9
votes
Accepted
Which short stories are falsely attributed to Guy de Maupassant, and why?
The ‘which’ and ‘where’ parts of the question were answered by Maupassant’s biographer Francis Steegmuller:
A smart American publisher and bookseller named M. Walter Dunne, whose specialty was large ...
- 52.1k
7
votes
Accepted
What does it mean to have teeth in the English style?
A Google search for the term reveals that it means the same thing as "buck teeth", large front teeth.
In French, buck teeth are called dents à l'anglaise, literally "English teeth."
Also here:
...
- 10.3k
6
votes
Identification of a Maupassant short story where a young man is upset by the past infidelities of his mistress
This is very reminiscent of a passage in the middle of Chapter V of Bel-Ami (admittedly a short novel, rather than a short story). This can be found on page 182 in the version of “La Bibliotheque ...
- 61
5
votes
Maupassant, "j'ai en effet pour amie Mme Rosset", is this a typo?
Thanks to @Peter Shor. I was misreading "pour amie." Here, "j'ai pour amie" must mean
"I have her as a friend." So my attempt at a colloquial American translation is
...
- 251
5
votes
Accepted
What does it mean to "unmoor criticism"?
The article mentioned in the original version of the question is not
"Boule de Suif" (which is a novella) but the article
"Les Soirées de Médan"
that Maupassant published in the newspaper Le Gaulois ...
- 43.8k
4
votes
How did Maupassant's contemporaries respond to his play Une répétition?
There was a brief notice in Le Livre of the book Saynètes et Monologues, sixième serie, an anthology of sketches and dramatic monologues by eighteen writers. The anonymous reviewer saves Maupassant ...
- 52.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Why and how did the orphan kill his adoptive mother?
It was almost certainly the orphan who killed his adoptive mother.
Why did he do it?
For her assets, for his inheritance.
The question then arises why did it even occur to him to murder the woman ...
- 56
4
votes
Which Maupassant short stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870?
Besides the stories mentioned in the question, I have found the following stories by Maupassant that are set during the Franco-Prussian war:
Le Mariage du lieutenant Laré, published in 1878; see &...
- 43.8k
3
votes
How did Maupassant's contemporaries respond to his play Musotte?
There was a production of Musotte in March 1891 at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie-Bell in Paris, which received a brief but glowing review in the Revue illustrée:
Si le rire règne à la Renaissance, l’...
- 52.1k
3
votes
Maupassant, "j'ai en effet pour amie Mme Rosset", is this a typo?
Putting "j'ai en effet pour amie Mme Rosset" between commas usually means that you're emphasizing your statement, and placing "en effet" between the verb and the CoD (Complement d'...
- 31
3
votes
Accepted
Why did the waiter send Varajou where he did?
Something got lost in translation here. The word “girls” gives the wrong impression. The French original (from “Une Soirée”) is “demoiselles”, which can refer to any unmarried woman. Read the scene ...
2
votes
What is the nature of the relationship between Madeleine and the Comte de Vaudrec in Bel-Ami?
The comte de Vaudrec is mentioned roughly a dozen times in the novel.
He appears for the first time in Chapter 3 of Part I: George Duroy is making a visit to Mrs Madeleine Forestier when Vaudrec ...
- 43.8k
2
votes
Is Lambert-Sarrazin's moustache speech in Bel-Ami an allusion to a real speech?
Apparently, the speech by the Comte de Lambert-Sarrazin was inspired by a real speech. The English translation of the novel by Margaret Mauldon (Oxford University Press, 2008) has an endnote pointing ...
- 43.8k
2
votes
In Maupassant's Bel-Ami, why would it be compromising for a magistrate to have been in (the) mixed committees?
The mixed commissions were kangaroo courts set up by the régime of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte after the coup of 1851 to punish suspected Republican sympathisers. The name “mixed” refers to their being ...
- 52.1k
2
votes
What is the difference between souteneur and proxénète in Maupassant's Bel-Ami?
The famous Littré dictionary (four volumes, 1880s) provides the following definition of souteneur:
2 Particulièrement, celui qui se fait le champion d'une maison de jeu ou de quelque mauvais lieu. ...
- 43.8k
2
votes
What is the difference between souteneur and proxénète in Maupassant's Bel-Ami?
According to the Wiktionnaire:
Le souteneur
Celui qui, vivant du gain d’une prostituée, prétend assurer, en retour, sa protection.
Le proxénète
Personne qui tire profit de la prostitution d’...
2
votes
What does it mean to "unmoor criticism"?
The original French of this fragment can also be found on Gutenberg and goes as follows:
Il se chargea d'écrire l'article du Gaulois et d'accord avec ses amis,
il le rédigea dans les termes que l'...
- 1,003
2
votes
Why did the waiter send Varajou where he did?
I’m not sure, but here’s a guess.
If we look at the original, we see that the judge is referred to as “le premier président de Mortemain,”
Mais Padoie, saisi soudain d’une colère folle, balbutia:
...
- 786
2
votes
Why and how did the orphan kill his adoptive mother?
I don't believe that it was him who killed her. I think that it was the two relatives.
How did they kill her?
They had a lot of time to do so. They used knife. (As given in the story)
Why ...
- 236
2
votes
What political leanings are being described for Monsieur Carre-Lamadon?
"Legion of Honor": initially a very high honor created by Napoleon Bonaparte, but can be gifted to civilians and as such tends to designate an old, respectable Frenchman who has done service ...
- 141
2
votes
What distinguishes Maupassant's style from Flaubert's?
Style: The writing of Maupassant is typically regarded as being far simpler and more straightforward than that of Flaubert. Both writers were masters of their professions, but Maupassant was renowned ...
- 310
2
votes
Did Maupassant and Richepin know each other?
There appears to be evidence that Maupassant and Richepin met each other. A contemporary author, Octave Mirbeau (1848 – 1917), wrote in a letter to the sculptor Auguste Rodin dating from December 1885 ...
- 43.8k
1
vote
Did the Eiffel Tower feature in any of Maupassant's stories or novels?
He mentioned it in La Vie Errante (The Wandering Life), published 1890.
I found a quote in this blog post, both in French and in Amanda Crawley Jackson's English translation:
J’ai quitté Paris et ...
- 70.7k
1
vote
Accepted
What political leanings are being described for Monsieur Carre-Lamadon?
The story is set during the winter of 1870-1871, several months after the fall of Napoléon III's Second Empire (early September 1870) but before the preliminary peace treaty signed in Versailles on 26 ...
- 43.8k
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