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{{short description|1846 novel by Honoré de Balzac}}
{{Featured article}}▼
{{for|the films based on the novel|Cousin Bette (1928 film)|Cousin Bette (1998 film)}}
{{Infobox book
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| translator =
| image = BalzacCousinBette01.jpg
| caption = Illustration from an 1897 edition<br /> by [[Georges Cain]]
| author = [[Honoré de Balzac]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = France
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| followed_by =[[Un prince de la bohème]]
}}
'''''La Cousine Bette''''' ({{IPA
In the 1840s, a serial format
The novel's characters represent polarities of contrasting morality. The vengeful Bette and disingenuous Valérie stand on one side, with the merciful Adeline and her patient daughter Hortense on the other. The patriarch of the Hulot family, meanwhile, is consumed by his own sexual desire. Hortense's husband, the Polish exile Wenceslas Steinbock, represents artistic genius, though he succumbs to uncertainty and lack of motivation. Balzac based the character of Bette in part on his mother and the poet [[Marceline Desbordes-Valmore]]. At least one scene involving Baron Hulot was likely based on an event in the life of Balzac's friend, the novelist [[Victor Hugo]].
''La Cousine Bette'' is considered Balzac's last great work. His trademark use of [[literary realism|realist]] detail combines with a panorama of characters returning from earlier novels. Several critics have hailed it as a turning point in the author's career, and others have called it a prototypical [[Naturalism (literature)|naturalist]] text. It has been compared to William Shakespeare's ''[[Othello]]'' as well as Leo Tolstoy's ''[[War and Peace]]''. The novel explores themes of vice and virtue, as well as the influence of money on French society. Bette's relationship with Valérie is also seen as an important exploration of [[homoerotic]] themes. A number of film versions of the story have been produced, including a 1971 [[BBC]] mini-series starring [[Margaret Tyzack]] and <!-- Did not receive her DBE until 2003. -->[[Helen Mirren]], and a 1998 feature film with [[Jessica Lange]] in the title role.
==Background==
[[File:Honore de Balzac 1899 portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|left|In her second anonymous letter, [[Ewelina Hańska]] told Balzac: "Your soul embraces centuries, monsieur."<ref>Quoted in Gerson, p. 155.</ref>]]
By 1846 [[Honoré de Balzac]] had achieved tremendous fame as a writer, but his finances and health were deteriorating rapidly. After writing a series of [[potboiler]] novels in the 1820s<!-- is this the right decade? -->, he published his first book under his own name, ''[[Les Chouans]]'' ("The Chouans"), in 1829. He followed this with dozens of well-received novels and stories, including ''[[La Peau de chagrin]]'' ("The Magic Skin"), in 1831, ''[[Le Père Goriot]]'' ("Father Goriot") in 1835, and the two-volume ''[[Illusions perdues]]'' ("Lost Illusions"), in 1837 and 1839. Because of his lavish lifestyle and penchant for financial speculation
As his work gained recognition, Balzac began corresponding with a Polish baroness named [[Ewelina Hańska]], who first contacted him through an anonymous 1832 letter signed "''L'Étrangère''" ("The Stranger"). They developed an affectionate friendship in letters, and when she became a widow in 1841, Balzac sought her hand in marriage. He visited her often in Poland and Germany, but various complications prohibited their union. One of these was an affair Balzac had with his housekeeper, Louise Breugniot. As she became aware of his affection for Mme. Hanska, Breugniot stole a collection of their letters and used them to extort money from Balzac. Even after this episode
The mid-19th century was a time of profound transformation in French government and society. The reign of [[Charles X of France|King Charles X]] ended in 1830 when [[July Revolution|a wave of agitation and dissent]] forced him to abdicate. He was replaced by [[
In the mid-19th century, a new style of the novel became popular in France. The [[serial (literature)|serial]] format known as the ''[[
==Writing and publication==
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==Plot summary==
[[File:LaCousineBette02.jpg|thumb|upright|left|While caring for him, Bette refers to Wenceslas Steinbock as "mon enfant ... un garçon qui se relève du cercueil" ("my child ... a son risen from the grave").<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 8|Balzac, p. 67]]. Original French is [[s:fr:La Cousine Bette/2#XVII. Histoire
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's as her intended spouse, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. Her strategy is to work on Baron Hulot's demonstrated weakness for acquiring and lavishing more money than he has on young mistresses.
