Seuil du désir et immortalité perdue dans « La Peau de chagrin » de Balzac
Threshold of desire and immortality in "Peau de chagrin" by Balzac

Author(s): Diana Gradu
Subject(s): French Literature, Cultural Essay, Philology
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: threshold; Balzac; Peau de Chagrin; immortality; love;
Summary/Abstract: Raphael, the third Archangel, the one whom God heals, or who, by divine extension, has softening powers, is – in the novel La Peau de chagrin de Balzac – a name not predestined for this glorious journey. The character of Balzac is, on the contrary, a weak being who ceaselessly crosses the threshold between life and death, love and betrayal, poverty and wealth, anguish and hope. Temptation, embodied by the old antiquarian of the Voltaire quay, a sort of Dieu-Faust sui generis, pushes Raphaël de Valentin to lead a life without references, often unreasonable. La Peau de chagrin is the materialization of the consciousness that every man is mortal and to see it every day, after every action and every gesture, shrinking, can constitute an unbearable moral torture.

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