Character Types
[
Art|
Literature|
Banking|
Government|
Military|
Music|
Business|
New Bourgeouis|
Misers|
Mothers|
Fathers|
Legal World|
Criminals|
Notaries|
Clerks|
Politicians|
Doctors|
Priests|
Porters|
Stewards/Estate Keepers|
Servants|
Scientists|
Architects/Contractors/Builders|
Supernatural|
Castrati Opera Singers
]
[
Actresses/Courtesans|
The Debauched|
Femme Fatales|
Women who Ruin Men|
Men Under the Spell of a Woman|
Women Under the Spell of a Man|
Fools|
Cunning/Sly People|
Lovers|
Virtuous Wives|
The Fallen|
Young Upstarts
]
[
Nobility|
Local Gentry|
Estate Owners|
Grand Dames|
Noble Women|
Aristocracy (minor characters)
]
Art World
- Joseph Bridau (painter, Two Brothers, A Start in Life)
- Jean-Jacques Bixiou (characturist/cartoonist)
- Pierre Grassou (painter, Pierre Grassou)
- Leon de Lora (painter, A Start in Life, Unconscious Comedians)
- Hippolyte Schinner (painter, The Purse)
- Gros (painter)
- Elie Magus (art dealer, Cousin Pons)
- Girodet (At the Sign of the Cat and Racket)
- Sommervieux (At the Sign of the Cat and Racket)
Literary World (writers,journalists,owners of magazines)
- Daniel d' Arthez and his circle (writer, Lost Illusions)
- Canalis (poet, supposedly based on Victor Hugo, Modeste Mignon)
- Raoul Nathan (dramatist, A Daughter of Eve)
- Etienne Lousteau (journalist, Lost Illusions)
- Claude Vignon (journalist, Lost Illusions)
- Felicien Vernou (journalist, Lost Illusions)
- Finot (journalist, Lost Illusions)
- Cerizet (Publisher of a ministerial journal in "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Dauriat (bookstore owner and publisher, Lost Illusions
- Jean Francois du Bruel (dramatist, Lost Illusions, A Daughter of Eve)
- Emile Blondet (journalist, Lost Illusions)
- Albert Savarus (editor of small paper, amateur novelist, Albert Savarus)
- The Cenacle Literary Circle (Lost Illusions)
- Horace Bianchon: doctor
- Leon Giraud: philosopher
- Joseph Bridau: the painter
- Fulgence Ridal: comic poet
- Meyraux: physiologist
- Louis Lambert: mystic (died young)
- Michel Chrestien: Federalist Republican (died young)
- Lucien de Rubempre: writer
Bankers/Usurers/Moneylenders
- Nucingen (banker, Nucingen and Company)
- Gobseck (moneylender, Gobseck)
- du Tillet (banker)
- Keller (banker)
- Charles Mignon (count and banker, Modeste Mignon")
- Mongenod (Modeste Mignon)
- Gobenheim (of Gobenheim-Keller, In "Modeste Mignon")
- Cerizet (small-time moneylender with Dutocq)
- Madame Nourrisson (pawnbroker in "Unconscious Comedians")
- Ravenouillet (porter and usurer in "Unconscious Comedians")
- Bidault (known as Gigonnet)
Government Bureaucrats
- Thuillier (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Colleville (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Dutocq (the mayor's clerk in The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Minard (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Phellion (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Bridau (Agathe's deceased husband, Two Brothers)
- Charles Claparon
Soldiers
- Phillipe Bridau (Two Brothers)
- Maxence Gilet or Max (Two Brothers)
- Colonel Chabert (Colonel Chabert)
- Giroudeau (Two Brothers)
- Paz (The Imaginary Mistress)
- Montriveau (The Duchesse de Langeais)
- Colonel Gouraud (Pierrette)
- (see The Vendetta)
Musicians
- Cousin Pons (Cousin Pons)
- Schmucke, Wilhelm (Cousin Pons, A Daughter of Eve)
- (A Daughter of Eve (good description),Ursule Mirouet,
- Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, Cousin Pons)
- Colleville (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- The Castrati Opera singer in Sarrasine
Business World
- Jerome and Sylvie Rogron (small shopkeepers, mercers, Pierrette)
- Gaudissart
- Goriot
- Cesar Birotteau
- Elie Magus (art dealer)
- the sister-in-law who amassed a small fortune
knitting money bags (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Matifat (wealthy druggist in "Cousin Pons")
- Monsieur Jules Desmarets (Stockbroker, Ferragus)
- Monsieur Frappier (Cabinet Maker, Pierrette)
New Bourgeouis (Social position rose due to success in business.)