==Characters and inspirations==
[[File:La Cousine Bette Huard Marechal Hulot US.jpg|thumb|left|The death of Marshal Hulot has been called "one of the most moving in all of Balzac".<ref>Pugh, p. 426.</ref>]]
Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began ''La Cousine Bette'', and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive [[
Other recurring characters appear only briefly in ''La Cousine Bette''; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence. This is the case with Vautrin, the criminal mastermind who tutors young Eugene de Rastignac in Balzac's 1835 novel ''Le Père Goriot''. When he resurfaces in ''La Cousine Bette'', he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Although Vautrin's presence in ''La Cousine Bette'' is brief, his earlier adventures in ''Le Père Goriot'' provide instant recognition and emotional texture. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. For example, several scenes feature artists like Jean-Jacques Bixiou, who first appeared in 1837's ''[[Les Employés]]'' and in many other books thereafter. The world of Parisian nightlife is quickly brought to mind with the inclusion of several characters from ''[[Les Comédiens sans le savoir]]'' (1846), and Bianchon appears – as always – when a doctor is needed.<ref>Pugh, pp. 425–426. Balzac reportedly called for Bianchon on his deathbed. For more information about characters, see Bellos, ''Bette'', pp. 87–92.</ref>
Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction. It enables a depth of [[characterization]] that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. "When the characters reappear", notes the critic Samuel Rogers, "they do not step out of nowhere; they emerge from the privacy of their own lives which, for an interval, we have not been allowed to see."<ref>Rogers, 182; Bellos makes a similar point in ''Criticism'' on p. 21.</ref> Some readers
===Bette Fischer===
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[[File:La Cousine Bette Huard Valerie Marneffe US.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Valérie Marneffe "attirait tous les regards, excitait tous les désirs, dans le cercle où elle rayonnait" ("attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she shone upon").<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 18|Balzac, p. 159]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/4#XXXIX. Le bel Hulot démantelé|at French Wikisource]].</ref>]]
Valérie is repulsed by her ugly husband and has gone five years without kissing him.<ref>Balzac, p. 186.</ref> She explains bluntly that her position as a married woman provides subtleties and options unavailable to the common prostitute who has one set price; after Marneffe dies, Valérie jockeys for position between Hulot and Montés (while also sleeping with Steinbock), then discards them all to marry Crevel, who offers the most wealth. She amuses herself by mocking her lovers' devotion, and this wickedness – not to mention her gruesome demise – has led some critics to speculate that she is actually the focus of Balzac's [[
In one important scene, Valérie models for Steinbock as [[Delilah]], standing victorious over the ruined [[Samson]]. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: "Il s'agit d'exprimer la puissance de la femme. Samson n'est rien, là. C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout." ("What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 25|Balzac, p. 230]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/7#LXII. Commentaires sur
Although Balzac did not draw specifically from the women in his life to create Valérie, parallels have been observed in some areas. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. Hanska is similar in some ways to Valérie's manipulation of Steinbock.<ref>Bellos, ''Bette'', pp. 79–80.</ref> Critics also connect the pride and anguish felt by Balzac during Mme. Hanska's pregnancy and miscarriage to the same emotions felt by Baron Hulot when Valérie conceives and loses her child.<ref>Oliver, p. 193.</ref> Although he never ascribed to Mme. Hanska any of the traits in Valérie's treacherous character, he felt a devotion similar to that of Hulot. He once wrote to her: "je fais pour mon Eve toute les folies qu'un Hulot fait pour une Marneffe, je te donnerai mon sang, mon honneur, ma vie" ("I commit for [you] all the follies that a Hulot commits for Madame Marneffe; I give you my blood, my honor, my life").<ref>Quoted in Prendergast, p. 324.</ref>
