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{{short description|1833 novel by Honoré de Balzac}}
{{Expand French|date=May 2011|Le Médecin de campagne}}
{{Expand French|topic=cult|date=May 2011|Le Médecin de campagne}}
[[File:Schlacht von Dresden.jpg|thumb|right|300px| The [[Battle of Dresden]], one of the tales told by Goguelat]]
{{Infobox book
'''''Le Médecin de campagne''''' (''The Country Doctor'') is an 1833 novel by [[Honoré de Balzac]]. The second in his '''''Scène de la vie de campagne''''' series, it addresses the author's own preoccupation with social organisation, political power and religion, though the reader has to avoid confusing Balzac's political principles with the convictions of Dr Benassis on which critics have often given contrary opinions. Some see the book as giving a sort of 20th century-type liberalism,<ref>André Wurmser, La comédie inhumaine</ref> while others see the premises of socialist thinking or [[Charles Fourier|fourierist]] tendencies. The book's romantic dimension has to be taken into account, despite quite a thin plot, connecting it with the world of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]] with an elogy on nature, peace and poetry. None of its characters appear elsewhere in the ''[[La Comédie humaine]]''.
| name = Le Médecin de campagne
| image = Schlacht von Dresden.jpg
| caption = The [[Battle of Dresden]], one of the tales told by Goguelat
| author = [[Honoré de Balzac]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = France
| language = French
| series = ''[[La Comédie humaine]]''
| subject =
| genre =
| publisher =
| pub_date = 1833
| english_pub_date =
| media_type =
| pages =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}


'''''Le Médecin de campagne''''' (''The Country Doctor'') is an 1833 novel by [[Honoré de Balzac]]. The second in his '''''Scène de la vie de campagne''''' series, it addresses the author's preoccupations with social organisation, political power and religion, though Balzac's own political principles were not those of the character Dr Benassis.<ref>André Wurmser, ''La comédie inhumaine''</ref> None of the characters appear elsewhere in ''[[La Comédie humaine]]''.
The heart of its third part is made up of tales told during a vigil in a barn by Guoguelat, a former soldier in the armies of Napoleon. This section uses material Balzac had gathered for a planned work entitled ''Les Batailles napoléoniennes'', which he began but never finished. <!---Le cœur de la troisième partie du roman est constitué par les récits, faits à la veillée dans une grange, par l'ex-fantassin de Napoléon, Guoguelat. Balzac effleure ici un projet dont il avait tracé le plan et commencé la rédaction : ''Les Batailles napoléoniennes''. L'ouvrage ne verra jamais le jour, mais les récits de ces batailles, les références aux généraux, maréchaux, grognards et fantassins seront dispersés dans toute [[la Comédie humaine]]. A tel point que Napoléon est le personnage le plus souvent cité. Tantôt en rapport avec les personnages fictifs du romancier, tantôt dans l'histoire réelle<ref>Anne-Marie Meiningeer et Pierre Citron, index des personnes réelles, [[Bibliothèque de la Pléiade]], 1981, p. 1773 à 1782{{ISBN|2070108775|date=May 2011}}</ref>.--->

The heart of the third part of the book is made up of tales told during a vigil in a barn by Goguelat, a former soldier in the armies of Napoleon. This section uses material that Balzac had gathered for a planned work, ''Les Batailles napoléoniennes'', which he began but never finished.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
In 1829, commander Genestas arrives in a village in the [[Dauphiné]], where he meets Dr Benassis, who has transformed this miserable settlement into a small but prosperous town in only ten years. The two men each have a secret which is only revealed at the end of the book.
In 1829 Commander Genestas arrives in a village in the [[Dauphiné]], where he meets Dr Benassis, who has transformed the miserable settlement into a small but prosperous town in only ten years. Each of the two men has a secret, which is revealed only at the end of the book.
<!---
Genestas s'installe chez le docteur Benassis pour dix francs par jour sous le prétexte de soigner d'anciennes blessures militaires. Les deux hommes se lient d'amitié et le commandant accompagne le médecin dans sa tournée de visites. ll découvre alors comment Benassis, devenu maire du village, y a apporté la prospérité en appliquant ses théories. Par de gigantesques travaux hydrauliques, il a transformé une terre aride en terre cultivable où l'on a pu planter blé, arbres fruitiers. Il a aussi amélioré les habitations, créé une petite industrie de vannerie et de scierie, fait construire une route qui relie le village à celle de [[Grenoble]]. Du coup, boulanger, maréchal ferrant, et grand nombre d'artisans sont venus se joindre à la population qui connaîtra cinq ans plus tard une forme de "luxe", avec l'installation de commerces, tanneries, boucherie, ainsi que de structures municipale : mairie, école. Finalement, les deux nouveaux amis se font le récit de leur vie : le commandant Genestas a un fils adoptif malade, Adrien, qu'il veut confier au docteur Benassis. Le médecin accepte et réussit à guérir l'enfant.


