"The Cursed Child" by Honoré de Balzac, summary Automatic translate

Honoré de Balzac wrote this work between 1831 and 1836. It is a dark historical drama about the victims of feudal tyranny and family cruelty. The narrative transports the reader to France in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, depicting the tragedy of a young man whose birth coincided with the era of bloody religious wars. The story is part of the famous cycle "The Human Comedy" and is included in the section "Philosophical Studies."

The Countess’s Fears and the Birth of Her First Child

In the winter of 1591, in the Norman castle of Herouville, the young Countess Jeanne de Saint-Savin suffers agonizing labor pains. The eighteen-year-old trembles with fear before her savage husband. Seven months earlier, she had been forced to marry the fifty-year-old Count d’Herouville, a fervent Catholic with a hideous, scarred face. To save her beloved cousin, Georges de Chaverny, who had been captured, Jeanne yielded to her mother’s wishes. At the wedding feast, the Count publicly vowed to wring the heads of his wife and child if the child was born within seven months of the wedding.

The Countess’s fears are confirmed — the birth is premature. The Count, awakening, notices his wife’s agony and immediately suspects infidelity. Donning a mask and the modest attire of a horseman, the lord, along with his groom, Bertrand, gallops to fetch the local physician, Antoine Beauvouloir. The healer is brought blindfolded to the castle. The doctor delivers a frail seven-month-old boy, whom he names Etienne.

The lord is eager to destroy the baby. The physician is cunning, claiming that the premature infant will soon die anyway. Beauvouloir reminds him of the rules of Norman law: without a living male heir, Joan’s rich estates will go to her relatives after her death. The greed for profit compels the stern feudal lord to spare the child’s life.

The Count allots his firstborn a modest fishing hut at the foot of the coastal cliffs and forbids him from leaving these confines, under penalty of death. Some time later, Jeanne gives birth to a second son, Maximilian. The younger child is born healthy, large, and resembles his father in appearance. The Count showers his beloved son with care, but curses and erases his eldest son from his life.

Life of an exile on the seashore

The mother devotes all her tenderness to her rejected firstborn. Unbeknownst to her husband, she descends to the hut daily, breastfeeds Étienne, dresses him in luxurious clothes, and protects him from the servants. The physician, Beauvouloir, warns the Duchess of possible poisoning attempts, so Jeanne herself tests all of her son’s food.

Étienne grows up a sickly and extremely sensitive child. Noise or rudeness causes him to break out in a fever. His mother teaches him Italian, music, and poetry. Under her guidance, the boy reads Dante and Petrarch. The physician Beauvouloir initiates the young man into the secrets of natural science. His father’s cursed prohibition locks Étienne among the coastal sands and cliffs.

The young man found solace in his communion with nature. The ocean became a living companion for him. Étienne learned to recognize the approach of a storm by the slightest changes in the water’s surface, conversed with the waves and birds, composed poetry, and sang to the sounds of the mandolin.

Meanwhile, the Duke cultivates Maximilian’s hatred of learning, instilling in him cruel habits. His youngest son grows up to be an uncouth and aggressive youth. The Duke plans to make Maximilian the sole heir to the title and lands, and destined Etienne for the monastic tonsure and the rank of cardinal.

Jeanne’s health gradually declines from constant mental anguish and separation from her eldest son. One night during a violent sea storm, Beauvouloir and Bertrand secretly escort Étienne to his dying mother’s bedchamber. After bidding farewell to her beloved son, the Duchess dies. Étienne sinks into deep grief, remaining faithful to his mother’s memory.

The death of the younger brother and the return of rights

Twenty-five years pass. In 1617, the seventy-six-year-old Duke d’Hérouville receives terrible news from Paris. His beloved youngest son, Maximilian, has been murdered. The ancient noble family is in danger of extinction.

Wanting to preserve his name and family holdings, the old man remembers his firstborn. The Duke descends to the seashore and tries to find Etienne. The frightened young man hides in a narrow rock crevice. His father pleads with him at length, promising to return all his titles, rights, and wealth. Only upon seeing tears of remorse on the old man’s face does Etienne emerge from hiding and forgive him.

The father brings his son to the castle, gathers his servants and vassals, and proclaims Étienne the rightful heir — the Duke of Nivron. The vulnerable young man faints from the unfamiliar, stuffy surroundings, the noise, and the crowds.

The old duke dreams of marrying his son quickly so he can have a grandson. Physician Beauvouloir persuades the lord not to force Étienne into a forced marriage with an unknown noblewoman. The physician explains that emotional shock or the lack of true love will destroy the young poet. The duke agrees and leaves on state business, entrusting the physician with the care of his son.

Pure love in a fisherman’s hut

Antoine Beauvouloir decides to make two people dear to him happy. The physician brings his seventeen-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, to the fisherman’s hut. The girl grew up in complete seclusion on the Forcalier estate, untouched by the temptations of society. In appearance and spirit, Gabrielle bears a striking resemblance to the late Duchess Jeanne.

The meeting of two pure souls takes place on the seashore in the moonlight. Etienne and Gabrielle fall instantly in love. Music, poetry, and flowers become their common language. For five months, the young man and woman spend their days in genuine joy. They sing ancient songs, stroll along the sand, and share the vague thrill of budding love.

Their love remains sublime and chaste. Étienne sees in Gabrielle the embodiment of his poetic dreams, and she bestows tender care and fidelity on the young duke. Beauvouloir rejoices, noticing how his ward has grown stronger and blossomed with his beloved.

Intervention by outside forces and a tragic ending

A blissful idyll is shattered by a conspiracy. Baron d’Artagnon, lieutenant of the ducal guard, uncovers the lovers’ secret. Desiring to profit and secure a rich wife, the baron informs the old man d’Hérouville of the heir’s affair with a chiropractor’s daughter.

The enraged Duke immediately returns from Paris. He brings with him a noble bride for Etienne, Mademoiselle de Grandlieu. Baron d’Artagnon intimidates Gabriella, threatening to send her father to the scaffold on an old trumped-up charge unless the girl renounces the young Duke.

Étienne writes a letter to his father, asking permission to marry Gabriella. However, the old duke summons his son to the state bedchamber and orders him to marry Mademoiselle de Grandlieu. For the first time in his life, Étienne shows firmness and firmly refuses. He openly declares, "A nobleman must not lie!" and confesses his love for Gabriella.

At that moment, the girl, having broken free from the guards, appears at the door, singing their favorite song. The old duke is enraged by his weak son’s disobedience. Having lost his human form, the old man raises his drawn sword over Gabriella’s head, shouting curses and insults.

Etienne’s heart gives way to mortal fear for his beloved, and he falls dead to the floor. Seeing her beloved’s death, Gabriella dies instantly beside him.

Unbending in his cruelty, the old duke coldly slams the door in front of the bodies of the dead. Turning to Mademoiselle de Grandlieu, he announces that he will marry her himself to continue his line.