15. Lost Illusions, by Honoré de Balzac, pp. 409-424

Part Two: A Great Man in Embryo, 32. The "viveurs"; 33. A fifth variety of publisher; 34. Blackmail

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Lucien falls in with "a society of young people, rich or poor, all of them idle, known as viveurs." They are reckless and spendthrift, wild, frenzied, with no thought for what tomorrow may bring. The prince of viveurs is Rastignac, who, Balzac tells us, finally wound up distinguishing himself in "a serious career." But for the moment he is a very bad influence on Lucien, though the chief bad influence is Blondet. Lucien "gave up hope of literary fame, believing it easier to come by success in politics." Coralie is hardly a stabilizing influence: "Lover and mistress piled up debts with alarming rapidity."

Like all poets, the great man in embryo showed a momentary concern for their disastrous situation, promised to work, forgot his promise and drowned his passing cares in debauchery.

He is also intriguing with Hector Merlin, who has been promised the editorship of the new conservative publication Le Réveil, against his old liberal friends.

Gradually, as horses, carriage, furniture, and the like are seized in lieu of payment for their debts, and more and more items go to the pawnshop, Lucien feels the need to do something. Only the tailor, the milliner and the dressmaker are still willing to supply them, and then only because "they trembled at the thought of displeasing a journalist capable of bringing their establishments into disrepute." So Lousteau suggests finding a publisher for The Archer of Charles the Ninth. He and Merlin dine with some publishers to talk up Lucien's book, and tell them has a stack of other manuscripts he can supply in addition to that one:

"You can guess, Lucien, that our publishers had eyes like saucers.... By the way, have you any saucers left?"
"They are under distraint," said Coralie.
"Point taken."

Lucien is "feeling quite gleeful at the thought of getting the most he could out of Lousteau before turning his back on the Liberals, whom he was planning to attack the more effectively for having studied them closely," but Lousteau is also getting a commission from the publishing firm of Fendant and Cavalier for bringing Lucien to them.

The publishers are interested in getting "the next Walter Scott," as in fact are all the Parisian publishers. Balzac satirizes this lack of imagination among publishers through them:

One of the major stupidities of Parisian commerce is that it hopes to achieve success by sticking to the same lines of enterprise as have paid off before, whereas success goes by contraries. In Paris, more than anywhere, success kills success.

Plus ça change.... How many publishers today are looking for the next John Grisham or Dan Brown? How many TV producers are working on the next "Lost" or "Glee"? How many summer movies are sequels or remakes of old TV shows? And like publishers today, Fendant and Cavalier are concerned with marketing: They want to change the title, The Archer of Charles the Ninth, because they don't think it will sell: "Cavalier would have to give a course of lectures on French history in order to sell a single copy in the provinces." But in the end, Lucien signs the contract, "provided the title suits me."

Meanwhile, Lousteau is having his own troubles with debts, his own mistress having been cut off by Matifat. He is talking about blackmail -- "an invention of the English press," which he explains to Lucien thus: "You embark on some sticky operation which a series of articles can bring to failure: a blackmailer is detailed to propose that you buy them off." It's not that different from the usual quid pro quo arrangements between reviewers and publishers or theater owners, except that a middleman is involved. And he tells Lucien that "Des Lupeaulx, whom you know, is perpetually busy carrying out negotiations of that sort with journalists." Lousteau is trying his own form of blackmail on Matifat, using the love letters Matifat wrote to Florine.

This piece of confidence sobered Lucien. His first thought was that he had exceedingly dangerous friends. Then he reflected that he must not fall out with them, for he might stand in need of their terrible power in case Madame d'Espard, Madame de Bargeton and Châtelet broke faith with him.

14. Lost Illusions, by Honoré de Balzac, pp. 396-408

Part Two: A Great Man in Embryo, 31. Polite society

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Lucien's appearance, in the new finery selected for him by Coralie, at the salon of Madame de Montcornet arouses "a kind of repressed envy among the young men present, those who reigned supreme in the realm of fashion, including De Marsay. And both the Comtesse de Montcornet and Madame d'Espard "had Lucien between them and overwhelmed him with coquettish attentions." The latter informs him that Madame de Bargeton's husband has died, and she defends her cousin's dumping of Lucien thus: "Do you think she wanted to become Madame Chardon?" On the other hand, "The title 'Comtesse de Rubempré' was well worth the trouble of acquiring." And she dangles before him the possibility of become Comte de Rubempré.