== Themes ==
De son côté, Benassis confie son secret au commandant : l'énorme tâche qu'il a accomplie pour le village était une manière d'expiation, pour lui qui refuse le suicide ou le monastère. Après la mort d'une jeune fille qu'il a séduite dans sa jeunesse, et celle du fils qu'il a eu d'elle, il a décidé de mettre sa vie au service des autres.
In this Scene from Country Life, Balzac touches on several themes. In a minor key, it evokes the unhappy love affairs of its two main characters, Doctor Benassis and Genestas. But, for them, these disappointments in love had the effect of developing their sense of devotion, one to the development of an entire community, the other to the care of the child that a woman he loved had another man. The theme of a child's suffering comes up several times, like an intolerable reality: “Hey! well, if it is impossible for me to see a child without thinking of the angel I have lost, judge of my pains in laying down a child condemned to die? I don't know how to see a child coldly".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tilby |first=Michael |date=2003 |title="Le médecin de campagne" et le statut du récit |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/balz.004.0007 |journal=L'Année balzacienne |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=7–24 |doi=10.3917/balz.004.0007 |issn=0084-6473}}</ref>
--->


== Notes and references ==
== Notes and references ==
{{Wikisource}}
{{Wikisource}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

{{BalzacFooter}}
{{Honoré de Balzac}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Medecin De Campagne, Le}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medecin De Campagne, Le}}
[[Category:Novels of La Comédie humaine]]
[[Category:1833 French novels]]
[[Category:1833 novels]]
[[Category:Books of La Comédie humaine]]
[[Category:French novels]]
[[Category:Novels set during the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Napoleonic War novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Honoré de Balzac]]




{{19thC-novel-stub}}
{{1830s-novel-stub}}
{{Europe-novel-stub}}
{{Europe-novel-stub}}
{{war-novel-stub}}

[[fr:Le Médecin de campagne]]
[[it:Il medico di campagna (Balzac)]]
[[pl:Lekarz wiejski]]
[[pt:Le Médecin de campagne]]

Latest revision as of 04:21, 4 August 2024

Le Médecin de campagne
The Battle of Dresden, one of the tales told by Goguelat
AuthorHonoré de Balzac
LanguageFrench
SeriesLa Comédie humaine
Publication date
1833
Publication placeFrance

Le Médecin de campagne (The Country Doctor) is an 1833 novel by Honoré de Balzac. The second in his Scène de la vie de campagne series, it addresses the author's preoccupations with social organisation, political power and religion, though Balzac's own political principles were not those of the character Dr Benassis.[1] None of the characters appear elsewhere in La Comédie humaine.

The heart of the third part of the book is made up of tales told during a vigil in a barn by Goguelat, a former soldier in the armies of Napoleon. This section uses material that Balzac had gathered for a planned work, Les Batailles napoléoniennes, which he began but never finished.

Synopsis

[edit]

In 1829 Commander Genestas arrives in a village in the Dauphiné, where he meets Dr Benassis, who has transformed the miserable settlement into a small but prosperous town in only ten years. Each of the two men has a secret, which is revealed only at the end of the book.

Themes

[edit]

In this Scene from Country Life, Balzac touches on several themes. In a minor key, it evokes the unhappy love affairs of its two main characters, Doctor Benassis and Genestas. But, for them, these disappointments in love had the effect of developing their sense of devotion, one to the development of an entire community, the other to the care of the child that a woman he loved had another man. The theme of a child's suffering comes up several times, like an intolerable reality: “Hey! well, if it is impossible for me to see a child without thinking of the angel I have lost, judge of my pains in laying down a child condemned to die? I don't know how to see a child coldly".[2]

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ André Wurmser, La comédie inhumaine
  2. ^ Tilby, Michael (2003). ""Le médecin de campagne" et le statut du récit". L'Année balzacienne. 4 (1): 7–24. doi:10.3917/balz.004.0007. ISSN 0084-6473.