''Le Colonel Chabert'' (English: ''Colonel Chabert'') is an 1832

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

by French

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

(1799–1850). It is included in his series of novels (or ''Roman-fleuve'') known as ''

La Comédie humaine (; English: ''The Human Comedy'') is Honoré de Balzac's 1829–48 multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration (1815–30) and the July Monarchy (1830–48). ''La Com� ...

'' (''The Human Comedy''), which depicts and parodies French

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

in the period of the Restoration (1815–1830) and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

(1830–1848). This novella, originally published in ''

Le Constitutionnel ''Le Constitutionnel'' (, ''The Constitutional'') was a French political and literary newspaper, founded in Paris during the Hundred Days by Joseph Fouché. Originally established in October 1815 as ''The Independent'', it took its current name du ...

'', was adapted for six different motion pictures, including two silent films.

Plot summary

Colonel Chabert marries Rose Chapotel, a prostitute. Colonel Chabert then becomes a French

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who is held in high esteem by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. After being severely wounded in the

Battle of Eylau The Battle of Eylau (also known as the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau) was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoleon's and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of General Levin August von Be ...

(1807), Chabert is recorded as dead and buried with other French casualties. However, he survives and after extricating himself from his own grave is nursed back to health by local peasants. It takes several years for him to recover. Returning to Paris, he discovers his widow has married the social climber Count Ferraud and has liquidated all of Chabert's belongings. Seeking to regain his name and money that were wrongly given away as inheritance, he hires Derville, a lawyer, to win back his money and his honour. Derville, who also represents the Countess Ferraud, warns Chabert against accepting a settlement bribe from the Countess. In the end, Chabert walks away empty-handed and spends the rest of his days in an asylum.

Themes

In ''Le Colonel Chabert'' Balzac juxtaposes two world-views: the Napoleonic value-system, founded on honour and military valour; and that of the Restoration. Chabert was not killed at the Battle of Eylau, though it was thought that he was. He struggles back to life, but cannot reclaim his identity. His "widow", who is actually his wife, and who fittingly was a prostitute in her early adult years, is now the Comtesse Ferraud, married (or so it would seem) to an important Restoration nobleman and politician. She repudiates her "former" husband (just as Ferraud, in changed political circumstances, would now be happy to repudiate her). All that matters in the modern era is social rank based upon the possession of money, especially inherited wealth. This theme of the trenchant purity of the military way of life is something to which Balzac returns in ''

La Rabouilleuse ''La Rabouilleuse'' (, ''The Black Sheep'', or ''The Two Brothers'') is an 1842 novel by Honoré de Balzac, and is one of ''La Comédie humaine#The Celibates (Les Célibataires), The Celibates'' in the series ''La Comédie humaine''. ''The Black ...

'', but there the subject is treated quite differently.

Characters

* Hyacinthe Chabert, Colonel * Countess Ferraud (formerly Chabert) * Count Ferraud * Derville * Bouchard * Godeschal * Desroches * Simonin * Boutin * Chamberlain * Delbecq * A Notary

Film adaptations

* 1911: ''Le Colonel Chabert''. France. Directed by

André Calmettes André Calmettes (1861–1942) was a French actor and film director. Biography After being a theatre actor for twenty years, he joined the society ', founded in 1908 by the novelist and editor, at the urging of the Sociétaires of the Comédie- ...

and Henri Pouctal. * 1920: ''Il Colonnello Chabert''. Italy. Directed by

Carmine Gallone Carmine Gallone (10 September 1885 – 11 March 1973) was an early Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who was also controversial for his works of pro-Fascist propaganda and historical revisionism. Considered one of Itali ...

. Starring Charles Le Bargy and Rita Pergament. * 1932: '' Man Without a Name'' (''Mensch ohne Namen''). Germany. Directed by

Gustav Ucicky Gustav Ucicky (6 July 1899 – 27 April 1961) was an Austrians, Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. His work cov ...

. Starring

Werner Krauss Werner Johannes Krauss (''Krauß'' in German; 23 June 1884 – 20 October 1959) was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film '' Jud ...

, Mathias Wieman, Hans Brausewetter and Helene Thimig. * 1943: '' Colonel Chabert'' (''Le Colonel Chabert''). France. Directed by

René Le Hénaff René Le Hénaff (24 April 1901 – 5 January 2005) was a French film editor and director. As a film editor he collaborated with directors Marcel Carné, René Clair, and Géza von Radványi among others. His three films with Carné in the late ...

. Starring

Raimu Jules Auguste Muraire (18 December 1883 – 20 September 1946), whose stage name was Raimu, was a French actor. He is most famous for playing César in the 'Marseilles trilogy' ('' Marius'', '' Fanny'' and '' César''). Life and career Born in T ...

. * 1978: '' Colonel Chabert'' (''Полковник Шабер''). Russia. Starring

Vladislav Strzhelchik Vladislav Ignatievich Strzhelchik (; 1921–1995) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1974). Biography Vladislav Strzhelchik born in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). His father, Ignatiy Petrovich was a native of ...

Oleg Basilashvili Oleg Valerianovich Basilashvili (born 26 September 1934) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He was awarded People's Artist of the USSR in 1984. Biography Childhood He was born to a family of mixed Russians, Russian, Pol ...

Mikhail Boyarsky Mikhail Sergeyevich Boyarsky (; born 26 December 1949) is a Russian actor and singer. He is best known for playing swashbucklers in historical adventure films; the role of d'Artagnan in the 1978 Soviet adaptation of Alexander Dumas' ''Thre ...

. * 1994: '' Colonel Chabert'' (''Le Colonel Chabert''). France. Directed by

Yves Angelo Yves Angelo (born 22 January 1956) is a French cinematographer, film director and screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as ...

Footnotes

External links

The Human Comedy by Honoré de Balzac
hosted by

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

.
Colonel Chabert by Honoré de Balzac
from Project Gutenberg (English translation by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell), hosted by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...