Eugenia Grandet (1946)

France, 1820. The troubled story of the young Eugenia Grandet, whose wealthy father, Felix, despite owning a considerable fortune, is so miserly that he forces his wife and daughter to live in barely acceptable conditions. Two families, the Cruchons and the De Grassins, are vying for the young woman’s hand, but something unexpected happens: like a bolt from the blue, Charles arrives at the Grandets’ home. He is Felix’s brother’s son; his father has recently committed suicide after being ruined financially. In a letter, the deceased entrusts his young son to the old miser, asking him to help the boy make his fortune in the Indies. While Felix tries every possible way to get rid of his nephew, Charles awakens an unexpected feeling in Eugenia, at first simple affection, but soon something deeper. Charles decides to leave for the Indies, with Eugenia’s help: she lends him the money her miserly father has given her for each birthday. Years pass, and her cousin sends no further news. Meanwhile, Eugenia’s mother dies, followed shortly afterward by her father. Left alone, Eugenia has no intention of marrying and faithfully awaits the return of the young man she loves. After seven years, he finally turns up, but only to repay her money and announce his marriage to the daughter of the Marquise d’Aubrion, with whom he had been having an affair. The engagement is at risk of being called off because Charles is the son of a bankrupt man. So Eugenia, who has inherited all her father’s property, once again helps him, sacrificing the love she feels for him by taking on the debts in question. In this way, she makes it possible for her beloved cousin to marry the noblewoman, whom the unscrupulous young man will wed for money, heedless of Eugenia’s faithful and selfless love. Eugenia is left alone in the empty house.