Lucien no longer knew what to think. Initiated as he was in the perfidies of journalism, he knew nothing of those of society. And so, despite his perspicacity, he was due for some hard lessons. 

She tells him that Châtelet hasn't been as hurt by the Heron and Cuttle-bone satires as he thought -- the articles may even have done him some benefit with the government because "while the newspapers ridicule Châtelet, they leave the Ministry in peace." And the Comtesse wants to introduce Lucien to the "fabulously rich" Mademoiselle des Touches, who writes under the pen-name Camille Maupin. Lucien begins to realize that "There was as much difference between a woman of the style and quality of the Comtesse de Montcornet and Coralie as there was between Coralie and a woman of the streets."

Madame d'Espard continues to butter up Lucien, praising his intelligence and his ability to adapt to "Parisian manners, and claiming that Madame de Bargeton had all along "wanted to obtain from the King an ordinance which would allow you to bear the name and title de Rubempré. She wanted to bury the Chardon." She points out a man named Des Lupeaulx, whose family name was originally Chardin, but who now is in line to become the Comte de Lupeaulx. All Lucien needs to do is what Emile Blondet has done:  "He's got into newspaper which supports the Government: all the powers that be approve of him; he can consort with the Liberals without danger since he has orthodox opinions." But if he stays with the left and with Coralie, she says, "You'll find yourself loaded with debts and sated with pleasure in a few years' time."

But when Lucien questions if what she says is true, she takes offense, "throwing Lucien a cold and haughty look which brought him down to earth again." The Comtesse, however, remains cordial and invites him to her next soirée, which Madame de Bargeton will attend.

When they leave the table, he is joined by Rastignac and Blondet. The latter tells Rastignac that Lucien has fallen in with Lousteau, whom he regards as stupid and mercenary. "As a Rubempré, Lucien is bound to have aristocratic leanings; as a journalist, he is bound to side with the Government, otherwise he'll never either be Rubempré or come to be a secretary-general." When Lucien tells them that he doesn't play whist, Rastignac offers to teach him. He also talks to Des Lupeaulx, whom he had met earlier at Madame du Val-Noble's, and reflects on how well he is getting along in society. But after he leaves, the others talk about him:

"What a fatuous man!" said Des Lupeaulx to the Marquise, when Lucien had taken his leave of her.
"He'll go rotten before he's ripe," de Marsay said to the Marquise with a smile. "You must have hidden reasons for turning his head like this." 

Coralie has come to wait for him, and she joins in the chorus urging him to go over to the government's side: "You can make yourself useful, become a peer of France and marry a rich woman." She tells him that a new royalist newspaper is being started, and urges him to join up with it, "but say nothing to Etienne or his friends -- they're quite capable of playing a nasty trick on you."

A week later, he goes to Madame de Montcornet's and sees Madame de Bargeton again. "She had become more what she would always have been if she had not lived in the provinces: a great lady." And he finds himself torn between "the beautiful, loving and voluptuous Coralie and the dry, haughty and cruel Louise." But he chooses the former, to Madame de Bargeton's anger. He does, however, contemplate a "quick romance" with the rich and beautiful Mademoiselle des Touches.

He then joins Madame de Bargeton and Madame d'Espard to talk about the ordinance which would make him a de Rubempré. The Marquise says that he must "put himself in a position to be protected without embarrassing those who protect him." He agrees to do so.

Thrilled by the glamour of aristocracy, the poet felt unspeakable mortification at hearing himself called Chardon when he saw that the salons only admitted men who bore high-sounding names with titles to set them off.

And at the end, Rastignac has taught him to play whist.

