Vautrin
Contents
The general view formed of him by the people with whom he came into contact
- The public view
- The reaction of the women
B) His appearance
- The impression of great physical Strength
- A hardness in his facial appearance
C) His manners
- He has easy going and amenable ways.
- He is dexterous.
- He is generous.
- He is a cheerful joker.
- He is the flamboyant showman.
D) The concealed personality under his jovial exterior
- The hard man underneath.
- The mysterious aspects of his lifestyle
- The depths of his character and his thoughts that people could only glimpse
E) Vautrin described by those who had known him in more sinister circumstances
- A man to respect.
- A man to fear but loved by his partners in crime
- His sense of honour.
F) Vautrin portrayed as a diabolical character
- The tempter of the innocent youth.
- The wicked murder plot.
- Vautrin’s diabolical appearance when his disguise is stripped from him
G) The superior powers of Vautrin
- His powers of self-control
- Vautrin’s view of himself as a superior man
- Rastignac’s acceptance of Vautrin as a superior man
H ) Vautrin is an idealist in the mould of J.J. Rousseau.
Vautrin is a disciple of J.J. Rousseau and accepts the ideas of the theorists of social rebellion
- Vautrin shows himself a rebel of the social system
- We are told that he seemed to reject the social system.
- He lectures against the corruption of Paris
- Not only did he speak words of revolt, he took action
J) Vautrin gives himself the prerogative to put things right, according to his own standards
- Paradoxically, the diabolical Vautrin consciously takes on the role of God
- Although he does not conform to conventional moral standards, he has standards of his own.
- Vautrin says that he will not allow himself to perform a deed which he deems unworthy of himself.
- Thus Vautrin is loyal to the people he loves
K) The favourable final verdict on him by his fellow boarders.
L) Conclusion.
End of contents
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THE CHARACTER OF VAUTRIN
- The general view formed of him by the people with whom he came into contact .
1) The public view
People said of him; “There’s a splendid chap!” Page 22
Il était un de ces gens dont le peuple dit : Voilà un fameux gaillard!
2) The reaction of the women
His personal appeal is reflected by the surprising fact that the sweet and innocent Victorine was drawn to this forty year old man- page 24 : Attirée, peut-être à son insu, par la force de l'un ou par la beauté de l'autre, mademoiselle Taillefer partageait ses regards furtifs, ses pensées secrètes, entre ce quadragénaire et le jeune étudiant. Predictably, Vautrin made Mme Vauquer very excited, but neither of these women was aware that he was a man who found satisfaction in relationships with other men. The worldly wise, Mlle Michonneau, however, had few illusions.
B) His appearance -
1) The impression of great physical Strength – He is described as stocky, muscular, Page 22.
Il avait les épaules larges, le buste bien développé, les muscles apparents, des mains épaisses, carrées
2) A hardness in his facial appearance
His face was prematurely lined, which suggested a hardness of character:
Sa figure, rayée par des rides prématurées, offrait des signes de dureté Page 22.
C) His manners
1) He has easy going and amenable ways.
We are told of ses manières souples et liantes Page 22. He is obliging always ready to offer his services. He offers a vast source of advice and information to his fellow guests. He is knowledgeable about everything going on in the world, including- significantly- in prisons
- He is dexterous.
He is clever with his fingers. If anyone has a problem with a lock, he can dismantle it with ease and put it right. He claims to be an expert.
- He is generous.
He lends money to Mme Vauquer and her guests. When Rastignac found himself penniless after his first expensive weeks in Paris society, Vautrin lent him 3,500 francs, which he described as purely a business transaction. See Page 179.
- He is a cheerful joker.
He is the life and soul of the party at Mme. Vauquer's boarding house, always ready to break into song Page 22.
Sa voix de basse-taille, en harmonie avec sa grosse gaieté, ne déplaisait point. Il était obligeant et rieur.
He teases Mme. Vauquer: her corsets are so tight that if she laughs she will burst - but he will pick up the pieces. Mme. Vauquer is delighted.- Page 209:
Il connaît le langage de la galanterie française dit la veuve en se penchant à l'oreille de madame Couture.
