|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Juana by Honore de Balzac: his character. His Provencal energy, roused for a time, sank down. At
first he was sustained by his wife, in whom his efforts, his courage,
his ambition had induced some belief in his nature, and who showed
herself, what women are, tender and consoling in the troubles of life.
Inspired by a few words from Juana, the retired soldier came to Paris,
resolved to win in an administrative career a position to command
respect, bury in oblivion the quartermaster of the 6th of the line,
and secure for Madame Diard a noble title. His passion for that
seductive creature enabled him to divine her most secret wishes. Juana
expressed nothing, but he understood her. He was not loved as a lover
dreams of being loved; he knew this, and he strove to make himself
|
