Maupassant Criticism in France 1880–1940: With an Inquiry into His Present Fame and a Bibliography 9780231886291

Table of contents :
Foreword
Contents
1. Boule de Suif
2. Poetry and Travel Journals
3. Theatre
4. Contes and Nouvelles
5. Novels
6. Conclusion. Maupassant in France To-day
Appendices
Note
List of Contributors
Appendix A. Inquiry Into the Present Fame of Maupassant
Appendix B. Bibliography of Studies on Maupassant
Index

Citation preview

Maupassant

Criticism in France 1880-1940

ARTINE

Maupassant

A R T I N IAN

Criticism in France 1 8 8 0 - 1 9 4 0

WITH AN INQUIRY AND A

INTO HIS PRESENT BIBLIOGRAPHY

KINGS CROWN PRESS MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS • NEW YORK

»94»

FAME

Copyright

1941

by

ARTINE ARTINIAN P R I N T E D IN T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S OF A M E R I C A Z9-VT.-4OO

King's Crown Press is a division of Columbia University Press organized for the purpose of making certain scholarly material available at minimum cost. Toward that end, the publishers have adopted evei-y reasonable economy except such as would interfere with a legible format. The work is presented substantially as submitted by the author, without the usual editorial attention of Columbia University Press.

This work is very gratefully and affectionately dedicated to A. A.

FRENCH

whose friendship has been an inspiration for many years

FOREWORD IT WAS AT THE suggestion of Professor Louis Cons that the writer undertook several years ago to study the critical destiny of Guy de Maupassant. T h e time seemed more than ripe for such an examination: forty years had elapsed since the premature death of the author, and although many substantial works on Maupassant attested to the notable place he had made for himself in French letters (René Dumesnil had just published his excellent study and was preparing the critical Oeuvres Complètes Illustrées for the Librairie de France), no attempt had as yet been made to give a systematic study of the critical reaction to his work. T h e problem we resolved to investigate was, therefore, to examine the attitude of critics to the works of Maupassant during the lifetime of the author as well as since his death. W e have tried at the same time to determine the reason for the various attitudes during a given period and to arrive at some definite conclusions as to the fluctuations which the reputation of the author has experienced. It was immediately manifest that since the critical reaction to an author cannot be dissociated from the history of his works, we should have to provide a certain amount of background material. Consequently the reader will find in this study not only an examination of Maupassant criticism, but a history of his works as well. T h e Maupassant specialist, too, will discover that in our efforts to make that history as coherent as possible we have brought to our study considerable material not to be found in previous works on Maupassant, thus clarifying a number of problems hitherto treated in summary fashion and refuting certain misleading statements which had become widely accepted. A further contribution is the extensive additions to the bibliography of studies on Maupassant, which has been increased by nearly one-half over the previous most complete bibliography. Finally, in the inquiry into the present fame of the author of Boule de Suif we hope to determine the position of Maupassant in contemporary letters. It is a pleasure to acknowledge my debt and express my gratitude to those who have contributed to the preparation of this study: to MM. Edouard Maynial and René Dumesnil, distinguished historians of Maupassant, for their obliging cooperation in resolving many perplexing problems; to the contributors of judgments on Maupassant; to Professor Louis Cons and Dr. Cargill Sprietsma for their interest and encouragement; to Professors Jean-Albert Bédé, Justin O'Brien, Horatio

Foreword Smith, and other members of the Columbia University French department for reading the manuscript and offering valuable suggestions; finally, for invaluable assistance in research, in this country and in France, and for the task of preparing the manuscript for the printers, I cannot adequately express gratitude to my wife, Margaret Woodbridge Artinian. A. A. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N. Y. August l, 1941.

CONTENTS

1.

Boule de Suif

i

2.

Poetry and Travel Journals

7

3.

Theatre

12

4.

Contes and Nouvelles

24

5.

Novels

81

6.

Conclusion. Maupassant in France To-day

115

APPENDICES

List of Contributors

127

A.

Inquiry Into the Present Fame of Maupassant

129

B.

Bibliography of Studies on Maupassant

193

7 BOULE

DE

SUIF

ON JANUARY 17, 1877, three years before the appearance of Boule de Suif, Maupassant wrote a letter to his fellow Médaniste Paul Alexis in which he formulated at length, if not in too orderly a fashion, his literary ideals. He was, at 27, a highly dissatisfied clerk at the Navy Department. He would snatch every possible moment from the routine of office duties to complete another poem and dispatch it to his friend and counsellor Gustave Flaubert. T h e bookkeeping at the Ministry was an inevitable necessity to keep alive the robust Norman body; the fire within was nourished largely by his intense enthusiasm for literary expression. For several years now he had been biding his time, submitting gladly to the rigorous injunctions of the master of Croisset; the last paragraph of his letter to Alexis indicates already, if not an impatience to challenge the world for a place in the literary sun, at least the Norman preoccupation to prepare the way for the assault. "II faudra discuter sérieusement sur les moyens de parvenir," he wrote. A cinq on peut bien des choses, et peut-être y a-t-il des trucs inusités jusqu'ici. Si l'on faisait le siège d'un journal pendant six mois en le criblant d'articles, de demandes par des amis, etc., etc., jusqu'au moment où l'on y aurait fait entrer tout à fait l'un de nous? Il faudrait trouver une chose inattendue qui frapperait un coup, forcerait l'attention du public. Peut-être une drôlerie? Une charge bien spirituelle? Enfin, nous verrons. 1 T h e moment was apparently not ripe, however, for Maupassant waited three years before he decided to allow an unsuspecting and then startled world a glimpse of the power that was to raise him like a rocket to the heights of literary glory. Nevertheless, that attitude and intention must be borne in mind for an understanding of the polemic which the appearance of Les Soirees de Médan precipitated. T h e world of letters had been assiduously and cleverly prepared for the event long before the day of publication, Wednesday, April 15, 1880. Even the ten-line preface to the collection was a deliberately provocative challenge to the press: T h r o u g h o u t the s t u d y t h e c a p i t a l l e t t e r A will r e f e r to t h e p e r i o d i c a l section of t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y to b e f o u n d in o u r A p p e n d i x , w h i l e B w i l l refer to t h e b o o k s listed in t h e s a m e b i b l i o g r a p h y . T h u s Lang, A-192} refers to t h e a r t i c l e by G e o r g e s E m m a n u e l L a n g listed u n d e r 1923 in the p e r i o d i c a l b i b l i o g r a p h y , a n d Hennique, B-ipjo, p. 6 refers to t h e study bv L é o n H e n n i q u e listed u n d e r t h e y e a r 1930 in t h e b o o k section. 1. L a n g , A - 1 9 2 3 .

2

Chapter

i: Boule

de Suif

Les nouvelles qui suivent ont été publiées, les unes en France, les autres à l'étranger. Elles nous ont paru procéder d'une idée unique, avoir une même philosophie: nous les réunissons. Nous nous attendons à toutes les attaques, à la mauvaise foi et à l'ignorance dont la critique courante nous a déjà donné tant de preuves. Notre seul souci a été d'affirmer publiquement nos véritables amitiés et, en même temps, nos tendances littéraires. Médan, 1er mars 1880.2 T h e reaction of the critics must have gratified Maupassant, as it delighted Flaubert. Albert Wolff of Le Figaro bristles with sarcasm in speaking of the origins of Les Soirées de Médan as recounted two days before in Le Gaulois by Maupassant himself. A n d why that particular title? the critic asks: T i t r e prétentieux et qui semble vouloir indiquer que le joli village entre Poissy et T r i e l est aussi connu que les capitales européennes. . . . O n parle de Mérimée: C'est un imbécile! s'écrie un petit naturaliste. L'autre baille et affirme que la campagne l'embête. Voilà ce qu'ils pensent et voilà comment ils écrivent. Et c'est cette petite bande de jeunes présomptueux qui, dans une préface d'une rare insolence, jette le gant à la critique. Cette rouerie est cousue de fil blanc, le fond de leur pensée est: T â c h o n s de nous faire éreinter, cela fera vendre le volume. J'espère que mes confrères, vieillis sous le harnais, ne se laisseront pas prendre à cette espièglerie de collégien. Les Soirées de Médan ne valent pas une ligne de critique. Sauf la nouvelle de Zola qui ouvre le volume, c'est de la dernière médiocrité. 3 Strangely enough, the same periodical in which Albert Wolff had thus figuratively exterminated the youthful followers of Zola only two days later made a diplomatic volte-face by referring, in an unsigned notice, to the collective enterprise in the most indulgent terms. Most of the war incidents are portrayed with talent, the anonymous reviewer states; and if, like all that is purely objective, these portraits sometimes lack life, movement, and color, "ne soyons pas si sévères: nous avons dans Les Soirées de Médan u n livre intéressant, écrit par six hommes, avec le souci, le désir d'être vrais, et c'est quelque chose de respectable aujourd'hui." 4 2. According to the testimony of at least one Médaniste, this preface was the work of Zola himself. Cf. Hennique, B-1930, p. 6. 3. Wolff, A-1880. Flaubert's reaction to this notice: "L'article de Wolff m'a comblé de joie. O eunuques!" (Flaubert, B-1893, letter of A p r i l 20 or s i , 1880). 4. Anon., A-1880, "Les Soirées de Médan."

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

3

Chapron, writing in L'Evénement the same day as Wolff, also raises an indignant voice against the presumption of the group: Ces gens-là, parmi lesquels, il est des gens de valeur, sont littéralement enfiévrés de vanité. Ils viennent de publier un volume: les Soirées de Médan. Une vingtaine de lignes s'étalent en manière de préface. Cette préface est purement et simplement une grossièreté. Il faut détacher en italiques une courte phrase de cette préface. L a voici: Nous nous attendons à toutes les attaques, à la mauvaise foi et à l'ignorance dont la critique courante nous a déjà donné tant de preuves. Outre que la phrase est assez mal bâtie, elle est d'une inconsciente bêtise qui doit ravir les amateurs de la vieille gaieté française. Voyez-vous des romanciers . . . ne reconnaissant ni juges ni arrêts? Ils sont parce qu'ils sont, comme le Très-Haut. C'est à bondir, en vérité! L'extraordinaire est que, boutiquiers au fond, ils ont fini par être de bonne foi. Ils sont aujourd'hui persuadés que "c'est arrivé". M. Hennique, vêtu de lin, donne de l'encensoir sur le museau du patron à le lui casser raide, et sans rire. Une bande de farceurs transformés en apôtres. 5 L e Reboullet of the conservative Temps reported somewhat later in the same hostile tone, qualifying the volume "des plus ordinaires," and affirming that if anything, he was impressed by "la pauvreté des moyens" of the authors. Frédéric Plessis of La Presse, on the contrary, hails in Maupassant "un prosateur très distingué"; and Jean Richepin, harsh on the group as a whole, has a kind word for the author of Boule de Suif, in whom he salutes above all the poet, and anticipates with pleasure the forthcoming appearance of his collection of poems. But it was Edouard Rod, close friend of Maupassant, who attained the high mark of appreciative reaction. For him the generally adverse notices are significant: not daring to attack openly the now firmly established Zola himself, the critics are making a Quixotic attempt to strike at the leader through his disciples. 6 T h e n he adds: L e sujet choisi par lui [Maupassant] . . . est peut-être le plus orig5. C h a p r o n , A-1880. 6. Nor did Zola have any illusions on that score. Speaking of the young men w h o had temporarily at least rallied under his banner, he wrote: " M o n désir est de faire un peu de vérité sur ces jeunes écrivains qu'on plaisante, qu'on insulte et q u ' o n provoque. Puisque je suis le coupable en tout ceci, puisque c'est moi que le reportage et la chronique tâchent d'assommer en eux, je devais bien à mes amis de les dégager de m a fortune, en montrant qu'ils existent par eux-mêmes, et solidement." (Zola, B-1881, p. 331). Cf. also Borel, B-1928, p. 112.

Chapter

4

i: Boule

de Suif

inal d u volume. Mais ce qui frappe dans les détails, c'est la bonne humeur inaltérable du conteur. Il n'a aucune amertume. Son observation . . . est toujours calme, presque heureuse . . . son indifférence est celle d'un tempérament bien équilibré, d'un homme sans aucune sentimentalité, qui, étant fort, ne souffre point de la vie, ne la trouve ni belle ni laide et la prend comme elle est.T In spite of the generally unfavorable reception it found at the hands of hostile critics, Les Soirees de Aie dan enjoyed a considerable popular success, as the number of editions appearing that same year attests. And this success has justly been interpreted 8 as a personal one for Maupassant. Although the Affaire d'Etampes9 had brought unwelcome and annoying notoriety to the industrious clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction, Maupassant was as yet known only to a restricted circle of men of letters, most of whom, indeed, regarded him merely as a clever fashioner of viril verses, and little suspected the dormant talent which the author's bull-like exterior concealed. Now, however, literally overnight, his name was a password and his work a revelation even to intimate friends. Impartial readers immediately recognized the superiority of Boule de Suif and joined the other Médanistes in hailing it as the outstanding contribution to the collection. Zola had been respectfully assigned first place in the order of stories; it was only his fortune in the drawing of lots for the other places that had given Maupassant a position immediately following the recognized leader. But in the minds of everyone there was no lack of unanimity as to where Boule de Suif naturally belonged. T h e master of Croisset was the first to pronounce a judgment which has been largely echoed since: Mais il me tarde de vous dire que je considère "Boule de Suif" comme un chef-d'oeuvre. Oui! jeune homme! Ni plus, ni moins, cela est d'un maître. C'est bien original de conception, entièrement bien compris et d'un excellent style. Le paysage et les personnages se voient et la psychologie est forte. Bref, je suis ravi, deux ou trois fois j'ai ri tout haut. . . . Ce petit conte restera, soyez-en sûr! Quelles belles binettes que celles de vos bourgeois! Pas un n'est raté. Cornudet est immense et vrai! La religieuse couturée de petite vérole, parfaite, et le comte 7. Rod, A-1880. 8. Mavnial, B-1906, p. 106.

9. Cf. iiifra, p. 8.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

5

" m a chère enfant", et la fin! L a pauvre fille qui pleure pendant que l'autre chante la Marseillaise, sublime. J'ai envie de te bécotter pendant un quart d'heure! Non! vraiment, je suis content! je me suis amusé et j'admire. 1 0 T h e above reaction, punctuated by exclamatory marks, was written while the story was still in manuscript form. Immediately after its publication, Flaubert was to reiterate his first judgment. "J'ai relu Boule de Suif," he told his pupil enthusiastically, "et je maintiens que c'est un chef-d'oeuvre. T â c h e d'en faire une douzaine comme ça et tu seras un homme." 1 1 In Une Campagne, which appeared the following year, Emile Zola himself freely subscribes to the general reaction: Lorsque notre volume m'arriva et que je la lus [Boule de Suif], j'en fus ravi; elle est certainement la meilleure des six, elle a un aplomb, une tenue, une finesse et une netteté d'analyse qui en font un petit chef-d'oeuvre. Du reste, elle a suffi, dans le public lettré, pour mettre Maupassant au premier rang, parmi les jeunes écrivains d'avenir. 1 2 Some three years later, T h é o d o r e de Banville, writing on the subject of sincerity in his series of "Lettres Chimériques," addresses Maupassant as "mon cher poète" and, while making a subtle attack on Zola's literary pretentions, has this to say in regard to Boule de Suif: O h ! quelle fut la charmante et réconfortante et heureuse surprise des lecteurs, lorsqu'on vous vit arriver exempt de toute affectation et de tout mensonge, ne cherchant pas du tout à donner aux gens des vessies pour des lanternes, ou à leur faire voir en plein midi trente-six chandelles. O n ne se lassera pas de relire cette Boule de Suif où vous avez montré la laideur de l'Egoïsme humain, sans vous laisser séduire par les sirènes de l'antithèse et sans être tenté de faire de votre héroïne une figure sublime. 1 3 A n d critics have since been unanimous in proclaiming Boule de Suif as the unsurpassed masterpiece of the nouvelle type. 14 W h a t , then, is the explanation for the ferocious onslaught the collection in which it appears received at the hands of most critics? It seems clear that it was 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Boule de Suif, Conard éd., B-1908, pp. 128-29. Flaubert, B-1893, letter of April 20 or 21, 1880. Zola, B-1881, p. 324. Banville, A-1883. Deffoux ft Zavie, B-1920, p. 36.