He makes fun of Eugene in his smart clothes (Page 159). When Rastignac enters the Vauquer dining room dressed as a fashionable dandy for his first evening alone with Delphine, all the other boarders are at table. He has to face a barrage of jokes about his new style and Vautrin leads it with his usual boisterous clowning. He pretends he is a busker at the fair selling off this glamorous, exotic object, which is Rastignac: Mais combien cette merveille, me direz-vous, messieurs? deux sous! Non. Rien du tout. C'est un reste des fournitures faites au grand-Mogol, et que tous les souverains de l'Europe, y compris le grrrrrrand-duc de Bade, ont voulu voir! Entrez droit devant vous! et passez au petit bureau. And Vauquer leads the guests in a mock orchestral accompaniment: Allez, la musique! Brooum, là, là, trinn! là, là, boum, boum! Monsieur de la clarinette, tu joues faux,
- He is the flamboyant showman. When the police come to arrest him, it is a great shock for him. However by the end he is the master of ceremonies of the dramatic performance. A painter present remarks Page 226: Diantre!... Il est fameusement beau à dessiner
D) The concealed personality under his jovial exterior
- The hard man underneath. Those who accepted his generosity and borrowed from him would never have dared to renege on their debts, because Vautrin conveyed the sense of a determined man, who would be unscrupulous, if confronted. He had the penetrating gaze of a strict judge:
Comme un juge sévère, son œil semblait aller au fond de toutes les questions, de toutes les consciences, de tous les sentiments.
He tells Rastignac that he is nice to those he likes the look of but nasty with those he does not.(Page 118)
Vautrin accepts that People fear him but claims this is a more flattering reaction than the disgust that a mean-spirited person like Michonneau arouses.
2) The mysterious aspects of his lifestyle
The first description makes it clear that he was a man of mystery He was out from morning till night except for meal times, returning at midnight with his pass key. In the giddy whirl of Paris life, no one sought to fathom the mysteries of his behaviour.
- The depths of his character and his thoughts that people could only glimpse.
Sometimes Vautrin gave glimpses of the awesome depths of his character Page 23:
………souvent il laissait percer l'épouvantable profondeur de son caractère.
Often he would make an ironical comment on the state of the world, worthy of the great satirist of Ancient Rome, Juvenal,
Souvent une boutade digne de Juvénal, ………. devait faire supposer qu'il gardait rancune à l'état social, et qu'il y avait au fond de sa vie un mystère soigneusement enfoui
- Vautrin is a pragmatist, unable to live with the rigidity of set principles
His pragmatic viewpoint is devoid of moral scruples. He believed these had to be stripped away if one wished to be a master of events in the wicked immoral world of Paris He advises Eugène not to cling to his opinions or to any promises he has made-. Page 130:
Si j’ai encore un conseil à vous donner, mon ange, c'est de ne pas plus tenir à vos opinions qu’à vos paroles. Quand on vous les demandera, vendez-les. Un homme qui se vante de ne jamais changer d'opinion est un homme qui se charge d'aller toujours en ligne droite, un niais qui croit à l'infaillibilité. Il n'y a pas de principes; il n'y a que des circonstances: l'homme supérieur épouse les événements et les circonstances pour les conduire.
E) Vautrin described by those who had known him in more sinister circumstances
- A man to respect. The Police Chief Gondureau respects him. Page 184. He tells Mlle Michonneau and Poiret how Vautrin earned his dramatic nickname “Trompe-la-Mort”- Page 185:
Ce sobriquet est dû au bonheur qu'il a eu de ne jamais perdre la vie dans les entreprises extrêmement audacieuses qu'il a exécutées. Cet homme est dangereux, voyez-vous! Il a des qualités qui le rendent extraordinaire.
- A man to fear but loved by his partners in crime. On the second meeting with the police chief to collect the sleeping draught, Gondureau explains that Vautrin is the most dangerous mind behind the criminal gangs and has their greatest respect and also love - Page 211:
…..il est leur drapeau, leur soutien, leur Bonaparte enfin; ils l’aiment tous. Ce drôle ne nous laissera jamais sa tronche en place de Grève. (We note that Napoleon was a national hero in Balzac’s eyes.) After his arrest, Vautrin claims to have more than 10,000 brothers – i.e. partners in crime.
