La Vendetta (Balzac)
Encyclopedia
La Vendetta is a novel
by the French writer Honoré de Balzac
. It is the eighth of the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life) in La Comédie humaine
. The novel was first published in 1830 by Mame et Delaunay-Vallée. In 1842 it appeared in the first Furne edition of La Comédie humaine. La Vendetta was the fourth work in Volume 1, making it the fourth of the Scènes de la vie privée.
Balzac may have been inspired to write La Vendetta by Prosper Merimée
, whose novel Mateo Falcone, which was serialized by the Revue de Paris
in 1829, also deals with the subject of Corsican vengeance and family honour.
in Paris, is in three separate parts: L'Atelier (The Artist's Workshop), La Désobéissance (The Act of Disobedience) and Le Mariage (The Marriage). The novel was completed in Paris in January 1830, when Balzac was assisting the Duchesse d'Abrantès with her Mémoires de l'Empire.
The first edition of La Vendetta was published in April 1830 by Mame et Delaunay-Vallée, appearing immediately after the preface in the first volume of a two-volume collection of Balzac's novels entitled Scènes de la vie privée – Balzac had not yet conceived of La Comédie humaine. The work was divided into a prologue and four sections entitled: L'Atelier, La Désobéissance, Le Mariage and Le Châtiment (The Punishment).
In May 1832 Mame-Delaunay brought out a second edition. By now the Scènes de la vie privée had grown to four volumes. La Vendetta retained its place immediately after the preface in the first volume.
In July 1835 Mme Béchet published a third edition of La Vendetta as part of a twelve-volume collection of Balzac's works entitled Etude de Moeurs au XIXe siècle (Studies of Manners in the 19th Century). In this edition La Vendetta was no longer divided into sections and was placed at the end of the first volume. Balzac altered the marriage scene for this edition.
In October 1839 Charpentier brought out a fourth edition of La Vendetta in a newly revised and corrected edition of the Scènes de la vie privée. La Vendetta was the first work in the second volume of the series.
In July 1842 a fifth edition of La Vendetta appeared in Furne's first publication of La Comédie humaine. La Vendetta was the fourth work in the first volume (Scènes de la vie privée) of this five-volume series.
with Ginevra's family, Ginevra's father Bartolomeo is determined to complete the act of vengeance by having him killed. But Ginevra refuses to yield to her father's demands and she and Luigi are married. Over the following years the pair eke out a miserable existence, dogged by hunger and poverty, while Ginevra's wealthy father refuses to lift a hand to support her: it is as much as he can do to refrain from murdering Luigi. Ginevra gives birth to a child, but she and the child die on the very day that Monsieur Piombo finally relents and decides to assist the impoverished couple. Before he can act, however, Luigi visits him and gives him the tresses of his deceased daughter. "Dead! Our two families were doomed to exterminate each other. Here is all that remains of her," he says, laying Ginevra's long black hair upon the table. Ginevra's parents are shaken, as though a stroke of lightning has blasted them. Luigi departs. "He has spared me a shot, for he is dead," says Bartolomeo, slowly, gazing on the ground at his feet.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by the French writer Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
. It is the eighth of the Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes of Private Life) in La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
. The novel was first published in 1830 by Mame et Delaunay-Vallée. In 1842 it appeared in the first Furne edition of La Comédie humaine. La Vendetta was the fourth work in Volume 1, making it the fourth of the Scènes de la vie privée.
Balzac may have been inspired to write La Vendetta by Prosper Merimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, whose novel Mateo Falcone, which was serialized by the Revue de Paris
Revue de Paris
Revue de Paris was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis Desiré Veron....
in 1829, also deals with the subject of Corsican vengeance and family honour.
History
The manuscript of La Vendetta, which is preserved in the Lovenjoul Collection of the Institut de FranceInstitut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
in Paris, is in three separate parts: L'Atelier (The Artist's Workshop), La Désobéissance (The Act of Disobedience) and Le Mariage (The Marriage). The novel was completed in Paris in January 1830, when Balzac was assisting the Duchesse d'Abrantès with her Mémoires de l'Empire.
The first edition of La Vendetta was published in April 1830 by Mame et Delaunay-Vallée, appearing immediately after the preface in the first volume of a two-volume collection of Balzac's novels entitled Scènes de la vie privée – Balzac had not yet conceived of La Comédie humaine. The work was divided into a prologue and four sections entitled: L'Atelier, La Désobéissance, Le Mariage and Le Châtiment (The Punishment).
In May 1832 Mame-Delaunay brought out a second edition. By now the Scènes de la vie privée had grown to four volumes. La Vendetta retained its place immediately after the preface in the first volume.
In July 1835 Mme Béchet published a third edition of La Vendetta as part of a twelve-volume collection of Balzac's works entitled Etude de Moeurs au XIXe siècle (Studies of Manners in the 19th Century). In this edition La Vendetta was no longer divided into sections and was placed at the end of the first volume. Balzac altered the marriage scene for this edition.
In October 1839 Charpentier brought out a fourth edition of La Vendetta in a newly revised and corrected edition of the Scènes de la vie privée. La Vendetta was the first work in the second volume of the series.
In July 1842 a fifth edition of La Vendetta appeared in Furne's first publication of La Comédie humaine. La Vendetta was the fourth work in the first volume (Scènes de la vie privée) of this five-volume series.
Plot
La Vendetta is a short work relating the tragic fate of Ginevra Piombo, the daughter of proud Corsican immigrants, who has the misfortune of falling in love with another Corsican Luigi Porta. When it becomes known that Luigi is the sole survivor of a massacre in which the rest of his family were the victims of a bloody vendettaFeud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
with Ginevra's family, Ginevra's father Bartolomeo is determined to complete the act of vengeance by having him killed. But Ginevra refuses to yield to her father's demands and she and Luigi are married. Over the following years the pair eke out a miserable existence, dogged by hunger and poverty, while Ginevra's wealthy father refuses to lift a hand to support her: it is as much as he can do to refrain from murdering Luigi. Ginevra gives birth to a child, but she and the child die on the very day that Monsieur Piombo finally relents and decides to assist the impoverished couple. Before he can act, however, Luigi visits him and gives him the tresses of his deceased daughter. "Dead! Our two families were doomed to exterminate each other. Here is all that remains of her," he says, laying Ginevra's long black hair upon the table. Ginevra's parents are shaken, as though a stroke of lightning has blasted them. Luigi departs. "He has spared me a shot, for he is dead," says Bartolomeo, slowly, gazing on the ground at his feet.
Further reading
- Claudie Bernard, « Raison et déraison vendettales dans La Vendetta de Balzac et Les Frères corses de Dumas », Stendhal, Balzac, Dumas : un récit romantique ? Toulouse, PU du Mirail, 2006, p. 265-81.
- Pierrette Jeoffroy-Faggianelli, « De Paoli à La Vendetta », L'Année balzacienne, 1975, p. 307-10.
- Franc Schuerewegen, « La Toile déchirée : texte, tableau et récit dans trois nouvelles de Balzac », Poétique, fév. 1986, n° 17 (65), p. 19-27.
External links
- The Vendetta at Project Gutenberg
- Original French text of La Vendetta
- Table des notices