A minor work of the Comédie Humaine
The story is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator who may possibly be intended to represent Balzac himself. He recalls a stagecoach ride he took as a young man, in 1819, when he struck up an acquaintance with a fellow male passenger of his own age. As two passing strangers exchanging confidences, the two young men bond over their attraction to older women. They trade stories about their mistresses, both of whom are married countesses about the age of forty. To summarize the plot without giving too much away, the newly made friend asks the narrator to deliver a message to his mistress. The narrator then travels to the countess’s chateau and gets a glimpse inside the other man’s love life.
Balzac’s goal in writing the Comédie Humaine was to document, mostly through fiction, all aspects of French society in the early 19th century. If one believes the French literature of this era, this sort of May-December romance between older women and younger men was common among the upper classes. In exchange for the adoration of the young man and an alleviation from loneliness, the older woman helps the younger man get his start in society. These liaisons weren’t necessarily hidden from the husband, who may have quietly assented to the relationship for his wife’s entertainment as long as things remain discreet. In this story, the bond between countess and paramour is depicted as a case of true love. Perhaps that’s the point Balzac is trying to make, that on occasion these illicit affairs can rise to the level of the sublime. In the character of the Countess de Montpersan, he reveals the humanity behind the mistress. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be much purpose to the story other than to deliver a brief tearjerker.
This is a poignant tale, but after an initial surprise up front it follows a very predictable course. All the characters behave pretty much as one would expect, and nothing particularly exciting or profound happens in the plot’s latter half. Like everything that sprung from Balzac’s pen, “The Message” is certainly a well-written narrative, but this feels like one of the least necessary and most inconsequential pieces of the Comédie Humaine. Not being connected to any of the other works in the series, it doesn’t contribute much to Balzac’s fictional universe, and he has covered this kind of relationship in other, more substantial works like Lost Illusions.
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