12. Lost Illusions, by Honoré de Balzac, pp. 355-384

Part Two: A Great Man in Embryo, 25. The battle begins; 26. Dauriat pays a call; 27. A study in the art of recantation; 28. Journalistic grandeurs and servitudes

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Furious at having his book of sonnets turned down by Dauriat, Lucien seeks revenge and finds it when Lousteau hands him a copy of Nathan's book and tells him to demolish it with a review. Lucien, who admires the book and likes Nathan, is at first reluctant until Lousteau explains: A second edition of the book is about to be issued by Dauriat. If the review is sufficiently scathing, Dauriat will lose money on the publication. (Nathan will not be financially harmed: He has already received whatever Dauriat has paid him for the rights to the book.)  Lousteau tells him the way to attack the book is "By making every quality a defect," and explains that he should start "by saying it's a fine work." That way he'll disarm the reader who "will regard your criticism as conscientious." Then he should shift the focus of the review to the larger topic of French literary history, and show that Nathan is "an imitator with only a semblance of talent." By setting it against the past, and by "standing out for ideas and style against imagery and verbiage, continuing the Voltairian school and opposing the Anglo-German school," he can "pulverize Nathan whose work, though it contains traits of superior beauty, gives freedom of the city to a literature devoid of ideas."

Lucien sets to the task and in three days produces what Hector Merlin calls "a masterpiece." He also writes another, lighter piece, which demonstrates his versatility. "'Dauriat will be thunderstruck by the article we've just been listening to,' said Lousteau to Lucien. 'You see now, my boy, what a newspaper can do!'" He also tells Lucien that the attack on Châtelet has been successful: "Madame de Bargeton is now definitely known in society as the Cuttle-bone and Châtelet is no longer called anything but Baron Heron." But Nathan has got word of Lucien's  review, and is worried about the harm it might do him.

The next day, Lucien is having lunch with Coralie when Dauriat arrives at her home. Coralie instructs Bérénice to keep him waiting, and when they finally admit the publisher he is ready to pay three thousand francs for Lucien's book as long as Lucien never attacks another of his publications. Lucien replies, "I can't pledge my pen. It belongs to my friends, just as theirs belongs to me." They agree instead that Lucien will give Dauriat fair warning of any future attacks, so he can "forestall them." And Dauriat admits, "Last week I wouldn't have given a fig for your sonnets, but your position today turns them into something rich and rare."

When Dauriat has left, Coralie tells Lucien that this would never have happened if had listened to his "little friends" in the Cénacle and stayed out of journalism. He is a little shocked when she refers to them as "a rare lot of simpletons," but he relishes the income he has received and sends off five hundred francs of it to his mother. And he and Coralie go off to dine with Madame du Val-Noble, where he meets "a whole world of artists and financiers," Rastignac among them, who give him "a wonderful welcome." They then go to the Opera. "Thus Lucien reappeared in triumph in the place where, some months ago, he had had so heavy a fall." He gets some "insolent stares" from some of the men who had mocked him earlier, but when Rastignac pays a visit to Madame d'Espard's box, he sees the Marquise and Madame de Bargeton "eyeing Coralie through their opera-glasses."

Was Lucien arousing some regret in Madame de Bargeton's heart? His mind was preoccupied with this thought: at the sight of the Corinna of Angoulême a desire for vengeance stirred his heart as on the day when, in the Champs-Élysée, she and her cousin had treated him with contempt.

Several days later, Blondet  brings Lucien an invitation to the salon of Madame la Comtesse de Montcornet, at the behest of Châtelet, who wants to make peace with the newspaper. Blondet has also "promised to reconcile Laura and Petrarch, that is to say Madame de Bargeton and Lucien." Lucien is triumphant: "I have them at my feet!" And sets out to write "an article on the Cuttle-Fish and the Heron." As for the visit to Madame de Montcornet's salon, he tells Coralie not to worry: "It's a question, not of love, but of revenge, and I intend it to be complete."

Meanwhile, Nathan has been hurt by the article -- for which Lucien has been paid an unprecedented hundred francs -- and Lousteau is worried that he might take revenge on Lucien: "Nathan's a journalist, he has friends, he could play a nasty trick on you at your first publication." He proposes that Lucien write another article praising Nathan. And when Lucien expresses astonishment that, after having attacked Nathan, they now want him to completely reverse his opinion, "Emile Blondet, Hector Merlin, Etienne Lousteau and Félicien Vernou all cut him short with a burst of laughter." And Blondet tells him, "My dear boy, in literature, every idea has its front and reverse side, and no one can presume to state which side is which." And as Lousteau had done for the first article, Blondet outlines the second, in which Lucien will argue that we are in an age of progress, which Nathan's book demonstrates: "Demolish your previous argument by showing that we're in advance on the eighteenth century."