- Pierrotin (Coach Driver in "A Start in Life")
- Pere Leger
- Moreau
Misers
- Monsieur Hochon (Two Brothers)
- Felix Grandet (Eugene Grandet)
- Elie Magus (Cousin Pons)
Mothers
- Agathe Bridau (Two Brothers)
Fathers
- Goriot (Pere Goriot)
- Ferragus (Ferragus)
Legal World (Lawyers, Judges)
- Jean-Jules Popinot (A Case in Lunacy)
- Desroches
- Godeschal (Oscar's mentor in "A Start in Life,"
Derville's successor ("The Lesser Bourgeousie"), and brother to
the actor Marriette.
- Derville
- Theodose de la Peyrade (Lawyer for the poor in "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- see L'Interdiction (A Commission in Lunacy)
- Massol (Director of a political journal in "A Daughter of Eve")
- Ernest de La Briere (friend and helper of the poet Canalis, In Modeste Mignon)
- Fraisier (Crooked lawyer in "Cousin Pons")
- Albert Savarus (Albert Savarus)
- Vinet (shunned by all in a provincial town, Pierrette)
- M. Blondet (Judge, Cabinet of Antiquities)
- President du Ronceret (Judge, Cabinet of Antiquities)
- Michu (Judge, Cabinet of Antiquities)
- M. Camusot (Judge, Cabinet of Antiquities)
Criminals
- Vautrin (Famous Criminal, Pere Goriot, The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans)
- Maxence Gilet (Max) (rogue, pranskter, gang leader, Two Brothers)
- Cerizet (white collar criminal)
- Charles Crochard (In "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Toupillier (the beggar who stole the diamonds from Crochard in "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Ferragus (Ferragus)
Notaries
- (see The Marriage Contract)
- Crottat, Alexandre (Cesar Birotteau,Colonel Chabert,A Woman of Thirty,Cousin Pons, A Start in Life)
- Latournelle, Simon Babylas (Modeste Mignon)
- (see The Two Brothers for one that absconds with money)
- Depuis (who runs away after going bankrupt in "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Berthier (Cousin Pons)
- Cardot (Cousin Pons)
- Chesnel (Cabinet of Antiquities)
Clerks
- Marest, Georges (A Start in Life, The Peasantry)
- Jean Butscha (Modeste Mignon)
Politicians
- La Roche-Hugon, Martial de
- Eugene de Rastignac
- Henri de Marsay
Doctors
- Horace Bianchon
- Desplein (An Atheist's Mass, Modeste Mignon, Two Brothers)
- Haudry (Cousin Pons, Ferragus)
- Doctor Rouget (Two Brothers)
- Doctor Martener (in small provincial town, Pierrette)
- Doctor Neraud (in small provincial town, Pierrette)
Priests
- Abbe Loraux (Adieu)
- Abbe Gondrand (Confessor of the Duchesse de Langeais)
- (See the Vicar of Tours)
- Vicar General of Besancon (Albert Savarus)
Porters:
- Ravenouillet (Unconscious Humorists)
- Cibot (Cousin Pons)
- The porter of Pere Lachaise cemetery (Ferragus)
Estate-Keeper/Steward (Look after a large estate for the owner.)