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Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family. As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. When Valérie tells him to stop dyeing his hair, he does so to please her. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man. Baron Hulot is so overcome by his taste for female flesh that he even asks his wife – without [[irony]] – if he can bring home his fifteen-year-old mistress.<ref>Affron, p. 72; Jameson, p. 249; Hunt, p. 381.</ref>
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy [[
Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure. None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself".<ref>Maurois, p. 499.</ref> Balzac's friend [[Victor Hugo]], meanwhile, was famously discovered in bed with his mistress in July 1845. The similarity of his name to Hector Hulot (and that of his wife's maiden name, Adèle Foucher, to Adeline Fischer) has been posited as a possible indication of the characters' origins.<ref>Hunt, pp. 381–382; Maurois, pp. 498–499.</ref>
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The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect. When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft".<ref name="Prendergast, p. 331">Prendergast, p. 331.</ref>
Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself. Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character (as he felt about most groups he observed). Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: "Soyez mon amie, dit-il avec une de ces démonstrations caressantes si familières aux Polonais, et qui les font accuser assez injustement de servilité." ("'Be my sweetheart,' he added, with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for which they are unjustly accused of servility.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 8|Balzac, p. 67]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/2#XVII. Histoire
Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Like [[Louis Lambert (novel)|Louis Lambert]] and Lucien Chardon in ''[[Illusions perdues]]'', he is a brilliant man – just as Balzac considered himself to be. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette
==Style==
If Balzac's goal was (as he claimed) to write a [[Literary realism|realist]] novel from his "own old pen" rather than mimic the style of Eugène Sue, history and literary criticism have declared him successful. William Stowe calls ''La Cousine Bette'' "a masterpiece of classical realism"<ref>Stowe, p. 102.</ref> and Bellos refers to it as "one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century realism", comparing it to ''[[War and Peace]]''.<ref>Bellos, ''Bette'', p. 7.</ref> Some sections of the book are criticized for being [[melodrama]]tic, and Balzac biographer [[V. S. Pritchett]] even refers to a representative excerpt as "bad writing".<ref>Pritchett, p. 240.</ref> Most critics
[[File:Edouard Manet 049.jpg|thumb|left|[[Émile Zola]] said that Balzac's fiction was "uniquement le compte-rendu brutal de ce que l'écrivain a observé" ("uniquely the brutal report of what the writer has observed").<ref>Quoted in Bellos, ''Criticism'', p. 101.</ref>]]
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Precise detail is not spared in descriptions of decay and disease, two vivid elements in the novel. Marneffe, for example, represents [[wikt:crapulence|crapulence]]. His decrepit body is a symbol of society's weakness at the time, worn away from years of indulgence. The poison which kills Valérie and Crevel is also described in ghastly detail. The doctor Bianchon explains: "Ses dents et ses cheveux tombent, elle a l'aspect des lépreux, elle se fait horreur à elle-même; ses mains, épouvantables à voir, sont enflées et couvertes de pustules verdâtres; les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte; enfin, toutes les extrémités se détruisent dans la sanie qui les ronge." ("She is losing her hair and teeth, her skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands are horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, and the flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 45|Balzac, p. 421]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/13#CXXI. Le doigt de Dieu et celui du Brésilien|at French Wikisource]]. The appalling "les ongles déchaussés restent dans les plaies qu'elle gratte" ("the detached fingernails remain in the wounds she scratches") has been softened to "her nails are loose". See Affron, p. 71.</ref>
''La Cousine Bette'' is unapologetic in its bleak outlook, and makes blunt connections between characters' origins and behavior. For these reasons, it is considered a key antecedent to [[
==Themes==
===Passion, vice, and virtue===
