Le Réquisitionnaire
Burning of Granville by the Vendéens, drawing by Jean-François Hue | |
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
---|---|
Language | French |
Series | La Comédie humaine |
Publication date | 1831 |
Publication place | France |
Le Réquisitionnaire (English "The Conscript" or "The Recruit") is a short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1831 and is one of the Études philosophiques of La Comédie humaine.[1]
Plot summary
The story is set in 1793 in Carentan, in Normandy. A local aristocrat, Madame de Dey lives at her estate at Carentan to ensure that it is not confiscated by the government. Her son is taking part in a Royalist uprising. She refuses visitors for two days, and buys a hare at the market. This arouses suspicions that she is either sheltering a Royalist priest or hiding a lover.
When visited by a local merchant, she admits that she has received a letter from her son. He has written that he was captured during a failed attack on Granville, but that he will escape, and take shelter with her. He mentions a three-day period during which he should be expected. She holds a social gathering at her home on the third night that her son is expected to arrive. She acts calmly, and all but the local prosecutor leave early. The prosecutor warns that he will have her house searched the next day. He hints that he might save her. He politely leaves when there is a knock on the door.
In the meantime, a group of conscripts is expected at the city, and one reports to a local official. He is billeted to stay at Madame de Dey's home.
The visitor who has knocked at Madame de Dey's door is taken to her son's room. She greets him, and is shocked to discover that it is not her son, but a Parisian conscript who has been billeted to her home. She dies that night, and on the same night her son is shot in Morbihan.
Historical background
The story is set during the French Revolution. The main character's son is involved in the Vendéen Royalist Uprising. The story takes place in November 1793, shortly after a failed Royalist attack on Granville.[2]
Bibliography
- Raphael, Sylvia. "Introduction". Honoré de Balzac: Selected Short Stories. Penguin Classics, 1977.
References
External links
- "The Recruit", translation (by Katharine Prescott Wormeley) at Project Gutenberg (full text)
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- La Maison du chat-qui-pelote
- Le Bal de Sceaux
- La Bourse
- La Vendetta
- Madame Firmiani
- Une double famille
- La Paix du ménage
- La Fausse Maîtresse
- Étude de femme
- Autre étude de femme
- La Grande Bretèche
- Albert Savarus
- Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées
- Une fille d'Eve
- La Femme de trente ans
- La Femme abandonnée
- La Grenadière
- Le Message
- Gobseck
- Le Contrat de mariage
- Un début dans la vie
- Modeste Mignon
- Béatrix
- Honorine
- Le Colonel Chabert
- La Messe de l'athée
- L'Interdiction
- Pierre Grassou
- Ursule Mirouët
- Eugénie Grandet
- Pierrette
- Le Curé de Tours
- La Rabouilleuse
- L'illustre Gaudissart
- La Muse du département
- La Vieille Fille
- Le Cabinet des Antiques
- Le Lys dans la vallée
- Illusions perdues
- Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes
- Un prince de la bohème
- Un homme d’affaires
- Gaudissart II
- Les Comédiens sans le savoir
- Ferragus
- La Duchesse de Langeais
- La Fille aux yeux d'or
- Le Père Goriot
- César Birotteau
- La Maison Nucingen
- Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan
- Les Employés
- Sarrasine
- Facino Cane
- La Cousine Bette
- Le Cousin Pons
- Les Petits Bourgeois
- Une ténébreuse affaire
- Un épisode sous la Terreur
- Madame de la Chanterie
- L'Initié
- Z. Marcas
- Le Député d'Arcis
- Le Médecin de campagne
- Le Curé de village
- Les Paysans
- La Peau de chagrin
- La Recherche de l'absolu
- Jésus-Christ en Flandre
- Melmoth réconcilié
- Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu
- L'Enfant maudit
- Gambara
- Massimilla Doni
- Les Marana
- Adieu
- Le Réquisitionnaire
- El Verdugo
- Un drame au bord de la mer
- L'Auberge rouge
- L'Elixir de longue vie
- Maître Cornélius
- Sur Catherine de Médicis
- Louis Lambert
- Les Proscrits
- Séraphîta
- La Physiologie du mariage
- Petites misères de la vie conjugale
- Fernand Lotte: Armorial de la Comédie Humaine