- Moreau (A Start in Life)
- Michu ("A Murky Affair" / "A Historical Mystery")
- Chesnel (Cabinet of Antiquities)
Servants
- Estelle (Estate keeper's wife in "A Start in Life")
- Jacquet (Ferragus)
- Jerome (Albert Savarus's servant)
- Mariette (blackmailed by her mistress's daughter, Albert Savarus)
Scientists
- Felix Phellion (astronomer, The Lesser Bourgeousie)
- Picot (mad scientist, The Lesser Bourgeousie)
Architects/Contractors/Builders
- Chaffaroux (Contractor in "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Grindot (Architect in "Modeste Mignon" and "The Lesser Bourgeousie")
- Sauvaignou (the foreman of a master-carpenter in the lesser Bourgeousie)
The Supernatural
- Madame Fontaine (fortune teller in "Cousin Bette","Unconscious Comedians", and "Cousin Pons")
Castrati Opera Singers
Actresses/Courtesans
- Florine
- Jenny Cadine
- Mariette
- Esther
- Marguerite Turquet (Circus performer in "An Imaginary Mistress")
- Coralie
- La Torpille
- Tullia
- Euphrasie
- Aquilina
- Madame du Val-Noble
- Florentine (Agathe-Florentine Cabirolle) first danseuse at the
Gaiete (Kept by Cardot)
- Coralie (Kept by Camusot)
- Fanny Beaupre (A Start in Life)
- Olympe Cardinal (The Lesser Bourgeouis)
The Debauched/Libertines/Keepers of kept women
- Baron Hulot D'Ervy (Cousin Bette)
- Cardot (Florentine in "A Start in Life")
- Camusot (Coralie in "Lost Illusions")
- Georges Marest (A Start in Life)
- Charles d'Estourny (seducer of Charles Mignon's eldest daughter in "Modeste Mignon")
Femme Fatales/Women who ruin men
- Rabouilleuse or Flore Brazier(Two Brothers)
- the count in (Cousin Bette)
- Honorine (estranged wife, Honorine)
- Madame Komorn alias "The Countess de Godo" (The Lesser Bourgeousie)
Men who ruin women
- Rabouilleuse ruined by Phillipe Bridau in "Two Brothers"
- The Duchesse de Langeais ruined by Montriveau in "The Duchesse de Langeais"
Men under the spell of a woman
- Ernest de La Briere (assistant to the poet Canalis, under the influence of Modeste in "Modeste Mignon")
- Canalis (under the influence of the Duchesse de Chaulieu in "Modeste Mignon")
- see Cousin Bette
- Honorine's husband (under the influence of Honorine in "Honorine")
- Flore Brazier ("the Rabouilleuse") (in "Two Brothers")
- Octave de Camps ruined by Madame Firmiani
- Montriveau (under the influence of the the Duchesse de Langeais
- Baron de Maulincour (under the influence of Madame Jules Desmarets in Ferragus)
Women under the spell of a Man
- Mademoiselle de Watteville (under the spell of Albert Savarus)
Fools
- Rouget, Jean-Jacques
- (the priest in the vicar of Tours)
- (Cousin Pons's German friend)
- Oscar Husson (Insults the Comte de Serizy travelling incognito in a public coach)
- Lucien (the guy who loses everything in Lost Illuions and A Harlot High and Low)
Cunning/Sly people
- Phillipe Bridau (rogue/gambler/schemer/trouble-maker)
- Maxence Gilet (prankster)
- The Jesuit priest in the Vicar of Tours
- Cerizet (Defrauds the master of his printing shop in "Lost Illusions")
Lovers
- Raoul Nathan and the Marquise Charles de Vandenesse
- (see "The Message")
- (see "The Vendetta")
- (see "Eugene Grandet")
- Madame and Monsieur Jules Desmarets (Ferragus)
- Jacques Brigaut and Pierrette (Pierrette)
Virtuous Wives
- Madame Jules Desmarets (Ferragus)
- (see Honorine)
- Domestic Peace
Those who have fallen in the world
- Madame Clapart and her son Oscar (A Start in Life)
- Agathe Bridau and her sons (Two Brothers)
- Georges Marest (ruined by the July revolution of 1830)
- Phillipe Bridau (ruined by the defeat of Napoleon
and then again by July revolution of 1830)
- Charles Mignon (rises again after a successful trading expedition to Canton)
- Z. Marcus (1830, Z. Marcus)
- Albert Savarus (first in Business then 1830, Albert Savarus)
- Victurnien (Cabinet of Antiquities)
Young Upstarts
- Eugene de Rastignac
- Henri de Marsay
Nobility
- Vandenesse, Comtesse Felix de
- Granville, Vicomte de
- Baron de Maulincour (Ferragus)
Local gentry
- De Bourbonne, De (Madame Firmiani, The Vicar of Tours)
- (see "A Murky Business")
- Listomere, Marquis de (Tours)
- Victurnien and his father (Cabinet of Antiquities)
- The Antiquities (Cabinet of Antiquities)
- du Croisier (Cabinet of Antiquities)
Estate Owners
- Comte de Serizy (Comte Hugret de Serizy) (A Start in Life)
- See a Murky Affair
Grand Dames
- The Duchesse de Chaulieu (Modeste Mignon)
- Duchesse Serizy in Lost Illusions (castigates Lucien at the theatre for pretending nobility)
Noble Women
- Madame Firmiani
- Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d'
- Granville, Comtesse Angelique de
- Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de
Aristocracy (Background minor characters)
- de Soulanges
- Maxime de Trailles
- Duc de Maufrigneuse
- Duc de Maufrigneuse
- The Listomere's