Valérie's line about Delilah being "la passion qui ruine tout" ("passion which ruins everything") is symbolic, coming as it does from a woman whose passion accelerates the ruin of most people around her – including herself. Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is desire incarnate; his wandering libido bypasses concern for his wife, brother, children, finances, and even his own health. Bette is living vengeance, and Adeline desperately yearns for the happy home she imagined in the early years of marriage. Each character is driven by a fiery passion, which in most cases consumes the individual.<ref>Bertault, p. 161; Stowe, p. 106; Affron, p. 69; Jameson, pp. 247 and 249.</ref> As Balzac puts it: "La passion est un martyre." ("Passion is martyrdom.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 11|Balzac, p. 97]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/3#XXIV. Où le hasard, qui se permet souvent des romans vrais, mène trop bien les choses pour
[[File:Dyck, Anthonis van - Samson and Delilah.jpg|thumb|After acknowledging herself as [[Delilah]], Valérie warns her guests: "Prenez garde à vos toupets, messieurs!" ("Take care of your wigs, gentlemen!")<ref name="Coupe"/>]]
The intensity of passion, and the consequences of its manifestation, result in a stark contrast of vice and virtue. Bette and Valérie are pure wickedness, and even celebrate the ruin of their targets. As one critic says, "life's truths are viewed in their most atrocious form".<ref>Affron, p. 68.</ref> Mocking the use of the [[guillotine]] during the [[French Revolution]] while acknowledging her own malicious intent, Valérie says with regard to Delilah: "La vertu coupe la tête, le Vice ne vous coupe que les cheveux." ("Virtue cuts off your head; vice only cuts off your hair.")<ref name="Coupe">[[s:Cousin Betty/Section 25|Balzac, p. 231]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/7#LXII. Commentaires sur
On the other side of the moral divide, Adeline and her children stand as shining examples of virtue and nobility – or so it would seem. Hortense ridicules her aunt when Bette mentions her protégé Wenceslas Steinbock, providing a psychological catalyst for the ensuing conflict.<ref name="Prendergast, p. 331"/> Victorin repeatedly expresses outrage at his father's philandering, yet crosses a significant moral boundary when he agrees to fund Mme. Nourrison's plan to eradicate Valérie. As one critic puts it, Victorin's decision marks a point in the novel where "the scheme of right versus wrong immediately dissolves into a purely amoral conflict of different interests and passions, regulated less by a transcendent moral law than by the relative capacity of the different parties for cunning and ruthlessness."<ref>Prendergast, pp. 318–319.</ref> The cruelties of the Hulot children are brief but significant, owing as much to their obliviousness (intentional in the case of Victorin, who asks not to learn the details of Mme. Nourrison's scheme) as to malicious forethought.<ref>Prendergast, pp. 330–331.</ref>
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[[File:Lautrec in bed 1893.jpg|thumb|left|French painter [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] depicted lesbian relationships similar to (though more explicit than) that of Bette and Valérie, as in his 1893 painting [[Le Lit (Toulouse-Lautrec)|''In Bed'']].<ref>See Faderman, Lillian. ''Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present''. New York: Morrow, 1981. {{ISBN|0-688-00396-6}}.</ref>]]
Critics pay special attention to Bette's lack of traditional femininity, and her unconventional relationships with two characters. She is described from the outset as having "des qualités d'homme" ("certain manly qualities"),<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 3|Balzac, p. 35]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/1#IX. Un caractère de vieille fille|at French Wikisource]].</ref> with similar descriptions elsewhere. Her relationship and attitude toward Steinbock, moreover, hint at her masculinity. She commands him into submission, and even binds him with economic constraints by lending him the money to develop his sculpture. Her domination is tempered by maternal compassion, but the couple's relationship is compared to an abusive marriage: "Il fut comme une femme qui pardonne les mauvais traitements d'une semaine à cause des caresses d'un fugitif raccommodement." ("He was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake of a kiss and a brief reconciliation.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 8|Balzac, p. 71]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/2#XVIII. Aventure
