DOI: 10.47743/jss-2025-71-4-14

Faculty of Law, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași.

Abstract: Law and legal concepts are omnipresent in Balzac's literary works from the series „La Comédie humaine” constituting some of the essential elements of the universe contained within their pages. The fact that multiple legal themes occupy a central place in the literary works of one of the most famous exponents of culture, and, in particular, of french literature, is no coincidence, as Honoré de Balzac studied at the Faculty of Law in Paris. However, the author's literary concerns related to law, in both its dimensions (practical and scientific), the French legal system, as well as numerous other legal concepts and institutions, do not have a single source, strictly limited to the latter's legal studies. More specifically, the author showed a constant concern for legal and moral issues, even being stated that law was the „backbone” of Balzac's literary work, not least because the field of law was one of the main concerns of french society at the time of his literary creations. Therefore, the author does nothing more than express a dimension of the reality of his time, which is why we find a veritable legal discourse, both in the main narrative and in the secondary, background narrative of his literary universe. In addition to being the creator of a universe that illustrates one of the key moments in the history of the development of the romano-germanic legal culture, namely the tumultuous period of reforms and metamorphosis of the french legal system, in which the transition from the legal values specific to the legal system of the Ancien Régime to the new values of the revolutionary system and, finally, the post-revolutionary system took place, the author captures in his literary creations, among many other things: the social turmoil that France is going through, the undermining of the power of the old aristocracy, as well as the transition from a legally unequal society to one that is, in principle, equal. In this study, we will focus our analysis on characters from some of the literary works in the series „La Comédie humaine” by the French author Honoré de Balzac, which illustrate various archetypes, legal concepts and institutions, and legal and moral values (e.g. César Birotteau, Lucien de Rubempré, and Colonel Chabert), as well as the literary connotations of the latter.

Keywords: Honoré de Balzac, La Comédie humaine, law, justice.

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