guy de maupassant brief biography

Biography of Guy de Maupassant, Father of the Short Story

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French writer Guy de Maupassant (August 5, 1850–July 6, 1893) wrote short stories such as " The Necklace " and "Bel-Ami" as well as poetry, novels, and newspaper articles. He was an author of the naturalist and realist schools of writing and is best known for his short stories , which are considered highly influential on much of modern literature.

Fast Facts: Guy de Maupassant

• Known For : French author of short stories, novels, and poetry
• Also Known As : Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant, Guy de Valmont, Joseph Prunier, Maufrigneuse
• Born : August 5, 1850 in Tourville-sur-Arques, France
• Parents : Laure Le Poittevin, Gustave de Maupassant
• Died : July 6, 1893 in Passy, Paris, France
• Education : Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouen, Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen
• Published Works :  Boule de Suif, La Maison Tellier, The Necklace, A Piece of String, Mademoiselle Fifi, Miss Harriet, My Uncle Jules, Found on a Drowned Man, The Wreck, Une Vie, Bel-Ami, Pierre et Jean
• Notable Quote : "If I could, I would stop the passage of time. But hour follows on hour, minute on minute, each second robbing me of a morsel of myself for the nothing of tomorrow. I shall never experience this moment again."

It's believed de Maupassant was born at the Château de Miromesniel, Dieppe on Aug. 5, 1850. His paternal ancestors were noble, and his maternal grandfather Paul Le Poittevin was the artist Gustave Flaubert's godfather.

His parents separated when he was 11 years old after his mother, Laure Le Poittevin, left his father Gustave de Maupassant. She took custody of Guy and his younger brother, and it was her influence that led her sons to develop an appreciation for literature. But it was her friend Flaubert who opened doors for the budding young writer.

Flaubert and de Maupassant

Flaubert would prove to be a major influence on de Maupassant's life and career. Much like Flaubert's paintings, de Maupassant's stories told the plight of the lower classes. Flaubert took young Guy as a kind of protege, introducing him to significant writers of the day such as Emile Zola and Ivan Turgenev.

It was through Flaubert that de Maupassant became familiar with (and part of) the naturalist school of writers, a style that would permeate nearly all of his stories.

De Maupassant Writing Career

From 1870-71, Guy de Maupassant served in the French Army. He then became a government clerk.

He moved from Normandy to Paris after the war, and after leaving his clerkship in the French Navy he worked for several prominent French newspapers. In 1880, Flaubert published one of his most famous short stories "Boule du Suif," about a prostitute pressured to provide her services to a Prussian officer.

Perhaps his best-known work, "The Necklace," tells the story of Mathilde, a working-class girl who borrows a necklace from a wealthy friend when she attends a high society party. Mathilde loses the necklace and works the rest of her life to pay for it, only discovering years later that it was a worthless piece of costume jewelry. Her sacrifices had been for nothing.

This theme of a working-class person unsuccessfully trying to rise above their station was common in de Maupassant's stories.

Even though his writing career spanned barely a decade, Flaubert was prolific , writing some 300 short stories, three plays, six novels, and hundreds of newspaper articles. The commercial success of his writing made Flaubert famous and independently wealthy.

De Maupassant Mental Illness

At some point in his 20s, de Maupassant contracted syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that, if left untreated, leads to mental impairment. This is unfortunately what happened to de Maupassant. By 1890, the disease had started to cause increasingly strange behavior.

Some critics have charted his developing mental illness through the subject matter of his stories. But de Maupassant's horror fiction is only a small portion of his work, some 39 stories or so. But even these works had significance; Stephen King's famous novel " The Shining " has been compared to Maupassant's "The Inn."

After a gruesome suicide attempt in 1891 (he tried to cut his throat), de Maupassant spent the last 18 months of his life in a Paris mental home, the celebrated private asylum of Dr. Espirit Blanche. The suicide attempt was believed to be a result of his impaired mental state.

Maupassant is often described as the father of the modern short story—a literary form that's more condensed and immediate than the novel. His work was admired by his contemporaries and imitated by those who came after him. Some of the best-known authors for whom Maupassant was an inspiration include W. Somerset Maugham, O. Henry, and Henry James.

• Dumesnil, René, and Martin Turnell. “ Guy De Maupassant .”  Encyclopædia Britannica , 1 Aug. 2018.
• “ Guy De Maupassant .”  Short Stories and Classic Literature .
• " Guy De Maupassant .”  Guy De Maupassant - New World Encyclopedia .
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Guy de Maupassant

(1850-1893)

French writer Guy de Maupassant is famous for his short stories, which paint a fascinating picture of French life in the 19th century. He was prolific, publishing over 300 short stories and six novels, but died at a young age after ongoing struggles with both physical and mental health.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1850
• Birth date: August 5, 1850
• Birth City: Dieppe
• Birth Country: France
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: The short stories of writer Guy de Maupassant detail many aspects of French life in the 19th century.
• Fiction and Poetry
• Astrological Sign: Leo
• Nacionalities
• Occupations
• Death Year: 1893
• Death date: July 6, 1893
• Death City: Paris
• Death Country: France

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Guy de Maupassant Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/guy-de-maupassant
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: April 13, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

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Guy de Maupassant

French writer (1850–1893) / from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, dear wikiwand ai, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:.

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Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, seemingly effortless dénouements . Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are permanently changed by their experiences. He wrote 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, " Boule de Suif " ("The Dumpling", 1880), is often considered his most famous work.

Henri-René-Albert-Guy de Maupassant was born on 5 August 1850 at the late 16th-century Château de Miromesnil (near Dieppe in the Seine-Inférieure (now Seine-Maritime ) Department , France), the elder son of Gustave de Maupassant (1821–99) and Laure Le Poittevin, [6] whose family hailed from the prosperous bourgeoisie . His mother urged her husband when they married in 1846 to obtain the right to use the particule or form "de Maupassant" instead of "Maupassant" as his family name, in order to indicate noble birth. [7] Gustave’s great-great-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste de Maupassant (1699–1774), conseiller-secrétaire to King Louis XV , had been ennobled by Emperor Francis I in 1752, and although his family were considered petite noblesse they had not yet received official recognition by the Kingdom of France . He then obtained from the Tribunal Civil of Rouen by royal decree dated 9 July 1846 the right to style himself "de Maupassant" instead of "Maupassant", being formally assumed as the family name before the birth of his children. [8]

When Maupassant was 11 and his brother Hervé was five, his mother, an independent-minded woman, risked social disgrace to obtain a legal separation from her husband, who was violent towards her.

After the separation, Laure Le Poittevin kept custody of her two sons. In the absence of the Maupassant's father, his mother became the most influential figure in the young boy's life. [9] She was an exceptionally well-read woman and was very fond of classical literature, particularly Shakespeare . Until the age of thirteen, Guy lived happily with his mother, at Étretat in Normandy. At the Villa des Verguies, between the sea and the luxuriant countryside, he grew very fond of fishing and of outdoor activities. When Guy reached the age of thirteen, his mother placed her two sons as day boarders in a private school, the Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouen—the Institution Robineau of Maupassant's story La Question du Latin —for classical studies. [10] From his early education, he retained a marked hostility to religion, and to judge from verses composed around this time, he deplored the ecclesiastical atmosphere, its ritual and discipline. [11] Finding the place unbearable, he finally got himself expelled in his penultimate year. [12]

In 1867, while he was in junior high school , Maupassant met Gustave Flaubert at Croisset on the insistence of his mother. [13] Next year, in autumn, he was sent to the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen [14] where he proved a good scholar, indulging in poetry and taking a prominent part in theatricals. In October 1868, at the age of 18, he saved the famous poet Algernon Swinburne from drowning off the coast of Étretat. [15]

The Franco-Prussian War broke out soon after his graduation from college in 1870 and Maupassant volunteered to serve in the French Army without attending military academy as aspirant . In 1871, he left Normandy and moved to Paris, where he spent ten years as a clerk in the Navy Department . During this time his only recreation and relaxation was boating on the Seine on Sundays and holidays.

