Other editions of book The Chouans

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In 1799, in France, the Chouans, royalist Breton peasants, in a guerrilla, oppose the Republicans. An aristocrat, Marie de Verneuil, is sent by Joseph Fouché, the terrible minister of police to seduce and capture their leader, the Marquis de Montauran, known as "the Guy" (le Gars). She must be helped by a skilful, ambitious and unscrupulous policeman, Corentin.But Marie falls in love with her target ...

This three-chapter novel by Honoré de Balzac was first published under the title Le dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne in 1799, by Urbain Canel, in 1829. It will be published, with some modifications, under its final title in 1834 by Vimont.Executive SummaryIn September 1799, on the borders of Normandy and Brittany, a republican troop led by Commander Hulot was attacked by Breton peasants, the Chouans, who were fighting for the king's return. Fouché, the police minister, wants to stop this new insurrection in Brittany. He sent the beautiful spy Marie de Verneuil to seduce their charismatic leader, the Marquis de Montauran, known as the Gars. She must, with the help of Corentin, Fouché's right-hand man, an ambitious and unscrupulous policeman, make him fall into a trapAt their first meeting, the Guy and Mary fall in love with each other. Attracted by the one she must neutralize, the beautiful spy forgets the purpose of her mission, which she only accepted to escape poverty.But one of the insurgents told the Marquis de Montauran that Mary was a courtesan and a spy. Furious, he insulted her and chased her away. The Republican soldiers were then massacred by Montauran's troops, and Mary narrowly escaped death.Marie de Verneuil wants revenge, but understands that the Guy has been abused. To prove her love for him, she managed to see him again at a ball. The two lovers manage to clear up any misunderstandings and admit their passion. They will marry once Montauran has laid down his arms. It was then that Corentin, worried that Mary would defeat his mission, made him believe that the Marquis loved his mortal rival, Madame du Gua. Outraged, Marie delivers Montauran to Hulot. When she realizes that the letter was a fake, it's too late to run. The two lovers only had time to get married, before being killed by Republican soldiers.

Early in the year VIII., at the beginning of Vendemiaire, or, to conform to our own calendar, towards the close of September, 1799, a hundred or so of peasants and a large number of citizens, who had left Fougeres in the morning on their way to Mayenne, were going up the little mountain of La Pelerine, half-way between Fougeres and Ernee, a small town where travellers along that road are in the habit of resting. This company, divided into groups that were more or less numerous, presented a collection of such fantastic costumes and a mixture of individuals belonging to so many and diverse localities and professions that it will be well to describe their characteristic differences, in order to give to this history the vivid local coloring to which so much value is attached in these days,—though some critics do assert that it injures the representation of sentiments.Many of the peasants, in fact the greater number, were barefooted, and wore no other garments than a large goatskin, which covered them from the neck to the knees, and trousers of white and very coarse linen, the ill-woven texture of which betrayed the slovenly industrial habits of the region. The straight locks of their long hair mingling with those of the goatskin hid their faces, which were bent on the ground, so completely that the garment might have been thought their own skin, and they themselves mistaken at first sight for a species of the animal which served them as clothing. But through this tangle of hair their eyes were presently seen to shine like dew-drops in a thicket, and their glances, full of human intelligence, caused fear rather than pleasure to those who met them. Their heads were covered with a dirty head-gear of red flannel, not unlike the Phrygian cap which the Republic had lately adopted as an emblem of liberty. Each man carried over his shoulder a heavy stick of knotted oak, at the end of which hung a linen bag with little in it.

This early novel is set in the civil war which followed the French Revolution, betweeen Republicanists and Royalists, called "chouans". These were guerrill-type bands sponsored by aristocrats, fighting to depose the new regime and reestablish the old one. In the plot, a Republican woman is sent to France to help with intelligence-gathering. But she falls in love with one of the chouan leaders. Another spy maneuvres to make her think her lover has betrayed her, and so she conspires against him.

Balzac's literary output began with chronicles and sketches on widely varied social and artistic topics. The journals to which he contributed were increasingly looking for short fiction, which Balzac was able to provide. A collection Scènes de la vie privée (Scenes from Private Life) came out in 1829, and was well received: these were tales told with a journalistic eye which looked into the fabric of modern life and did not shun social and political realities. Balzac had found a distinctive voice.

At the beginning of the novel, Republican Commander Hulot is assaulted by the chuanes forces, who makes dozens of conscripts. An aristocrat, Marie de Verneuil, is sent by Joseph Fouché to submit and capture the leader of the royalist, the Marquis de Montauran, also known as "Le Gars". She is helped by a detective named Corentin.However, Marie falls hopelessly in love with its target. Against Corentin and chuanes whom destestaban, he devises a plan to marry the leader chuan. Deceived by Corentin, who made him believe that Montauran loved his opponent to death Madame du Gua, Marie asks Hulot to destroy the rebels. She reacts to his folly too late and sacrifices himself trying, unsuccessfully, to save the life of her husband the day after their wedding.