Balzac – “Sarrasine” (Part 2) Dr. Peter Mathews

Balzac – “Sarrasine” (Part 2) Dr. Peter Mathews

Hanyang University Fall 2014

November 4, 2014

Context: Castrato

Reference: Edmé Bouchardon

Context: Neoclassicism

Context: Neoclassicism

The Battle of (Victor Hugo’s) Hernani (1830)

Context: Neoclassicism

“He saw before him at that moment the ideal beauty whose perfections he had hitherto sought here and there in nature, taking from one model, often of humble rank, the rounded outline of a shapely leg, from another the contour of the breast; from

another her white shoulders; stealing the neck of that young girl, the hands of this woman, and the

polished knees of yonder child, but never able to find beneath the cold skies of Paris the rich and satisfying creations of ancient Greece.” (121)

Reference: Pygmalion

Reference: Snake

“And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and

between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:13- 15)

Interpretation #1: Neoclassical v. Romantic

Interpretation #2: Critique of Restoration

France

Interpretation #3: Critique of Gender Roles

Interpretation #4: Ideal v. Reality

“She had laid aside her stage costume, and wore a waist which outlined a slender figure, displayed to the best advantage by a panier and a satin dress embroidered with blue

flowers.” (124)