Bette's relationship with Valérie is layered with overtones of [[lesbian]]ism. Early in the book Bette is "captée" ("bewitched")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 12|Balzac, p. 99]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/3#XXV. Stratégie de Marneffe|at French Wikisource]].</ref> by Valérie, and quickly declares to her: "Je vous aime, je vous estime, je suis à vous!" ("I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours!")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 12|Balzac, p. 108]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/3#XXVII. Confidences suprêmes|at French Wikisource]].</ref> This affection may have been [[Platonic love|platonic]], but neighbors of the Marneffes – along with many readers – suspect that their bond transcends friendship.<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 19|Balzac, p. 159]]; Gilroy, p. 112; McGuire, pp. 177–179.</ref> As with Steinbock, Bette and Valérie assume [[butch and femme]] roles; the narration even mentions "Le contraste de la mâle et sèche nature de la Lorraine avec la jolie nature créole de Valérie" ("The contrast between Lisbeth's dry masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness").<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 19|Balzac, p. 159]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/4#XL. Une des sept plaies de Paris|at French Wikisource]].</ref> The [[homoeroticism]] evolves through the novel, as Bette feeds on Valérie's power to seduce and control the Hulot men. As one critic says: "Valérie's body becomes, at least symbolically, the locus of Bette's only erotic pleasure."<ref>McGuire, p. 178. He also highlights Valérie's affectionate use of the term "tigresse" when speaking to Bette.</ref>
===Wealth and society===
[[File:Franz Xaver Winterhalter King Louis Philippe.jpg|thumb|Balzac once wrote: "The worst fault of the [[July Revolution]] is that it did not allow [[
As with many of his novels, Balzac analyzes the influence of history and social status in ''La Cousine Bette''. The book takes places between 1838 and 1846, when the reign of [[
Balzac demonstrated these beliefs through the characters' lives in ''La Cousine Bette''. The conflict between Baron Hulot and the perfumer Crevel mirrors the animosity between the aristocracy of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' and the newly developed [[bourgeoisie]] of traders and industrial entrepreneurs. Although he despised the [[
Themes of corruption and salvation are brought to the fore as Valérie and Crevel lie dying from the mysterious poison. When his daughter urges him to meet with a priest, Crevel angrily refuses, mocking the church and indicating that his social stature will be his salvation: "la mort regarde à deux fois avant de frapper un maire de Paris!" ("Death thinks twice of it before carrying off a Mayor of Paris.")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 45|Balzac, p. 426]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/13#CXXIII. Les derniers mots de Crevel|at French Wikisource]].</ref> Valérie, meanwhile, makes a [[deathbed conversion]] and urges Bette to abandon her quest for revenge. Ever the courtesan, Valérie describes her new Christianity in terms of seduction: "je ne puis maintenant plaire qu'à Dieu! je vais tâcher de me réconcilier avec lui, ce sera ma dernière coquetterie!" ("I can please no one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that will be my last flirtation ...!")<ref>[[:s:Cousin Betty/Section 45|Balzac, p. 425]]. Original French is [[:s:fr:La Cousine Bette/13#CXXII. Le dernier mot de Valérie|at French Wikisource]].</ref>
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Some 19th-century critics attacked the book, on the grounds that it normalized vice and corrupt living. Chief among these were disciples of the utopian theorist [[Charles Fourier]]; they disapproved of the "immorality" inherent in the novel's bleak resolution. Critics like Alfred Nettement and Eugène Marron declared that Balzac's sympathy lay with Baron Hulot and Valérie Marneffe. They lambasted him for not commenting more on the characters' degenerate behavior – the same stylistic choice later celebrated by naturalist writers Émile Zola and [[Hippolyte Taine]].<ref>Bellos, ''Criticism'', pp. 20–22.</ref>
[[File:La Cousine Bette (1928) poster.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[Cousin Bette (1928 film)|Cousin Bette]]'' (1928)]]
