus, the Age of Enlightenment was the reason why writers began to exalt human intelligence and reason over nature. And as a natural reaction to all this, the “pendulum swung” in the other direction – such a movement as Romanticism appeared. Writers began to praise the ideal of nature. They wrote a lot about feelings and about the natural beginning in man. The main idea was to restore the unity of man and nature, and innovations and modern technology seemed only to spoil the character. Such lofty motifs lingered in literature for a long time, but everything changed with the appearance of Honoré de Balzac.
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Although he was passionate about writing, he still saw it as a means of making money. His initial works were almost entirely commercial in nature. And popularity comes to Balzac only in 1829, after the publication of the novel “The Last Shuan, or Brittany in 1800”. Ordinary readers liked the work very much, but the critics were not delighted.
After that, other works appeared, thanks to which Balzac becomes his own among the cream of society. It is interesting that such an opportunity the writer uses in order to collect as many characters as possible for his future works. Honoré thoroughly studies the high society. Later, the people he met during that period will become prototypes for one of his greatest works – a series of novels and novellas.
“The Human Comedy” is a cycle of essays that consists of 137 works. It includes novels with real, fantastic and even philosophical plots. In his book, the writer chose to portray French society during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy. For us today, there is nothing surprising in realism or something that would be reprehensible. But in Balzac’s time, this was not the case at all. The author was well aware of how original his literary position was. That is why, before starting his collection in 1838, he wrote: “The author expects other reproaches, among them will be the reproach of immorality; but he has already made it clear precisely that he is obsessed with the obsession to describe society as a whole, as it is: with its virtuous, honorable, great, shameful sides, with the confusion of its mixed estates, with the confusion of principles, with its new needs and old contradictions …. He thought there was nothing more to be marveled at than the description of the great social disease, and it could only be described together with society, for the sick man is the disease itself.”
It is quite possible that Balzac’s main idea was to write a kind of “encyclopedia of life”. Dante Alighieri had the same plan in his time, and it resulted in “The Divine Comedy”. “The Human Comedy” opens with “Shagreen Skin.” And this novel describes with horrifying accuracy what happens to the fates of people because of their desires.
Shagreen skin is the main symbol of human life. On the one hand, this subject demonstrates man’s desire to pursue what he wants. On the other hand, shows that on a permanent basis, such behavior will only lead to self-destruction.
At the same time, time plays an important role in the novel – it affects a person in such a way that he becomes even more inclined to sacrifice. Thus, the protagonist is ready to give his health, life and happiness in order to get what he wants. But at the same time, the main thing that happens in this case – he is deprived of all close people. That is why at the end the hero remains lonely and unhappy.
