Młody Balzac publicysta, cz. III: Kodeks ludzi przyzwoitych

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the satirical Code des gens honnêtes, published in 1285, written at least in part by the young Honoré Balzac. Some of the Code’s essential themes are: economic social inequality, theft (including through an effective bending of the law), the definitions of an honnête homme and of a thief. The latter elements show the beginning of a certain social typology, elaborated and later defined by Balzac in his Avant-propos to La Comédie humaine. The study demonstrates how the topic of economic inequality crystallised in Balzac’s writings from his youth, and quotes some of its echoes present in La Comédie humaine. The article uses elements of the genetic, thematic, intertextual and historical perspectives.