The first article didn't have Lucien's name on it. It was signed with a C. The second will be signed with an L. And then, Blondet proposes, Lucien will write a third article signed with his own name, critiquing the articles by C and L and proclaiming that "Nathan's work is the finest the period has produced. That's as good as saying nothing at all -- they say it about every book. Your week will have earned you four hundred francs as well as the pleasure of having told the truth somewhere or other. People of sense will agree with C or L or Rubempré, perhaps with all three!" And Coralie likens what Lucien is doing to acting: "Do as I do: make faces at them for their money, and let's live happily."

So Lucien takes to the project, goes to sign the contract with Dauriat "ceding all rights in the manuscript -- without seeing the drawbacks of this," and writes "the terrible article against Châtelet and Madame de Bargeton which he had promised Blondet."

The fact of commanding notice in Paris, having realized its immensity and the difficult of making an impression there, put Lucien in a state of elation which went to his head. 

Two days later, he arrives at the Ambigu theater to review a play and discovers there are no tickets for him. He complains to the stage-manager who says the tickets had been sent to the newspaper and there's nothing he can do for him, but the leading lady recognizes him as "Coralie's lover" and Lucien finds himself sharing a box with the Duc de Rhétoré, whom he had met earlier at Florine's, and the dancer Tullia. The duke tells him that he has "brought two people to despair," meaning Châtelet and Madame de Bargeton, but "when the duke maliciously called him Chardon, he gave himself away by attempting to establish his right to bear the name of Rubempré." The duke advises him to become a royalist and get "a royal ordinance restoring the title and name of your maternal ancestors." He also invites Lucien to dinner.

Lucien did not suspect that a little conspiracy was being woven against him by those who were at that moment suffering from the newspaper attacks, or that Monsieur de Rhétoré had a finger in the pie.... During Florine's supper, the duke had sized up Lucien's character: now he had captured him by playing on his vanity and was practising his diplomatic ability on him.

Lucien writes a scathing review of the play, which appears in the same paper as the article about Madame de Bargeton and Châtelet, but the review has been edited so that "while his witty analysis of it remained intact, a favourable verdict emerged from it." He is furious, but Lousteau explains that the paper has a subscription deal with the theater: "We have to show a great deal of indulgence." When he protests that the theater didn't have a ticket for him, Lousteau promises to show the manager the original article and explain that he had toned it down. Lucien will get plenty of tickets from now on, including someone to whom he can scalp the extras. Lucien is mollified, but still somewhat scandalized at the chicanery involved.

8. Lost Illusions, by Honoré de Balzac, pp. 266-293

Part Two: A Great Man in Embryo, 12. A publisher's bookshop in the Wooden Galleries; 13. A fourth variety of publisher; 14. Behind the scenes; 15. A use for druggists

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Lousteau shows Lucien into Dauriat's shop in the Wooden Galleries, where he points out his editor, Finot, and "a talented young man, Félicien Vernou, a little rascal who's as nasty as an unmentionable disease." Lucien listens avidly to the quid pro quo transactions taking place there. They are joined by Emile Blondet, a journalist just making a name for himself, and Raoul Nathan, who has just published a novel "which had sold quickly and met with brilliant success."

Lucien is shocked to see Nathan kowtowing to the publisher and that he also defers to Blondet. Lucien "had admired Nathan's book, revered him as a god, and was stupefied at such a show of servility in front of this critic whose name and significance were unknown to him." He itches to tell Nathan, "You've written a fine book and the critic has merely written an article." He is won over by the power of "Money! That was the answer to every riddle," and begins to resent his friends of the Cénacle for advising him not to make his way into the more immediately lucrative world of journalism.

Dauriat waxes eloquent on the subject of the economics of publishing:

"I don't publish books for fun. I don't risk two thousand francs just to get two thousand francs back. I'm a speculator in literature.... I'm not here to be a springboard for future reputations, but to make money for myself and provide some for the celebrities.... Maybe I'm not quite a Maecenas, but literature owes me some gratitude: I've already more than doubled the price which manuscripts fetch.