- His sense of honour.
Gondureau says he has a vast secret organisation and vast funds. As a result, his capture would be an act of great political importance. When the unprincipled Mlle. Michonneau asks why Collin does not run off with the money, Gondureau says he is too honourable- Page 188:
D'ailleurs, Collin est un gaillard incapable de faire un trait semblable, il se croirait déshonoré.
F) Vautrin portrayed as a diabolical character
1) The tempter of the innocent youth.
Sometimes the author associates Vautrin with the devil, the tempter of the innocent.
At the desperate point when Rastignac is considering adopting Vautrin’s plan for him to marry Victorine for her potential wealth, he contrives to be alone with her. Surprisingly Vautrin comes and breaks up their meeting. He tells Rastignac he doesn't want him to make up his mind when he is down on his luck. Eugène protests, and Vautrin praises him.-Page 179:
Vous êtes un beau jeune homme, délicat, fier comme un lion et doux comme une jeune fille. Vous seriez une belle proie pour le diable.
However, Vautrin has not made the intervention to ensure that virtue triumphs.He goes on to tell Rastignac that after a few final gestures of virtue to impress fools in the gallery he will be theirs, which we take to be the forces of evil He lists the temptations to lure him: if Eugène becomes his pupil, he will have everything he wishes: honour, fortune and women.
- The wicked murder plot.
The scheme he suggested to Rastignac, to make him a wealthy man, involved the murder of Victorine’s brother. Rastignac recoiled from the idea, but Vautrin, contemptuous of Rastignac’s indecision, ruthlessly went ahead, and he was contemptuous of Rastignac’s reaction to the news hat Victorine’s brother has been seriously injured in duel - Eugene shouts at Vautrin in alarm. -Page 214:
— Monsieur! lui cria Eugene.
— Eh ! bien, quoi, grand enfant? dit Vautrin en achevant de boire son café tranquillement,
3) Vautrin’s diabolical appearance when his disguise is stripped from him
The gendarmes arrive at Mme Vauquer’s boarding house and all chance of escape is denied.. The chief of police knocks off Vautrin's wig and the convict Collin appears in all his horrible diabolical menace. - Page 222.
Accompagnées de cheveux rouge-brique et courts qui leur donnaient un épouvantable caractère de force mêlée de ruse, cette tête et cette face, en harmonie avec le buste, furent intelligemment illuminées comme si les feux de l'enfer les eussent éclairées. Chacun comprit tout Vautrin, son passé, son présent, son avenir, ses doctrines implacables, la religion de son bon plaisir, la royauté que lui donnaient le cynisme de ses pensées, de ses actes, et la force d'une organisation faite à tout.
At that moment,Vautrin assumed the character of a member of the criminal class and his face was that of Satan himself-Page 224:
En un moment Collin devint un poème infernal où se peignirent tous les sentiments humains, moins un seul, celui du repentir. Son regard était celui de l'archange déchu qui vent toujours la guerre.
G) The superior powers of Vautrin
1) His powers of self-control
Vautrin had been about to leap like a wild cat to escape, when he heard the guns cocked to shoot him. Then he realises Page 224 that the police plan is to shoot him dead if he resists arrest, to be rid of him for good. He immediately masters himself and with great self control abruptly restrains his violent temper and surrenders
2) Vautrin’s view of himself as a superior man.
Vautrin despised the mean, base conduct of general human kind but accepts that life has always been like this. Human behaviour is the same at all levels of society. Few men set themselves above society and he, Vautrin, is such a man – in the mould of Napoleon.
It was with an awareness of his own status as l'homme supérieur that he had given the previously quoted advice on the necessity for total pragmatism, Page 130:
- Vautrin is a pragmatist, unable to live with the rigidity of set principles
His pragmatic viewpoint is devoid of moral scruples. He believed these had to be stripped away if one wished to be a master of events in the wicked immoral world of Paris He advises Eugène not to cling to his opinions or to any promises he has made-. Page 130:
Si j’ai encore un conseil à vous donner, mon ange, c'est de ne pas plus tenir à vos opinions qu’à vos paroles. Quand on vous les demandera, vendez-les. Un homme qui se vante de ne jamais changer d'opinion est un homme qui se charge d'aller toujours en ligne droite, un niais qui croit à l'infaillibilité. Il n'y a pas de principes; il n'y a que des circonstances: l'homme supérieur épouse les événements et les circonstances pour les conduire.
