 |
Victor Grandet sends his
pampered son, Charles, to live with his uncle, Pére, to
keep him from finding out that he has lost his fortune. After
his son leaves, Victor commits suicide. |
 |
Eugenie Grandet is courted
by the eligible bachelors in their small village, no doubt hoping
to benefit from her father's wealth. |
 |
Charles and Eugenie fall in love,
and her father arranges to send Charles away to separate the
two. She gives the gold her father has been providing her on
each of her birthdays to Charles knowing the fate that awaits
her if her father finds out. |
 |
Unknown to Eugenie, her father
has been intercepting all of Charles' letters so she'll think
he has forgotten her. He also sends Charles a letter that Eugenie
is to marry someone else. |
 |
Pére finds out that
Eugenie has given away the gold to Charles and flies into an
uncontrollable rage. |
 |
Eugenie's mother was married
once before, and, unknown to her, she has a right to claim that
part of her father's fortune. To keep that from happening, her
father tricks her into signing a release relinquishing any right
she may have to the fortune. |
 |
Pére's obsession with
money eventually drives him insane, and he sees hands with long,
bony fingers reaching out to him through the door and from his
gold. |
 |
After years of separation, Charles
and Eugenie are reunited. |
