Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) is the most celebrated of French short-story writers. The brilliance of his technique is combined with an ethical nihilism. Guy de Maupassant was born on Aug. 5, 1850, in Normandy; his exact...

Acknowledged throughout the world as one of the masters of the short story, Guy de Maupassant was also the author of a collection of poetry, a volume of plays, six novels, three travel journals, and many chronicles. However, he clearly excelled in the...

Maupassant, Guy de. A Selection of the Chroniques (1881-87). Adrian C. Ritchie, ed. Bern: Peter Lang, 2002. Pp. 256. ISBN 3-906766-99-3. USA--ISBN 0-8204-5615-2 Prior to 1971, scholars interested in the journalistic production of Guy de Maupassant had to ferret out his articles...

Dans les flancs de ma Mere une guerre intestine De nos divisions lui marqua l'origine. Elles ont, tu le sais, paru dans le berceau Et nous suivront peut-etre encor dans le tombeau. --Jean Racine, La Thebaide 4.1 (923-26) La derniere dechirure etait faite;...

In the following excerpt, Poteau-Tralie traces the portrayal of the mother in Maupassant's works—focusing on the "good" mother, the criminal mother, the monstrous mother, and the "unnatural" mother—within the context of prevailing nineteenth-century thought; Maupassant's childhood; his thoughts on God, religion, and children; and his worldview.

In the following excerpt, Stivale examines Maupassant's portrayal of the struggle between prostitutes and their environment through their relationships with les hommesfilles (men-harlots). The critic does this in three ways: by analyzing Maupassant's depiction of registered prostitutes; by studying the interactions between filles (prostitutes) and hommes filles; and by considering how women are depicted as "other" (for example, the lesbian woman, the exotic woman, or the anonymo...

In the following excerpt, Donaldson-Evans examines Maupassant's skepticism of traditional religion through his portrayal of various feminine types, including the pious woman; the woman who identifies herself with the Divinity; the woman as Virgin Mother; the sadistic woman incapable of love; and the cruel mother.