In 1819 Paris, the area surrounding the Sorbonne school is packed with boarding houses that cater to lower-middle-class students, middle management clerks, and people who are now retired and living in a modest fashion. The Maison Vauquer is one of these boarding houses. It is situated on the Rue Neuve Sainte Geneviève. The building has a pestilent atmosphere. On the outside, it is ugly. On the inside, it is falling apart. The Maison Vauquer is owned and run by Madame Vauquer, whose husband has been dead for a number of years. She is spendthrift, selfish, and prone to hypocrisy.

Inside, the occupants’ rooms correspond to their relative wealth. The most expensive rooms on the lower floors are rented to Madame Couture, who was married to a military man but is now widowed. She lives with Victorine Taillefer, whose mother is dead and whose father is estranged. Victorine’s father is a rich banker who plans to leave his entire estate to his son. Victorine is quiet, reserved, pale, and resigned to her status. She lacks love letters and pretty dresses, the two things that give “new life to any woman” (11).