Gustave Flaubert took him under his protection and acted as a kind of literary guardian to him, guiding his debut in journalism and literature. At Flaubert's home he met Émile Zola (1840–1902) and the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883), as well as many of the proponents of the realist and naturalist schools. He wrote and himself played (1875) in a comedy - " À la feuille de rose, maison turque " - with Flaubert's blessing.

In 1878, he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instruction and became a contributing editor to several leading newspapers such as Le Figaro , Gil Blas , Le Gaulois and l'Écho de Paris . He devoted his spare time to writing novels and short stories.

In 1880 he published what is considered his first masterpiece, " Boule de Suif ", which met with instant and tremendous success. Flaubert characterized it as "a masterpiece that will endure". This, Maupassant's first piece of short fiction set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, was followed by short stories such as " Deux Amis ", " Mother Savage ", and "Mademoiselle Fifi" .

"The fear that haunted his restless brain day and night was already visible in his eyes, I for one considered him then as a doomed man. I knew that the subtle poison of his own Boule de Suif had already begun its work of destruction in this magnificent brain. Did he know it himself? I often thought he did. The MS. of his Sur L'Eau was lying on the table between us, he had just read me a few chapters, the best thing he had ever written I thought. He was still producing with feverish haste one masterpiece after another, slashing his excited brain with champagne, ether and drugs of all sorts. Women after women in endless succession hastened the destruction, women recruited from all quarters... actresses, ballet-dancers, midinettes, grisettes, common prostitutes-- 'le taureau triste' his friends used to call him. [16]

The decade from 1880 to 1891 was the most fertile period of Maupassant's life. Made famous by his first short story, he worked methodically and produced two or sometimes four volumes annually. His talent and practical business sense made him wealthy.

In 1881 he published his first volume of short stories under the title of La Maison Tellier ; it reached its twelfth edition within two years. In 1883 he finished his first novel, Une Vie (translated into English as A Woman's Life ), 25,000 copies of which were sold in less than a year.

" Bed 29 ", published in 1884, is a social and political satirical collection [17] of some of his best short stories, including the titular story which is shocking and scandalous, even by modern standards. [18]

His editor, Victor Havard, commissioned him to write more stories, and Maupassant continued to produce them efficiently and frequently. His second novel, Bel-Ami , which came out in 1885, had thirty-seven printings in four months. Then, he wrote what many consider his greatest novel, Pierre et Jean (1888).

With a natural aversion to society, he loved retirement, solitude, and meditation. He traveled extensively in Algeria , Italy , England, Brittany , Sicily , and the Auvergne , and from each voyage brought back a new volume. He cruised on his private yacht Bel-Ami , named after his novel. This life did not prevent him from making friends among the literary celebrities of his day: Alexandre Dumas, fils had a paternal affection for him; at Aix-les-Bains he met Hippolyte Taine (1828–1893) and became devoted to the philosopher-historian.

Flaubert continued to act as his literary godfather. His friendship with the Goncourts was of short duration; his frank and practical nature reacted against the ambiance of gossip, scandal, duplicity, and invidious criticism that the two brothers had created around them in the guise of an 18th-century style salon .

Maupassant was one of a fair number of 19th-century Parisians (including Charles Gounod , Alexandre Dumas, fils , and Charles Garnier ) who did not care for the Eiffel Tower [19] (erected 1887/89). He often ate lunch in the restaurant at its base, not out of preference for the food but because only there could he avoid seeing its otherwise unavoidable profile. [20] He and forty-six other Parisian literary and artistic notables attached their names to an elaborately irate letter of protest against the tower's construction, written to the Minister of Public Works, and published on 14 February 1887. [21]

Declining appointment to the Légion d'honneur and election to the Académie française , [22] Maupassant also wrote under several pseudonyms , including "Joseph Prunier", "Guy de Valmont", and "Maufrigneuse" (which he used from 1881 to 1885).

In his later years he developed a constant desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death and paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth. It has been suggested that his brother, Hervé, also suffered from syphilis and that the disease may have been congenital. [23] On 2 January 1892, Maupassant tried to take his own life by cutting his throat; he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy , in Paris, where he died on 6 July 1893 from syphilis.

Maupassant penned his own epitaph : "I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing." He is buried in Section 26 of the Montparnasse Cemetery , Paris.

Significance

Maupassant is considered a father of the modern short story. Literary theorist Kornelije Kvas wrote that along "with Chekhov , Maupassant is the greatest master of the short story in world literature. He is not a naturalist like Zola; to him, physiological processes do not constitute the basis of human actions, although the influence of the environment is manifested in his prose. In many respects, Maupassant's naturalism is Schopenhauerian anthropological pessimism, as he is often harsh and merciless when it comes to depicting human nature. He owes most to Flaubert, from whom he learned to use a concise and measured style and to establish a distance towards the object of narration." [24] He delighted in clever plotting, and served as a model for Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in this respect. One of his famous short stories, " The Necklace ", was imitated with a twist by Maugham ("Mr Know-All", "A String of Beads"). Henry James 's " Paste " adapts another story of his with a similar title, "The Jewels".

Taking his cue from Balzac , Maupassant wrote comfortably in both the high- realist and fantastic modes; stories and novels such as "L'Héritage" and Bel-Ami aim to recreate Third Republic France in a realistic way, whereas many of the short stories (notably " Le Horla " and "Qui sait?") describe apparently supernatural phenomena.

The supernatural in Maupassant, however, is often implicitly a symptom of the protagonists' troubled minds; Maupassant was fascinated by the burgeoning discipline of psychiatry , and attended the public lectures of Jean-Martin Charcot between 1885 and 1886. [25]

Leo Tolstoy used Maupassant as the subject for one of his essays on art: The Works of Guy de Maupassant . His stories are second only to Shakespeare in their inspiration of movie adaptations with films ranging from Stagecoach , Oyuki the Virgin and Masculine Feminine . [26]

Friedrich Nietzsche 's autobiography mentions him in the following text:

"I cannot at all conceive in which century of history one could haul together such inquisitive and at the same time delicate psychologists as one can in contemporary Paris: I can name as a sample – for their number is by no means small, ... or to pick out one of the stronger race, a genuine Latin to whom I am particularly attached, Guy de Maupassant."

William Saroyan wrote a short story about Maupassant in his 1971 book, Letters from 74 rue Taitbout or Don't Go But If You Must Say Hello To Everybody .

Isaac Babel wrote a short story about him, "Guy de Maupassant." It appears in The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel and in the story anthology You’ve Got To Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories that Held Them in Awe.

Gene Roddenberry , in an early draft for The Questor Tapes , wrote a scene in which the android Questor employs Maupassant's theory that, "the human female will open her mind to a man to whom she has opened other channels of communications." [27] In the script Questor copulates with a woman to obtain information that she is reluctant to impart. Due to complaints from NBC executives, this scene was never filmed. [28]

Michel Drach directed and co-wrote a 1982 French biographical film : Guy de Maupassant . Claude Brasseur stars as the titular character.

Several of Maupassant's short stories, including "La Peur" and " The Necklace ", were adapted as episodes of the 1986 Indian anthology television series Katha Sagar .

