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Which obsession drives the title character in Gobseck?
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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 Gobseck (1835) by Honoré de Balzac, the title character is driven by the obsession of avarice. As a usurer, he is depicted as a monomaniac who gloats over his sense of power derived from his wealth.12
Balzac portrays this obsession as a ruling passion that grows irresistibly, blinding the character to all other considerations and ultimately serving as both a victim and an embodiment of his destructive greed.12