September 1821

September 1821 marks a moment of separation and disillusionment in Lucien de Rubempré’s early Parisian experience: writing to Ève Séchard from Paris, he looks back toward the family whose sacrifices had supported his departure and measures that warmth against his present loneliness and setbacks.

Date and Context

The date appears with a letter written in Paris and addressed to Ève at Place du Mûrier in Angoulême. Lucien writes that he fears he has already become a burden to his family, who have sacrificed for him. The memory of their shared domestic life sustains him through solitude and his first disappointments in Paris; he imagines his mother, Ève, and David Séchard around the family hearth, while acknowledging that he is alone in the city without friends or protectors. September 1821 therefore anchors the contrast between the affection he has left behind and the precarious artistic life he is beginning in Paris.