Bibliography

• [2] "Maupassant, Guy de" . Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English . Longman . Retrieved 21 August 2019 .
• [3] "Maupassant" . Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary .
• [4] "Maupassant" . Collins English Dictionary . HarperCollins . Retrieved 21 August 2019 .
• [5] "Maupassant" . Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary . Retrieved 21 August 2019 .
• [6] www.data.bnf.fr
• [7] Alain-Claude Gicquel, Maupassant, tel un météore , Le Castor Astral, 1993, p. 12
• [8] Gicquel, Alain-Claude (1993). Maupassant, tel un météore: biographie . Collection "Les inattendus", number 218 (in French). Le Castor Astral. p.   12, 32. ISBN   9782859202187 . Retrieved 7 October 2022 .
• [9] "Guy de Maupassant Biography" . enotes . Retrieved 9 December 2014 .
• [10] Maupassant, Choix de Contes , Cambridge, p. viii, 1945
• [11] de Maupassant, Guy (1984). Le Horla et autres contes d'angoisse (in French) (2006   ed.). Paris: Flammarion. p.   233 . ISBN   978-2-0807-1300-1 .
• [12] "Biographie de Guy de Maupassant" . @lalettre.com . Retrieved 9 December 2014 .
• [13] "Maupassant's Apprenticeship with Flaubert" .
• [14] "Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen - History" . Lgcorneille-lyc.spip.ac-rouen.fr. 19 April 1944 . Retrieved 13 March 2018 .
• [15] Clyde K. Hyder, Algernon Swinburne: The Critical Heritage , 1995, p. 185.
• [16] Munthe, Axel (1962). The story of San Michele . John Murray. p.   201.
• [17] www.letemps.ch
• [18] www.librarything.com
• [19] "The Tower of Babel - Criticism of Eiffel Tower " . Archived from the original on 13 October 2013.
• [20] Barthes, Roland. The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies . Tr. Howard, Richard. Berkeley: University of California Press . ISBN   978-0-520-20982-4 . Page 1.
• [21] Loyrette, Henri (1985). Gustave Eiffel . Rizzoli. p.   174. ISBN   9780847806317 . Retrieved 7 October 2022 . 'We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection [...] of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower [...] To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years [...] we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.'
• [22] www.editions-allia.com
• [23] "Remembering Maupassant | Arts and Entertainment | BBC World Service" . Bbc.co.uk. 9 August 2000 . Retrieved 13 March 2018 .
• [24] Kvas, Kornelije (2019). The Boundaries of Realism in World Literature . Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Lexington Books. p.   131. ISBN   978-1-7936-0910-6 .
• [25] Pierre Bayard, Maupassant, juste avant Freud (Paris: Minuit, 1998)
• [26] Richard Brody (26 October 2015). "The Writer Who Sparks the Finest Movie Adaptations" . The New Yorker . Retrieved 31 October 2015 .
• [27] www.lumoslearning.com
• [28] [Quoted from the track "The Questor Affair" from the album Inside Star Trek .]

Further reading

• Abamine, E. P. "German-French Sexual Encounters of the Franco-Prussian War Period in the Fiction of Guy de Maupassant." CLA Journal 32.3 (1989): 323–334. online
• Bonnefis, Philippe. Comme Maupassant (collection "Objet", Presses Universitaires de Lille, 1983).
• Dugan, John Raymond. Illusion and reality: a study of descriptive techniques in the works of Guy de Maupassant (Walter de Gruyter, 2014).
• Fagley, Robert. Bachelors, Bastards, and Nomadic Masculinity: Illegitimacy in Guy de Maupassant and André Gide (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014) online (PDF) .
• Harris, Trevor A. Le V. Maupassant in the Hall of Mirrors: Ironies of Repetition in the Work of Guy de Maupassant (Springer, 1990).
• Lanoux, Armand. Maupassant le Bel-Ami (Fayard, 1967).
• Morand, Paul. Vie de Guy de Maupassant (Flammarion, 1942).
• Reda, Jacques. Album Maupassant (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Gallimard, 1987).
• Rougle, Charles. "Art and the Artist in Babel's" Guy de Maupassant"." The Russian Review 48.2 (1989): 171–180. online
• Sattar, Atia. "Certain Madness: Guy de Maupassant and Hypnotism". Configurations 19.2 (2011): 213–241. regarding both versions of his horror story "The Horla" (1886/87). online
• Schmidt, Albert-Marie. Maupassant par lui-même (Le Seuil, 1962).
• Stivale, Charles J. The art of rupture: narrative desire and duplicity in the tales of Guy de Maupassant (University of Michigan Press, 1994).
• Vial, André. Maupassant et l'art du roman (Nizet, 1954).

External links

• Works by Guy de Maupassant in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
• Works by Guy de Maupassant at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Guy de Maupassant at Internet Archive
• Guy de Maupassant timeline and stories at AsNotedIn.com
• Complete list of stories by Guy de Maupassant at Prospero's Isle.com
• Université McGill: le roman selon les romanciers Archived 4 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine Recensement et analyse des écrits non romanesques de Guy de Maupassant
• Works by Guy de Maupassant at Online Literature (HTML)
• Works by Guy de Maupassant in Ebooks (in French)
• Works by Guy de Maupassant (text, concordances and frequency list)
• Maupassantiana , a French scholar's website on Maupassant and his works
• Petri Liukkonen. "Guy de Maupassant" . Books and Writers .
• Oeuvres de Maupassant, à Athena (in French)
• Guy de Maupassant's The Jewels audiobook with video at YouTube
• Guy de Maupassant's The Jewels audiobook at Libsyn
• The Pearl Necklace 一串珍珠 (Li Zeyuan, dir., 1926) - Chinese silent film adaptation of "The Necklace," with English subtitles

• English Literature
• Short Stories
• Literary Terms
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Guy De Maupassant Biography, Writing Style and Impact on Literature

Table of Contents

Guy de Maupassant, a luminary of 19th-century French literature, has etched his name in the annals of literary history as a master of the short story. Renowned for his incisive observations of human nature, astute critiques of societal norms, and a narrative prowess that transcends the brevity of the form, 

Maupassant made significant and long-lasting contributions to the literary world. We go through the worlds of his short fiction in this review, revealing the narrative devices, thematic depth, and enduring influence of his pieces. Maupassant’s tales are still relevant today, allowing readers to delve into the complexities of the human experience while staying within the boundaries of his succinct and captivating storytelling. These themes range from the complexities of human relationships to the societal critiques weaved within his novels.

Biography of Guy De Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was a French writer born on August 5, 1850, in Tourville-sur-Arques, France. He was a prominent figure in the 19th-century French literary scene, best known for his mastery of the short story form.

Maupassant grew up in Normandy and had a difficult childhood due to his parents’ separation. Despite the challenges, he excelled in his studies and developed a passion for literature. He eventually studied law in Paris but found his true calling in writing.

His writing career really took off when he started sending novels and short tales to different French magazines. Maupassant frequently captured the intricacies of social situations and human nature in his works. He had a gift for catching the subtleties of behavior and character. He was also a sharp observer of society.

The short story “The Necklace” (“La Parure”), which addresses themes of pride and social aspiration, is among his most well-known creations. “Bel-Ami,” a novel that parodies the Parisian society of the era, is another well-known work. Writings of Maupassant are distinguished by their psychological insight, realism, and frequent irony.

Despite his literary success, Maupassant’s personal life was marked by struggles. He suffered from mental health issues, possibly exacerbated by syphilis, and spent the latter part of his life in and out of sanatoriums. He passed away on July 6, 1893, at the age of 42.

