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The Girl with the Golden Eyes
by
Honoré de Balzac
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| Title: | The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| Author: | Honoré de Balzac |
| Genre: | Novel |
| Written: | 1835 (Eng. 1998) |
| Length: | 102 pages |
| Original in: | French |
| Availability: | The Girl with the Golden Eyes - US |
| The Girl with the Golden Eyes - UK | |
| The Girl with the Golden Eyes - Canada | |
| La fille aux yeux d'or - Canada | |
| La fille aux yeux d'or - France | |
| Das Mädchen mit den Goldaugen - Deutschland | |
| La ragazza dagli occhi d'oro - Italia | |
| La muchacha de los ojos de oro - España | |
| from: Bookshop.org (US) |
- French title: La fille aux yeux d'or
- Translated by Carol Cosman
- Also translated by E.P.Robins (1896), George Burnham Ives (1909), Ernest Dowson (1931), Charlotte Mandell (2007), and Peter Collier (2012)
- With an Introduction by Robert Alter
- The Girl with the Golden Eyes was made into a film in 1961, directed by Jean-Gabriel Albicocco
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Our Assessment:
B+ : more of a trifle, by Balzacian standards, but still good fun
See our review for fuller assessment.
The complete review's Review:
The Girl with the Golden Eyes is a novel of the Paris of Balzac's time -- at least as Balzac saw it.
And Balzac saw it very vividly, as he demonstrates in his wonderfully overheated descriptions that he devotes the first quarter of this short novel to; its protagonists Henri de Marsay and the girl with the golden eyes of the title don't even rate a mention here.
As Balzac sums up:
What is the dominant force in this land devoid of customs, beliefs or feelings ? And where do all feelings, all beliefs and customs begin and end ? In gold and pleasure. Use these two words to light your way through this great plaster prison, this hive of black gutters, and follow the twists and turns of the thought that moves it, stirs it, kneads it. Look.And, of course, readers gladly do.
Henri de Marsay is the love child of "Lord Dudley and the famous Marquise de Vordac", with the Marquise married off to: "an old gentleman called Monsieur de Marsay" for convenience' sake, with neither mother nor father showing much interest in the child -- though mom will come to play a dramatic role in Henri's life.
Henri is twenty-two in 1814, an "Adonis" widely considered: "the handsomest young man in Paris". His closest friend is Paul de Manerville -- though, typically for all these people, place, and times, Henri: "had befriended him in order to make use of him in society, the way a bold speculator makes use of a private accountant". It is to Paul that Henri confides when he comes across a striking woman who makes a great impression on him; Paul knows who he means:
“My dear fellow, we’re all mad about her !” cried Paul. “She comes here sometimes. She’s the girl with the golden eyes -- that’s our name for her. She’s a young woman of around twenty-two, and I saw her here under the Bourbons, but with a woman a hundred thousand times better.”But it's that girl with the golden eyes that Henri is interested in, and he endeavors to find out who she is -- and how he can get close to her. It's a game, too; as Balzac writes:
Henri was at once a dotard, a grown man, and a youth. For him to feel the emotions of true love, he needed, like Lovelace, a Clarissa Harlowe. Without the magical gleam of that unattainable pearl, he was capable of nothing but passions piqued by some Parisian vanity, or some wager with himself to corrupt a certain woman, or escapades that aroused his curiosity.And, as Henri realizes: "This will take careful planning, Henri said to himself".
Henri works on seducing her -- though, hedging his bets, presents himself to the girl under an assumed name, Adolphe -- and she, Paquita Valdes, is receptive to his attentions. But she -- and her circumstances and protectors -- don't make it easy for Henri. Indeed, as he says after getting to know her some:
“All this seems awfully strange to me,” de Marsay said, examining her closely. “Yet despite your bizarre nature you seem to be a good-hearted girl; upon my word, I cannot make heads or tails of you or find the right word to describe you.”Passion and lust influence both of their actions as their story builds to its very dramatic (and very melodramatic) end -- impressive, if rather overwrought, though, in moving on, it allows Balzac to close the novel in a very brief eight-days-later scene with a great final little back-and-forth summing up (and a perfect final line).
Balzac mentions numerous literary works in the novel, reminding readers repeatedly that this, too, is a mere written account, small beer compared to the reality around him. As he has Henri lament to Paul:
Morality is helpless against a dozen vices that are destroying society but cannot be punished. Another cup ? Upon my honor, man is a clown dancing on the edge of a cliff. We’re told about the immorality of Les Liaisons dangereuses, and some book with the name of a chamber maid. But there is one ghastly, dirty, dreadful, corrupting book that is always open and never closed, the great book of the world -- not to mention another book, a thousand times more dangerous, that consists of everything passed on by word of mouth between men or women behind their fans at the ball.The central story here is both a bit simple and extreme and could have benefited from being expanded upon -- not least with the character of Henri's mother, who bursts back on the scene -- but much of the writing is glorious, and the Paris Balzac presents impresses. The characters are well-presented too, and if the action is in part underdeveloped (and occasionally borders on the silly) it's still good fun.
The Girl with the Golden Eyes is a (relatively) minor Balzac-work, but the master still offers much here to admire and enjoy.
- M.A.Orthofer, 18 July 2025
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The Girl with the Golden Eyes:
- New York Review Books publicity page
- Oxford University Press publicity page
- Le Livre de Poche publicity page
- Gallimard publicity page
- Flammarion publicity page
- Diogenes publicity page
- Einaudi publicity page
- Garzanti publicity page
- Alba publicity page
- Losada publicity page
- Book Around the Corner
- brothersjudd.com
- La Comedie Humaine by Balzac
- The Critic (scroll down for review)
- En tournant les pages (French)
- Jean-Louis Le Breton (French)
- A Leak In The Safe
- IMDb page
- Honoré de Balzac at books and writers
- The Black Sheep
- Colonel Chabert
- A Harlot High and Low
- The Lily in the Valley
- Lost Illusions
- Treatise on Modern Stimulants
- Peter Brooks on Honoré de Balzac
- See Index of French literature
- See Index of Books Written Before 1900
- Other books from New York Review Books
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The great French author Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) is best known for his multi-volume 'Human Comedy'.
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© 2025 the complete review
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