And what he doesn't want is poetry, unless it's by one of four established poets: Béranger, Casimir Delavigne, Lamartine and Victor Hugo. As for Canalis, the socialite poet, "he's been made a poet by the reviews he's had!" -- which, as we've seen, implies that reviewers have been paid to praise him.

Lucien "felt a violent urge to leap at the publisher's throat." But with a little prodding from Lousteau, Dauriat agrees to read Lucien's manuscript. When they leave the shop, Lousteau says that it's "an excellent meeting-place, and gives one a chance to chat with the best minds of our time." But all Lucien can think of is "the insolence of the man!" And when he says "D'Arthez was right," Lousteau scoffs: "I know nothing more dangerous than those lone spirits who think, as that fellow does, they can bring the world to their feet." And in fact, Lucien has begun to "waver between the system of resigned poverty preached by the Cénacle and the militant doctrine put forward by Lousteau."

They reach the theater, the Panorama-Dramatique, where Lousteau's mistress, Florine, is about to perform in "a kind of comic melodrama by a young author, du Bruel." And Lucien's experiences at the theater are a mirror of the ones he has had during his brief association with high society. As a critic, Lousteau has an entree to the theater not unlike that of Madame d'Espard. He takes Lucien backstage to Florine's dressing room, where he also meets Nathan again and is properly introduced. Vernou is there as well, along with Finot and an actress in the play named Florville. In addition to Lousteau, Florine is also the mistress of a wealthy druggist named Matifat, whose jealousy is aroused by Lucien's beauty. Lucien is puzzled by the fact that Florine is being shared by Lousteau and Matifat, but Lousteau tells him, "you still know nothing about life in Paris.... It's as if you loved a married woman, that's all."

Lousteau and Lucien take their seats in the theater manager's box, along with Matifat and a silk-merchant named Camusot, whose mistress is another actress in the play, Coralie. Lucien learns a bit more about the way money solves problems in this milieu: The theater manager's rival has hired a claque to hiss the performance, but the manager has hired them too, with instructions to hiss in the wrong places and then to get thrown out by some others who have been bribed with tickets and a promise to meet Coralie and Florine. Lucien

could not help contrasting the clappings and hissings in the riotous pit with the scenes of calm and pure poetry he had enjoyed in David's printing-office and the vision they shared of the wonders of Art, the noble triumphs of genius and the shining wings of glory.

Then he witnesses some more dealings in which Finot plans to start another newspaper, and wants Lousteau to persuade Matifat (through Florine) to invest in it. He promises Lousteau the editorship at a salary of two hundred fifty francs a month. Rumor has it that the government is going to muzzle the press and only existing papers will continue to publish. "But in a year's time this newspaper will be worth two hundred thousand francs to sell to the Government if, as people make out, it has sense enough to buy up the periodicals." Finot also tells the manager about how he's putting the screws on the Opera-House to buy a hundred subscriptions and provide four boxes a month -- in exchange for favorable coverage.

Meanwhile, the manager has noticed that Coralie has become smitten with the good-looking Lucien and is blowing her lines in the play, so he tells him to hide in the corner of the box. Lousteau suggests that he tell her that Lucien is coming to supper afterward and she can "do what she likes with him then." Lucien continues to be shocked at Lousteau's ethics, including his use of Florine to extort investment money from Matifat. Where is his conscience? he asks. Lousteau replies: "Conscience, my dear, is a kind of stick that everyone picks up to thrash his neighbour with, but one he never uses against himself." And he tells Lucien if the deal goes through and he becomes editor, Lucien has a job covering the boulevard theaters from him at three francs a column, which at the rate of thirty a month is an income of ninety francs, plus free tickets he can sell on the side: "I can see you earning two hundred francs a month.... My dear fellow, there are men of talent, like that poor devil d'Arthez who dines at Flicoteaux's every day, who don't earn three hundred francs in ten years." Moreover, when he makes a name for himself he can sell his novel for up to four thousand francs.

The experience of going behind the scenes, not only of the theater but also of the publishing world, has its effect on Lucien: "it was as dazzling as a firework display after the profound darkness of his own laborious, inglorious, monotonous existence."