6

Chapter

i: Boule

de

Suif

nothing more than the violence of reactionary spirits revolted by the apparent consolidation of a tendency which they had opposed from its very inception. T h e antagonism had first been inspired by the militant Zola; three years previously, upon the publication of L'Assommoir in 1877, he had been attacked "avec une brutalité sans exemple, dénoncé, chargé de tous les crimes." l r ' Xana and Le Roman Expérimental were to be occasions for further vituperation. A n d now, with characteristic temerity and insolence, Zola was again daring that august body of critics, this time at the head of a group of young men who seemed to have been nurtured at the same fountain of impertinence. It would have been strange indeed if this organized manifestation had gone unchallenged; for the collection embodied, in accentuated and mass form, all the theses dear to the lord of M é d a n . It will be remembered that the u n i f y i n g theme of Les Soirées de Médan is war. From Zola's L'Attaque du Moulin which led the collection, to the concluding nouvelle, Après la Bataille, by Paul Alexis, the authors had sought inspiration in the disastrous war of 1870. Although that was the primary leitmotiv that held together this symphony of bitter satire, the secondary themes were scarcely less powerful: antipathy toward the bourgeoisie, open hostility to religion, fervent desire to expose the ugliness of human nature and the brutality of instincts. In short, they represented opposition to tradition, defiance of authority. L i t t l e wonder comfortably established directors of the public conscience were roused to clamorous action.

2 POETRY AND T R A V E L JOURNALS more than one allusion to the all-important influence of Flaubert on Maupassant, it will not be amiss to give immediately a brief account of the genesis of that relationship. 1 Alfred Le Poittevin, maternal uncle of Guy, had been Flaubert's most intimate friend and had exerted a decisive influence on the author of Madame Bovary, who, indeed, some twenty years later dedicated La Tentation de Saint-Antoine to the memory of his friend. Guy's mother, too, before her marriage to Gustave de Maupassant, had been a close friend of Flaubert. It was therefore quite natural that when Guy was sent to the lycée at Rouen, Flaubert should have taken a special interest in him. And this interest was considerably enhanced by the fact that Louis Bouilhet, common friend of Flaubert and Madame de Maupassant and at that time professor at the lycée, brought him increasingly favorable reports of the young student's interest and activities in poetry. When, after the completion of his studies at Rouen and subsequent service in the war of 1870, Maupassant settled in Paris, the relationship became intimate indeed, and from 1873 on, the master-disciple relationship was firmly established. Flaubert became the intransigent director and supervisor of Guy's literary activities, guiding him in his reading, prescribing literary exercises, and correcting with anything but indulgence the work that the devoted and admiring pupil submitted to him. It has been justly observed that this active discipleship, extending from 1873 until the master's death in 1880, has no parallel in the history of literature. The fact cannot be too strongly emphasized, however, that the Maupassant whom Flaubert knew and trained was primarily Maupassant the poet. It is true, of course, that it was not exclusively poetry which Maupassant submitted to the scrutiny of his mentor. We know, for example, how the disciple would often be asked to write descriptive essays, the object of which was to depict familiar objects in an individual manner; and we know, also, that to a certain extent Maupassant actually collaborated in some of the master's works, notably in Bouvard et Pécuchet. It is nevertheless true that most of his literary activity during the period of apprenticeship consisted of poetry SINCE THERE WILL BE

1. For a complete account of that relationship, cf. R i d d e l l , B - 1 9 2 0 .

8

Chapter

2: Poetry

and

Journals

rather than prose, and from that material he drew almost entirely in compiling his first and only volume of verse. It appeared two weeks after the publication of Les Soirees de Médan, issued by the same publisher, Charpentier, under the unpretentious title of Des Vers. Its bow to the world of letters could not have been better timed, for Boule de Suif had made the author's name familiar to everyone; then, too, some two months previously there had been much talk of Maupassant the poet in connection with his appearance at Etampes, where he was being prosecuted for publishing obscene poetry. He had been acquitted only through the intervention of zealous friends, especially that of Flaubert, the sum total of the affair being considerable publicity for author and work, publicity which unquestionably increased the sales of the volume. Dedicated to Flaubert, " A l'illustre et paternel ami que j'aime de toute ma tendresse, à l'irréprochable maître que j'admire avant tous," the third edition, as of J u n e 1, carried as preface Flaubert's long letter addressed to Maupassant and published in Le Gaulois on February 21. 2 T h i s volume of poetry was later reissued, in 1884, in a de luxe edition, by Havard, and in 1899 by Ollendorff. Flaubert himself, under whose guiding hand most of these poems had been composed and who helped to choose the pieces which finally appeared in the collection, had the highest regard for Maupassant's poetic gifts; so high a regard, indeed, that we wonder now if for the first time in his life the exacting master had not become sentimentally indulgent over literary productions. As early as 1873, 3 he stated that this early effort "vaut bien tout ce qu'on imprime chez les Parnassiens." Pierre de Nolhac, writing in Le Polybiblion, said of these poems that they were but stories in rime, and, while recognizing the talent of the author, he predicted that Maupassant would thereafter probably not return to poetry: Nous ne croyons pas que M. de Maupassant soit vraiment doué pour la poésie: après avoir lu ce volume de vers de jeunesse, il ne faut pas être grand prophète pour prédire qu'il n'écrira plus qu'en prose.4 Paul Bourget, one of Maupassant's close friends, in an enthusiastically long article, speaks of Au bord de l'eau, the poem which had inspired the prosecution at Etampes, as a masterpiece: 2. Anon., A-1880. 3. Flaubert, B-1893, letter of Feb. 23, 1873. 4. Nolhac, A-1880.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

9

Pareil aux anciens ouvriers de nos corporations, il ne cessa de se conduire en apprenti que le jour où il avait exécuté son "chefd'oeuvre",—et c'en était un que ce poème. Je viens de le relire et de retrouver à cette lecture le même petit frisson d'enthousiasme qui me saisit à la première rencontre avec ce viril et vigoureux génie.® And as an explanation and justification of Maupassant's abandoning that form, he proposes the following: Il considérait l'expérience directe comme la condition la meilleure de la forte création artistique. Il avait mis dans son recueil de vers toute une partie de son âme, cette fougue de sensualité panthéiste, si l'on peut dire, qu'il sentait déborder en lui en courant les bois, en descendant les fleuves. Il n'avait pu y mettre ni son sens aiguisé de la vie sociale, ni son ironique misanthropie, ni son entente surprenante du détail des caractères. Il aperçut dans le roman une forme d'art plus souple, plus ouverte à la traduction de son expérience complète de la vie humaine déjà si complète. . . ,6 Jules Lemaître, too, writing somewhat later the same year, acknowledges certain lapses in technique but declares those verses to be . . . d'un grand souffle et . . . d'une poésie si ardente. . . . L'auteur du Cas de Mme Luneau a1 débuté par des vers qui font songer à la poésie de Lucrèce et à la philosophie de Schopenhauer. 7 Since then, however, there has been in regard to his poetry the same unanimity of opinion which characterized the reaction to Boule de Suif. Only in this case the general reaction is that Maupassant had acquired a certain dexterity as a writer of verse, but that his verse has in it the obvious marks of a prose writer. It is significant that two leading Maupassant specialists, Pol Neveux and René Dumesnil, devote barely a page to his poetry in their studies of him. T h e judgment of Pol Neveux is especially noteworthy: Ces vers débordants de sensualisme, où l'hymne à la terre se pâme dans des transports de possession physique, où l'impatience d'amour clame mélancolique et forte comme ces appels d'animaux dans les nuits printanières, sont surtout attachants pour ce qu'ils nous révèlent l'être d'instinct, le faune échappé des forêts natales que fut en sa jeunesse Maupassant. Mais ils n'ajoutent rien à sa gloire: "vers de prosateur", a pu dire Jules Lemaître. Assouplir l'expression de la 5. Bourget, A-1884. 6. Ibid.

7. Lemaître, A-1884.

io

Chapter 2: Poetry and

Journals

pensée selon des lois plus strictes et l'"étrécir" en quelque sorte, tel fut le but. . . . Jamais d'ailleurs il n'aima ce recueil qu'il se repentait souvent d'avoir publié. . . . 8 T h e title of the collection was judiciously chosen, according to JoséMaría de Heredia, for whom these verses are "d'excellents vers . . . mais ce ne sont point des vers de poète." 9 Edouard Rod, who had previously given testimony to the sympathy he bore our author, finds this poetry so akin to prose that it might well have been the result of a wager on the part of Maupassant: " O n croirait que l'auteur s'est donné pour tâche de montrer que les vers sont d'autant meilleurs, qu'ils ressemblent davantage à la prose. . . ." 1 0 Only Paul Bourget was to regret the author's abandonment of that form; even forty years after the appearance of Des Vers, he wrote: "Pourquoi le poète d'un magnifique debut n'a-t-il pas continué à écrire des vers?" 1 1 F R E N C H having been until quite recently the most insular of the Occidentals, Maupassant may be considered by contrast a widely traveled man. N o sooner had the early financial concerns disappeared than he began the wanderings which were to take him nearly annually to all corners of the Mediterranean. T h i s was especially true after the acquisition of his yacht Bel Ami in 1885, made possible with profits from the book of the same name. T h e autumn following the publication of Les Soirees de Médan and Des Vers he had spent two months in Corsica; in midsummer of the following year he set out for several months in Algiers. Bel Ami took him and his friends several times to Italy; and he even made a short and disappointing visit to England, in 1886. 12 Many of these voyages were highly lucrative, too, as they were the occasions of numerous chronicles which first appeared in Le Figaro, Le Gil Bias, Le Gaulois, La Revue Bleue, L'Echo de Paris, and Les Lettres et les Arts before the publication of most of them in the collections Au soleil (1884), Sur l'eau (1888), and La Vie errante (1890). THE

Granted the nature of these works, their popularity, as attested by the number of volumes sold to the end of 1891, is surprising, notwithstanding the overwhelmingly larger sales of the collections of short stories and the volumes of novels. As of December 5, 1891, the total 8. Neveux, B-1908. pp. X X I H - X X I V . 9. Heredia, A-1901. 10. Rod, A-1908. 1 1 . Bourget, A-1923. 12. For an account of Maupassant's brief trip to England, cf. Roosevelt, A-1889. A French translation of p a n of the article appears in Lumbroso, B-1905, pp. 594-97.

Maupassant Criticism in

France

l

sales were as follows: 13 169,000 volumes of short stories; 180,000 volumes of novels; 24,000 volumes of travel chronicles. At the time of their collected publication these chronicles received virtually no mention; 14 it is to them that we naturally turn for a glimpse of the personality that Maupassant was ordinarily so reluctant to reveal. For here he speaks in the first person and for himself; he invites us aboard his yacht and confides to us not only his reactions to the exotic lands he visits, but often even bursts into lyric eloquence on questions close to his heart and mind. The virile outburst against war in Sur l'eau,15 for instance, is deservedly famous. Léopold Lacour considers this second of Maupassant's travel books "son plus beau livre," 16 an opinion shared by many others. Gustave Larroumet finds the description of Italy, Sicily, and Algeria painted "avec la netteté de regard, la promptitude et la sûreté dans le choix de caractères, la sobriété pleine qu'il appliquait à la vallée d'Auge et au pays de Caux." 1 7 For Bernot, Au soleil is sufficient refutation of the accusation that Maupassant lacks psychological insight, and a refutation too of the contention that he never bothers to reflect, contenting himself merely with photographic reproductions of what he has seen and heard. 18 And as for the style of these impressions, Bernot observes that in the descriptions it is "chatoyant, nuancé, merveilleusement évocateur," 19 but when Maupassant undertakes to analyse his own feelings, the style often reflects the uncertainties, the uncomfortable gropings and violent obsessions of his mind: "les épithètes s'accumulent, se précipitent, deviennent de moins en moins significatives; la phrase s'allonge indéfiniment." 20 The Maupassant of these journals reveals himself a thinker to Joachim Rolland as well; 21 Jules Lemaître, 22 on the contrary, finds the ideas developed in Sur l'eau to be merely "lieux communs" and adds that the reading is much too gloomy and much too cruel for a single sitting. That discerning critic and Maupassant specialist, Pol Neveux, calls the work a masterpiece and places it in the company of Werther, René, Manfred, and Obermann.23 13. Lumbroso, B-1905, p. 456. 14. T h e notice devoted to Au soleil by Adolphe Aderer (A-1884) and that to Sur l'eau by Jules Leinaîlrc (A-1888) are the onI\ ones we have discovered devoted exclusively to any of his travel journals. 15. Pp. 71-80. 16. Lacour, A-1893. 17. Larroumet, A-1899, p. 325. «8. Bernot, B - i g n , p. 36. 19. Ibid., p. 37. 20. Ibid., p. 38. s i . Rolland, B-1912, p. 27. 22. Lemaitre, A-1888. 23. Neveux, B-1908, pp. L X X X I V - L X X X V .

3 THEATRE M A U P A S S A N T rarely went to the theatre, maintaining that he did not feel at ease in the fictitious atmosphere which he said pervaded the stage of his day. 1 A n d yet he had always been interested in the art of playwriting; indeed, his interest was so keen that the thought of writing himself for the stage obsessed him even in the days when he published tales and novels as rapidly as he could compose them. It cannot be said, either, that it was altogether the possibilities of phenomenal financial returns which tempted him in that direction, typically Norm a n as he was in the desire to capitalize to the limit upon his talents. H e had been drawn to the theatre in early school days. Later, at work in Paris and while serving his literary apprenticeship under Flaubert, he showed his enthusiasm for that form not only by working seriously, and at times even painfully, 2 at several projects, but he was always eager to produce amateur performances. 3

In regard to his own attempts, we know definitely, for instance, that as early as 1875, La Maison turque a la feuille de rose was given a private presentation at the studio of the artist Maurice Leloir. 4 T h i s lusty piece must have enjoyed a certain success, for another performance was arranged two years later, 5 this time before a distinguished gathering which included Flaubert, Zola, Turgenieff, and Meilhac. In 1876, he was at work on a historical drama 6 which might have been La Comtesse de Rhetune, a play in three acts and in verse which has never been published, 7 although a later and revised version was published by Borel under the title La Trahison de la Comtesse de Rhune.% T h e same year he puts the finishing touches on a one-act play in verse, Une Repetition, which he considers a sufficiently serious realization to submit to the Vaudeville theatre. He was at the same time revising his Histoire du vieux temps. Finally, there is La Demande, mention of 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Normand, A - i g n . L u m b r o s o , B-1905, p. 133. W a r d . A-1896. M a y n i a l , B-1906, p. 110. Lumbroso, B-1905, pp. 250-51. Flaubert, B-1893, IV, p. 2(8. A n o n . , B-1938, p. 7. Borel, B-1927.