Vautrin claims his moral superiority at the time of his arrest. He asks the people present why they should be horrified by him who is less wicked than they- Page 224:
-Etes-vous meilleure que nous? Nous avons moins d'infamie sur l'épaule que vous en avez dans le cœur, membres flasques d'une société gangrenée: le meilleur d'entre vous ne me résistait pas. Ses yeux s'arrêtèrent sur Rastignac
His admiration for Rastignac is based on his assessment of him as a superior man like himself. Page 181:
Un homme est tout ou rien. Il est moins que rien quand il se nomme Poiret : on peut l'écraser comme une punaise, il est plat et il pue. Mais un homme est un dieu quand il vous ressemble… He recognises Eugène as a superior man who will not allow himself to get stopped in his tracks. Mais vous, vous êtes un homme supérieur, on peut tout vous dire, vous savez tout comprendre
3) Rastignac’s acceptance of the superiority of Vautrin
Rastignac later appears to accept Vautrin’s representation of himself as a superior being who had chosen revolt. As Rastignac gets dressed for the final ball which offends his sensibilities, he muses on the squalid mean faults of society. He contrasts them with the sins of Vautrin which were on a magnificent scale. - Page 276
Il voyait le monde comme un océan de boue dans lequel un homme se plongeait jusqu’au cou, s’il s’y trempait le pied. – Il ne s’y commet que des crimes mesquins ! se dit-il. Vautrin est plus grand. Il avait vu les trois grandes expressions de société : l’ Obéissance, la Lutte et la Révolte ; la Famille, le Monde et Vautrin. Et il n’osa prendre parti. l’ Obéissance était ennuyeuse, la Révolte impossible, et la lutte incertaine
H) Vautrin is an idealist with in the mould of J.J. Rousseau.
Vautrin is a disciple of J.J. Rousseau and accepts the ideas of the theorists of social rebellion - Page 226 :
Un forçat de la trempe de Collin, ici présent, est un homme moins lâche que les autres, et qui proteste contre les profondes déceptions du contrat social, comme dit Jean-Jacques, dont je me glorifie d'être l'élève. Enfin, je suis seul contre le gouvernement avec son tas de tribunaux, de gendarmes, de budgets, et je les roule.
His other model is Benvenuto Cellini. He tells Eugène - Page 118:
J'ai lu les Mémoires de Benvenuto Cellini, tel que vous me voyez, et en italien encore! J’ai appris de cet homme-là, qui était un fier luron, à inviter la Providence qui nous tue à tort et à travers, et à aimer le beau partout où il se trouve.
(A reference dictionary describes Cellini as: “a fiery, indomitable character who linked brute force with refined beauty”.)
I) Vautrin is a rebel against the evils of the social system.
1) In the first description of him we were told that Vautrin seemed to reject the contemporary social system Page 23:
….. il semblait se complaire â bafouer les lois, à fouetter la haute société, à la convaincre d'inconséquence avec elle-même
2) He made clear his disgust at the evils of Paris society in the long and repeated lectures that he made to Rastignac Page 124:
Savez-vous comment on fait son chemin ici? Par l'éclat du génie ou par l’adresse de la corruption. He says that corruption is found in abundance, but talent is rare. This is demonstrated by the number of people in Paris, who are able mysteriously to live beyond their means- Page 124:
Vous verrez des employés à douze cents francs acheter des terres. Vous verrez des femmes se prostituer pour aller dans la voiture du fils d'un pair de France, qui peut courir à Longchamp sur la chaussée du milieu.
3) Not only did he speak words of revolt, he took action
He intervened against the wrong that Victorine suffered from her father.
The police arrested him for his many other anti-social activities
J) Vautrin gives himself the prerogative to act as God.
