Father Goriot

Le Pere Goriot, Old Goriot or Father Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), included in the Scenes de la vie privee section of his novel sequence La Comedie humaine. The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought profound changes to French society; the struggle by individuals to secure a higher social status is a major theme in the book. The city of Paris also impresses itself on the characters - especially young Rastignac, who grew up in the provinces of southern France. Balzac analyzes, through Goriot and others, the nature of family and marriage, providing a pessimistic view of these institutions.