Maupassant Criticism in France which first occurs in a letter to Flaubert in 1879," and no trace of which remains to-day. Although the master of Croisset said of Une Répétition that it was "fin, de bonne compagnie, charmant", 1 0 R a y m o n d Deslandes, director of the Vaudeville, having considered it "trop fin" for his theatre, 1 1 Maupassant in his great disappointment writes to his friend at R o u e n , Robert Pinchon, that he has abandoned all thoughts of the theatre for the time being at least, and gives vent to his bitterness in no uncertain terms: Décidément les directeurs ne valent pas la peine qu'on travaille pour euxl Ils trouvent, il est vrai, nos pièces charmantes, mais ils ne les jouent pas, et pour moi, j'aimerais mieux qu'ils les trouvassent mauvaises et qu'ils les fissent représenter. C'est assez dire que Raymond Deslandes juge ma Répétition trop fine pour le Vaudeville. 1 2 B u t this was in 1876. T w o years later he was again challenging the professional stage by submitting La Trahison de la Comtesse de Rhune to the " T r o i s è m e T h é â t r e Français" ( " T h é â t r e Déjazet"). 1 3 T h e resuit was once more bitter disappointment for the author. Ballande, the manager, reported that although the play had unmistakable possibilities, the properties it demanded placed it beyond the financial means of his theatre and inquired if the author would not be willing to bear a portion of the expenses involved. T h i s was of course out of the question; but since Ballande, as if to alleviate the rejection, had added that if the author were to write something less complicated he would produce it at once, Maupassant determined to offer him a play so simple that no objection could be possible, at least from the point of view of staging. Histoire du vieux temps, in one act and in verse, revised for the last time, was the result. N o play could have been less exacting, in manpower or in setting: two characters and two chairs and a fireplace. It was promptly accepted and produced with some success on the 19th of February, 1879. 1 4 9. Borel, B-1928. p. 259. 10. Flaubert, B-1893, IV, p. 154. 11. Lumbroso, B-igos, p. 133. 12. Ibid. Tresse published this play in the collection "Saynètes et Monologues" f o r 1879. T w e n t y - f i v e years later (May 6, 1904), his friend R o b e r t Pinchon succeeded in h a v i n g it produced at the T h é â t r e N o r m a n d of R o u e n , where it had several showings on successive days. It was published separately f o r the first time in 1910, by Stock. 1 3 . Borel. B - 1 9 2 8 , p. 78. 14. B o v d , B - 1 9 2 6 , p. 39.

14

Chapter

5:

Theatre

Tresse published it soon after in a brochure of sixteen pages which is to-day extremely rare. It appeared the following year in the collection of his poetry, and twenty years later made its proud entree into the repertory of the Comédie-Française. B u t its reception at the house of Molière was not overwhelming, as attested by the n u m b e r of performances, of which there were only ten between its first on March 2, 1899, and the last, on November 30, 1901. In all these performances, the rôle of the Marquis was interpreted by M. Leloir, and that of the Marquise by M m e Pierson. 1 3 For over ten years thereafter, until 1891, Maupassant's incessant activities in other fields left him little opportunity to cultivate the one literary f o r m he had experienced difficulty in conquering and in which victory w o u l d for that reason have been sweeter. Although, as we have stated, his thoughts often turned to the possibilities of the stage, his next contact with the active stage was the collaboration with J a c q u e s N o r m a n d in Musotte, a play based on the story L'Enfant, which h a d first appeared in 1884 in the collection Clair de Lune. Musotte had its première at the " G y m n a s e " on March 4, 1891, and was a brilliant success. A l l the reviewers are agreed that if it is not a masterpiece, it is at least an outstanding play, bringing to the stage the rare qualities that had distinguished the better known of the two collaborators in the field of the short story. Albert W o l f f , the same Wolff w h o had given Les Soirées de Médan such a violent reception and w h o later was to make amende honorable in the case of Maupassant, was the first to acclaim this production the very day after its performance. W r i t i n g in Le Figaro of March 5th, he calls the story exquisitely touching, and praises the authors for the simple eloquence with which they have treated an unusual theme: L e dessin des personnages est si net, les couplets d'amour entre les jeunes é p o u x sont d'un tour si neuf, et le drame q u i surgit vers la fin est présenté de façon si rapide, sans inutiles déclamations, qu'il s'est aussitôt dégagé de cette oeuvre moderne comme un p a r f u m de nouveauté qui nous a tous ravis. Il n'y a pas dans cet acte un mot banal, pas une scène de remplissage, et l'écriture, comme on dit aujourd'hui, est d'une limpidité rare. 1 0 T o Sarcey the production of Musotte is "le grand événement de la semaine." T h e collaboration, too, holds no mystery for him: Maupas15. T h i s information was communicated to us by M. J e a n Monval, bliothécaire of the Comédie-Française. 16. Wolff, A - 1 8 9 1 .

archiviste-bi-

Maupassant Criticism in France

15

sant must have written or rewritten the play from start to finish, the style bearing the undeniable stamp of a master: M. Jacques Normand est un écrivain très élégant; l'autre est un grand écrivain, je n'ose pas dire: le premier de ce temps, parce qu'il ne faut froisser personne; mais je ne suis pas loin de le penser. . . . Mais quand toute une salle pleure, c'est l'auteur qui a raison. Au reste, la scène est admirablement faite, d'une merveilleuse sobriété d'exécution, sans un mot qui sente la convention et le mélodrame. Chacun des deux personnages ne dit que juste ce qu'il doit dire et le dit avec une netteté, une force et une couleur, où nous avons tous reconnu le Maupassant des bons jours. J e n'ai guère vu de triomphe comparable à celui de ce seconde acte. On criait au chef-d'oeuvre. Chef-d'oeuvre, c'est beaucoup dire. Il faut en rabattre, défions-nous des emballements. C'est une scène qui n'a rien d'original, mais qui est graduée avec infiniment d'art, écrite par un maître et d'un pathétique très intense. 17 And although Léo Claretie 1 8 is impressed more by the verity of detail than by the plausibility of the play as a whole, he also concurs in the general reaction that the play has to an unusual degree qualities of observation and expression. On that score "c'est la vie même," and more than deserves "le plus franc succès" that it enjoyed. Jules Lemaître could not be accused of sentimentality; yet he readily confesses that he was close to tears at the première of Musotte, and is quite willing to overlook the "pardonable" defects of the play. . . . Musotte est une oeuvre profondément humaine et tendre, où une situation très difficile et délicate se dénoue avec aisance et vraisemblance, tout simplement parce que les intéressés sont de braves coeurs; une oeuvre enfin qui respire d'un bout à l'autre la plus large, la plus indépendante et la plus mâle bonté. 19 Musotte was a popular success as well. After its first run at the Gymnase, it was given later at the Vaudeville, and finally at the Odèon. And in a measure it might even be considered an international success, for we know that it was presented outside of France, at least in Germany. 20 T w o years later, almost to the day (March 6, 1893), La Paix du 17. 18. 19. 20.

Sarcey, A-1891. Claretie, A-1891. Lemaître, A-1891. Koppell. A-1892.

if)

Chapter

5:

Theatre

ménage was presented at the Comédie-Française. Maupassant had been at Dr. Blanche's sanatorium for f o u r months, but he had had time to complete another play after the sensational success of Musotte. The period between the first of these plays and his confinement at the asylum had been a trying one indeed, both for the author and those w h o came in contact with him. E v e n the rehearsals of Musotte h a d not been untroubled. Maupassant was supersensitive and irritable; in a fit of anger he had declared to the director of the Gymnase, Victor K o n i n g , that that theatre would have no more of his plays, the innumerable plays he would extract from his best stories. In fact, it d i d seem as if Maupassant would finally take seriously to a career as playwright and make good his boast that every one of his tales had the possibility of a stage hit. B u t the germs of his malady had been g n a w i n g for too long at the N o r m a n constitution, and already the crumbling of the magnificent structure was manifest. A n early symptom had been the suit he had threatened to bring against Le Figaro in 1888 for the liberties it had taken with his article on the novel which was to serve as preface to Pierre et Jean. T w o years later there had been another violent eruption when Charpentier published a new edition of Les Soirées de Médan with portraits of the six authors. In October, 1 8 9 1 , M a u passant broke relations with his energetic publisher H a v a r d , and near the end of the year he began legal proceedings against the N e w Y o r k Star for plagiarism. W e mention these facts in order to show the mental state of the author especially the year preceding his internment. T h e wonder of it is that he could still write apparently with the same master touch as when he produced Boule de Suif; the incomplete novel Angélus belongs to this period. H e contrived also to complete La Paix du ménage, based on the stories Au bord du lit (Monsieur Parent) and Etrennes (Le Père Milon). It was written without collaboration, and although not produced until a few months before his death, he had been working on it as early as 1890. One of Maupassant's fondest dreams was now being realized, although he himself was oblivious to all matters literary: to be played at the Comédie-Française. A n d how the cup of joy would have overr u n had he known that Julia Bartet, already called " d i v i n e , " was to play the leading rôle. A d d to this the fact that A l e x a n d r e Dumas fils, friend and admirer of long standing, was supervising the production, and you have an idea of the love and care which went into the presentation of his play. La Paix

du ménage

was a great success, as was Musotte

two years

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

n

before. T h i s time, however, one cannot escape the impression that the critics were considerably swayed by the thought of Maupassant's pitiful condition, and, in deference to the memory of the great artist that was, chose to remain silent on the obvious imperfections of the play. T h e n , too, the brilliant interpretation of Mile Bartet added no little to this initial success.21 T h e admiration of Dumas and Maupassant having been mutual and universally known, several reviewers cannot refrain from pointing out to what extent Maupassant must have been, unconsciously perhaps, inspired by his admiration and familiarity with Francillon and Une Visite de noces. Both Sarcey and Lemaître are outspoken in that connection. 2 -' Hector Pessart of Le Gaulois expresses the general feeling that there is a strong affinity as well between this play and those of Musset, and even goes so far as to indicate a preference for the former! J'entendais dire autour de moi, que les pièces de M. Guy de Maupassant rappelaient les proverbes d'Alfred de Musset, un Alfred de Musset de théâtre libre. L'apparence justifie cette impression sommaire, et la simplicité de l'action, presque toujours dialoguée, explique le rapprochement qui s'est fait instinctivement dans l'esprit des spectateurs entre la manière de l'auteur d'Un Caprice et les procédés de M. de Maupassant. Mais combien sont plus vivants les personnages mis en scène dans la Paix du Ménage, et comme on sent bien le sang circuler abondant, riche, tumultueux sous ces muscles bien portants! 23 It is the chronicler for La Revue Bleue, Jacques du Tillet, who voices for his colleagues the sentiments which inspired to a large extent the reaction of the press: La situation de la critique vis-à-vis de la comédie de M. de Maupassant est fort délicate. La sympathique admiration que nous ressentons tous, tant que nous sommes, pour l'auteur de Notre Coeur, s'est doublée, depuis quelques mois, d'une pitié infinie. Le mieux est, il me semble, d'admirer de tout coeur la Paix du Ménage, de suppléer à ce qu'elle a peut-être d'incomplet ou d'incertain, et, s'il était néces2 1 . M. Monval (cf. above. Note 15) also informs us that La Paix du ménage was performed in all 15 times in the two years 1893, '^94; it was not presented again until 1902, when two performances were given. It has not been staged since that date. 22. Cf. Sarcey and Lemaître, A-1893. 23. Pessart, A-1893.

i8

Chapter

3:

Theatre

saire, d'y ajouter un peu, pour avoir le droit de l'aimer complètement. 24 All of them, however, give unstinting tribute to the dialogue of this play which had inherently a bitter theme and which presented characters none too sympathetic: "Jamais M. de Maupassant n'a écrit une langue plus franche, plus solide, plus pleine de suc, et plus spirituelle." 2 5 ". . . Prose ferme, savoureuse", was another's judgment. 20 And in regard to the characters: ". . . ces êtres ne sont ni anges ni bêtes, mais simplement des hommes et des femmes"; 2 7 "le mouvement qu'il a su donner à ses personnages suffit à nous les rendre intéressants, en dépit de leur vilenie." 2 8 Ganderax, after reiterating the qualities mentioned by other critics, is led to make the following ecstatic comparison: Hélas! il n'y aura plus rien après cela. Mais, du moins, cela restera. S'il fallait assigner une place ¿1 la Paix du ménage entre nos joyaux dramaturges, nos petits joyaux, je la mettrais au-dessous de la Visite de noces, au dessus de la Vérité dans le vin . . . La Vérité dans le vin, c'est un caillou du Rhin, mais il est joli; la Visite de noces, un diamant; la Paix du ménage, un rubis, couleur de sang humainl 2 9 T h e only dissenting note appeared in La Revue des Deux Mondes, whose reviewer, Camille Bellaigne, devoting two full pages to an analysis of the play, reaches the following conclusion: Nous espérions de l'excellent Maupassant, et nous avons eu du mauvais Bourget, du pire, une histoire malsaine et mondaine pardessus le marché, ce qui la rend plus répugnante encore, lui enlevant cette excuse de la nature, de l'instinct, qui fait passer les récits, même les plus crus, de Guy de Maupassant. Non, il n'y a rien là de naturel, rien qui donne l'impression de la vérité. Tout, au contraire, y sent le cynisme prémédité, l'artifice pervers, le parti-pris de la corruption chercheé, et d'une "cruauté" plus poncive peut-être et plus convenue, je ne dis pas que l'illusion volontaire, mais que l'impartialité. 30 Thirty years later, when Antoine finally published extracts from his diary dealing with the Théâtre-Libre, we may read the following under date of March 6, 1 8 9 1 : 3 1 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

Tillet, A-1893, p. 318. Ibid., p. 319. Pessart, A-1893. Ibid. Fouquier, A-1893. Ganderax, A-1893, P- 47°' Bellaigne, A-1893, P- fr)8Antoine. B-1921, p. 229.

