Images of Women in Balzac's La Cousine Bette

This study examines the two women cousins, Lisabeth ("Bette") Fischer and Adeline, baronne Hulot – the Old Maid and the Devoted Wife – and, through them, the other female characters in the novel (Hortense Hulot and Valérie Marneffe), to see how these women's actions and personalities are affected by the society in which they live, as expressed by the author's attitude toward them, the approach to them of the other characters, and the possibilities of fulfillment open to them at any given time. (HO)