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Guy de Maupassant’s contributions to French literature continue to be celebrated, and his impact on the short story genre remains significant. His works have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into various forms of media, ensuring his legacy endures in the world of literature.

Guy De Maupassant Genre and Writing Style

Guy de Maupassant was a prominent figure in the naturalist literary movement, a late 19th-century movement that sought to apply scientific principles to literature, emphasizing observation, determinism, and the influence of environment and heredity on human behavior. His works often reflect the naturalist belief in portraying life as it is, without idealization or romanticism.

Genre: Maupassant primarily wrote short stories, and he is widely regarded as a master of the short story genre. His concise narratives, rich characterizations, and exploration of psychological complexities within limited space showcase his mastery of the form. Additionally, he wrote novels, plays, and poetry, but it is his short stories that have left an indelible mark on literary history.

Writing Style: Maupassant’s writing style is characterized by clarity, precision, and simplicity. He often employed straightforward prose, avoiding unnecessary embellishments. This simplicity, however, belies the depth and complexity of his observations. His keen eye for detail and his ability to capture the nuances of human behavior contribute to the accessibility of his works while inviting readers to explore deeper layers of meaning.

Moreover, Maupassant was known for his use of irony and satire. Many of his stories feature unexpected twists or revelations that cast a critical light on human folly, societal norms, or the consequences of individual choices. This blend of clarity, simplicity, and subtle irony distinguishes his writing style and contributes to the timeless appeal of his stories.

In summary, Guy de Maupassant’s genre focus on the short story, coupled with his naturalist perspective, and his writing style characterized by clarity and irony, collectively establish him as a literary giant whose influence continues to resonate in the world of literature.

Guy De Maupassant Impact on Literature

• Mastery of the Short Story: Maupassant’s mastery of the short story has had a lasting impact on the genre. His ability to create vivid characters, explore complex themes, and deliver powerful conclusions within the constraints of limited space has set a standard for short story writing.
• Naturalism and Realism: As a prominent figure in the naturalist movement, Maupassant’s works contributed to the development of literary naturalism. His commitment to portraying life as it is, without idealization, influenced other naturalist writers who sought to depict the harsh realities of existence and the impact of environment and heredity on characters.
• Psychological Exploration: Maupassant’s exploration of the human psyche, as seen in stories like “The Horla,” foreshadowed later developments in psychological literature. His ability to delve into the darker aspects of the mind, portraying characters’ internal struggles and psychological unraveling, laid the groundwork for future writers interested in the complexities of human consciousness.
• Influence on Modern Horror: “The Horla” is often cited as an early example of psychological horror. Maupassant’s exploration of the supernatural and the unknown has influenced later writers in the horror genre, particularly those interested in psychological and existential horror.
• Literary Style: Maupassant’s clear and precise writing style, characterized by simplicity and economy of language, has been admired and emulated. Many writers appreciate his ability to convey profound insights with a direct and accessible prose style.
• Social Critique: Through stories like “Boule de Suif” and “The Necklace,” Maupassant offered sharp critiques of societal norms and hypocrisy. His examination of the impact of societal expectations on individual lives influenced subsequent writers engaged in social commentary.
• Global Influence: Maupassant’s works have been translated into numerous languages, allowing his influence to extend globally. His themes and storytelling techniques continue to resonate with readers across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Guy de Maupassant’s legacy in literature is indelible, marked by his mastery of the short story genre, his contributions to naturalism, and his profound influence on subsequent generations of writers. His ability to distill complex human experiences into concise narratives, coupled with a clear and precise writing style, has left an enduring mark on the literary landscape. From his exploration of societal norms to his forays into psychological horror, Maupassant’s works continue to captivate readers and serve as a touchstone for those seeking to understand the intricacies of the human condition.

What is Guy de Maupassant best known for?

Guy de Maupassant is best known for his mastery of the short story genre. His works, such as “The Necklace,” “Boule de Suif,” and “The Horla,” are celebrated for their exploration of human nature, societal critique, and psychological depth.

What literary movement did Maupassant belong to?  

Maupassant was a prominent figure in the naturalist literary movement. Naturalism sought to apply scientific principles to literature, emphasizing observation of life without idealization and exploring the influence of environment and heredity on human behavior.

What is Maupassant’s writing style like?  

Maupassant’s writing style is characterized by clarity, precision, and simplicity. He often used straightforward prose, avoiding unnecessary embellishments. His clear language, combined with keen observations, allows readers to engage with the depth of his narratives.

What themes does Maupassant explore in his works?  

Maupassant explores a range of themes in his works, including the complexities of human relationships, societal norms and hypocrisy, psychological horror, and the impact of industrialization on individuals. His stories often offer sharp critiques of societal expectations and delve into the darker aspects of human nature.

How did Maupassant influence literature?  

Maupassant’s influence on literature is seen in his mastery of the short story, contributions to naturalism, exploration of psychological themes, and his impact on modern horror. His works have been translated globally, and his storytelling techniques continue to inspire writers across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

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Guy de Maupassant

Short stories.

Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant (Aug 5, 1850 - Jul 6, 1893) was a popular French author who wrote under the pen name Guy de Maupassant . He is considered one of the fathers of the modern short story as well as one of its finest practitioners. His prolific and deeply admired body of work influenced a great number of writers including William Somerset Maugham , O. Henry , Anton Chekhov , Kate Chopin and Henry James .

He was a popular writer during his lifetime and had the good fortune to see that his stories were widely read. As a young man he fought in the Franco-Prussian War. He drew heavily on that experience and that war provides the setting for many of his stories which often depict the tragedy and suffering of innocent civilians caught in war's path. He also found inspiration in the not-so-admirable behavior of the bourgeoisie, and made them targets of his biting pessimism and skewering pen.

His most famous work for English readers is probably The Necklace . If you are unfamiliar with his works, also consider A Piece of String , Mademoiselle Fifi , Miss Harriet , My Uncle Jules , Found on a Drowned Man and The Wreck as starting points. If you have the stomach for it, you might try his truly terrifying piece of Gothic Fiction , The Hand .

Boule de Suif is arguably considered Guy de Maupassant's finest short story. It's a bit long for the short story form, but it's length is justified by Maupassant's mastery and the treatment of his high society targets. The story is a withering criticism of the French society of the late 19th century. Maupassant takes representatives from the different classes and stations of French Society and places them all in the same carriage, which is then accidentally driven behind enemy lines during the Franco-Prussian war. In time, the true character of each participant is revealed as Maupassant passes scathing judgement upon his fellow countrymen.

Guy de Maupassant suffered from mental illness in his later years and attempted suicide on January 2nd, 1892. He was committed to a private asylum in Paris and died the following year.

