
Set against the bustling streets of mid‑19th‑century Paris, this segment of La Comédie humaine turns its keen eye to the intimate world of private life. A lavish wedding at Saint‑Thomas‑d’Aquin launches a procession of carriages, tears, and whispered promises, introducing the newly married Sabine and her circle of aristocratic relatives. Through vivid description, the narrative captures the glittering outward ceremony while hinting at the quieter tensions that begin to stir beneath.
The story follows Sabine as she steps into a marriage that feels as much a social contract as a personal commitment, observed by a cast of characters—from the proud duchess to the witty baroness and the observant postilions. Balzac sketches the delicate dance of expectations, where women mourn the loss of freedom and men smile at the prospect of advantage. Their conversations reveal the subtle power plays and unspoken anxieties that accompany every step of the honeymoon journey.
Language
fr
Duration
~22 hours (1296K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Claudine Corbasson, Hans Pieterse and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Release date
2015-01-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1799–1850
A giant of French fiction, this restless, ambitious storyteller built a whole literary world in La Comédie humaine, capturing the dreams, vanities, and struggles of 19th-century society. His novels still feel lively because they care so much about money, power, love, and the ways people reinvent themselves.
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