Mercadet: A Comedy

By Honoré de Balzac

Honor? de Balzac (20. May 1799. - 18. August 1850.) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Com?die humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.Mercadet first appeared as Le Faiseur (The Speculator), being originally written in 1838-40. In the original it was a comedy in five acts; but this was adapted and reduced to three acts before its presentation at the Gymnase Theatre, August 24, 1851.The play contains situations full of sparkling humour and biting satire. Its motif is that spirit of greed and lust for gain which places a money value even upon affection.The play shows the central character living in a luxurious surroundings, but in a state of financial crisis. Mercadet is something of a financial rouge who is cunning and unscrupulous, occupied mainly with attempts to outdo his creditors. There is also the matter of a daughter to be married and a dowry to be provided.Mercadet seeks fortune at any price. He has the fever of a gambler who undertakes his speculations with ardour and bravado. He is excited by the prospect of financial gain as much for the benefit of the family and the augmentation of their daughter's dowries as for his personal comfort. Mercadet's rushes to outwit his creditors are excused only by the fact that, without exception, the creditors are shown to be more unscrupulous and parasitic than Mercadet himself.Finally, with his fortune restored Mercadet pays his creditors, renounces speculations forever, and permits his daughter's marriage to go ahead.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1515006522
• ISBN13: 9781515006527
• Release Date: July 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 82 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.2" x 5.0"