Love is a big theme in the novel. It is the love for his daughters that causes Pere Goriot to lose most of his money and happiness. It is also the love for the lifestyles of the wealthy and Goriot’s daughters that make Rastignac greedy for money and social standing. In the novel, love always brings someone down in the end, and rarely does Balzac allow it to shine in a good light. This seems to show that Balzac may have had troubles of his own with love and affection in his past. During his childhood, Balzac and his siblings were sent away from their parents at an early age. Love wasn’t something he was exposed to early on, but rather something he experienced on his own. Much like Balzac, Rastignac is away from his family and has many expectations of what love should be like. Being in Paris definitely doesn’t help him understand the essence of true love. A quote that really represents how love is portrayed in the novel is one from Pere Goriot in reference to his daughters which says, “I loved