Selected Writings

• MADEMOISELLE FIFI
• AN AFFAIR OF STATE.
• MISS HARRIET
• SIMON'S PAPA
• WAITER, A "BOCK"
• SEQUEL TO A DIVORCE
• THE MAD WOMAN
• IN VARIOUS ROLES
• THE FALSE GEMS
• COUNTESS SATAN
• THE COLONEL'S IDEAS
• TWO LITTLE SOLDIERS
• WAS IT A DREAM?
• THE DIARY OF A MADMAN
• AN UNFORTUNATE LIKENESS
• A COUNTRY EXCURSION

GUY DE MAUPASSANT — A STUDY BY POL. NEVEUX

• BOULE DE SUIF
• TWO FRIENDS
• THE PRISONERS
• FATHER MILON
• A COUP D'ETAT
• LIEUTENANT LARE'S MARRIAGE
• THE HORRIBLE
• MADAME PARISSE

Original Short Stories, Volume 2

• MOTHER SAUVAGE
• THE MUSTACHE
• CHATEAU DE SOLLES,
• MADAME BAPTISTE
• THE QUESTION OF LATIN
• THE BLIND MAN
• INDISCRETION
• A FAMILY AFFAIR
• BESIDE SCHOPENHAUER'S CORPSE

Original Short Stories, Volume 3

• LITTLE LOUISE ROQUE
• THE DISPENSER OF HOLY WATER
• A PARRICIDE
• THE IMPOLITE SEX
• A WEDDING GIFT

Original Short Stories, Volume 4

• THE MORIBUND
• THE GAMEKEEPER
• THE STORY OF A FARM GIRL
• THEODULE SABOT'S CONFESSION
• THE WRONG HOUSE
• THE DIAMOND NECKLACE
• THE MARQUIS DE FUMEROL
• THE TRIP OF LE HORLA

Original Short Stories, Volume 5

• MONSIEUR PARENT
• QUEEN HORTENSE
• MADEMOISELLE PEARL
• CLAIR DE LUNE
• FORGIVENESS
• IN THE SPRING

Original Short Stories, Volume 6

• THAT COSTLY RIDE
• MY UNCLE SOSTHENES
• THE BARONESS
• MOTHER AND SON
• A TRESS OF HAIR
• ON THE RIVER
• THE CRIPPLE
• JULIE ROMAIN
• THE RONDOLI SISTERS

Original Short Stories, Volume 7

• FASCINATION
• YVETTE SAMORIS
• MY TWENTY-FIVE DAYS
• LEGEND OF MONT ST. MICHEL
• A NEW YEAR'S GIFT
• FRIEND PATIENCE
• THE MAISON TELLIER
• THE UNKNOWN
• THE APPARITION

Original Short Stories, Volume 8

• THE LEGION OF HONOR
• HOW HE GOT THE LEGION OF HONOR
• FOUND ON A DROWNED MAN
• HIS AVENGER
• MY UNCLE JULES
• THE FISHING HOLE
• IN THE WOOD

Original Short Stories, Volume 9

• MADAME HUSSON'S "ROSIER"
• THE ADOPTED SON
• OLD MONGILET
• THE FIRST SNOWFALL
• SUNDAYS OF A BOURGEOIS
• Preparations for the Excursion
• Two Celebrities
• Before the Celebration
• An Experiment in Love
• A Dinner and Some Opinions
• A RECOLLECTION
• OUR LETTERS
• THE LOVE OF LONG AGO
• FRIEND JOSEPH
• THE EFFEMINATES

Original Short Stories, Volume 10

• THE CHRISTENING
• THE FARMER'S WIFE
• WALTER SCHNAFFS' ADVENTURE
• THAT PIG OF A MORIN
• SAINT ANTHONY
• LASTING LOVE
• A NORMANDY JOKE

Original Short Stories, Volume 11

• THE UMBRELLA
• BELHOMME'S BEAST
• THE ACCURSED BREAD
• THE PENGUINS' ROCK
• AN ARTIFICE

Original Short Stories, Volume 12

• ROSALIE PRUDENT
• A SISTER'S CONFESSION
• DEAD WOMAN'S SECRET
• A HUMBLE DRAMA
• MADEMOISELLE COCOTTE
• THE CORSICAN BANDIT

Original Short Stories, Volume 13

• THE LITTLE CASK
• THE ENGLISHMAN OF ETRETAT
• A FATHER'S CONFESSION
• A MOTHER OF MONSTERS
• AN UNCOMFORTABLE BED
• THE DRUNKARD
• THE WARDROBE
• THE MOUNTAIN POOL
• A CREMATION
• MADAME HERMET
• THE MAGIC COUCH

The Classical Library, This HTML edition copyright ©2001.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), French author of the naturalistic school who is generally considered the greatest French short story writer.

Early career

Guy de Maupassant was probably born at the Château de Miromesniel, Dieppe on August 5, 1850. In 1869 Maupassant started to study law in Paris, but soon, at the age of 20, he volunteered to serve in the army during the Franco-Prussian War. Between the years 1872 and 1880 Maupassant was a civil servant, first at the ministry of maritime affairs, then at the ministry of education.

As a poet Maupassant made his debut with Des Vers (1880). In the same year he published in the anthology Soirées de Medan (1880), edited by E. Zola, his masterpiece, Boule De Suif (Ball of Fat, 1880). During the 1880s Maupassant created some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. In tone, his tales were marked by objectivity, highly controlled style, and sometimes by sheer comedy. Usually they were built around simple episodes from everyday life, which revealed the hidden sides of people. Among Maupassant's best-known books are Une Vie (A Woman's Life, 1883), about the frustrating existence of a Norman wife and Bel-Ami (1885), which depicts an unscrupulous journalist. Pierre Et Jean (1888) was a psychological study of two brothers. Maupassant's most upsetting horror story, Le Horla (1887), was about madness and suicide.

Pain and suffering

Maupassant had suffered from his 20s from syphilis. The disease later caused increasing mental disorder - also seen in his nightmarish stories, which have much in common with Edgar Allan Poe's supernatural visions. Critics have charted Maupassant's developing illness through his semi-autobiographical stories of abnormal psychology, but the theme of mental disorder is present even in his first collection, La Maison Tellier (1881), published at the height of his health.

On January 2, in 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat and was committed to the celebrated private asylum of Dr. Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris, where he died on July 6, 1893.

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Guy de Maupassant

• Biography of Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was probably born at the Château de Miromesniel, Dieppe on August 5, 1850. In 1869 Maupassant started to study law in Paris, but soon, at the age of 20, he volunteered to serve in the army during the Franco-Prussian War. Between the years 1872 and 1880 Maupassant was a civil servant, first at the ministry of maritime affairs, then at the ministry of education.

As a poet Maupassant made his debut with Des Vers (1880). In the same year he published in the anthology Soirées de Medan (1880), edited by E. Zola, his masterpiece, "Boule De Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880). During the 1880s Maupassant created some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. In tone, his tales were marked by objectivity, highly controlled style, and sometimes by sheer comedy. Usually they were built around simple episodes from everyday life, which revealed the hidden sides of people. Among Maupassant's best-known books are Une Vie ( A Woman's Life , 1883), about the frustrating existence of a Norman wife and Bel-Ami (1885), which depicts an unscrupulous journalist. Pierre Et Jean (1888) was a psychological study of two brothers. Maupassant's most upsetting horror story, Le Horla (1887), was about madness and suicide.

Maupassant had suffered from his 20s from syphilis. The disease later caused increasing mental disorder - also seen in his nightmarish stories, which have much in common with Edgar Allan Poe 's supernatural visions. Critics have charted Maupassant's developing illness through his semi-autobiographical stories of abnormal psychology, but the theme of mental disorder is present even in his first collection, La Maison Tellier (1881), published at the height of his health.

The above biography is copyrighted. Do not republish it without permission.

Recent Forum Posts on Guy de Maupassant

Poem/quote original text.

Hi everyone, I am searching for the original text of a quote or poem (I don't know to categorize) he wrote. It's this one: To love very much is to love inadequately; we love-that is all. Love cannot be modified without being nullified. Love is a short word but it contains everything. Love means the body, the soul, the life, the entire being. We feel love as we feel the warmth of our blood, we breathe love as we breathe the air, we hold it in ourselves as we hold our thoughts. Nothing more exists for us. Love is not a word; it is a wordless state indicated by four letters. Can anyone provide me the original French text? Kind regards, Judith...

