Whenever Flaubert was staying in Paris, he used to invite Maupassant to lunch on Sundays, lecture him on prose style, and correct his youthful literary exercises. Guy de Maupassant comes from rich family. Maupassant was the elder of the two children of Gustave and Laure de Maupassant. Some of the best-known authors for whom Maupassant was an inspiration include W. Somerset Maugham, O. Henry, and Henry James. Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. That is why he really love and close with his mother. "Biography of Guy de Maupassant, Father of the Short Story." His mothers claim that he was born at the Chteau de Miromesnil has been disputed. 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. Taken together, his stories present a broad, naturalistic picture of French life from 1870 to 1890. Head, Programme Contracts Department, British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 195969. Helpful Discussion Questions for 'The Necklace', Biography of Ernest Hemingway, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize Winning Writer, Biography of Kate Chopin, American Author and Protofeminist, Biography of Washington Irving, Father of the American Short Story, A List of Every Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, High School Vocabulary in Context Worksheets, Flash Fiction From Baudelaire to Lydia Davis, Classic British and American Essays and Speeches, Biography of Ray Bradbury, American Author, Life of Wilkie Collins, Grandfather of the English Detective Novel, Biography of Italo Calvino, Italian Novelist, M.A., English Literature, California State University - Sacramento, B.A., English, California State University - Sacramento. We hope this study guide is particularly useful for teachers and students eager to appreciate the nuances of the story. The author also wrote six novels, three travel books and one volume of verse. He first gained attention with Boule de Suif (1880; Ball of Fat), probably his finest story. Boule de suif epitomizes Maupassants style in its economy and balance. He has written more than 300 short stories, six novels, travel books and also a book of poetry. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. 5) In junior high school and high-school he was proven to be a good student. Guy de Maupassant Birth Anniversary: Interesting Facts About the Storyteller, Guy de Maupassant 169th birth anniversary. Gustave Flaubert, a good friend of Maupassants mother noticed Maupassants interest in writing and introduced him to Emile Zola and Henry James. She took custody of Guy and his younger brother, and it was her influence that led her sons to develop an appreciation for literature. Construction of the Eiffel Tower was highly controversial amongst the Parisians. 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. He did not care for the bureaucracy but was not unsuccessful and was several times promoted. Later, as a civil-service employee, he became a protg of Gustave Flaubert. His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("The Dumpling", 1880), is often considered his most famous work. Flaubert characterized it as "a masterpiece that will endure". The following year, his novel, Bel Ami was published. Maupassant also wrote under several pseudonyms such as Joseph Prunier, Guy de Valmont, and Maufrigneuse. Who is Guy De Maupassant: Guy De Maupassant is a famous Novelist. 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. In fact, he tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat on January 2, 1892 and was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris. In 1868, when he was eighteen, he saved the life of poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, rescuing the latter from drowning off the coast of Etretat. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Birth Year: 1850, Birth date: August 5, 1850, Birth City: Dieppe, Birth Country: France. Maupassant is often described as the father of the modern short storya literary form that's more condensed and immediate than the 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. Guy de Maupassant studied law and served in the military during the Franco-German War. It makes side effect of him such as insanity. For the full article, see. However, he had never loved working, all his free time Maupassant spent in women pursuit. There aremany amazing work which was made by Maupassant in 10 years, includingseveral non-fiction books,300 short stories, and six novels. Maupassant is considered a father of the modern short story. This is our collection of basic interesting facts about De Maupassant. Michel Drach directed and co-wrote a 1982 French biographical film: Guy de Maupassant. It was written to the Minister of Public Works. He then became a government clerk. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At the Villa des Verguies, between the sea and the luxuriant countryside, he grew very fond of fishing and of outdoor activities. LHritage (The Heritage),La Maison Tellier (The House of Mme Tellier),La Ficelle (The Piece of String,Boule de suif (Tallow Ball),Clair de lune (Moonlight, La Parure (The Necklace),Mlle Fifi and Miss Harriet are his masterpieces. His firsthand experience of war was to provide him with the material for some of his finest stories. The suicide attempt was believed to be a result of his impaired mental state. 4) At the age of 13, Maupassant was placed at a private school which he disliked and got himself expelled from. Maupassant published some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and his only volume of verse. After his graduation, he became a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War. Collections of short stories and novels followed one another in quick succession. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Guy de Maupassant and "The Necklace" Background Literary Devices Themes The Deceptiveness of Appearances The reality of Mathilde's situation is that she is neither wealthy nor part of the social class of which she feels she is a deserving member, but Mathilde does everything in her power to make her life appear different from how it is. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/guy-de-maupassant-biography-740701. The brilliance of his technique is combined with an ethical nihilism. Here are 5 of the best facts about De Maupassant The Necklace and De Maupassant Guy I managed to collect. His stories are second only to Shakespeare in their inspiration of movie adaptations with films ranging from Stagecoach, Oyuki the Virgin and Masculine Feminine.[21]. His father came to his assistance again and obtained a post for him in the Ministry of Marine, which was intended to support him until he qualified as a lawyer. As we know that Maupassant lived with his mother and brother after his parent seperated. [18] On 2 January 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat; he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris, where he died (6 July 1893) from syphilis. Guy de Maupassant (5 August, 1859 6 July, 1893) was a French writer and a master of short stories. The decade from 1880 to 1891 was the most fertile period of Maupassant's life. [10] Finding the place unbearable, he finally got himself expelled in his penultimate year. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. One hundred and . In the autumn of 1869 he began law studies in Paris, which were interrupted by the outbreak of the Franco-German War. 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'cho de Paris. [12] Next year, in autumn, he was sent to the Lyce Pierre-Corneille in Rouen[13] where he proved a good scholar, indulging in poetry and taking a prominent part in theatricals. 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 Rouenthe Institution Robineau of Maupassant's story La Question du Latinfor classical studies. Indeed, "Une Vie" (Maupassant) is very similar in terms of structure and narrative style to "Madame Bovary" (Flaubert), both centering around a woman who is unhappy and unsatisfied with her life. He served first as a private in the field. It was a concise description of a twofold relationship: if Flaubert was the inspiration for Maupassant the writer, he also provided the child of a broken marriage with a foster father. In 1867, he began high school, during which time he became friendly with French writer, Gustave Flaubert. By User Den fjttrade ankan on sv.wikipedia, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1250918. The couples second son, Herv, was born in 1856. Mature life and works of Guy de Maupassant. 1) When he was 11, Maupassants mother risked social disgrace by getting divorced and keeping her two sons. Maupassant was phenomenally promiscuous, and before he was 25 years old his health was being eroded by syphilis. The Franco-Prussian War broke out soon after his graduation from college in 1870; he enlisted as a volunteer. 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. Maupassants story, Boule de suif (Ball of Fat), was not only by far the best of the six. He resumed his law studies in Paris. Our Hearts) are several example of his best novel. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dnouement. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Naturalism is a subgenre of Realism. In the autumn of 1869, he began law studies in Paris. In 1868 he was sent to the Lyce Pierre-Corneille in Rouen. By 1890, the disease had started to cause increasingly strange behavior. The same year, he came out with his short story titled, La Ficelle'. He was later admitted into a private mental institute, Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris. Your email address will not be published. Soon after graduation, Maupassant served as a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War, after which he pursued a career as a civil servant working in the Navy Department and the Ministry of Public Instruction. When he was thirteen, he went to learn classical studies at the Yvetot seminary for a brief period. Maupassant and Flaubert both . Due to complaints from NBC executives, this part of the script was never filmed.[22]. He fathered three children - Honore Lucien Litzelmann, Jeanne Lucienne Litzelmann and Marthe Marguerite Litzelmann. 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. [20], Leo Tolstoy used Maupassant as the subject for one of his essays on art: The Works of Guy de Maupassant. Leo Tolstoy used Maupassant as the subject for one of his essays on art, The Works of Guy de Maupassant. Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. Famous novelist Guy de Maupassant, hated the tower, but still went to its restaurant every day. Maupassant penned his own epitaph: "I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing." During his apprenticeship with Flaubert, Maupassant published one or two stories under a pseudonym in obscure provincial magazines. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. When Maupassant was in his early 20s, he discovered that he was suffering from syphilis, one of the most frightening and widespread maladies of the age. The same year, he came out with the novel, Notre Cur'. In 1878, he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instruction. He felt a decided antipathy for this form of life and deliberately engineered his own expulsion for some trivial offense in 1868. "[19] He delighted in clever plotting, and served as a model for Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in this respect. His house is near to the sea. He published the story in 1880. Author Born in France #42. Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author who wrote more than 300 short stories. Henry-Ren-Albert-Guy de Maupassant was the eldest of the two children of Gustave and Laure, born on Aug. 5, 1850 in Dieppe, France. Made famous by his first short story, he worked methodically and produced two or sometimes four volumes annually. He later attended the Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouen, a private school. 7) In 1871 Maupassant enlisted as a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. This was not out of preference for the food but because it was only there that he could avoid seeing it. Please check our Privacy Policy. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At some point in his 20s, de Maupassant contracted syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that, if left untreated, leads to mental impairment. Maupassant was adamant in refusing to undergo treatment, with the result that the disease was to cast a deepening shadow over his mature years and was accentuated by neurasthenia, which had also afflicted his brother. Best Known For: The short stories of writer Guy de Maupassant detail many aspects of French life in the 19th century. Check out this jaw-dropping list of fun facts about Paris to learn more about this city! First Name Guy #31. 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. He would lecture Maupassant on prose style and correct his youthful literary exercises. Maupassant's story, Boule de suif ("Ball of Fat"), was not only by far the best of the six, it is probably the finest story he ever wrote. When he was eleven years old, his mother separated from his father. Until the age of thirteen, Guy lived happily with his mother, at tretat in Normandy. He would spend the next ten years of his life, serving in this position. His writing belonged to the genre of naturalism. For classical studies in Institution Leroy-Petit, in Rouen. On his 169th birth anniversary, here's looking at a few interesting facts about the author: When Maupassant was 11 and his brother Herv, 5, his mother, Laure Le Poittevin, risked social disgrace and legally separated from her husband, who was violent towards her. Guy De Maupassant Popularity . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. His best novels are considered to be Une Vie (1883, tr. Maupassant would go on to develop a fear of death and paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth. Naturalism, like Realism, tends to portray characters and settings that could exist in the real world and the plotlines are plausible. (2020, August 28). 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. Flaubert took young Guy as a kind of protege, introducing him to significant writers of the day such as Emile Zola and Ivan Turgenev. Looking for interesting Paris facts? However, his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. Most Popular #137442. Bel-Ami is drawn from the authors observation of the world of sharp businessmen and cynical journalists in Paris. In 1871, he left Normandy and moved to Paris, where he spent ten years as a clerk in the Navy Department. The stories were under a pseudonym in obscure provincial magazines. Lombardi, Esther. In the next 10 years he published some 300 short stories, six novels, and three travel books. His parents were both from prosperous bourgeois families. Flaubert continued to act as his literary godfather. [8] She was an exceptionally well-read woman and was very fond of classical literature, particularly Shakespeare. Search. Guy de Maupassant, (born Aug. 5, 1850, Chteau de Miromesnil?, near Dieppe, Francedied July 6, 1893, Paris), French writer of short stories. While investigating facts about De Maupassant Novels and De Maupassant Short Stories, I found out little known, but curios details like: Guy de Maupassant ate lunch every day at the base of the Eiffel Tower because he hated the tower and that was the only place in Paris where he wouldn't see it. Between June and September 1887, he authored one his well-known naturalist novels, Pierre et Jean'. His father, Gustave de Maupassant, belonged to an old Lorraine family and his mother, Laure le Poittevin, was childhood friends with the famous novelist Gustave Flaubert. It is widely believed that from 1880 to 1886, he was in a relationship with a woman named, Gisele Estoc. Maupassant is perhaps best known as a writer of short fiction, and he utilizes the shorter form as a structuring principle for his longer productions. Maupassant was one of six writers, led by Zola, who each contributed a short story on the Franco-German War to a volume called Les Soires de Mdan. Taking his cue from Balzac, Maupassant wrote comfortably in both the high-Realist and fantastic modes; stories and novels such as "L'Hritage" 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?") What is Guy de Maupassant best known for? 1) When he was 11, Maupassant's mother risked social disgrace by getting divorced and keeping her two sons. However, he was demobilized in 1871. 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[15] (erected in 1887-1889). "Biography of Guy de Maupassant, Father of the Short Story." He has a brother named Herve. But it was her friend Flaubert who opened doors for the budding young writer. The other facts about him will be explained below. Below is the article summary. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is De Maupassant so important! He also wrote six short novels. Explore the life of Guy de Maupassant, the influences on his . Updates? He delighted in clever plotting and his style of writing influenced Somerset Maugham and O. Henry. A protg of Gustave Flaubert, Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant, born on August 5, 1850, he is best remembered as the master of the short story, with around 300 tales to his name. 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 it, a prostitute traveling by coach is companionably treated by her fellow French passengers, who are anxious to share her provisions of food, but then a German officer stops the coach and refuses to let it proceed until he has possessed her; the other passengers induce her to satisfy him, and then ostracize her for the rest of the journey. From 1871, he went to Paris and started working as a clerk in the Navy Department. Claude Brasseur stars as the titular character. "Art and the Artist in Babel's" Guy de Maupassant".". However, he often ate lunch in the Eiffel Towers restaurant. His parents separated when he was 11 years old and his mother took custody of Guy and his younger brother, and it was her influence that led her sons to . This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 13:11. The story was met with instant and tremendous success. Maupassant is considered the father of the modern short story. 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. One of his famous short stories, "The Necklace", was imitated with a twist by Maugham ("Mr Know-All", "A String of Beads"). He is one of the fathers of the modern short story.
guy de maupassant interesting facts