Shaped—and Misshaped—by Our Parents

Reviewing ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens and ‘Eugénie Grandet’ by Honoré de Balzac

We are shaped and misshaped by our parents. It’s impossible to avoid the thought when reading Hard Times by Charles Dickens or Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac. Both books pair doting daughters to domineering fathers, living with passive, submissive mothers. What could go wrong?

Demanding Fathers

Balzac’s Félix Grandet is a miser, comically so, devoted…