Cousin Bette

*Cousin Bette* is a classic realist novel by Honoré de Balzac, first published in 1846. Set in nineteenth-century Paris, the story explores jealousy, revenge, family betrayal, social ambition, and the destructive influence of wealth and desire.

The novel follows Lisbeth Fischer, known as Cousin Bette, an unmarried woman who secretly resents the prosperity and social position of her wealthy relatives, the Hulot family. Years of humiliation and disappointment have transformed her bitterness into a consuming desire for revenge.

When Bette discovers that her young protégé, the sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock, has fallen in love with her beautiful cousin Hortense, she begins plotting against the family. Joining forces with the calculating Valérie Marneffe, Bette manipulates relationships and exploits the weaknesses of Baron Hulot, whose extravagant affairs threaten his family's financial security.

As deception, obsession, and selfish ambition spread, the Hulot household faces scandal, poverty, and emotional devastation. Bette's schemes reveal the hidden cruelty beneath respectable Parisian society.

Part of Balzac's monumental *La Comédie humaine*, *Cousin Bette* offers a powerful examination of resentment, moral corruption, and social hypocrisy. Through complex characters and psychological insight, Balzac portrays a world where unchecked passions destroy relationships, exposing the fragile foundations of family loyalty, personal honor, and social respectability in an unforgiving society.

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Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 13. november 2026