The deserted woman

"Some of Honore de Balzac''s best writing focuses on the frustrations and passions of women trapped in unhappy marriages. In the novella ""The Deserted Woman, "" the Vicomtesse de Beauseant is trapped, but it is partially a trap of her own making. Abandoned by her lover and estranged from her husband, she contemplates her limited options."@en
"An aristocratic husband and wife lead separate lives. The wife is quite active in high society, throwing parties that the greatest names in France attend, but after her lover deserts her to marry another woman, she retreats to the countryside and lives a life of seclusion for three years. There a young man manages to meet her and court her. They are lovers for nine years but he cannot marry her because her husband is still alive. The young man finally marries someone else, but realising that he has made a mistake only too late he commits suicide."@en