Analysis
In writing this novella Balzac seems to have been inspired by the fables of La Fontaine, especially La fille ("The Girl") and Héron ("The Heron"). There is also an allusion to La Fontaine in the choice of Émilie’s surname. The plot is similar to that of another of Balzac's works, La Vieille Fille (The Old Maid), the subject of which hesitates between several suitors and finishes by making do with the only one left.
A similar plot informs Aleksandr Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin, which was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832.
Read more about this topic: Le Bal De Sceaux
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