The writer and the text: a study of character and textuality in Balzac's Louis Lambert

Abstract

This thesis on the novel Louis Lambert by Honoré de Balzac discusses the origins of character in the novel, examining particularly the extent to which the work is autobiographical. It also explores the importance of textuality in the novel, and discusses the many textual layers that comprise the work. It is divided into three parts. The first two chapters comprise a discussion of the genesis of the novel: how it came to be written, the events surrounding its conception and an exploration of the possible real life models of the character Louis Lambert. The second part of the thesis, comprising chapters three and four, explores the origins of character in the novel, and poses the notion of the novel's allegorical context: the idea of the two characters combining to represent an allegory for the dichotomy at the heart of Balzac's personality. The extent to which the novel is a resolution of this struggle is also discussed. Additionally, this section explores the autobiographical elements that are found in the novel and the extent to which either Louis or the narrator can be seen to represent the author. The final part of the novel focuses on textuality in the work, which is an important aspect of this novel that has been largely neglected by critics. Chapters five and six explore intertextuality and intratextuality in the novel, and their role in situating the novel in a 'real' context, which serves to heighten the biographical nature of the work. Chapter seven discusses the novel's self-referential structure and how narratorial anxiety draws attention to it, thus shattering the novel's mimetic illusion, drawing attention to its structure, and creating the impression of a 'real' work based on 'real' people. Finally, chapter eight examines the theme of understanding in the novel, and particularly how the relationship of understanding between the novel and the reader is established in the work. This brings the thesis to a conclusion with a focus on what is ultimately the destination or finishing point of the novel, the reader.