This study explores the process by which Balzac made use of the unique structure of his fictional world to create subtlety and complexity both within and between the individual works of "La Comedie humaine." Internal narrations--scenes of story-telling--offer a particularly rich field of study as characters tell each other stories about other characters. Because of the system of recurring characters, Balzac's narrative framing creates layers of meaning, thus raising questions that resonate throughout the whole textual edifice. "Weaving Balzac's Web" shows how story-telling scenes can serve as windows into the depths of Balzac's masterpiece and reveal the carefully construction complexities and ambiguities that lie enmeshed in its vast narrative web.

Exploring the experiments in individual and national self-consciousness conducted during the Romantic period, this essential comparative study of European literature, philosophy and politics makes original and often surprising connections and contrasts to reveal how personal and social identities were re-orientated and disorientated from the French Revolution onwards. Reviving a contested moment in the history of aesthetic theory, this study shows how the growing awareness of irresolution in Kant's third Kritik allowed Romantic writers to put the aesthetic to radical uses not envisaged by its parent philosophy. It also recounts how they would go on to force philosophy to revise received notions of authority, empowering women and subordinated ethnic groups to re-orientate existing hierarchies. The sheer range and variety of writers covered is testament both to the breadth of writing that Kant's philosophy so rashly legitimated and to the wider importance of philosophy to the understanding of Romantic literature.

The consequences of high-end inequality seep into almost every aspect of human life: it is not just a question for economists. In this highly accessible new work, Professor Shaviro takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore how great works of literature have provided some of the most incisive accounts of inequality and its social and cultural ramifications over the last two centuries. Through perceptive close readings of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Edith Wharton, among others, he not only demonstrates how these accounts are still relevant today, but how they can illuminate our understanding of our current situation and broaden our own perspective beyond the merely economic.

This comprehensive eBook presents the complete Human Comedy of Honoré de Balzac in English, with beautiful illustrations, concise introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (28MB Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Balzac's life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other works * The COMPLETE 'La ComÈdie humaine' in English translation * The whole series is precisely organised into Balzac's plan * Includes Balzac's introduction AVANT-PROPOS * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Famous works such as FATHER GORIOT, COUSIN BETTY, THE MAGIC SKIN and many more are illustrated with their original artwork * Balzac's five plays * Criticism section, with seven essays by writers such as Henry James and Leslie Stephen, evaluating Balzac's contribution to literature * Features five biographies - discover in depth Balzac's literary life! * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres * Special CHARACTERS resource, with information on all members of the cast 'La Comédie humaine', with references to the novels and stories they appear in Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse our range of exciting titles. CONTENTS: THE HUMAN COMEDY THE HISTORY OF 'LA COM…DIE HUMAINE' AVANT-PROPOS (PREFACE) THE COMPLETE HUMAN COMEDY - OVER 110 NOVELS AND STORIES (too many to list) The Short Stories DROLL STORIES THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE The Plays INTRODUCTION TO BALZAC'S DRAMAS by J. Walker McSpadden VAUTRIN THE RESOURCES OF QUINOLA PAMELA GIRAUD THE STEPMOTHER MERCADET RESOURCES The Criticism HONOR… DE BALZAC by Henry James A LETTER, 1883 by Robert Louis Stevenson BALZAC by John Cowper Powys BALZAC'S NOVELS by Leslie Stephen BALZAC by William Ernest Henley BALZAC AS A DRAMATIST by Epiphanius Wilson THE NOVEL by D. H. Lawrence The Biographies HONOR… DE BALZAC by Albert Keim and Louis Lumet HONOR… DE BALZAC, HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS by Mary F. Sandars BALZAC AND MADAME HANSKA by Elbert Hubbard BALZAC by Frederick Lawton WOMEN IN THE LIFE OF BALZAC by Juanita Helm Floyd Glossary of Characters in 'La ComÈdie humaine' Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to view the full list

A portrait of the self-destructive French novelist follows Balzac's early literary disappointments, impractical money-making schemes, love affairs, correspondences, and achievements.