The Marriage Contract


Read by Bruce Pirie

Balzac’s novel “The Marriage Contract” (1835) is part of his “Scenes of Private Life,” which is one section of “The Human Comedy,” his great fiction series. A wealthy gentleman wishes to marry a beautiful heiress, whose mother is a Spanish Creole. (In this context, “Creole” refers to a person who is genetically European, but born in a New World colony.) As was common for wealthy families of that time, notaries are hired to negotiate a prenuptial agreement.

The details of 19th-century financial arrangements may well seem obscure for modern readers. What remains true throughout time, however, is Balzac’s unsparing portrait of humanity, in all its romantic illusions and its naked avarice, its capacity for naïve innocence and for scheming treachery. - Summary by Bruce Pirie (6 hr 16 min)

Chapters

Ch.1 Pro and Con 31:54 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 2 The Pink of Fashion 49:10 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 3 The Marriage Contract, First Day (I) 1:05:25 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 3 The Marriage Contract, First Day (II) 45:44 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 4 The Marriage Contract, Second Day 49:52 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 5 The Marriage Contract, Third Day 43:24 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 6 Conclusion (I) 49:32 Read by Bruce Pirie
Ch. 6 Conclusion (II) 41:44 Read by Bruce Pirie