Maupassant Criticism in France

»9

J'ai été voir le spectacle; il ne reste là-dedans du chef-d'oeuvre qu'une sensiblerie assez plate. Mais, tout de même, cette sage-femme, l'audace de la situation, acceptées ainsi par le public le plus bourgeois, c'est une conquête, la foule glisse inconsciemment vers un renouvellement que nous aurons préparé et qui, un jour, bouleversera tout. Let us now see what has been the judgment of posterity in regard to the theatre of Maupassant. It is significant, in the first place, to recall that in the numerous eulogistic articles which were occasioned by the author's death a few months after the performance of La Paix du ménage, few indeed are the notices that even mention his plays. T h e twentieth anniversary of Musotte was celebrated with a revival of that play in 1 9 1 1 at the Odéon, at the time under the direction of Antoine. One of the performances was preceded by a lecture on Maupassant and his work by Jacques Normand, who had been the author's collaborator in the writing of Musotte. This was probably the closest that the small dramatic output of Maupassant came to an apotheosis. In his talk, after speaking of the author's work and character, Normand reviews in glowing terms Maupassant's success on the stage, and then proceeds to speculate as to what the future might have held for this nouvelliste turned dramatist: Une double question se pose maintenant. Si une mort absurde et cruelle ne l'avait enlevé à 43 ans, Maupassant eût-il continué à écrire pour le théâtre? Y eût-il réussi? Sur les deux points, à mon avis, on doit répondre affirmativement. Maupassant n'aimait pas le théâtre comme spectateur; il y allait peu: il disait y être incommodément, et ne pouvoir être dupe de ses fictions. Mais il me déclara plus d'une fois que le théâtre l'intéressait comme auteur et que sa ferme intention était de faire oeuvre scénique. Il m'a dit notamment vouloir tirer une pièce d'une de ses plus curieuses et touchantes nouvelles, Yvette. Il en avait déjà ébauché le scénario. L a mort l'empêcha de poursuivre son dessein. Mais Yvette, ingénieusement adaptée par M. Pierre Berton, fut jouée en 1901 au Vaudeville; Mlle Fifi et Boule-de-Suif réussirent brillament au théâtre Antoine. Et aujourd'hui le vif et récent succès de la Petite Roque, à l'Ambigu, achève de le prouver: le répertoire littéraire de Maupassant est une mine abondante et riche, qu'il ne put exploiter lui-même, mais qu'il était réservé à d'autres d'exploiter heureusement. Sur le second point, à savoir si Maupassant eût réussi comme auteur

20

Chapter 3:

Theatre

dramatique, c'est résolument qu'il faut repondre oui. S'il lui manquait encore l'expérience, le "métier", il avait en lui ce qui fait l'homme de théâtre: l'originalité de la conception, la netteté et la concision du dialogue, la plus belle hardiesse pour aborder une situation osée. . . . Comme on sait, il n'y a que deux pièces, signées de son nom seul, qui furent représentées de son vivant: Histoire du Vieux Temps, chez le brave Ballande, et la Paix du Ménage, à la Comédie-Française. Toutes deux ont réussi; toutes deux suffisent à prouver que, si Maupassant avait vécu, il eût bâti lui-même un superbe édifice théâtral, et, avec le souvenir d'un grand romancier, eût laissé, un jour, celui d'un grand auteur dramatique. 32 Abel Hermant, commenting upon this revival, 33 regrets that Maupassant had not had sufficient opportunity to cultivate his passion for the theatre, for he alone might have brought to the stage the new life the naturalists had promised but had failed to realize, both Daudet and Zola having, in his eyes, brought very little to the theatre. His regret is no greater than had been the disappointment of Antoine himself over twenty years earlier, when his attempts to interest Maupassant in the Théâtre-Libre had been unsuccessful. In January, 1891, he was writing in his diary: J e garderai le regret de n'avoir pas réussi à entraîner, dans ces batailles du naturalisme au théâtre, les deux romanciers de Médan qui, le maître mis à part, étaient incontestablement les deux personnalités supérieures du groupe. Huysmans n'a jamais voulu venir vers la scène, c'est à peine si, de temps en temps, il assiste chez nous aux pièces de quelque camarade. . . . Maupassant, de son côté, tout à fait dans la gloire, trop sollicité, " v a u t " trop pour venir dans mon petit théâtre donner une copie qui lui est payée si cher la ligne. Céard a bien souvent voulu s'entremettre près de lui, et il me dit qu'il faut y renoncer; c'est grand dommage, car l'auteur de Boule-de-Suif aurait exercé à la scène une action magnifique pour ce renouvellement que nous poursuivons. 34 It is significant, too, that in the sympathetic account Edouard Maynial gives of the works of our author, he also, after discussing at length Maupassant's early interest in the theatre, 35 barely mentions the two serious 32. Normand, A - i g n , pp. 197-98. 33. Hermant, B-1912, p. 153. 34. Antoine, B-1921, pp. 215-16.

35. Maynial, B-1906, pp. 106-14.

Maupassant Criticism in France

21

attempts, Musotle and La Paix du ménage.30 Neither does Pol Neveux in his superb preface to the Conard edition, 37 nor René Dumesnil, latest historian of Maupassant. 38 T h e judgment of Bernot may well be taken as the final word in this connection. After referring to Musotte as an interesting enough play, he concludes: Ce n'est pas La Paix du Ménage, un marivaudage mondain en deux actes assez bien fait pour dégoûter du monde, qui pouvait créer ou consacrer une réputation d'homme de théâtre. Maupassant est mort après avoir écrit quelques scènes vigoureuses de drame, et elles se trouvent dans des romans comme Une Vie,—mais surtout une longue comédie en deux cents actes faite d'intrigues rapides et de réalité vivante: et ce sont les Contes et les Nouvelles. 39 IT IS NOT surprising that Maupassant's frequently repeated boast that he could convert practically every one of his tales into first-class dramatic successes should have tempted others after the author's death in 1893; but it is astonishing that the attempts have been relatively few, as the following table of adaptations will indicate: 1896. Mademoiselle Fifi, drame en un acte, tiré de la nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant par Oscar Méténier. 40 Représenté pour la première fois à Paris, au Théâtre Libre, le 10 février 1896. (Paris, Ollendorff, 1896. 38 pp.). 1901. Yvette, comédie en trois actes et six tableaux de M. Pierre Berton d'après le roman de Guy de Maupassant. Représentée pour la première fois au Théâtre du Vaudeville, le 26 octobre 1901. 1902. Boule de Suif, pièce en trois actes et quatre tableaux, tirée de la nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant par Oscar Méténier. Représentée pour la première fois, sur le Théâtre Antoine, le mardi 6 mai 1902. (Paris, Ollendorff, 1902. 88 pp )-41 36. Ibid., p . 291. 37. N e v e u x . B-1908. 38. D u m e s n i l , B - 1 9 3 3 . 39. B e r n o t . B - 1 9 1 1 , p . 39. 40. M c t é n i e r h a d t r i e d u n s u c c e s s f u l l y t o o b t a i n M a u p a s s a n t ' s p e r m i s s i o n f o r a n a d a p t a t i o n as e a r l y as 1887 (Cf. A n o n . , B - i g 3 8 , p . 15). T h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r M a u p a s s a n t a u t h o r i z e d M é t é n i e r t o m a k e a n a d a p t a t i o n of Pierre et Jean, b u t t h a t p r o j e c t was a p p a r e n t l y n o i r e a l i z e d , f o r w e h a v e f o u n d n o r e c o r d of it (Cf. A n o n . , B - 1 9 3 8 , P- 79)41. M é t é n i e r ' s a d a p t a t i o n e n j o y e d a p e r f o r m a n c e o u t s i d e of F r a n c e , too. I t w a s p r e s e n t e d , w i t h several c h a n g e s , at t h e B u n t e s T h e a t r e of B e r l i n , 011 D e c . 23, 1902. (Cf. L u m b r o s o , B-1905, p . 3 5 1 , n o t e 1).

22

Chapter

3:

Theatre

1902. La Vieille, pièce en deux actes et en prose, tirée d'une nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant par André de Lorde. Représentée pour la première fois au Théâtre du Grand Guignol, le 10 novembre 1902. (Paris, Ollendorff, 1902. 78 pp.). 1906. La Donne à rien faire, comédie en deux actes (d'après une nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant) par Jacques Monnier et A. de Fouquières. Représentée pour la première fois à Paris, sur le Théâtre des Deux-Masques, le 23 janvier 1906. (Paris, G. Ondet, 1906. 76 pp.). 1907. The String, drama in one act, being a dramatization suggested by and founded upon Guy de Maupassant's masterpiece entitled " L a Ficelle", by Osborn Rennie Lamb. New York, Ames and Rollinson Press, 1907. 42 pp. 1 9 1 1 . La Petite Roque, drame en trois actes, tiré de la nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant par André de Lordes et Pierre Chaîne. Représente pour la première fois au Théâtre de l'Ambigu, le 2 octobre 1 9 1 1 . Direction Hertz et Coquelin. 1912. Bel-Ami, pièce en quatre actes et huit tableaux, d'après le roman de Guy de Maupassant, par Fernand No/ière [pseudonym of Fernand Weyle]. Représentée pour la première fois au Théâtre du Vaudeville, le 24 février 1912. (Supplément du Monde Illustré, 20 avril 1912.). 1933. La Maisoîi Tellier, pièce en trois actes, adaptée de la nouvelle de Guy de Maupassant par H. Géroule et L. Mayrargues. Représentée pour la première fois au Théâtre de l'Ambigu, 20 février 1933. 1937. Le Rosier de Madame Husson, opérette en deux actes et quatre tableaux, adaptée du conte de Guy de Maupassant par Louis Verneuil, musique de Oberfeld. Représentée pour la première fois au Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, septembre, 1937. 1938. The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant, adapted by Dean Charel. Broadcast for the first time over the Mutual Broadcasting System Network, by the Radio Division of the Federal Theatre, on Wednesday, August 24, 1938, 10:00 to 10:30 P. M. (N. Y., Radio Div., Federal Theatre Project. 48 mimeographed pp.). 1940. Rolypoly [Botile de Suif], by Guy de Maupassant, adapted by Lennox Robinson. Performed for the first time at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, Erie, Nov. 19, 1940. T h e production had played three nights when it was banned by the government upon objections of the French and German legations in Dublin.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

23

According to available records, then, there have been but twelve adaptations from the goo-odd possibilities in the essentially dramatic stories of Maupassant; and one of these was an operetta, while three were realized outside of France. Considering the wealth of possibilities, the number seems indeed surprising. A n d the quality of these adaptations apparently corresponded to the poverty in numbers; that is surely the impression given by the notices received. Yvette, which Maupassant himself had been so eager to adapt and on which he had actually worked, seems to have enjoyed the greatest success, and that, apparently, because Pierre Berton conformed as closely as possible to the original, using the very words of Maupassant except when scenic necessities made it impossible. Boule de Suif was also a success, 42 but the rest fared only indifferently. T h e critics are unanimous in finding these interpretations woefully lacking in the one quality which was ever present in the originals: life. Most of them are of the opinion also that an effective adaptation of these stories would exact as competent a dramatist as Maupassant was a conteur. 42. Cf. Antoine, B-1928, pp. 197-98. Antoine was kind enough to address us the following communication when we were trying to ascertain the exact dates of the first performances of Mademoiselle Fifi and Boule de Suif. " M l l e FIFI a été représentée au T h é â t r e Libre de la Rochelle, mon successeur, en mai 1896 fit was actually Feb. 10, as we subsequently discovered] et B O U L E DE SUIF au Théâtre Antoine le 6 mai 1902. Le succès des deux pièces fut considérable, et l'interprétation, surtout par Mlle L u c e Colas dans l'héroïne, fut unanimement louée."

4 CONTES AND NOUVELLES I T HAS BEEN SEEN that until 1880 Maupassant was only incidentally interested in the short story form. Those preparatory years had been, in a sense, exploratory ones as well. Poetry had attracted him especially; the theatre had tempted him more than once; he had tried his hand at tales, and had even seriously undertaken a novel in the manner of Voltaire. 1 It was the brilliant success of his contribution to Les Soirées de Médan, however, which disclosed to himself as well as to his unsuspecting friends the direction of his real talent. 2 Immediately after the appearance of Boule de Suif in mid-April, he applied himself rigidly to the task, determined to capitalize upon the notoriety surrounding his name.

T h e columns of the popular press were now open to him, to contribute whatever he cared. T h i s was manna indeed for the hitherto struggling foncliotmaire. He cautiously applied for and was granted a leave of absence: the Norman did not intend to risk the results of several years' application in two ministries for the uncertainties of a literary career. So he wrote, both for the joy of giving definite form to his own experiences and those of others as well as for the exhilarating sensation of procuring with his royalties the innumerable pleasures that would have been beyond the reach of a government clerk. T h a t he did write a great deal purely for financial considerations is manifest; witness the large number of stories he considered as merely journalistic work and did not himself admit to the greater dignity of collection in book form. 3 1. Maupassant, A-1921. 2. " C e u x qui ont connu G u y de Maupassant ¡1 y a d i x ans, se souviennent d'un i n d i v i d u aux forces puissantes et à l'écriture difficile. Chez lui, l'activité musculaire d o m i n a i t alors l'activité littéraire. T o u j o u r s disposé à faire en canot d'inlassables séances de nage, la page à écrire, au contraire, le trouvait d ' e x é c u t i o n plus lente et de décision moins rapide. Les articles où il s'essayait lui prenaient force temps, et il y dépensait force peine. Les vers, par o ù il s'était surtout fait connaître, il les établissait solidement, mais avec effort; et prose ou poésie, nouvelles ou articles de j o u r n a u x , malgré la sonorité originelle de la phrase et la netteté initiale dans la coupe du paragraphe ou de l'alexandrin, personne n'aurait i m a g i n é q u e sous le pseudonyme de G u y de V a l m o n t se cachait ce G u y de Maupassant q u i , plus tard, devait conquérir, dans les lettres, une réputation presque é g a l e à la réputation des maîtres. Boule de Suif m ê m e causa un étonnement a u x collaborateurs des Soirées de Médan; ce ne f u t q u ' u n cri le soir de la lecture. C e t t e nouvelle était incontestablement la meilleure d u volume. . . ." (Céard, A-1888). 3. T h e series of stories a p p e a r i n g in Le Gaulois

(summer of 1880) u n d e r the general

Maupassant Criticism in France

25

H i s first collection, La Maison Tellier, did not appear until more than a year after the success of Boule de Suif. Zola, in speaking of the story which gives the title to the volume, prophesies that "l'histoire restera comme u n document psychologique et physiologique très curieux," 4 and anticipating the general reaction of the bourgeois readers — W h y choose such subjects? Is there a lack of respectable themes?— defends Maupassant by suggesting that the author has certainly perceived in the subject a h u m a n note that would stir any reader, and that far from mocking and disparaging religion, Maupassant is actually affirming its power. E n somme Maupassant reste, dans son nouveau livre, l'analyste pénétrant, l'écrivain solide de Boule de Suif. C'est à coup sûr u n des tempéraments les plus équilibrés et les plus sains de notre jeune littérature. 5 It is interesting to recall that Turgenieff, to whom the collection is dedicated, first introduced Maupassant to his eminent countryman, Tolstoy, by lending him a copy of La Maison Tellier. Tolstoy later confessed that he had read the volume only to please his friend. 6 T h e novelist disliked La Maison Tellier because, while he was impressed by the obvious talent of the author, he found Maupassant lacking in what he held to be the first, if not the essential, of three qualities necessary for the production of a true work of art: a moral attitude toward his subject (the other two qualities being beauty of form and sincerity). Maupassant was not to interest him again until another friend urged him very strongly to read Une Vie. He immediately became an admirer and was subsequently responsible for the publication of several volumes of Maupassant stories in Russian. W e shall speak later of Tolstoy's general attitude toward Maupassant. 7 T o Pierre Loti, 8 the first tale in the collection is the most perfect of the many "ironic masterpieces" written by Maupassant. T h é o d o r e de Banville, in his letter on Sincerity, 9 can hardly restrain his enthusiasm: title Les Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris were not published in collected form until after his death. Such was the case with much of his work, two other collections, Le Père Milon and Le Colporteur, also appearing posthumously in i8gg and 1900 respectively, not to mention numerous others which were published later in the Conard edition. 4. Zola, A-1881. 5. Ibid. 6. Tolstoy, A-1895. 7. Infra, pp. 57-58; 109-110. 8. L o t i , A-1893, in La Revue Encyclopédique. 9. Banville, A-1883.