Posted By Judith in Maupassant, Guy de || 0 Replies

Realism in "The Necklace"

With his writing, Guy de Maupassant’s goal is to duplicate reality by combining his observations and reflections; however, he duplicates with such subtlety that the outcome is a surprise to the reader. De Maupassant wants readers to understand how people change depending on circumstances, while helping us see his perspective of life. I believe de Maupassant faithfully duplicates reality, because Cinderella is a fairy tale, but “The Necklace” is the story of what happens to a beautiful woman in the real world. Fairy tales have happy endings, but life “is brutal, inconsequential, and disconnected, full of inexplicable, illogical catastrophes” (Charters 1472). There are many examples of how the...

Posted By Flavory in Maupassant, Guy de || 10 Replies

First Read of Maupassant Short Stories - Unimpressed

Let me first just say that I'm quite passed the stage in my life where I in any way think my opinion is an accurate judgement of the actual worth of a piece of art. That being said, I can't change what I like and what I don't like, and after reading a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant, I have to say I didn't really like them. Here's the list of stories I read (from the Wordsworth Classics edition): Boule de Suif Two Friends Madame Tellier's Establishment Madamoiselle Fifi Claire de Lune Miss Harriet The Necklace Madammoiselle Pearl The Piece of String Madame Husson's 'Rosier' That Pig of a Morin Useless Beauty The Other Orchard A Sale Love Two Litt...

Posted By Mutatis-Mutandis in Maupassant, Guy de || 19 Replies

De Maupassant Collection Recommendation

Okay, so if I were to buy just one collection of De Mauppasant's short stories, what should it be? I can get them all free on my Kindle, but I really like getting actual book forms of classics (and I'm on a actual-book kick at the moment). The choice of what to get is kind of divisive going by Amazon reviews....

Posted By Mutatis-Mutandis in Maupassant, Guy de || 7 Replies

Help with a De Maupassant story

I have been looking for this story, which unfortunately is out of print in the sole greek edition it appears to have been part of. Its title should be something like "Little Rok" which is the name of one of the characters. I tried searching for it, both in english and french, but didnt find anything. Perhaps someone knows of the story (is the title different in the original version?) and can direct me to an etext of it? Anyway thanks for the help :)...

Posted By Kyriakos in Maupassant, Guy de || 4 Replies

Does anyone know where i could find an etext in english of the story "Little Rok" by Guy De Maupassant? Unfortunately the only edition i know of in greek which had it has been out of print for years. But i would love to read the story :)...

Posted By Kyriakos in Maupassant, Guy de || 0 Replies

Short story about statues?

I remember reading a story about a man who is going mad and believes statues are flying over his bed at night. I think it's Guy de Maupassant, but it could be somebody like Zola or even Kafka. Does this sound familiar?...

Posted By voraciouskate in Maupassant, Guy de || 4 Replies

at sea, help

i just read the short story "at sea" and im a little confused about it. im told that there is irony in the story but i dont seem to see it. what is the irony and what was guy trying to say when he wrote this? can anyone give me a short analysis of the story? so i have a total of three questions: 1) what is the irony 2)what was he trying to get accross when he wrote "at sea" 3)if anyone can write a short analysis of the story thank you...

Posted By worksux in Maupassant, Guy de || 1 Reply

In The Wood

I just finished reading this story and I really enjoyed it. I rather like Maupassant's writing and it seems in many ways we are of a same mind in our views about human society and the human psychology. Out of what little I have read so far In The Wood was a bit more upbeat than his other works though it was still a touch bittersweet in nature. It was quite a charming little story while still touched in sadness. Like his other works (from what I have read) it seems to have an important message to impart to us. How indeed sometimes we get too caught up in the things that appear important, the materialism, that we neglect the things that are truly important until it passes us by before ...

Posted By Dark Muse in Maupassant, Guy de || 0 Replies

Short Story Recomendations

Someone recomended the works of Guy de Maupassant to me but I have no idea where I should begin. So I am open to suggestions and recomendations....

Posted By Dark Muse in Maupassant, Guy de || 2 Replies

help finding story about man who pays wife for sex

I remember reading a story where the husband is kind of a prick and mistreats his wife by cheating on her. She eventually won't spend anytime unless he pays for it. Can someone please, if you know, tell me the story's name. I have been randomly guessing the title and opening various stories. With over 300, this hasn't worked. Thanks, mramon...

Posted By mramon in Maupassant, Guy de || 4 Replies

Maupassant: Best Editions/Translations?

I need suggestions from those of you who have read him more than I have. I had the older Selected Stories Penguin edition translated by Colet. The swooshy arrow logo bookseller lists various translations of selected works, but I am after Collected stories... It does not look like any larger contemporary literary publisher has tried to re-issue his collected works or his novels. I am after all his stories and his novel, Bel Ami I have a VERY old tattered 1905 ed NY books hardcover of what appears to be most of his stories. I am not sure of the quality of the english translation. I am picky about translation versions. To you experts out there, do older, eng...

Posted By promtbr in Maupassant, Guy de || 6 Replies

Post a New Comment/Question on Maupassant

• Notre Coeur
• Pierre and Jean
• Strong as Death
• La Paix du Menage
• A Country Excursion
• A Coup d'Etat
• A Cremation
• A Family Affair
• A Father's Confession
• A Humble Drama
• A Lively Friend
• A Mother of Monsters
• A New Year's Gift
• A Normandy Joke
• A Parricide
• A Queer Night in Paris
• A Recollection
• A Tress of Hair
• A Wedding Gift
• An Artifice
• An Old Maid
• An Uncomfortable Bed
• Belhomme's Beast
• Beside Schopenhauer's Corpse
• Boule de Suif
• Clair de Lune
• Complication
• Dead Woman's Secret
• Fascination
• Father Matthew
• Father Milon
• Forgiveness
• Found on a Drowned Man
• Friend Joseph
• Friend Patience
• Hautot Senior and Hautot Junior
• His Avenger
• In the Spring
• In the Wood
• Indiscretion
• Julie Romaine
• Lasting Love
• Legend of Mont St. Michel
• Lieutenant Lare's Marriage
• Little Louise Roque
• Madame Baptiste
• Madame Hermet
• Madame Husson's Rosier
• Madame Parisse
• Mademoiselle Cocotte
• Mademoiselle Fifi
• Mademoiselle Pearl
• Miss Harriet
• Monsieur Parent
• Mother and Son
• Mother Sauvage
• My Twenty-Five Days
• My Uncle Jules
• My Uncle Sosthenes
• Old Mongilet
• On the River
• Our Letters
• Queen Hortense
• Rosalie Prudent
• Saint Anthony
• Simon's Papa
• Sundays of a Bourgeois
• That Costly Ride
• That Pig of a Morin
• The Accursed Bread
• The Adopted Son
• The Apparition
• The Baroness
• The Blind Man
• The Christening
• The Colonel's Ideas
• The Confession
• The Corsican Bandit
• The Cripple
• The Diamond Necklace
• The Diary of a Madman
• The Dispenser of Holy Water
• The Drunkard
• The Effeminates
• The Englishman of Etretat
• The False Gems
• The Farmer's Wife
• The First Snowfall
• The Fishing Hole
• The Gamekeeper
• The Horla, or Modern Ghosts
• The Horrible
• The Impolite Sex
• The Lancer's Wife
• The Legion of Honor
• The Little Cask
• The Love of Long Ago
• The Magic Couch
• The Maison Tellier
• The Man with the Pale Eyes
• The Marquis de Fumerol
• The Moribund
• The Mountain Pool
• The Mustache
• The Olive Grove
• The Penguin's Rock
• The Piece of String
• The Prisoners
• The Question of Latin
• The Rondoli Sisters
• The Story of a Farm Girl
• The Trip of the Horla
• The Umbrella
• The Unknown
• The Wardrobe
• The White Wolf
• The Wrong House
• Theodule Sabot's Confession
• Two Friends
• Two Little Soldiers
• Useless Beauty
• Waiter, a "Bock"
• Walter Schnaffs' Adventure
• Yvette Samoris

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Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French novelist and short-story writer. He was a well-versed writer and was famous for his short stories. His stories are short and efficient which brought him fame. He portrayed the lives and destinies of humans in a more pessimistic way. He mainly wrote about the Franco-Prussian War and its effects on the lives of the people.

