Abstract

On the Historical Novel in France and Italy: Balzac, Flaubert, and Manzoni

Created by Walter Scott, the historical novel owes its immense and persistent success to the fact that it foregrounds an impression linked to the rapid political, social, and economic change at the end of the 18th century: individual fate may be contingent on either the will of a god or the inscrutable lottery of genes; but it is certainly dependent on historical circumstances, as well as an individual’s ability to cope with them. – This essay discusses three prominent 19th-century paradigms of the genre. Focusing primarily on Le Père Goriot, L’Éducation sentimentale, and I promessi sposi, it argues that each of the texts encapsulates conceptualizations of history that remain dominant well unto the present day. Balzac offers a (religiously based) historical optimism. Flaubert’s radical pessimism is grounded in the belief that all historical change is nothing but a series of ultimately irrelevant surface phenomena. Manzoni’s moderate political scepticism suggests that a rigorously rational approach to the problems emerging as a result of historical events may not be able to make this world a better place but might still help to prevent major catastrophes.