A Daughter of Eve

"A Daughter of Eve" by Honoré de Balzac is a story set in the 1800s that follows the lives of two sisters, Marie-Angelique and Marie-Eugenie de Granville, as they try to find their way in a world with strict rules for women and the expectations of what love, marriage, and society are. The story looks closely at the rules and problems that women like them faced back then. Right from the start, we see the sisters upset and talking to each other, revealing how their mother, the Comtesse de Granville, brought them up very strictly with religion and kept them at home a lot. The sisters, even though they are innocent, want to be free and happy as they get ready to get married, which feels both exciting and scary. This start helps us understand how different their lives will become as they marry into very different social situations, showing us about love, trying to get ahead, and finding yourself within the limits set by society.