26

Chapter

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

On dcvora cette Maison Tellier, où vous faites voir les filles telles qu'elles sont, bêtes et sentimentales, sans les relever ou les flétrir, et en ne les traînant pas clans la boue, ni dans les étoiles. T h e composition of this one story had absorbed Maupassant for several months. H e ruminated upon it, and he discussed it with friends, most of whom tried to dissuade him from treating what they considered to be an "impossible" subject. 1 0 J u l e s L e m a î t r e heard of it through Maupassant himself when the latter visited him in Algiers, and never forgave himself for thinking at the time that only a young upstart could seriously think of developing such a theme. 1 1 W h i l e Maupassant worked on this and others of the eight stories that comprise the volume, he was contributing several chronicles and tales to various periodicals; but only two of the eight stories that appeared in the collection had previously been published, En famille in La Nouvelle Revue of February 15, 1 8 8 1 , and Histoire d'une fille de ferme in I.a Revue politique et littéraire for March 26 of the same year. R e n é Dumesnil calls our attention to the fact that these eight stories are so characteristic of the various themes Maupassant is to develop time and again in the course of the next ten years that they may be considered as an index or as a summary of the author's program. 1 2 La Maison Tellier represents the stories which Balzac in his own classification would have termed études de filles. In both Le Papa de Simon and the Histoire d'une fille de ferme we have a subject which will also recur with regularity: stories of perversion of one form or another. In Sur l'eau we find one of Maupassant's favorite themes: descriptions of the mysterious and the supernatural. Finally, Une Partie de campagne offers an excellent example of the stories devoted to the study of manners, stories whose mainspring is invariably love. Such was the success of these eight tales that Maupassant's new publisher, Victor Havard, issued twelve editions within two years. A n d yet, very few notices were devoted to the volume. T h e reserve of the conservative press in regard to a disciple of Zola is comprehensible. Pontmartin, Saint-Victor, d'Aurevilly, Weiss, Brunetière, Scherer, About were all clearly antagonistic to, and disdainful of, anything that had the slightest affiliation with Naturalism, although some of them were to make an exception for Maupassant. B u t what of the critical fraternity as a whole, among w h o m there were avowed supporters of the new lit10. C f . Dumesnil, 8 - 1 9 3 3 , p. 172. I I . Lemaître, B-1892, p. 3. 12. Dumesnil, B - 1 9 3 3 . p. 179.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

27

erature? Surely there was ground for articulate jubilation over the appearance of a dynamic force in their midst. Jules Lemaître was one of the first to analyse their silence and to offer an explanation of it. In an article in La Revue Bleue, he observed that Maupassant "offre très peu au bavardage de la critique." Que voulez-vous qu'on dise de ce conteur robuste et sans défaut qui conte aussi aisément que je respire, qui fait des chefs-d'oeuvre comme les pommiers de son pays donnent des pommes, dont la philosophie même est nette comme une pomme. Que voulez-vous qu'on dise sinon qu'il est parfait? 13 T h a t was manifestly the unparalleled situation. You were enthusiastic about these stories or you disliked them. But more than that there seemed little to say. There was a double-barrelled reaction, however, the following year, when Henry Kistemaeckers, the Belgian publisher of salacious works, issued the little volume headed by Mademoiselle Fifi,.1* Francisque Sarcey, old friend of Flaubert who had already given proof of his sympathy for Maupassant in his laudatory review of Histoire du vieux temps,15 remonstrated the young author upon the nature of the themes for which Maupassant seemed to have such an obvious predilection. Speaking at first in general terms of the regrettable taste of promising authors of the day for "des sujets scabreux," Sarcey cites Maupassant as a case in point. A young man of unusual talent, he calls him; one who not only sees clearly, but conveys exactly what he observes. And yet how can one explain his penchant for such studies? Why waste time and talent on subjects so unworthy of interest? These beings, actuated as they are by animal impulses, offer a necessarily limited field for observation. T o return again and again to the depiction of these same characters is to incur the displeasure as well as the condemnation of the reading public: Qu'il y prenne gardel Le public commence à être bien las de ces vilaines peintures. Ce ne sont pas les magistrats qui en condamneront l'auteur à la prison ou à l'amende. . . . M. Guy de Maupassant doit craindre l'arrêt d'un juge infiniment plus redoutable. 16 Such a severe criticism, coming from a respected and distinguished 13. Lemaître, A-1889. 14. T h i s collection, composed of seven stories, was so slender that when it was reissued in 1883 by H a v a r d eleven additional tales were added to the original group. 15. C f . Anon., B-1938, p. 8. 16. Sarcey, A-1882.

28

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

critic, could not fail to elicit a reply. Maupassant answered his critic in a long letter appearing in Le Gaulois of July 20,17 captioned " R é p o n s e à M. Francisque Sarcey." He reminds Sarcey, in the first place, that ever since literature has existed, it has been the recognized prerogative of the author to choose his own subjects. "L'écrivain est et doit rester seul maître, seul juge de ce qu'il se sent capable d'écrire." T h e privilege of the critic, on the other hand, as well as that of the public and brother writers, according to Maupassant, is to decide whether or not the author has succeeded in attaining the declared ideal. Maupassant then cites from a letter sent to him by T a i n e , making substantially the same reproach in somewhat more mitigated terms. T h e same injunction had also been made by Edmond de Goncourt. Maupassant's answer to them all is that he chooses these subjects because they offer a more interesting field of study than what are considered to be "superior" types, since in depicting the latter group a novelist most often depicts conventional appearances rather than the genuine motives that are the mainspring of their actions. Moreover, Maupassant continues, are there really clear-cut distinctions to be made among women? Chez les femmes, il n'est point de classes. Elles ne sont quelque chose dans la société que par ceux qui les épousent ou qui les patronnent. En les prenant pour compagnes, légitimes ou non, les hommes sont-ils donc toujours si scrupuleux sur leur provenance? Faut-il l'être davantage en les prenant pour sujets littéraires? 18 T h e second reprimand was directed by A l b e r t Wolff, he who two years earlier, in connection with Les Soirées, had so obligingly allowed himself to be taken in by the bait of the enterprising Médanistes. T i m e had worked a change, however, for he not only admits Maupassant to the circle of the talented, but even shows a preference for him among the younger novelists: Il n'est pas, parmi les romanciers nouveaux, un seul qui me plaise autant que M. G u y de Maupassant; aucun d'eux ne m'irrite au même degré que lui. . . . Il y a un parti pris, commun à toute la jeune littérature; on appelle cela étudier les bas-fonds de la société. . . . Pour un homme de talent comme M. de Maupassant, il ne peut y avoir ni honneur, ni profit à renforcer ce bataillon déjà considérable d'égoutiers de lettres. . . . Croyez bien ceci, M. de Maupassant, il n'est pas nécessaire de toujours traîner sa plume dans les mauvais lieux pour être un homme de talent. 1 9 1 7 . N o t J u l y s 8 , a s it is s t a t e d i n t h e C o n a r d e d i t i o n , Mademoiselle 18. Ibid.,

p. î 7 g .

19. W o l f t , A - i 8 8 ï .

Fifi,

p . 274.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

29

In answering Wolff's charges, 20 Maupassant boldly admits the truth of the accusation that undue attention is paid to the bas-fonds of society, and explains it as an exaggerated but natural reaction to the extravagant idealism which had preceded. T o the writer w h o aspires to depict life such as it is, the exclusive preoccupation with the lowly is as illogical as the exclusive presentation of a world ideally perfect. T o be guilty of one or the other of those excesses is to manifest intellectual myopia. A n d Maupassant confesses that the present school of writers is, in fact, afflicted with that disease. "Mais rassurons-nous. L'école littéraire actuelle élargira sans doute peu à peu les limites de ses études, et se débarrassera surtout des partis pris." 2 1 It may take time, it is true, for the sentimental has for so long dominated literature; but sooner or later, and our author believes the time to be near at hand, the novelist's eye will see and his canvas portray not isolated phenomena but life in its fulness, in its complexity. A n d this is his valedictory: 2 2 S'il est enfin une devise que doive prendre le romancier moderne, une devise résumant en quelques mots ce qu'il tente, n'est-ce pas celle-ci: Je tâche que rien de ce qui touche les hommes ne me soit étranger. T h e publication the following year of Maupassant's first novel, Une Vie, accounts for a number of studies of the author both that year and the next, and accounts also for the fact that the collection Contes de la Bécasse, published by Rouveyre and Blond, 2 3 and the new edition of Mademoiselle Fiji, bolstered by eleven new stories, received scant notice from the critics. T h e longest as well as the most serious article de20. In Le Gaulois of July 28, 1882. ai. Cf. Mademoiselle Fifi, Conard edition, p. 284. 22. Ibid., p. 285. 23. It is time to dispel a legend which has been current for many years and which has it that the enterprising Victor Havard published most of Maupassant's works during the lifetime of the author. A n examination of his publishers shows that not only did Havard not publish most of Maupassant's works, but that the number issued under his imprint is actually inferior to the number published by another house, that of Ollendorff. Havard: La Maison Tellier, Une Vie, Au soleil, Miss Harriet, La Petite Roque, Mont-Oriol, Notre Coeur, L'Inutile Beauté. Ollendorff: Les Soeurs Rondoli, Bel-Ami, Monsieur Parent, Le Horla, Pierre et Jean, Fort comme la mort, La Main gauche, La Vie errante, Musotte, La Paix du ménage. T h e posthumous Le Père Milon, Le Colporteur, and Les Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris are also issued under the Ollendorff imprint.

3o

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

voted to Maupassant as a story teller appeared in a provincial periodical, La Revue Lyonnaise. It is an enthusiastic review of Maupassant's rise as a conteur, with summaries and analyses of the best known tales. Marius Joulie, its author, tells us of the new taste for the short story of the realistic rather than of the older, saccharine type, and points to Maupassant as the most finished representative of the modern story teller. He tells, too, of the reluctance of critics to acclaim what was new, especially since this particular author had been associated with Zola and his school. Joulie gives clear indication of his own sentiments when he remarks, "Dans le fumier du naturalisme, il a poussé des perles, et, derrière M. Zola, il s'est levé des écrivains." 24 Even the most reactionary critics, however, finally had to admit that Mademoiselle Fifi reveals something, and the Contes de la Bécasse someone, and, desirous of finding one Naturalist who would be acceptable in their severe eyes, they gave in to the irresistible charm of the genius that seemed to rejuvenate and bring to a point of perfection the art of the old jongleurs. In all his stories, according to Joulie, Maupassant reveals himself an observer of the first rank and a seeker after the truth: . . . mais c'est surtout un peintre rare, sans lourdeur et sans bavures, ne gâchant pas, arrêtant son dessin par un contour net, limitant sa phrase entre deux traits, sachant résister à l'envahissement des idées, au flux des impressions, coupant, taillant dans la floraison des détails, des incidents, fermant les issues, bouchant les traverses, les sinuosités du sujet; un esprit sain, posé, méthodique, rarement enthousiaste, rarement dépassé par sa verve, ne partant jamais en superbes chevauchées à travers le lyrisme; un écrivain qui ne perd pas pied, qui est sans cesse en équilibre sur le juste et l'exact, qui ne laisse pas courir sa main, qui ne se laisse pas chauffer la tête, qui n'aurait pas écrit la description du Paradou de l'abbé Mouret, qui met une sourdine à ses éclats, des parenthèses à son idée et des alinéas à sa page; un artiste en scènes de genre, avec un peu de lumière et un peu d'ombre, trois chaises et trois personnages. 25 Another high note of enthusiasm for Maupassant is struck by Théodore de Banville in his letter on Sincerity already referred to. Addressing the author as "mon cher poète," Banville's letter reads like a ringing answer to the reservations expressed by both Sarcey and Wolff: 14. Joulie, A-1883, p. 563. 25. Ibid., p. 571.

Maupassant Criticism in France

31

Vous êtes devenu célèbre tout de suite, parce que d'instinct vous avez deviné que la condition unique de l'art, c'est de donner aux délicats et à la foule ce dont ils ont également soif: la Sincérité. Etre sincère, tout est là; il n'y a pas d'autre règle, il n'y a pas d'autre poétique, et tous les fatras qui disent le contraire en ont menti. . . . On ne se lassa pas de relire cette Boule-de-Suif. . . . On dévora cette Maison Tellier . . . vous n'avez pas peur de passer pour clérical, non plus que de passer pour athée. Vous n'avez peur de rien. 2a T h e facts recounted by Maupassant are such as occur every day, continues Banville; his characters are neither good nor bad. In short, Maupassant gives us life as it is, in all its simplicity and in all its horror. And that is as it should be, for the true artist seizes everything upon which sincerity has placed its unmistakable seal: C'est ce qui vous est arrivé, mon cher poète; aucun prix de sagesse et de bonne tenue n'a été décerné à l'élève Guy de Maupassant; mais les innombrables lecteurs assis à votre festin ont senti qu'ils buvaient le vin fortifiant et amer de la vérité. 27 Five years later, Henry Céard, fellow collaborator of Les Soirees, reminiscing about Maupassant, also attributed the unprecedented success of his friend to the qualities of sincerity and truth which he found emanating from the works of the conteur: Le succès de M. de Maupassant, on peut l'attribuer, j'imagine, à la franchise et à la carrure de sa manière d'être littéraire. Méprisant fort les théories, dédaigneux des complications, fort éloigné des systèmes, il frappe toujours droit et ferme. L a virtuosité de la phrase ne le préoccupe pas plus que le raffinement des caractères. Les sujets qu'il choisit de préférence sont des sujets simples, les personnages qu'il montre le plus souvent sont d'une nature un peu abrupte et obéissent à leur sang bien plus qu'à leurs nerfs. 28 It was indeed that complete absence of affectation, literary or other, which so immediately won over to him the reading public, and which finally disarmed even those who had for different reasons chosen at first to withhold their support. 29 T h e years 1884 and 1885 were peak years for Maupassant in so far as collections of short stories are concerned, for during the course of 26. Banville, A - 1 8 8 3 . 27. Ibid. 28. Céard, A-1888. 29. Cf. Avis at end of Contes de la Bécasse in the Conard

edition.

