"Eugenie Grandet" (written in 1833, part of the grand project"La Comedie Humaine") is the most famous novel by French writer Honore de Balzac. Many of Balzac's novels concentrate on money and power. In the novel "Eugenie Grandet" the focus on these elements is even stronger.
             The story is of a young woman who grows up as an only child. Her father is a very cheapskate man, and this affects his relations with the rest of the family. Her mother although very gentle and caring does not seem to play a significant role.
             Eugenie lives with her parents and servant Nanon in Saumur. On her twenty –third birthday her father makes preparations to arrange the marriage of his daughter so that this will not affect his wealth in the slightest. The same evening, her cousin Charles arrives with a letter asking for support after his parent's death. Eugenie becomes very captivated by her cousin and starts building up dreams of marring him.
             Balzac's used us with finding various representations of human types in his feminine characters. Eugenie Grandet is a rather idealized woman who would be willing to give herself up in order to help her potential partner to evolve, sacrificing her own needs and desires, supporting him in every possible way.
             Eugenie is a sensible young and naive woman. She is innocent and not capable of perceiving the mean, cold world around her. She is not able to make the difference between a lie and the simple truth. "To young girls religiously brought up, whose minds are ignorant and pure, all is love from the moment they set their feet within the enchanted regions of that passion"1. She understands her cousin's grief and she is always by his side and feels pity for him. Although she finds a love letter written by Charles to another woman, her passion for Charles does not diminish. Her love for him is childish and pure.
             Her crush on her cousin leads her in gi...