FORMS OF ADDRESS TO WOMEN IN HONORE DE BALZAC'S "THE PRAYER OF THE ATHEIST"

Аннотация

Honoré de Balzac, a prominent figure in French literature, was born in Tours, into a not very wealthy family of a civil servant, descended from a peasant family. He could not fully realize his ambitious plan, but the 95 novels written for the "Comedy of Humanity" reveal the true face of French society at that time, which Balzac himself called "the great comedy of our century" or "the devil's comedy". In addition to the 95 novels united under the title "Comedy of Humanity", Balzac created dozens of works, five plays, critical articles and a collection of short stories "Ominous Stories". Among these works is the work "The Prayer of an Atheist". This article contains information about the forms of appeal to women in the work "The Prayer of an Atheist". Key words: Honoré de Balzac, “The Prayer of the Atheist”, novella, “The Human Comedy”, "madam","mademoiselle", Polina, Grafinya, "lady", Fedora. Honoré de Balzac (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. Balzacis considered one oftheworld's greatest writers.1 Honoré de Balzac wrote a number of novels, stories, plays, and essays. Balzac's creative legacy is vast and diverse interms of genre: novels, short stories, and plays. One of his works is“ThePrayer of theAtheist”. “The Prayer of an Atheist” was written by Honoré de Balzac in 1836. He wrote in a letter to Madame Ganskaya on January 18, 1836, that it was “a story conceived, written, and printed inone night.” Thenovellawas included inthewriter’s collection “TheHuman Comedy”. “The Prayer of the Atheist” is a very beautiful and touching story. The protagonist of the work is a respected surgeon, Desplaine. He is distinguished by his religiously adamant atheistic nature and his belief only in science. Desplaine’s student, Horatio Bianchon, also works in the hospital, where he works as the head of the surgical department. One day, he 1Thestory"Gobsek"isintheZiyouzlibrary. page862 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue04,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai accidentally notices how Desplaine entered the church. Bianchon, moved by his master’s behavior, asks him to explainit frankly. And hereveals his interesting past. Desplein suffered a lot in life and survived by fighting against difficulties. While suffering from hunger, a poor man lends a helping hand to the future famous surgeon. It was a simple locksmith, Mr. Bourget. The old man believes that this young student Desplein has a bright future. Bourgeois took care of Desplein as if he were his own father, and despite being a poor man himself, he was very generous. But although Desplein grew up to be one of the best surgeons in the world, he could not save his teacher and friend, Mr. Bourgeois, from death. No matter how skilled a doctor in the world, death is an absolute reality. Interestingly, Desplein felt this deeply, he deeply regretted that he could not help the person who had made him human. Mr. Bourgeois, who was his patron, was a very pious man, and all Desplein could do was go to church every year and pray forhis teacher. Despite his poverty, Mr. Bourgeois was rich in his generosity and sincerity, and he gave without thinking of getting anything in return: he did great humanitarian work! Desplein did not believe in God, although this was one of his principles, but when he could not save a person who had done him good in the past, he was forced to pray. Because he had found and lostaperson who had radically changed hislife. Despite its brevity, the story is one of Balzac's most powerful works. A story of selflessness and faith in people, and a story of gratitude. Perhaps the world would not have known about thetalented surgeon Desplein if thesimple water carrier Mr. Bourgeois had not helped him in hisyouth. Although Bourgeois himself barely made ends meet, he gave up both his money and his dream to help a talented and poor young man. Desplein became a famous doctor, but he never forgot who “made him a man.” The upbringing given by Bourgeois, a simple water carrier, forced even a staunch atheist like Desplein to pray for his benefactor. The feeling of self-sacrifice and self-renunciation will always remain one of the most beautiful qualities of a person. Nowlet us considerthe forms of addressing women in this work. Honoré de Balzac's “The Prayer of the Atheist” ("La Messe de l'athée") is a short story with deep philosophical and emotional layers, in which the forms of addressing women also play an important role. Although the female characters in the work are few, they participate in an important dramatic and moral context. Also, the forms of addressing women serve to reveal the author's realist style, the image of women in society, and to more deeply describe the relationships between thecharacters. In Honore de Balzac's “The Prayer of the Atheist” (“La Peau de chagrin”)the forms of addressing women serve to r