32

Chapter

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

each year no fewer than three volumes were published: Clair de Lune, Les Soeurs Rondoli, and Miss Harriet in 1884; Toine, Contes du Jour et de la Nuit, and Yvette in 1885. T h i s feverish activity can be explained by Maupassant's seemingly inexhaustible stock of material as well as by the increasingly heavy financial demands of his life, which led him to be less conscientious than formerly as to what was to be admitted into his published collections. We have pointed out that La Maison Tellier contained only two stories which had previously appeared in periodicals; Mademoiselle Fifi, on the other hand, contained only two that had not, whereas in the Contes de la Bécasse there was not one which had not already been read in some publication or other. T h e year 1884 is also important from another point of view, one that interests us more particularly: the Norman conteur who was reviving the spirit of the old fabliaux at last succeeds in breaking the reserve of the straight-laced periodical which had hitherto frowned upon his literary endeavors. La Revue des Deux Mondes finally spoke of Maupassant. We shall discuss that presently; let us first examine an important article appearing in Le Journal des Débats. It was signed by Paul Bourget, old friend whose devotion and admiration were only to increase with the passing years, and who was to devote several notices to Maupassant, the last time some forty years later. For Bourget, it is neither the force, nor the variety of subjects treated by Maupassant thus far in his poetry, jiouvelles, and first novel which explains the exceptional appeal of the writer both to the ordinary reader and to the most exacting. T h e explanation for this rare double charm resides rather in the fact that Maupassant, in the first place, represents with great intensity some of the tendencies of the new generation. And in the second place, it resides in the peculiar talent which makes it possible for him to translate those tendencies in a manner accessible to all. T h e three characteristic traits of the new literature —pessimism, scientific preoccupation, and a meticulous concern over style—are manifest to a high degree in the works of Maupassant. From his first work to the last, cloaked in an apparent indifference and detachment, are discernible the most irrémissible misanthropy, the highest attachment to exact documentation, and the most scrupulous devotion to the form of the great stylists. But while all these characteristics of the new literature are eminently inherent in the work of Maupassant, Bourget finds our author distinguishing himself by the one quality which he alone possesses: his work is the living embodiment of health, a rare virtue in a writer, possi-

Maupassant Criticism in France

33

ble only where there exists complete intellectual equilibrium. Bourget believes that this equilibrium is nowhere more convincing than in the misanthropy of the man, in the pessimism which does not lead to bitter cruelty but retains its good humor and its gaiety. Another evidence of that equilibrium Bourget finds in the fact that Maupassant has avoided the inevitable excess fatal to most stylists: his cult of form has not degenerated to a mania for the refined and over-refined, his preoccupation with style has not resulted in an obsession for words. 30 M a x i m e Gaucher, chronicler for the still diffident Revue Bleue,31 w h o had expressed the year before many reservations in regard to Une Vie, although recognizing the talent of the author, now hails in Miss Harriet the obvious divorce between Maupassant and the group of Naturalists. M u c h to his surprise and pleasure, Gaucher discovers that, contrary to the naturalistic formula, each story of the collection is complete in itself, with an exposition, development, and dénouement. W h a t naturalistic qualities the author has retained—precise observation, significant details—are laudable, for even then he uses commendable restraint; so that with the addition of his own art in composition and a feeling which is immediately communicated to the reader, the result is quite effective: U n petit chef-d'oeuvre, croyez-moi, cette courte histoire de miss Harriet, et aussi ce petit drame intime exécuté avec tant de sobriété, le Baptême, et encore Mon oncle Jules; mais je vais faire la table des matières! 32 T h e stubborn opposition to the ideals of the school of Zola is to be found in its most clear-cut crystallization in the persistent antagonism and hostility of Ferdinand Brunetière, w h o for fifteen years, from 1875 to 1890, led the hostile camp. T h e steady invectives against Naturalism of this exasperated conservative may be perused in his Roman naturaliste, first published in 1883 and subsequently carried through several revised editions. For over three years Brunetière ignored our author, but the steadily increasing importance of Maupassant's work, recently emphasized by the publication of Une Vie, his first sustained piece of work, could not be denied. T h e editor-in-chief of La Revue des Deux Mondes finally capitulated with a study significantly entitled "Les Petits Naturalistes," 3 3 in which every suggestion of praise is ap30. Bourget, A-1884. 31. A t that time La Revue politique et littéraire. 32. Gaucher, A-1884. 33. T h e term "petits naturalistes" was applied by Brunetière to all the followers of Zola.

34

Chapter

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

parently begrudgingly made and immediately balanced by a reproach: Le cas de M. Guy de Maupassant est un peu plus compliqué. T o u s les défauts qu'exige l'esthétique naturaliste, il les a; mais il a aussi quelques qualités qui sont rares dans l'école. Ainsi j'ose à peine l'en féliciter, mais il y a chez lui quelques traces de sensibilité, de sympathie, d'émotion: dans le Papa de Simon, par exemple, dans En Famille même, dans Miss Harriet, dans Une Vie. D'intempérants admirateurs ont trop loué son talent descriptif. J'aime assez sa Normandie, beaucoup moins son Algérie, moins encore sa Bretagne. Ce n'est pas ce qu'il voit, qu'il voit bien, mais plutôt ce dont il est profondément imprégné. Sa manière d'écrire est d'ailleurs plus simple, plus franche, plus directe que celle de la plupart de ses émules en naturalisme, et même de M. Zola. On dirait aussi que son pessimisme a quelque chose de moins littéraire, de moins voulu par conséquent, et de plus douloureux; il a le comique triste, et quelquefois amer. En fait de nouvelles, l'Histoire d'une fille de ferme, malgré quelques brutalités inutiles, est peut-être jusqu'ici ce qu'il a donné de mieux. Mais il y a trop de Flaubert en lui. Boule de Suif et l'Héritage, qui sont ce qu'il a écrit—sauf Une Vie—(le plus considérable, sont du pur Flaubert, moins sobre et mieux portant, si l'on veut, et généralement, dans ses premiers récits, je n'en connais pas un qui ne soit par quelque endroit trop inspiré de Flaubert. C'est un élève dont l'originalité n'est pas assez dégagée de l'admiration et de l'imitation de son maître. Il serait temps d'y aviser. Comme Flaubert, il manque surtout de goût et de mesure. Sans cela, sans quelques pages qui semblent une gageure, et qui s'étalent sans vergogne en trois ou quatre endroits, Une Vie serait presque une oeuvre remarquable. 34 A few years later, in 1888 to be exact, Brunetière was to make amende honorable for these reservations. We shall speak of that in a moment; let us first examine in its proper chronological order another first study of Maupassant, this time by that independent impressionist, Jules Lemaître. We have already recalled the circumstances in which Lemaître first became acquainted with La Maison Tellier, and his reaction to it. 35 T h e details surrounding this first of several studies on Maupassant are also worthy of recording. Lemaître himself has left us an account of their first meeting, while Maupassant was still in the Ministry of Pub34. Brunetière, A-1884. 35. Supra, p. 26.

Maupassant Criticism in France

35

36

lie Instruction. The impression left on him by our author was that of a "brave garçon," not that of a writer. Their meeting in Algiers and Maupassant's summary of the theme of La Maison Tellier did not inspire an increased interest on the part of the critic. So little interested was he, indeed, that he had no desire whatever to read any of Maupassant's works, and it was only the chance proximity of a copy of Mademoiselle Fifi in 1884 which provided him with a first taste. This so delighted him and so excited his curiosity that he immediately read everything Maupassant had published. His enthusiasm was soon translated into a desire to write of the author, and events developed as he has related: Peu de temps après, je priais Eugène Yung de me laisser écrire un article sur les Contes de Maupassant. Yung y consentit tout de suite. Mais, comme il y a dans plusieurs de ces contes une extrême vivacité de peintures et que la Revue Bleue est une honnête revue, une revue de famille, Yung me recommanda la plus grande réserve. J e n'obéis que trop strictement à cette recommandation. Il me semble aujourd'hui que je fus un peu ridicule, que j'excusai beaucoup trop Maupassant, du moins dans mon "exorde". Il est vrai que je me rattrapai un peu dans le courant de l'article.37 Lemaître's exposition is a model of rhetorical casuistry in which, while seemingly disapproving of Maupassant's unconventional themes, he incites the reader to rush headlong to his stories. "Le Conte est chez nous un genre national," he affirms; the renaissance of the form in the latter part of the nineteenth century has been brought about by a group the outstanding members of which are Alphonse Daudet, Paul Arène, Ludovic Halévy, Gyp, Richard O'Monroy, and the contributors to Gil Bias, Figaro: François Coppée, Theodore de Banville, Armand Sylvestre, Catulle Mendès, and finally Guy de Maupassant. Of all these, however, Maupassant is "tout à fait hors de pair," Maupassant who would have been a Bonaventure Desperiers under Francis I and a Jean de L a Fontaine under Louis XIV. There follows a detailed comparison between the bonhomme of the seventeenth century and his modern counterpart, the striking difference between the two for Lemaître residing in the fact that while La Fontaine's world was a conventional one and at times an artificial one, that of Maupassant is realistic in the full connotation of that word. One of the inevitable consequences of that realism, according to the 36. Lemaître, B-1892. 37. Ibid., p. 4.

Chapter

36

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

critic, is that these tales are not always gay; they are o f t e n sad, and sometimes even extremely brutal. This, coupled with the ever present misanthropy of the a u t h o r , lends to many of his stories a bitter taste: Il y a dans ces histoires et dans quelques autres une brutalité triomphante, u n parti pris de considérer les hommes comme des a n i m a u x comiques ou tristes, u n large mépris de l'humanité qui devient indulgent, il est vrai, aussitôt qu'entre en jeu . . . divùmque hominumque voluptas, aima Venus: tout cela sauvé la plupart d u temps par la rapidité et la franchise du récit, par la gaieté q u a n d même, par le n a t u r e l parfait et aussi (j'ose à peine le dire, mais cela s'expliquera) par la p r o f o n d e u r même de la sensualité de l'artiste, laquelle au moins nous épargne presque toujours la grivoiserie. 38 Somewhat f u r t h e r in the same article, in contrasting grivoiserie and sensualité Lemaître observes that Maupassant is saturated with the spirit of the latter: M. de Maupassant est extraordinairement sensuel; il l'est avec complaisance, il l'est avec fièvre et emportement; il est comme hanté par certaines images, p a r le souvenir de certaines sensations. O n comprend q u e j'hésite ici à administrer les preuves. . . . 39 It is clear to this critic that to the old theme of grivoiserie have been added new elements: those of observed reality, a reality invariably violent; and the old m i r t h has been replaced by a sensuality which is sometimes sober and melancholy, sometimes poetic. You will find in these accounts n o suggestion of the ideal, no concern over the moral. In what respects is he then a classic? Classique p a r le n a t u r e l de sa prose, par le bon aloi de son vocabulaire et par la simplicité d u rythme de ses phrases, M. de Maupassant l'est encore par la qualité de son comique. 4 0 T h e last means, of course, that the comic in Maupassant is derived not f r o m the style or the wit of the author, but is inherent in the situations of his characters. T h e conclusion to the foregoing pages of praise is interesting. Although one would have expected the critic to indicate the other side of the picture sooner or later, the impression he now gives is that he h a d suddenly remembered the injunction of Yung: La Revue Bleue being a respectable family journal, the case for this author of fabliaux 38. Lemaître, B-1885, pp. 296-97.

39. Ibid., pp. 299-300.

40. Ibid., p. 305.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

37

must not be made too favorable, but must be presented with dignified reserves. T h e following is the result: Ai-je besoin de dire maintenant que, bien qu'un sonnet sans défauts vaille un long poème, un conte est sans doute un chefd'oeuvre à moins de frais qu'un roman; que, d'ailleurs, même dans les contes de M. de Maupassant on trouverait, en cherchant bien, quelques fautes et notamment des effets forcés, des outrances de style ça et là . . . Faut-il ajouter qu'on ne saurait tout avoir et que je ne me le représente pas du tout écrivant la Princesse de Clèves ou seulement Adolphe?—Assurément aussi il y a des choses qu'il est permis d'aimer autant que les Contes de la Bécasse. On peut même préférer à l'auteur de Marroca tel artiste à la fois moins classique et moins brutal, et l'aimer, je suppose, pour le raffinement même et la distinction de ses défauts? Mais il reste à M. de Maupassant d'être un écrivain à peu près irréprochable dans un genre qui ne l'est pas, si bien qu'il a de quoi désarmer les austères et plaire doublement aux autres. 41 It is interesting to note, however, that twenty years later, in the edition of the first series of Les Contemporains, which appeared in 1903, Lemaître attached the following note to the foregoing conclusion: "Cette réserve était justifiée par le temps et l'endroit où j'écrivais," just as he had stated in the preface to the same edition, "Je rappelle au lecteur que ces études ont été écrites en 1884 et en 1885, et que presque toutes auraient besoin d'un complément, quelques-unes d'un correctif." T h e extent to which the press neglected individual collections of Maupassant's tales is at once obvious and striking in the years that follow, when the appearance of a novel a year, (except for 1886, when there was none) totally eclipsed the volumes of short stories. Toine, Contes du jour et de la nuit, Yvette, La Petite Roque, Monsieur Parent, Le Horla, Le Rosier de Mme Husson, La Main gauche, and L'Inutile Beauté appeared practically without mention by the reviewers. This reaction was natural, of course, since the publication of a book of tales rarely inspires the discussion occasioned by a longer work. Francisque Sarcey had written an "article remarquable" 42 on Maupassant's first novel, Une Vie; he had been less enthusiastic over BelAmi, reproaching the author once more for his predilection for subjects inherently "malsains". T h e reading of Monsieur Parent (1886) 41. Ibid.., pp. 309-10. 42. C f . L u m b r o s o , B-1905, p . 397.

Chapter

38

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

finds him again disappointed, this time because he considers its author, endowed with "un talent si vigoureux, un style si sain, si robuste, si pittoresque," 43 literally squandering that talent on mere sketches such as Monsieur Parent: . . . le sujet n'est qu'indiqué, et l'écrivain, pressé par l'heure du journal, n'a pris le temps ni de développer son idée, ni de pousser bien avant le détail. Ce n'est qu'une esquisse.44 T h i s prodigality reminds him of the old proverb, " A père avare fils prodigue." What grief it would have caused the young man's literary father, he who was so insistent on literary perfection, to see the dissipation of his son! It is as incredible as it is exasperating to Sarcey that any one upon whom Nature has lavished the gifts possessed by Maupassant should not aspire to the creation of more substantial works: M. Guy de Maupassant est peut-être, de tous nos prosateurs contemporains, celui qui possède la langue la plus personnelle, ample à la fois et éclatante. J e crains qu'il ne soit ni assez laborieux, ni assez patient, pour aller jusqu'au bout de son mérite. Il sera un maître, le jour où il voudra l'être sérieusement. 45 Maupassant was similarly rebuked by Maxime Gaucher, who called attention also to the highly dramatic quality of the nouvelle heading the collection: " I l y a là une scène, celle de la fureur soudaine, puis de l'apaisement hébété, dont l'effet serait saisissant au théâtre. Pourquoi ne pas tenter l'épreuve?" 46 Firmin Boissin praises the characteristic virtues of the author's style—its precision, its clarity, and its rhythm— but he, too, voices an indignant protest against the excesses of Maupassant's themes: . . . comme donnée [speaking of Monsieur Parent], que c'est donc vulgaire, banal et peu propre! . . . . A la suite on trouvera cinq autres récits . . . où il ne faut chercher aucune inspiration supérieure. Ce sont de petits drames saisissants, condensés par une plume qu'attirent la sécheresse de l'analyse, le scepticisme de l'idée et la floraison du mal. 47 Also to be attached to this period is the Petit Bottin des Lettres et des Arts, published anonymously in 1886 (its authors were Félix 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

Sarcey, A-1886, p. 407. Ibid. Ibid., p. 409. Gaucher, A-1885. Boissin, A-1886, pp. 300-301.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

