Les juifs de Balzac

Examines the image of the Jew in Balzac's work, especially in "La comédie humaine", the multi-volume collection of stories and novels depicting French society between 1815-48. Contends that Balzac's portrayals of the newly emancipated Jews, though influenced by anti-Jewish romantic stereotypes and his antisemitic mistress, Mme Hanska, are nuanced, displaying individual characteristics, their negative features being ascribed to unfavorable social conditions. Though many of the 30 Jews who are depicted in "La comédie humaine" are confined to the stereotypical domains of finance and seduction, Balzac was the first writer to devote an in-depth study to some of his Jewish characters. Pp. 41-54 deal with anti-Jewish stereotypes in romantic literature.