Balzac's novel has been adapted several times for the screen. The [[Cousin Bette (1928 film)|first was in 1928]], when French filmmaker Max DeRieux directed Alice Tissot in the title role.<ref>Erickson, Hal. [http://65.55.14.126/movies/movie-synopsis/la-cousine-bette/ "La Cousine Bette (1927): Synopsis"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914195609/http://65.55.14.126/movies/movie-synopsis/la-cousine-bette/ |date=2009-09-14 }}. ''All Movie Guide''. Online at ''[[MSN]] Movies''. Retrieved on {{Nowrap|13 April}} 2009.</ref> [[Margaret Tyzack]] played the role of Bette in the five part serial ''Cousin Bette'' made in 1971 by the [[BBC]], which also starred [[Helen Mirren]] as Valérie Marneffe.<ref>Buchanan, Jason. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090917163929/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/364412/Cousin-Bette/overview "Cousin Bette (1971): Review Summary"]. ''All Movie Guide''. Online at ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved on {{Nowrap|13 April}} 2009.</ref> The film ''[[Cousin Bette (film)|Cousin Bette]]'' was released in 1998, directed by [[Des McAnuff]]. [[Jessica Lange]] starred in the title role, joined by [[Bob Hoskins]] as Crevel, and [[Elisabeth Shue]] as the singer Jenny Cadine. Screenwriters Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr changed the story significantly, and eliminated Valérie. The 1998 film was panned by critics for its generally poor acting and awkward dialogue. Stephen Holden of
''La Cousine Bette'' was adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Hatcher, best known for his screenplay ''Stage Beauty'' (based on his stage play ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty''). [http://www.antaeus.org/ The Antaeus Company] in North Hollywood produced a workshop in 2008 and presented the world premiere of ''Cousin Bette'' in early 2010 in North Hollywood, California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/article/Antaeus_Company_Presents_World_Premiere_Adaptation_of_Honore_de_Balzacs_COUSIN_BETTE_130321_20091212|title=Antaeus Company Presents World Premiere Adaptation of Honore de Balzac's COUSIN BETTE, 1/30-3/21}}</ref> The adaptation retains many of the main characters but places Bette as the story's narrator.
== English translations ==
* ''Cousin Bette'', trans. [[Katharine Prescott Wormeley]] (Roberts, 1888)
* ''Cousin Bette'', trans. George B. Ives and William Walton (Henry T. Thomas & Company, 1896)
* ''Cousin Betty'', trans. Clara Bell and James Waring (Dent, 1896)
* ''Cousin Bette'', trans. Marion Ayton Crawford (Penguin, 1965)
* ''Cousin Bette'', trans. [[Kathleen Raine]] (Modern Library, 1948)
* ''Cousin Bette'', trans. Sylvia Raphael (Oxford University Press, 1992)
==Notes==
{{Reflist
==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* Affron, Charles. ''Patterns of Failure in La Comédie Humaine''. New Haven: [[Yale University Press]], 1966. {{OCLC|275265}}.
* Balzac, Honoré de. ''The Works of Honoré de Balzac''. Vol XI. ''Poor Relations: Cousin Betty and Cousin Pons''. Trans. James Waring. Philadelphia: Avil Publishing Company, 1901. {{OCLC|9435435}}.
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* [[Graham Robb|Robb, Graham]]. ''Balzac: A Biography''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994. {{ISBN|0-393-03679-0}}.
* Rogers, Samuel. ''Balzac & The Novel''. New York: Octagon Books, 1953. {{LCCN|75076005}}.
* [[
* Stowe, William W. ''Balzac, James, and the Realistic Novel''. Princeton: [[Princeton University Press]], 1983. {{ISBN|0-691-06567-5}}.
{{Refend}}
==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Dargan, E. Preston and Bernard Weinberg. ''The Evolution of Balzac's Comédie humaine''. Chicago: [[The University of Chicago Press]], 1942. {{OCLC|905236}}.
* Kanes, Martin. ''Balzac's Comedy of Words''. Princeton: [[Princeton University Press]], 1975. {{ISBN|0-691-06282-X}}.
* Marceau, Felicien. ''Balzac and His World''. Trans. Derek Coltman. New York: The Orion Press, 1966. {{OCLC|236621}}.
* Pasco, Allan H. ''Balzacian Montage: Configuring La Comédie humaine''. Toronto: [[University of Toronto Press]], 1991. {{ISBN|0-8020-2776-8}}.
{{Refend}}
==External links==
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* [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3Abette%20creator%3Abalzac%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts ''La Cousine Bette''] at [[Internet Archive]] (scanned books, color illustrated, misc translations and French first edition)
* {{gutenberg|no=1749|name=Cousin Betty}} (plain text and HTML). Trans. by James Warring (1897).
* {{librivox book | title=Cousin Betty | author=Honoré de BALZAC}}
{{Honoré de Balzac}}
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