1) Paradoxically, the diabolical Vautrin consciously takes on the role of God. In arranging for Victorine’s fortune to be secured for her, to remedy the injustice of her father and brother, Vautrin is consciously directing the hand of god. In a veiled way, Vautrin explains how his faithful friend will kill Taillefer's son in a duel. He does not wait for fate to bring things about; he makes events-Page 130:
Moi, je me charge du rôle de la Providence, je ferai vouloir le bon Dieu. He said that he saw himself as a kind of Don. Quixote - defending the weak against the strong page 129
Moi je n'aime pas ces injustices-là. Je suis comme don Quichotte, j’aime à prendre la défense du faible contre le fort
- Previously he had advated a rejection of conventional principles………Although he does not conform to conventional moral standards, he has standards of his own.
a) Vautrin says that he will not allow himself to perform a deed which he deems unworthy of himself. He will never stoop to anything mean. When he is asking Rastignac to accept him as his mentor, he says - Page 179:
Je vous permets de me mépriser encore aujourd'hui, sûr que plus tard vous m'aimerez. Vous trouverez en moi de ces immenses abîmes, de ces vastes sentiments concentrés que les niais appellent des vices; mais vous ne me trouverez jamais ni lâche ni ingrat.
b) Thus Vautrin is loyal to the people he loves. The only passion that counts is the love of one man for another. To Vautrin there is only one real feeling that counts: the friendship of one man for another- Page 181:
Eh! bien, pour moi qui ai bien creusé la vie, il n'existe qu'un seul sentiment réel, une amitié d'homme à homme. Pierre et Jaffier, voilà ma passion. The suspicious minded Michonneau thinks there is already a relationship of this kind between Rastignac and Vautrin. (Page 227)
He is loyal to Rastignac. He finds time on his arrest to Eugène remind him of his duelling friend to whom Eugène can apply for help. Even at this moment the loyal Vautrin he shows gentle concern for Rastignac’s well-being.
Similarly he had loved the Comte Franchessini and had gone to prison for crimes committed by this other man. Thus the prison sentence that Vautrin had been serving could be viewed as the result of an honourable deed.
K) The favourable final verdict on him by his fellow boarders.
Even after v autrin has been unmasked as a dangerous, master criminal, most at the Vauquer boarding house remain favourable to him. The maid, Sylvie, gives her final opinion - Page 227:
-Eh! bien, dit-elle, c'était un bon homme tout de même.
All the others, who have been present at the arrest of Vautrin, with the exception of Poiret, insist that Mme Vauquer send Michonneau packing for her betrayal of Vautrin.
Conclusion.
Vautrin is a complex and contradictory character and some contemporary critics dismissed him as totally unbelievable. Todisprove them, Balzac’s reply was that the portrait of Vautrin was based upon a real person, living in contemporary France. In a letter written on the 11th October 1846, Balzac writes:
Cet homme était tout ce qu'est Vautrin, moins la passion que je lui ai prêtée. Il était le génie du mal, ….
The man to whom Balzac was referring is generally taken to be François Vidocq, who had formerly been a convict, but later under the Restoration played a prominent role as head of the security police. Balzac knew him personally and gives Vautrin the same physique – sturdy build, athletic physique. Vidocq also had great natural strength and dexterity and was stated to be a boisterous companion at the dinner table, with the same tendency to burst into song. Other commentators have argued against the identification of Vautrin and Vidocq on the grounds that Vidocq might seem to appear later in the book in the person of Gondureau, who arrests Vautrin. Gondureau has the same working methods as Vidocq. There would seem to be nothing however to prevent Balzac from using different features of the same person in two different characters.
The validity of a fictional character does not hinge, however, upon its closeness to its historical source. In the character of Vautrin, Balzac has taken inspiration from a living model but his powerful imagination has endowed him with characteristics beyond the limits of objective observation. The complex situations, into which Balzac leads him in his story, instigate behaviour probably unknown in the original.
Vautrin is above all the social rebel, and social rebels are notoriously more consistent in their view of what they are fighting against than in what they are fighting for and what is permissible in this fight. It is for the reader to decide whether this character convinces in spite of his conflicting complexities. While we are doing this, we may detect in this larger than life character elements of another real, historical person – Honoré de Balzac.