This novel depicts the decline of aristocracy with acid sarcasm. The novel emphasizes the power of money in modern society. But does money count every where? Can it bring people happiness any time?

Set in the background of the 19th century France, this novel depicts the decline of the d’Esgrignon family, a 19th century French aristocratic family. The position of the middle class and The Liberals has improved while unaware of the fact that the aristocratic class are on their way out and begins to decline, the d’Esgrignon family and its members of the antiquity salon are still immersed in the honor of the family, making no attempt to progress and indulging in comforts. The son of the old d’Esgrignon wastes money at will when he is in Paris, nearly putting the family on the brink of bankruptcy.

Honoré de Balzac (20 May 1799 —18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. He is generally regarded as a founding-father of realism in European fiction. His large output of works, collectively entitled The Human Comedy (La Comidie Humaine), consists of 95 finished works (stories, novels and essays) and 48 unfinished works, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. His masterpieces: Eugenie Grandet and Father Goriot.