He was born in an upper-class family. In his early school days, he took a keen interest in literary writings and composed some poems as well. In 1867, he came under the mentorship of French novelist Gustave Flaubert, who advised him to opt for Law and study it. However, he could not pursue his studies because of the war in which he participated as a cop.

When the war ended, he came back to Paris where he came under the tutelage of many Realist and Naturalist writers who provided him with a path to pursue. From then on, Maupassant formally began his literary career and wrote enormously. 

His writings gave him financial support and he received great acclaim from his contemporaries. Leo Tolstoy acknowledged his first novel as “an excellent novel, not only incomparably the best novel by Maupassant but almost the best French novel since Hugo’s Les Miserables “.

Guy de Maupassant’s Biography

Henri-Rene-Albert-Guy de Maupassant was born in a wealthy family on August 5, 1870, at the Castle Miromesnil, near Dieppe in France. He became the first child of his wealthy parents,  Laure Le Poittevin and Gustave de Maupassant. 

It was his mother who convinced his father to acquire the privilege to use his correct family name “de Maupassant” rather than “Maupassant”, as they belong to a noble family after they tied the knot in 1846.

The nobility to their family came through one of Gustave de Maupassant’s relatives, Jean-Baptiste Maupassant, who was given the rank of a nobleman in 1752. He worked as a secretary to the King. Guy’s father applied to obtain the right in the court and succeeded in earning the right to use “de Maupassant” in place of “Maupassant” as his last name. When Guy came to the world in 1850, “de Maupassant” became his surname.

Maupassant’s parents separated when he was 11 years old and his brother Herve was just five. His father treated his mother, who was a free-spirited lady, violently so she applied for legitimate separation not considering that society will blame her. However, she fought for her kids and won the right to keep them with her once she got separation. Afterward, Laure would become an impactful figure in Maupassant’s life. 

She was a scholarly woman herself and adored reading classical literature, Shakespeare in particular. Until thirteen, Guy enjoyed a lavish life living with his mother at Etretat, in the Villa des Verguies. He enjoyed his stay there and loved fishing as well as indulging in other activities.

Later, he was admitted to the Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouen to study classics along with his brother. He grew hostile towards religion in his early school days and hated clerical emphasis on rituals and discipline. Guy did not enjoy his stay in the school and was dismissed from the school in his penultimate year.

He got admission in a junior high school in 1867. He became acquainted with his mother’s friend and a famous writer, Gustave Falubert, at Croisset. In the autumn of the following year, he went to Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen, where he took an interest in poetry and took a significant part in stage performances. 

In October 1868, as eighteen years old, he rescued Algernon Charles Swinburne, a renowned poet, on the seashore of Etretat.

When he graduated from college in 1870, he immediately went to the Franco-Prussian war and participated as a cop in it. The following year, he abandoned Normandy and went to Paris for a clerical job in the Navy Department. During his tenure as a clerk, he would spend his leisure time boating on the Seine. 

Gustave Flaubert had a great influence on him. He became his mentor and introduced him to new avenues to thrive. He helped Maupassant try his luck in literature and also getting a job as a journalist. Furthermore, Flaubert introduced him to Emile Zola and Ivan Turgenev, a Russian novelist, and to other realist and naturalist writers.

In 1878, he got posted in the Ministry of Public Instruction and acted as an editor to many renowned newspapers such as Gil Blas, l’Echo de Paris, Le Gaulois, and Le Figaro. He began writing short stories and novels in his free time. 

His first great work “Boule de Suif” brought him immediate success when it first published in 1880. His mentor Flaubert applauded his effort and hailed it as “a masterpiece that will endure.” With this piece of fiction, Maupassant started writing about the Franco-Prussian war and he continued writing short stories that were set in the war.

Maupassant came to the fore as a writer in the decade from 1880 to 1891. He got some recognition in this decade producing great fictional work. He wrote in a well-organized manner and would publish upto four volumes yearly. He became rich with the help of his aptitude and pragmatic business sense. 

In 1881, he succeeded in publishing his first collection of short stories entitled La Maison Tellier. The collection got great fame and within a couple of years, twelve editions of it were available in the market. Two years later in 1883, he completed Une Vie, his first novel. 

It was also an immediate success and within a year 25000 copies of the novel were sold. The novel was translated into English under the title of A Woman’s Life .

Havard, his proofreader, paid him in advance for writing more and he wrote nonstop. Writing continuously, he composed a novel Pierre et Jean considered by many as his masterpiece. With the passage of time, he started hating his society more and began to live a lonely life. However, he loved traveling and went on foreign travels widely. 

He visited Italy, England, Sicily, Brittany, etc and returned from each trip with a new volume. He used his personal sailboat “Bel-Ami”. During his trips, he befriended literary people like Alexandre Dumas and Hippolyte Taine. Alexandre Dumas loved him like a father and Maupassant held Hippolyte Taine in high regard.

Maupassant, along with other prominent writers, was against the construction of the Eiffel Tower. He would usually try to avoid seeing the tower and was among the figures who wrote a letter to the Minister of Public Works protesting against its construction. 

Maupassant also composed under different pen names like Maufrigneuse, Guy de Valmont, and Joseph Prunier in the initial years of his writing career.

In the final years of his life, he loved to remain lonely and in solitude. He also became paranoiac because of syphilis, a fatal ailment that had attacked him while he was young. The illness may have been innate because his brother also had the same illness. 

On January 2, 1892, Maupassant tried to cut his life short but failed. Later, he was admitted to a mental hospital of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris, where he breathed his last on July 6, 1893

Guy de Maupassant’s Writing Style

Guy de Maupassant was a prolific short story writer who dealt with diverse themes in his fictional writings. He openly wrote about the class difference prevalent in society. He also wrote about the impact of the Franco-Prussian war upon the people associated with it. His pessimistic approach towards life enabled him to depict society as it was and he did not give his readers an idealized picture of the society.

Issue of Class Difference

This is a significant theme in Maupassant’s stories. Maupassant openly talks about the class conflict prevalent in society in his works. There is a huge gulf between the upper class and the lower class. The upper class enjoys a lavish life full of luxuries and comfort. On the contrary, the lower class lives a miserable life. The lower class does not afford to live a life full of comfort.

Maupassant openly talks about the gap between the classes. He criticizes the behavior of the upper class with the lower class. The elite class manipulates and oppresses the lower class. They take advantage of their poverty and want them to act according to their desires and wants. The lower class yearns for the luxurious life of the upper-class lives. This thing is evident in most of his stories especially “The Necklace”.

“The Necklace” is about a lower-class woman, Mathilde, who yearns for a luxurious life full of comfort. She tries her best to be recognized in society and does everything to achieve her goal. She abandons her poor life and strives for elevated status in society. Her fatal wish ruins her ultimately. 

