About
La détresse des Harpagon by Pierre Mille is a novel written in the early 20th century. It portrays a declining provincial family in Burgundy—an amiable, shortsighted father, his severe, saving wife, and their adult children Élise and Cléante—pressed by debt, social embarrassment, and a predatory land dealer. Echoing the myth of Molière’s Harpagon through lineage and theme, the story explores avarice and prodigality, wounded honor, and turbulent desire within a crumbling household.
The opening follows a spry but aging country gentleman on a morning hunt, then undercuts his small happiness: his wife melts candle stubs and counts every penny, villagers quietly discuss his mortgages, and a visiting scholar hints at his descent from Molière’s avarice while the local usurer tightens the net. At the pond he is brusquely expelled by the creditor’s guard, a humiliation that sends him home to a worse blow: a letter from the Riviera reporting that Élise has been seen at night with a guest, causi
Source and licence
This work is public domain or openly licensed. The licence terms are published by the source.
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