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How is Carlos Herrera connected to Vautrin in A Harlot High and Low?
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Honoré de Balzac
The French novelist helped to establish the traditional form of the novel, and is considered one of the greatest novelists of all time.
In the novel A Harlot High and Low, the character Carlos Herrera is not merely connected to Vautrin—he is revealed to be the same person.1
Throughout the narrative, the figure known as Carlos Herrera acts as a perverse and manipulative mastermind who exerts control over the lives of Esther Gobseck and Lucien de Rubempré. By the conclusion of the novel, it is disclosed that Herrera is actually the notorious criminal mastermind Vautrin, also known as Jacques Collin, a recurring character who appears in other works within The Human Comedy series, such as Lost Illusions.12