Shorts from Scenes from Private Life · Chapter
Domestic Peace explained
Set in November 1809, at the height of Napoleon's empire, the chapter describes a grand ball hosted by Comte de Gondreville.
What happens
Set in November 1809, at the height of Napoleon's empire, the chapter describes a grand ball hosted by Comte de Gondreville. Amidst the splendor of Parisian society, a mysterious pale lady catches the attention of General Montcornet and Baron Martial de la Roche-Hugon. The Baron wagers he can make her dance, despite her refusal of the General. The scene reveals the moral laxity, diamond craze, and social maneuvering of the era.
Themes in this chapter
Appearance vs. Reality
The ball's glittering surface hides sordid interests, false friendships, and personal grief, as seen in the mysterious lady's tears and the characters' manipulations.
Money and Morality
The display of diamonds, gambling at bouillotte, and the wager over the lady reflect the era's obsession with wealth and the moral compromises it entails.
Love and Marriage
The chapter explores infidelity (Madame de Vaudremont's shift from Soulanges to Martial) and the constraints of marriage, as the mysterious lady's married status complicates courtship.
Characters to notice
- Montcornet
A Colonel of Cuirassiers who notices the mysterious lady and attempts to engage her in conversation, but is refused.
- Martial de la Roche-Hugon
Baron and Maître des Requêtes, a friend of Montcornet, who wagers he can make the lady dance with him.
- Madame de Vaudremont
A countess present at the ball, formerly devoted to Soulanges but now involved with Martial.
- Comte de Soulanges
A Colonel of Artillery, seen playing bouillotte in the cardroom, apparently distressed by Madame de Vaudremont's infidelity.
- Napoleon
Expected at the ball but absent due to a scene with Josephine regarding their impending divorce.
Key passages
“The incident recorded in this sketch took place towards the end of the month of November, 1809, the moment when Napoleon’s fugitive empire attained the apogee of its splendor.”
This story occurs in late November 1809, at the peak of Napoleon's fleeting empire.
Sets the historical context for the chapter.
“Never, as contemporaries tell us, did Paris see entertainments more superb than those which preceded and followed the sovereign’s marriage with an Austrian archduchess.”
Contemporaries say Paris never witnessed more magnificent festivities than those surrounding the Emperor's marriage to an Austrian archduchess.
Highlights the extravagance of the period.
“The men, as greedy as the women of these translucent pebbles, displayed them no less lavishly.”
Men were as eager as women to show off diamonds, wearing them just as ostentatiously.
Illustrates the diamond craze among both sexes.