Eventually, she loses her charm and becomes poorer. Through the story, Maupassant highlights the impact of class conscious society on individuals who belong to the lower strata of society. Gaining elevated status in society makes an individual lose his original identity.

Maupassant’s Subject Matter

If I say that Maupassant is the child of his own society, it will not be wrong. He proves this fact by talking about ordinary issues in his writings. He does not talk about the struggles of kings and war heroes. However, his issues are related to the common lives of ordinary people. 

He openly talks about the mundane issues of common people in society. He takes his subjects from everyday life and talks about the challenges a common man faces in society.

In “The Necklace” he talks about how a lower class Mathilde Loisel struggles to gain recognition in a class conscious society because of her lower-class background. He also talks about how she loses everything chasing the elevated status in society. She even loses her original identity trying to cope with class conscious society.

Moreover, in “Boule de Suif” he gives his readers an insight into how the upper class manipulates the lower class. In this short story, a prostitute is manipulated by her own countrymen for their own benefit. The rich people persuade the prostitute to share a bed with a German soldier in order to resume their journey. 

The German soldier had announced earlier that they would resume their journey only if they convinced the prostitute to sleep with him. From this, Maupassant shows how rich people sacrifice the poor ones for their own advantage.

Through “Boule de Suif” Maupassant highlights the impacts of war on individuals. He shows his readers how the ravages of war make people homeless. It also makes individuals lose their integrity like the prostitute in the story. The prostitute does not let the German destroy her at first but when the people on the boat convince her, she agrees for the sack of those people. 

The short story shows the real picture of the Franco-Prussian war and how it affects people. Furthermore, the story shows Maupassant’s disdain for war because it makes people lose their integrity.

Maupassant’s Pessimism

Maupassant belongs to the realist school of thought so he depicts the society as it is. He does not idealize situations and events for the sake of it. He lived in a class conscious society where social background mattered the most. 

Maupassant became pessimistic when he saw people from lower-class backgrounds continuously struggling to gain elevated status in society and in turn lose their original identity.

Maupassant deals with pessimistic events and situations in many of his short stories in which his protagonists view life as miserable and useless. The main characters, in many of his stories, have a negative mindset, and are hopeless that their lives will take a good turn. 

His pessimism stems from the time he spent participating in the war and seeing the evil side of humanity. Part of it comes from his own life as well. The absence of a father-like figure in his life also adds to his pessimistic view about life.

If we take the example of Mathilde Loisel from “The Necklace, we come to know that she is a lower-class woman who yearns for a luxurious life. She is not content with her present life and wants to live a comfortable life. Her lower-class background makes her hopeless about gaining elevated status in society. 

She envies rich ladies but cannot stand with them side by side due to her lower background. Mathilde Loisel feels happy for a fleeting moment when she participates in an elite party but pays for that moment in her entire life. That momentary happiness ruins her life.

Just like Mathilde Loisel, there are many characters who convey the idea of Maupassant’s pessimism. Maupassant’s pessimism is Schopenhauerian and takes a negative look towards events.

Maupassant’s Realism

Maupassant’s realism stems from the fact that he depicts the events as it is. He does not idealize or romanticize the situations rather depicts them in an original manner. He openly writes about the terrible repercussions of war on humanity and raises his voice against it. 

He despises the idea of war in his writings. Furthermore, he openly depicts the class conscious society of his times in his writings. He talks about how the lower class people get manipulated by the upper-class people for their own advantage.

Gustave Flaubert, a realist, and his literary mentor have a great influence on Maupassant. As a student of Flaubert, Maupassant uses his own insight and depicts the ordinary human experiences in his writings. He pays attention to the struggles faced by laymen in society and realistically depicts them. 

A critic Wallace asserts “He possessed a rare ability to understand the small, almost unnoticed episodes of human experience, and to so enhancing them by his art as to make other men understand both the pettiness and the nobility of all human endeavor”.

Maupassant attentively observes the society in which he lives and gives voice to the challenges a common man faces in society through his writings. The influence of Flaubert can be seen in Maupassant depicting the realistic picture of society in his writings.

Maupassant’s Psychology

Maupassant gives his readers an insight into the psychological aspects of his characters. He not only describes them physically but mentally as well. He enters into the minds of his characters and highlights what is going on in their minds. 

He gives us insight into the inner conflicts of his personas. He unfolds the psychological minds of his characters into his readers. He knows all about his characters and delves into their minds to show us what is going on.

His illness from syphilis, which he contracted in his youth, had a deep impact on him when he became old. With the passage of time, he came up with harsher realities of life and depicts them accordingly in his writings. 

He becomes mentally unstable because of the disease which enables him to write about psychological and mental subjects as he experiences them personally. His illness leaves him lonely, sad, and in solitude.

In his later career, he writes about psychological subjects. He openly talks about suicide, misery, and death in his writings. He makes characters who have some psychological problems. 

He depicts those characters, with the help of his personal experiences, to enable the readers to know about the struggles of a mentally unstable individual. He loves solitude and loneliness and talks about them in his writings too.

He personally faces a challenge due to madness and depicts mad characters so that he can relate them with his readers. Wallace opines,  “ Maupassant was able to conceive of that little bit of madness in us all because he was a little more than “normally” mad, and his characters have that human degree of madness which gives them a reality and causes us to identify with them”. 

He intermingles his personal experiences with his characters’ traits to create genuine stories.

Language Structure and Style

Maupassant’s short stories are famous for its efficiency and economy of style. The structure and style of his stories are very compact. Most of them can be read and understood easily. The language is simple and there is no use of archaic words. The sentences are concise and blunt. 

The choice of words completely fits the subject matter in his stories. Maupassant uses very authentic words to convey his idea in the best possible manner. It makes a powerful impact upon the reader.

He very tactfully constructs his plots. There is a cause and effect relationship among the events. All the events and situations comfortably lead to the climax in the story and then passes that intent into the befitting ending. 

The sentences are well connected and they fittingly play their role in taking the story to the desired ending. There is not a single loose thread. The sentences contribute to the overall effect in the story. The writer very tactfully makes this story powerful by the authentic use of language.

Maupassant is considered the master of short stories which he has written with great artistic genius. He has also written some novels but his novels have not given him much success. Maupassant is famous for his short stories. 

Pasco praises his genius as a short story writer in these words, “Maupassant’s success with the short story, while his novels never quite measured up, can perhaps be attributed to his inability to handle the large number of strands involved in really fine novels.”

He is thought to be a progenitor of the modern short story. Kornelije Kvas, a renowned literary theorist, pays tribute to him in these words, “along with Chekhov, Maupassant is the greatest master of the short story in world literature. He is not a naturalist like Zola; to him, physiological processes do not constitute the basis of human actions, although the influence of the environment is manifested in his prose. 

In many respects, Maupassant’s naturalism is Schopenhauerian anthropological pessimism, as he is often harsh and merciless when it comes to depicting human nature. He owes most to Flaubert, from whom he learned to use a concise and measured style and to establish a distance towards the object of narration.”

Works Of Guy de Maupassant

• Literature & Fiction
• World Literature

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Guy de Maupassant: The Complete Novels and Short Stories + A Biography of the Author (The Greatest Writers of All Time) Kindle Edition

• Print length 1979 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Book House Publishing
• Publication date July 8, 2017
• File size 4839 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B073TQWQHC
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Book House Publishing (July 8, 2017)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 8, 2017
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 4839 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 1979 pages
• #100 in French Literature (Kindle Store)
• #315 in French Literature (Books)
• #942 in Biographies & Memoirs of Authors

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