top of page
Guy de Maupassant
A Great French Writer of Short Stories
Guy de Maupassant was born on 5 August 1850, near to Dieppe. Although he is known as Guy, he had three more first names. His full name was Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant.
Guy's father was called Gustave de Maupassant. His mother was Laure Le Poittevin and she loved art and literature, especially Shakespeare. She was from an aristocratic family and she was a close friend of the famous French author Gustave Flaubert. It was Flaubert who taught and influenced the young Guy de Maupassant in his writing-style.
Guy grew up in the countryside and near to the sea. He loved sailing. Later in his life, he would write very realistic stories about peasants, poor people and country life.
Guy de Maupassant died at the age of forty-three in 1893. He was laid to rest at the Cimetière de Montparnasse in Paris.
He wrote six novels, but he is most famous for his many short stories. There is a compilation of fifteen of his short stories called Quinze Contes. One of those fifteen stories is called La Parure (The Necklace). It is one of his best-loved tales.
Here are some details of the story (with quotations printed in red):
Guy de Maupassant was one of the many people who hated the Eiffel Tower when it was first built!
It is a famous fact that Guy regularly ate lunch in the restaurant of the Tower. When asked why he visited the restaurant so frequently if he hated the Tower so much, he replied -
C'est le seul endroit de la ville où je ne la vois pas.
'It is the only place in town where I do not see it.'
The story of 'La Parure' - The Necklace
It was written in 1880 and tells the story of a lady called Mathilde Loisel. She is dissatisfied with her ordinary husband and her ordinary life-style. She has always felt, since childhood, that she was born into the wrong family! Instead, she believes that she should have been an aristocrat:
C'était une de ces jolies et charmantes filles, née, comme par une erreur du destin, dans une famille d'employés. Elle n'avait pas de dot, pas d'espérances, aucun moyen d'être connue, comprise, aimée, épousée par un homme riche et distingué; et elle se laissa marier avec un petit commis du ministère de l'Instruction publique.
Her hard-working husband is unable to offer the rich and glamorous lifestyle that she craves. Mathilde dreams of balls and expensive gowns, of jewellery and fine furniture. Her poor husband feels sad because she is obviously so unhappy with her life.
One day, he receives an invitation to a ball where lots of important and famous guests will be attending. Mathilde insists that she must buy a new gown for the occasion, even though they can't really afford it. So, her husband puts together enough money for a gown, just to keep her happy.
However, Mathilde is still not content! She realises that she has no jewels to go with the new gown. Her husband suggests that she could wear real flowers which would be fashionable, classy and would cost virtually nothing. But this idea is rejected by Mathilde. She would find it too embarrassing to look poor whilst in the company of the wealthy women at the ball. Only jewels will do. She says -
- Non .... il n'y a rien de plus humiliant que d'avoir l'air pauvre au milieu de femmes riches.
Her husband suggests visiting Jeanne, a wealthy friend, in order to borrow some jewellery. Mathilde agrees that this is an excellent idea. She visits Jeanne and borrows a magnificent diamond necklace.
The evening of the ball arrives. It is wonderful. Everyone admires Mathilde's beauty and expensive attire. They think she must be an important, wealthy guest. Without doubt, she is the belle of the ball. Mathilde has never felt happier.
The time comes to return home. It is four o' clock in the morning and her husband is very tired and worrying that he has to be at work in the office very soon.
Back at home, Mathilde takes a final look in the mirror before regretfully taking off her gown and returning to reality. She feels sad and depressed.
Then disaster strikes!
Mathilde notices that her neck is bare. She has lost the necklace! They hunt everywhere, exhausted, retracing their steps, but the necklace is nowhere to be found. For a whole week, they search desperately but with no luck.
The diamond necklace must be returned. Mathilde is too ashamed to tell her friend what has happened so, using their limited savings and taking out massive loans, Mathilde and her husband purchase a similar one. It is on sale at 40,000 francs which in today's money is around 130,000 euros! They manage to lower the price and purchase it for 36,000 francs.
