At the start of the novel, Balzac includes an image from Laurence Sterne's 1759 novel Tristram Shandy: a curvy line drawn in the air by a character seeking to express the freedom enjoyed "whilst a man is free".
Balzac never explained his purpose behind the use of the symbol, and its significance to La Peau de chagrin is the subject of debate.
In his comprehensive review of La Comédie humaine, Herbert J. Hunt connects the "serpentine squiggle" to the "sinuous design" of Balzac's novel.
Critic Martin Kanes, however, suggests that the image symbolizes the impossibility of language to express an idea fully.
This dilemma, he proposes, is directly related to the conflict between will and knowledge indicated by the shopkeeper at the start of the novel.
At the start of the novel, Balzac includes an image from Laurence Sterne's 1759 novel Tristram Shandy: a curvy line drawn in the air by a character seeking to express the freedom enjoyed "whilst a man is free". Balzac never explained his purpose behind the use of the symbol, and its significance to La Peau de chagrin is the subject of debate. In his comprehensive review of La Comédie humaine, Herbert J. Hunt connects the "serpentine squiggle" to the "sinuous design" of Balzac's novel. Critic Martin Kanes, however, suggests that the image symbolizes the impossibility of language to express an idea fully. This dilemma, he proposes, is directly related to the conflict between will and knowledge indicated by the shopkeeper at the start of the novel.
La Peau de chagrin