Father Goriot

Le Pere Goriot is a novel written by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac in 1835.

It is included in the Scenes de la vie privee section of his novel sequence La Comedie humaine. The story takes place in Paris in 1819 and has thee crossing lives of three characters: a naive law student named Eugene de Rastignac, the elderly doting Goriot, and a mysterious criminal named Vautrin.


It is considered the most important novel of Balzac. He used in this series his distinguished fiction technique of using characters from other books. The story is also considered as example of his realist style, using very detailed description.


The novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration, which brought changes to French society. Major theme in the book is conflict of individuals to gain a higher status in life.