39

Fénéon, Paul A d a m , Laurent T a i l h a d e , and Jean Moréas). It was a dictionary of contemporary literary figures, about four hundred names being included. A n d of all those names only three had appended to theirs the initials N. C.: Alphonse Daudet, G u y de Maupassant, and Georges Ohnet. T h e initials stood for "Notable Commerçant"; for the compilers of this collection, then, Maupassant was not only a merchant in letters, but was apparently worth no more than a Georges Ohnet. Another exacting independent impressionist, Anatole France, also finally succumbed to the spell of this story teller, many of whose tales must have reminded him of his beloved Middle Ages and eighteenth century. Speaking of story tellers, ancient and modern, he confesses to a preference for the latter: "Qu'ils s'avouent vaincus par les Alphonse Daudet, les Paul Arène et les G u y de Maupassant." A n d dismissing summarily Maupassant the novelist, he continues to characterize the conteur in such judicious terms that we quote him at length: Il est certainement un des plus francs conteurs de ce pays, où l'on fit tant de contes et de si bons. Sa langue forte, simple, naturelle, a un goût de terroir qui nous la fait aimer chèrement. Il possède les trois grandes qualités de l'écrivain français, d'abord la clarté, puis encore la clarté et enfin la clarté. Il a l'esprit de mesure et d'ordre qui est celui de notre race. Il écrit comme vit un bon propriétaire normand, avec économie et joie. Madré, matois, bon enfant, assez gabeur, un peu faraud, n'ayant honte que de sa large bonté native, attentif à cacher ce qu'il y a d'exquis dans son âme, plein de ferme et haute raison, point rêveur, peu curieux des choses d'outre-tombe, ne croyant qu'à ce qu'il voit, ne comptant que ce qu'il touche, il est de chez nous, celui-là. C'est un pays! De là l'amitié qu'il inspire à tout ce qui sait lire en France. Et malgré ce goût normand, en dépit de cette fleur de sarrasin qu'on respire par toute son oeuvre, il est plus varié dans ses types, plus riche dans ses sujets qu'aucun autre conteur de ce temps. O n ne trouve guère d'imbéciles ni de coquins qui ne soient bons pour lui et qu'il ne mette en passant dans son sac. Il est le grand peintre de la grimace humaine. Il peint sans haine et sans amour, sans colère et sans pitié, les paysans avares, les matelots ivres, les filles perdues, les petits employés abêtis par le bureau, et tous les humbles en qui l'humilité est sans beauté comme sans vertu. T o u s ces grotesques et tous ces malheureux, il nous les montre si distinctement que nous croyons les voir de nos yeux et que nous les trouvons plus réels que la réalité même. Il les fait vivre, mais il ne les juge pas. Nous ne savons point ce qu'il pense de ces

40

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

drôles, de ces coquins, de ces polissons qu'il a créés et qui nous hantent. C'est un habile artiste qui sait qu'il a tout fait quand il a donné la vie. Son indifférence est égale à celle de la nature: elle m'étonne, elle m'irrite. Je voudrais savoir ce que croit et sent en dedans de lui cet homme impitoyable, robuste et bon. Aime-t-il les imbéciles pour leurs bêtises? . . . Peut-être se dit-il que le monde est bien fait puisqu'il est plein d'êtres mal faits et malfaisants dont on fait des contes . . . Toutefois, on est libre de penser, au contraire, que M. de Maupassant est en secret triste et miséricordieux, navré d'une pitié profonde, et qu'il pleure intérieurement les misères qu'il nous étale avec une tranquillité superbe. . . . M. de Maupassant, qui est aussi un poète, ne souffre-t-il point de voir les hommes tels que ses yeux et son cerveau les lui montrent, si laids, si méchants et si lâches, bornés dans leurs joies, dans leurs douleurs et jusque dans leurs crimes, par une irrémédiable misère? J e ne sais. J e sais seulement qu'il est pratique, qu'il ne baye point aux nuées, et qu'il n'est pas homme à chercher des remèdes pour des maux incurables.48 The following year, too, in speaking briefly of Le Horla, Anatole Prance was to call our author "le prince des conteurs." 49 Raoul Frary of La Nouvelle Revue, who had devoted a long review to Mont-Oriol two months earlier, also speaks of Le Horla with unconcealed admiration, calling Maupassant the most brilliant as well as the most intelligent story teller of the day. T h e critic emphasizes the fact that a tale of ten pages may contain in brief a profound idea, not to say philosophy. Many of his stories are, however, outright comedies in which it would be folly indeed to seek philosophical pretentions. The author of these jolly anecdotes cannot claim superiority over several rivals, either; but he is incontestably in advance of other story tellers whenever he decides to inspire fright and horror, witness Le Horla. Frary treads on somewhat less certain ground when he hazards an interpretation of the author's attitude toward his creation: ". . . par un ingénieux artifice, l'auteur feint de prendre au sérieux ces visions maladives, et nous laisse dans l'esprit un vague sentiment de terreur mystique. . . ." We know, of course, that at the time the story was written, Maupassant was far from taking such hallucinations lightly. And the chronicler for La Revue Bleue, Maxime Gaucher, who the previous year had censured Maupassant for the unconventional sub48. France, A-1887. 49. France, B-1888, p. 185.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

4i

pects he treated, now goes into ecstasies over the variety of his portraits. Le Horla having terrified us to the author's satisfaction, Maupassant, according to the critic, now wishes to regale us: ". . . je vais vous raconter, pour rire un peu, quelques petites histoires parisiennes assez salées et quelques bonnes grosses histoires normandes qui ont un fort goût de terroir." Ahl qu'il les conte agréablement, et comme il sait sur le bout du doigt les Parisiens et plus encore les Parisiennesl Comme il connaît les Normandes et mieux encore les Normands! Ah! mais oui, bonnes gens!50 We have already referred to the stubborn four-year silence of Brunetière. Once the reserve was broken, however, in 1884, on three occasions the critic spoke at length of Maupassant in the pages of La Revue des Deux Mondes,51 as well as publishing in that periodical, a few months after Maupassant's death, the long appreciation by René Doumic. In the last article he was to write on Maupassant, Brunetière confesses to have been led to the following reflection upon reading once more some of our author's best stories: that the deserved success of such novels as Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (which had appeared the previous year) should not blind readers and critics alike to the fact that not all novelists are from SaintPetersburg. And although the reading of Maupassant may not have purified his imagination, it had certainly cleared his vision and had made him once more appreciate clarity, precision, and celerity. T h e outstanding characteristic of Maupassant's talent he considers to be naturalness, "un parfait et entier naturel." Flaubert's influence on the disciple is assuredly great; but no one can accuse the latter of the master's pathological obsession for literary expression. Every word from Maupassant's pen flows smoothly, with no trace of the painful effort to achieve an "écriture artiste": Peu de romanciers ont eu au même degré que lui l'art de faire passer dans les mots les plus simples du commun usage les sentiments, les intonations, les attitudes et la figure entière de leurs personnages.52 50. Gaucher, A-1887. 51. In 188g, 1887, and 1888. It must not be forgotten, either, that Maupassant's last novel, Notre Coeur, first appeared in La Revue des Deux Mondes, in May and June, 1890. Much has been made of this fact, since Maupassant had once boasted that he would never accept membership in the Legion of Honor or the Academy, or write for the staid Revue des Deux Mondes. 52. Brunetière, B-1892, p. 40a.

Chapter

42

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

If the unfortunate insistence on subjects that should be confined to the billiard room has not disappeared, it has at least been considerably attenuated. It is true that he remains a Naturalist, if one understands by that term that he succeeds in giving perfect reproductions of reality in the least number of words, that he is supremely impersonal, that the characters and the episodes he most often depicts are not exceptions, but are taken from everyday life: Lorsqu'un jour on cherchera chez nos romanciers . . . des renseignements précis sur l'état d'esprit d'un paysan ou d'un bourgeois de nos contemporains, j'imagine que s'il n'est pas le seul, M. de Maupassant est l'un de ceux à qui l'on les demandera; et ils seront certainement plus sûrs que ceux que l'on trouve dans la Terre, de M. Zola, ou dans l'Immortel, de M. Alphonse Daudet. 5 3 In psychology, too, according to Brunetière, a field in which other members of the naturalistic school with the exception of Daudet have shown themselves utter failures, Maupassant clearly demonstrates his high competence, a competence which has not been acclaimed to any degree only because most readers have failed to realize the depth of the author's psychological insight. Maupassant prefers not to display this phase of his equipment in the ordinary media, but rather to allow his analyses of motives to manifest themselves through the speech and the actions of his characters. As for the severe pessimism which was manifest in his depictions of life, that, too, has undergone a visible change. It is no longer the narrow and intolerant pessimism of youth; experience and meditation have transformed that early misanthropy into a mature and at the same time profound philosophy. A n d however stupid he may consider the humanity he depicts, there is no lack of sympathy in his portraits. Whether it is because of the meticulous care with which he has observed his various types, whether it is because of the honesty with which he has attempted to recreate them in his pages, it is certain that he has ended by loving them in his own fashion: Il les a étudiés avec passion, il les copie avec amour, et cela se sent dans les portraits qu'il en donne. C'est ce qui fait l'intérêt de quelques nouvelles qui, comme la Bête à Maître Belhomme et comme le Trou, n'ont d'autre signification ni d'autre portée que celle d'un tableau de genre, mais où le peintre, s'il s'appelle Chardin, a dépensé plus de talent qu'on n'en a mis bien souvent dans la décoration d'un palais ou d'une église. 54 53. Ibid., 54. Ibid.,

p. 407. p. 414. R e g a r d i n g Maupassant's treatment of psychology in the novel,

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

43

Not the least of Maupassant's admirable qualities—Brunetière goes so far as to excuse his defects (the lack of sensibilité, for instance) as being "de race"—is that art of composition which encompasses each of his tales in the proper frame, a style which, while being stamped with the characteristic seal of the author, does not reveal his personality, but, like the art of the Classicists, is content to be judged on its merits alone. T h a t , in Brunetière's estimation, is the mark of a true artist. A l t h o u g h Brunetière here treats Maupassant as a Naturalist, attention had been drawn as early as 1884 to his dissociation from that school. T h i s ringing article by the leader of the conservatives may be considered as the sign of complete capitulation. Notwithstanding occasional outbursts from one individual quarter or another, Maupassant was now accepted by all camps as a distinct literary personality, one who, according to his own testimony in the preface to Pierre et Jean, believed in no literary isms, but aspired to a position above them. Sarcey, who had on several occasions strongly reprimanded Maupassant for the nature of his stories, finally was to admit, as we have recorded in connection with the presentation of Musotte, that Maupassant "est un grand écrivain, je n'ose pas dire: le premier de ce temps, parce qu'il ne faut froisser personne; mais je ne suis pas loin de le penser." 55 T h a t same year appeared Count Stanislas Rzewuski's Etudes littéraires,66 which contains one of the longest, and unfortunately least known, studies on Maupassant. T h e greater portion of this analysis of approximately one hundred pages is devoted to Une Vie, which the critic considers one of the supreme achievements of the nineteenth century novel; preceding the consideration of the novel are the few introductory pages which we shall review briefly. Although the incomparable Boule de Suif appeared in the collection which was virtually a manifesto of the school of Naturalism, this contribution was neither like that of the other disciples, nor was it even patterned after the manner of Zola himself. From his earliest work, the individuality of the author was apparent; a personal attitude toward life was unmistakable there, however much he may have owed both to Flaubert and to Zola. T h e trait that he probably shares most strongly with the creator of the Rougon-Macquart series is the attitude that since nothing in nature is lowly, everything may be examined and Brunetitre is merely repeating what Maupassant himself had stated in the famous preface to his Pierre et Jean. 55. Supra, p. 15. 56. Rzewuski, B-1888.

44

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

portrayed by the artist. T h e r e being from the start no question in regard to Maupassant's talents as a writer, every one was impatient to see what definitive form that talent would assume. Hence the justifiable irritation of some readers and critics that he should have persisted in comparatively insignificant sketches, rather than undertaking substantial projects. T h e tales gave promise, but the promise was not really fulfilled until Une Vie, the appearance of which convinced every one of Maupassant's literary stature while at the same time vindicating those who had attempted to direct Maupassant away from the shorter form. T h e attitude of Count Rzewuski is clear. While according Maupassant a high place in the field of the short story, he is in agreement with Jules Lemaître in the belief that it is the medium which is deficient,— "écrivain à peu près irréprochable dans un genre qui ne l'est pas," Lemaître had said—and that Maupassant, realizing this, should have turned earlier than he did to the more dignified and universally respected form which is the novel. Jules Lemaître, after greeting the appearance of Sur l'eau and the philosophy it embodies in the depreciatory tone we have noted, 87 returned to Maupassant the following year (1889), in connection with Fort comme la mort, no longer in the apologetic vein of his first article, 58 but clearly determined to make amends for the reserves he had first formulated for the bourgeois readers of La Revue Bleue. He was still addressing the readers of that periodical; but this time the editors apparently did not request him to be on his guard as to what he said about Maupassant, generally accepted now as one of the luminaries of French letters. Lemaître finds Maupassant strongly imbued with the precepts inculcated by Flaubert, and yet entirely free of the latter's romanticism. Maupassant at 25 is described thus by the critic: " J e ne pense pas que jamais jeune homme ait jeté sur le monde un regard plus clairvoyant, plus tranquille et plus froid que Maupassant à vingt-cinq ans." 59 So it should surprise no one to find in his accounts the unsentimental and unmitigated presentation of love in all its primitive preoccupations. One might even go so far as to say that for a considerable period Maupassant had his observation post almost exclusively in Madame Tellier's establishment. A further characteristic of that early period, according 5 7 . Supra, p . 1 1 . 58. Supra, p . 3 5 .

59. Lemaître, B-1892, p. 5.

Maupassant Criticism in France

45

to Lemaître, is the negative philosophy of the author, a philosophy of unattenuated nihilism which fortunately gradually gives way to a more mature attitude, the change being first noticeable in his novel MonlOriol, which might be considered a transitional work in his career. A marked change occurred in his depiction of love, too; it seemed as if the author, although no less preoccupied with the old theme, lingered less and less on its brutal and primitive manifestations and rarely described those manifestations per se. T h i s changed attitude, unmistakable in his last two novels, Pierre et Jean and Fort comme la mort, is present even in his latest collection of tales, La Main gauche. Nevertheless, it is to the credit of the author that this evolution of his heart has not in any fashion dimmed his vision. Maupassant continues to write with the same infallible lucidity, with the same sober interpretation of life as it is, with no taint of literary affectation, be it romantic or realistic. Anatole France also spoke of La Main gauche in glowing terms. Although he did not find all the stories of the same high quality, "toutes portent la marque du maître; la fermeté, la brièveté forte de l'expression, et cette sobriété puissante qui est le premier caractère du talent de M. de Maupassant." 60 T h e appearance in April of the following year (1890) of L'Inutile Beauté again passed almost unnoticed, just as the preceding month La Vie errante had inspired no reaction in the press. T h e note in the newlyfounded Mercure de France is typical of the little attention paid to the collection: Qu'est-ce que la pensée humaine? Cette question vient d'être résolue par M. de Maupassant:—"Une fonction fortuite des centres nerveux de notre cerveau pareille aux actions chimiques imprévues, dues à des mélanges nouveaux, pareille aussi à une production d'éléctricité créée par des frottements ou des voisinages inattendus, à tous les phénomènes enfin engendrés par les fermentations infinies et fécondes de la matière qui vit". 6 1 T h e foregoing ironie notice is all that the chronicler who signed himself R. G. devoted to L'Inutile Beauté. Maupassant does, however, figure several times in the second supplement of Le Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe Siècle, with separate insertions for Bel-Ami (a full column); Boule de Suif (a half column), which is thought to have justly 60. France, B - i 8 g i , article "Pourquoi sommes-nous tristes?" 61. R . G.. A-1890. " R . G." is doubtless Remy de Gourmont.

