The Secrets of the Princess of Cadignan II

Literal mistranslations:

“comedian”:  should be “actress”
“motifs”:  should be “hidden intentions”
“world” : should be “high society”

1.   Chapter III (« If d’Arthez did not brace…any statue ») When d’Arthez first visits the Princess in her apartment, how does she want him to see her?  In telling him the secrets of her past, what does she want him to feel about her? 
      “It is impossible…on her own account” Does the narrator’s description of the Prince conform with the character that the Princess attributes indirectly to her husband?  If, as Blondet and Rastignac say, the Princess is “a consummate specimen of the Parisian woman, the cleverest of coquettes, the most enchanting mistress in the world,” then she represents the heights of the Parisian woman.  Based on the Princess’s actions, what is the attitude towards love and lovers of the consummate Parisian woman in the early 19^th century according to Balzac?  

2 .  Chapter IV In this chapter, what danger is the Princess trying to ward off?  In other words, what threat does society pose for her happiness with d’Arthez?   What “thicker bandage still” does she try to pull over his eyes in order to ward off this danger (What story does she tell him of her past life (compare to the narrator’s stories of the Princess’s and the Prince’s lives in Chapters I and III)?  How does she propose to make him believe this story and not the true story?)

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3.  Chapter V  « Le lendemain, sur les…veulent tout savoir »  How does the Princess use her friend the Marquise?  What is her goal? Does she achieve it?  How?  Can you explain now why the narrator says in the French version of chapter III that the Princess’s seduction of d’Arthez “extends the bounds of perversity” but is the “opposite of vice”?  What is her virtue at the end of the text?

4.  It is a cliché that society spreads deceitful rumors and that individuals reveal the truth when they share intimate secrets.  What does Balzac’s story say about this cliché?  How does Balzac expand and complicate our understanding of society’s shared views? of the sharing of intimate secrets between individuals?  In Balzac, are society, like the men at the Marquise d’Espard’s dinner, and individuals, like the Princess, more interested in the truth or falsity of what their words say or in what their words do for them in their relations with society and other individuals?  Explain.