Project Gutenberg 1999-10-01 Public domain in the USA. 72 Balzac, Honoré de 1799 1850 Balzac, Honore de Saint-Aubin, Horace de De Balzac, Honoré Balzac, H. de (Honoré de) Waring, James The Muse of the Department Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger "The Muse of the Department" by Honoré de Balzac is a novel written in the early 19th century, reflecting the complexities of provincial life in France. The story introduces several central characters, including Dinah Piedefer, a beautiful and intelligent woman, and her husband, Monsieur de la Baudraye, who struggles with his own insecurities and ambitions. The novel explores themes of social status, ambition, and the penetrating conflicts faced by women in a provincial setting, especially against the backdrop of rising intellectual and artistic movements. At the start of the narrative, we are introduced to the town of Sancerre, a picturesque locale by the Loire River, where Dinah is regarded as a "Superior Woman." Despite her charm and intellect, she struggles with the constraints of her provincial life, caught between her aspirations and her mundane existence. The opening chapters reveal snippets of her past and familial background, as well as her marriage to the diminutive and cold Monsieur de la Baudraye, who remains largely indifferent to her desires for intellectual and artistic fulfillment. This combination of beauty, talent, and emotional struggle sets the stage for a rich exploration of Dinah's challenges and the societal norms of 1830s France. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en French fiction -- Translations into English PQ Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 449766 449775 2024-09-01T11:24:36.804647 2023-10-01T10:20:54.706445 text/html text/html 464532 2021-01-27T16:41:27 text/html; charset=utf-8 159895 2021-01-27T16:41:27 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 210370 2024-09-01T11:24:43.226588 application/epub+zip 217845 2024-09-01T11:24:38.237608 application/epub+zip 217845 2024-09-01T11:24:37.375621 application/epub+zip 374962 2024-09-01T11:24:46.885583 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 364551 2024-09-01T11:24:42.651615 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 364373 2022-09-01T12:52:19.204164 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 389953 389917 2024-09-01T11:24:36.148653 2023-10-01T10:20:54.124475 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 395422 2016-11-23T08:37:22 text/plain; charset=utf-8 152570 2016-11-23T08:39:08 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 389735 2010-03-05T16:17:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 151784 2010-03-05T16:19:30 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20675 2024-09-01T11:24:47.037555 application/rdf+xml 12789 2024-09-01T11:24:37.728600 image/jpeg 3592 2024-09-01T11:24:37.550604 image/jpeg 209632 2024-09-01T11:24:36.841624 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog More titles under Marriage, Ellen en.wikipedia fr.wikipedia