1. Balzac’s Old Goriot is one of the best-known examples of a French "educational novel," a serious one rather than a parody like Voltaire’s Candide of the previous century, although in both cases an inexperienced young man learns the "way of the world" while losing all illusions about it. Describe how Eugène de Rastignac evolves from a naïve young law student into a cynical adventurer in a matter of a few months (November 1819 - February 1820). Who are his principal "teachers" and what situations are his most important "lessons" as he undergoes this "crash course" in social survival?

2. In the opening pages of his novel Old Goriot, Balzac provides his reader a lengthy introduction to the Pension Vauquer (scene of much of the story’s action), its proprietress Madame Vauquer, and the paying guests who are living and boarding there at the time. For these residents, what are the Pension Vauquer’s chief advantages that have brought them together there? What are its chief drawbacks that they must put up with? Give examples of these "plusses and minuses" that go with the territory.

3. One of the most frequent and most effective literary devices used by Balzac in Old Goriot is dramatic irony -- the author’s revelation to the reader of something important of which one or more characters remain unaware, sometimes until too late to avoid disastrous consequences. List five examples of situations or statements that you consider to be important instances of dramatic irony, in each case describing what the consequences proved to be for the unwary character or characters who failed to recognize the significance of what was happening or was said.

4. In Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, the title character bitterly exclaims,

"How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is / To have a thankless child!"

Although there are important differences in the way this same theme of daughterly ingratitude is handled in Balzac’s novel Old Goriot, his portrayal of Goriot’s two daughters is one of the most memorable features of the story, with a clear differentiation between Anastasie and Delphine. Describe what these women have in common and how they differ in personality and behavior in their relationship with their exploited father.

5. Balzac’s character Vautrin in Old Goriot is perhaps the most impressive figure of that novel. What is there about him that allows him to dominate nearly every episode in which he appears? Why is he such a key figure in young Eugène de Rastignac’s "coming of age" in those few short months together at the Pension Vauquer? Describe their interaction and the evolution of their relationship during that time. At the end of the novel, what part will Vautrin continue to play in Rastignac’s life even though he (Vautrin) has been arrested and taken off to prison by that time?