Guy de Maupassant

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Early life
Apprenticeship with Flaubert
Mature life and works

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Guy de Maupassant summary

Related Questions

How did Gustave Flaubert’s death affect Guy de Maupassant?
How did Guy de Maupassant help create a high-quality commercial short story for a broad audience?
How did Guy de Maupassant portray ordinary French life between 1870 and 1890?
How did Guy de Maupassant serve during the Franco-German War?
How did Guy de Maupassant use physical and social settings to reveal character?
How did Guy de Maupassant’s mother know Gustave Flaubert?
How did Guy de Maupassant’s naturalist style reveal hidden desires and hypocrisy?
How did Guy de Maupassant’s parents’ separation affect his childhood?
How did Guy de Maupassant’s treatment of social class change in his later fiction?
How did the Franco-German War influence Guy de Maupassant’s fiction?
How do Guy de Maupassant’s stories portray the Norman peasantry?
How does Bel-Ami portray journalism and finance in Paris?
How does Boule de suif criticize the behavior of the French passengers in the coach?
How does Georges Duroy pursue success in Bel-Ami?
How does Le Horla combine psychological insight with supernatural elements?
How does Une Vie portray the disappointments of marriage?
How does jealousy shape the plot of Pierre et Jean?
How many short stories did Guy de Maupassant publish between 1880 and 1890?
What are the main events in Une Vie by Guy de Maupassant?
What causes the conflict between the brothers in Pierre et Jean?
What does the phrase l’humble vérité mean in relation to Guy de Maupassant’s writing?
What features of Guy de Maupassant’s prose style contributed to his success?
What happens to the heroine in Guy de Maupassant’s Boule de suif?
What role did the collection Les Soirées de Médan play in Guy de Maupassant’s career?
What was Guy de Maupassant’s family background in Normandy?
When and where was Guy de Maupassant born?
When did Guy de Maupassant’s writing career become successful?
Which Guy de Maupassant novel concerns the financing of a fashionable resort?
Which Guy de Maupassant story collection includes The House of Madame Tellier?
Which major writers did Gustave Flaubert introduce to Guy de Maupassant?
Which newspapers published Guy de Maupassant’s articles and stories?
Which other kinds of books did Guy de Maupassant publish besides short stories?
Why did Boule de suif make Guy de Maupassant famous?
Why did Guy de Maupassant use an objective and dispassionate style when describing characters?
Why is Bel-Ami considered a satire of Parisian society?
Why is Guy de Maupassant regarded as a major writer of the modern short story?
Why were boating and the Seine River important in Guy de Maupassant’s life and writing?
What is Guy de Maupassant best known for?
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External Websites

Pressbooks via Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project - Encountering the Arts - Maupassant: Irony and society
Digital Commons @ Andrews University - Exploring French Short Stories: Guy de Maupassant's Writing Style and Social Justice
New York Review Books - Guy de Maupassant
American Society of Authors and Writers - Guy de Maupassant

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Guy de Maupassant - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Guy de Maupassant

French writer

Also known as: Henry-René-Albert-Guy de Maupassant

Written by

Martin Turnell

Writer. Head, Programme Contracts Department, British Broadcasting Corporation, London, 1959–69. Author of The Art of French Fiction.

Martin TurnellAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

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....

Britannica Editors

History

Guy de Maupassant (born August 5, 1850, Château de Miromesnil?, near Dieppe, France—died July 6, 1893, Paris) was a French naturalist writer of short stories and novels who is by general agreement the greatest French short-story writer. Maupassant was the elder of the two children of Gustave and Laure de Maupassant. His mother’s claim that he was born at the Château de Miromesnil has been disputed. The couple’s second son, Hervé, was born in 1856....

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