“Cousin Bette” is a social-psychological novel by Honoré de Balzac from La Comédie humaine, belonging to the section Scenes of Parisian Life. The events of the novel unfold in Paris in the first half of the nineteenth century and depict the world of the French bourgeoisie and official circles during the July Monarchy. The work reveals the destructive force of accumulated envy, resentment, and hidden hostility within a family, portraying a society in which social status and wealth play a decisive role in human destiny.