46

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

established the author's reputation, "car c'est un bijou littéraire"; and finally approximately two-thirds of a column is devoted to the author under his own name. T h e last reviews briefly, but on the whole favorably, the various works of the author, dwelling on their literary merits, and on several occasions stating that the nature of a particular work does not allow detailed analysis. However little the themes of Maupassant's work may lend themselves to discussion, continues the critic, the art of the author may be justly described as irreproachable. T h e faculty of telling a story is one of those things which are not acquired, but must be considered a gift, a n d that g i f t the " j e u n e maître" undeniably possesses. T o this critic he is above all "concis et précis, d e u x qualités que nous sommes en train de perdre, malheureusement." 6 2 T h e year 1890 had seen the appearance of Notre Coeur, which, published the latter part of J u n e , had reached its fortieth edition within six months, in spite of the effect on sales of its previous publication in the widely read Revue des Deux Mondes. T h e year 1891 was that of Musotte, which h a d such a brilliant success on the stage and which accounts for most of the studies on Maupassant appearing that year; another good reason for the lack of other studies is, of course, that our author published no other book that year, his only other appearance in book form being a preface for the translation of Swinburne's Poèmes et Ballades issued by Savine. T h a t was also the year of J u l e s Huret's well known Enquête sur l'évolution littéraire in L'Echo de Paris.63 W h e n this enterprising reporter was twenty, Maupassant had incarnated for him "l'expression la plus complète de la vérité" and Huret was now the more determined to see him since the celebrated author was reputed to be the most difficult person in the capital to approach. W h e n Huret finally succeeds in getting past François and into the master's study, he remains f o r some time incredulous: " J e le regarde curieusement et je demeure stupéfait: G u y de Maupassant! Guy de Maupassant!" Could it be possible that one of the most celebrated names of the day belonged to this "petit homme . . . aux épaules médiocres, à la grosse moustache bicolore, châtain avec des poils qu'on dirait passés à l'alcool. . . ."? Politely but firmly he is told that a conversation on literature is out of the question, that since Maupassant now has rare contracts with writers (Dumas being the only man of letters he frequents), he can not very well speak on the evolution of literature. Little wonder Huret placed Maupassant in the group of " m o r f o n d u s " in his 62. Anon., B-1890, p. 1575, in Le Grand Dictionnaire 63. March 3 to July 5, 1891.

universel du XIX'

siècle.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

47

classification of writers interviewed. Of the sixty-three others thus interviewed, several mentioned the name of our author; it is interesting to record what inspired his colleagues to refer to him. Anatole France points out the increasing leaning of Maupassant toward the psychological novel. 64 Paul Adam states that Zola and Alexis alone have remained true to the ideal of Naturalism, Maupassant becoming merely an elegant story teller. 65 Charles Morice, one of the leaders of the Symbolist movement, believes Maupassant would be more at home in the stock market. 66 Charles Viguier implies that our author has not fulfilled the promise of earlier years.67 Of the Naturalists proper (the Médanistes with the addition of Edmond de Goncourt) the last is the only one to mention Maupassant, and that in the most general terms, referring to him as one of the talented writers of the day. 68 Joseph Caraguel singles out Maupassant as the only one of the contributors to Les Soirees who does not systematically indulge in the "partis-pris de vulgarité" of that group. 69 For Gustave Guiches, Paul Alexis is now the only one who has remained authentically a Naturalist, all the others having deviated more or less from the strictly naturalistic ideal, Maupassant especially having reverted to the tradition of Flaubert which was so manifest in his Boule de Suif.70 It is the opinion of Emile Bergerat that the union of young writers under the banner of Zola had been misinterpreted as constituting a school, whereas it was merely an effective procedure to make one's way; since then each of them, including Maupassant, has followed his own individual temperament. 71 For Gustave Kahn, initiator with Jules Laforgue of the vers libre, Maupassant is a self-made business man possessing as much talent as any of the Naturalists, with a thorough knowledge of certain types.72 A remarkable article appeared in January of the following year (1892) in Le Correspondant. This study, one in a series of "Portraits 64. Huret, B-1891, p. 5. 65. Ibid., p. 43. 66. Ibid., p. 90. 67. Ibid., p. 100. 68. Ibid., p. 168. 69. Ibid., p. 223. 70. Ibid., p. 255. 71. Ibid., p. 366. 72. Ibid., p. 403. These few and cursory references to Maupassant may seem surprising, but are not so in the light of his position in the literature of the day. He had early dissociated himself from mass movements and literary schools and was, in the opinion of most writers and critics, an independent figure, following no one and inspiring no official school of his own. It was therefore natural that in an investigation of changing literary trends his name should not often recur.

48

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

Contemporains," was, curiously enough, unsigned. T h e author shows complete familiarity with Maupassant's works as well as a keen appreciation of them. After devoting several pages to the origins of the story teller's art, with due emphasis on what he considers to be his only masters—Flaubert and his native N'ormandy—the critic compares Maupassant to the "anciens Pères de la Langue," and places him above most of the outstanding contemporary writers: L a phrase de Zola est un chantier sans cesse empêtré de moellons et de pierres de taille; celle du photographe Daudet, ah! certes, elle est bien séduisante, mais trop léchée, avouez-le, trop joliment retouchée à la loupe; quant à celle de Goncourt, elle est papillotante et elle a de beaux jaunes, mais on ne peut y aventurer sans casser un bibelot ou faire choir une théière, tant le bric-à-brac l'encombre. Moins maçon que le premier, moins Parisien de la rue de la Paix q u e le second, point du tout marquis japonais comme le troisième, Maupassant est tout brièvement Français, conteur français. . . . Dans les brefs récits nerveux, saisissants, bien ordonnés, d'une étonnante maîtrise de simplicité, qui ont consacré son succès, il se montre incomparable. Il frappe toujours juste, vite et fort; et quand on a terminé tel ou tel de ses absolus petits chefs-d'oeuvre, on ne saurait le concevoir mieux imaginé, mieux exécuté. 73 A n d as for Jules Lemaître's comparison of Maupassant with the bonhomme of the seventeenth century, it is more ingenious than real. T h e tales of La Fontaine have no other claim . . . que celle d'amuser en scandalisant. Les contes de Maupassant sont au contraire des morceaux de vie réelle, presque toujours réalistes, taillés en pleine chair vivante d'humanité, sans esprit au sens où on l'entend (car Maupassant n'a que du comique, don bien supérieur à l'esprit), sans mièvreries paternelles, sans le sautillement de la pensée et de la forme cher au fabuliste, sans cette insouciance galante, cette pirouette sur les talons à propos de tout, qui était comme le caractéristique espiègle du siècle passé. L a Fontaine est grivois, polisson; Maupassant est voluptuex et sensuel. La Fontaine nous fait sourire ou rougir; Maupassant n'est pas loin de nous faire pleurer; s'il nous égayé, c'est aux éclats; s'il nous choque, c'est sans prétentions hypocrites, mais loyalement, en pleine poitrine; le premier est badin, chatouilleur à demi-mot, le second est gaillard, brutal et cru; La Fontaine prise dans sa tabatière, et Maupassant fume sa 73. Anon., A-1892, Le Correspondant, p. 255.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

49

pipe. Restriction faite de toute ces divergences et de bien d'autres très faciles à trouver, on peut déclarer qu'ils se ressemblent, étant deux grands écrivains français l'un et l'autre, et qu'ils possèdent certaines qualités intellectuelles qui leur sont communes. 74 What is remarkable about this modern Classicist is the universality as well as the uniformity of his talent. He has treated the most divergent subjects and ideas with the same sure hand, and everything he has written has been produced with a regular, functional superiority. He has also been so deservedly called a Classicist that the critic predicts schoolboys fifty years hence will be memorizing some of the pages he has quoted. T o the question, "Maupassant est-il un sain ou est-il un malade?", he would reply that he is neither one nor the other exclusively, but that he is both at the same time. It is indeed that dual character which gives to his works a flavor that might at first be disconcerting but which is in reality profoundly human. This anonymous article is practically the last study on Maupassant the conteur before the deluge of notices occasioned by his death the following year; he was, at the time the above article appeared, already interned at the sanitarium of Dr. Blanche. Nothing from his pen was published in 1892, although of course the following March a good deal of discussion was aroused by the performance of La Paix du ménage at the Comédie-Française; but Maupassant was even at that time considered to be dead. Although the notices inspired by the passing of a popular author are for obvious reasons not to be considered as the definitive judgment of that particular period on the author, it is nevertheless significant to note what is generally emphasized therein and what is passed over in silence. There were in the first place, as was to be expected, a number of articles in the vein of the personal recollection, contributed by such intimates of the author as Paul Bourget, Paul Alexis, and Charles Lapierre, who himself was to die two weeks later. 75 Over these we need not linger. T h e n there were several biographical sketches, one or two dwelling on the terrible malady that had brought about the early end of Maupassant. These also need not detain us. T h e others (all of them of course bewailing the irreparable loss to French letters) being of unequal length and quality, let us examine the more important. 74. Ibid., p. 256. 75. On the relations of Maupassant and Lapierre see the letter contributed by another friend of Maupassant, Robert Pinchon, to Lumbroso, B-1905, pp. 603-606.

5°

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

Gaston Deschamps of Le Temps has n o fears regarding the literary destiny of Maupassant: "Il est peu d'écrivains qui soient plus assurés d'être admis devant ce jury inconnu et mystérieux dont nous parlons rarement, parce qu'il nous fait peur: la postérité." 76 He emphasizes the influence of Renan and T a i n e , particularly the latter, on the temperament of Maupassant, and considers him "le plus illustre représentant" of his generation: G u y de Maupassant est, par instinct et par éducation, u n écrivain naturaliste, et je ne vois pas de romancier à qui ce mot puisse s'appliquer plus exactement qu'à lui. . . . G u y de Maupassant restera, par son mépris des hommes, par sa gaieté sensuelle, où il y a presque toujours un arrière-goût d'amertume, par son enthousiaste amour de la nature éternelle et consolatrice, le plus illustre représentant, ou, si l'on veut, la plus glorieuse victime d'une époque où tous, grands et petits, souffrent d'un mal infiniment plus dangereux que les mélancolies d'Obermann et de René. 7 7 Deschamps finally calls Maupassant a great poet of nature: L a nature! Il l'a quelquefois maudite; mais il l'a aimée de toutes ses forces, adorée avec une tendresse câline et une avidité gourmande. Comme tous les poètes de ce siècle, comme Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Michelet, T a i n e , il a été tour à tour déçu et consolé par elle. . . . Et jamais peut-être l'âme d'un poète ou d'un peintre n'a reflété plus puissamment le radieux décor où s'agitent nos misères et nos vilenies: les bois et les rivières, les riches campagnes, les hautes vallées où jaillissent des sources claires, la vaste mer. 78 Henry Fouquier, writing in Le Gaulois, uses what is probably the most frequently recurring epithet applied to our author: "Maupassant est un pur classique, par l'art de la composition, la sobriété et la justesse d u style." 79 A n d considers him quite superior to Mérimée, to whom he is often compared. Léopold Lacour, on the contrary, minimizes the classic character of Maupassant's writings and stresses rather an aspect which he holds has received too little attention from commentators: O n lui fait tort en se souvenant trop du Normand robuste et fin, du merveilleux conteur, à la gaieté solide et plantureuse; on lui fait tort en appuyant sur les rares qualités classiques de sa langue et de 76. Deschamps, A 1893. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid. 79. Fouquier. A-1893.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

5»

son style: il fut ou devint un malade, sans rien perdre, il est vrai, de l'étonnante franchise et de l'éclatante vigueur de son écriture. Enfin, depuis quelques années, esclave d'un songe irréalisable et prisonnier des pauvres cinq sens par où s'alimente notre indigente pensée, Guy de Maupassant s'agitait dans cette universelle activité, et dans sa servitude particulière, avec des cris d'angoisse qu'il semblerait qu'on n'a pas entendus, la chair tressaillante au moindre heurt, halluciné, hagard. . . . 80 Emile Berr makes a wish which was not to be realized until 1925: 81 Mais je voudrais, pour l'honneur de cette belle mémoire, quelque chose de plus que les suffrages du grand public et l'admiration des lettrés: je voudrais voir ce parfait écrivain classique connu et aimé dès demain des "tout jeunes", de ceux à qui l'on n'ose pas confier trop tôt ses livres. . . . Il n'y aurait qu'à puiser dans cette oeuvre si variée et si riche pour y trouver les éléments d'une "anthologie" exquise,—d'un volume de cinq cents pages parfaitement pures qui seraient pour nos enfants la plus littéraire et la plus délicieuse des récréations. 82 And Edmond Lepelletier, collaborator with Maupassant at L'Echo de Paris, defends his memory against the many whispered legends which Maupassant himself apparently delighted in circulating: Ohl je sais bien qu'on raconte de lui des équipées nocturnes, des prouesses amoureuses, des veillées herculéennes dans des harems publics? Mais n'a-t-on pas exagéré ces assauts d'amour charnel? Dans ces gaietés de la chair où l'âme n'était pas, a-t-on bien tenu la comptabilité? O ù sont ceux qui y ont assisté? Est-on sûr des tours de force narrés par la suite? Maupassant, bien que très chaste et très réservé, laissait complaisamment circuler ces récits. Peut-être au fond avait-il quelque honte à passer pour continent. 11 redoutait le ridicule sur ce point. Beaucoup d'hommes, peu ardents, ont eu la même crainte que lui. Il narrait et laissait déguiser des anecdotes. . . . En admettant qu'il n'ait pas vécu en chartreux, il est certain que la majeure partie de son existence s'est passée sans femme dans son entourage. Il est démontré qu'il n'eut jamais de maîtresse attitrée ni même abritée. T o u s ses amis savent qu'il recevait en garçon, et qu'à Bougival, à Etretat, à Cannes, à bord de ses yoles de rivière et de son yacht de mer, où tant de semaines pour lui s'écoulèrent, dans une activité spor80. Lacour, A-i8g3. 81. Prévost, B-1925. 82. Berr, A-1893.

52

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

tive incessante, nul ne vit de jupe familière frou-frouter à l'ombre du maître tenant la barre ou maniant la plume.83 Guy Tomel calls him "à la fois un psychologue et un orfèvre de lettres."84 Moguez of La République Française, reiterating the permanent qualities which made of Maupassant a modern Classicist, speaks of his . . . style ferme et franc, sa phrase bien française, pleine de suc, de clarté et de précision. Personne dans la dernière moitié de notre siècle n'a écrit avec autant de sûreté que lui, avec une habileté aussi consommée et une richesse aussi grande. Dans ses nouvelles, dans ses romans, dans son théâtre, il restera toujours un modèle inimitable. 85 It is interesting to note the reaction of Stéphane Mallarmé, 86 temperamentally so opposed to Maupassant. The analogies that have been made between the fables of La Fontaine and the tales of Maupassant he finds quite justified, and justified also the prediction that many tales of his contemporary will probably share the immortality of the fables. The early Maupassant he calls "l'homme le plus sain et l'esprit le plus net," and praises "ce talent savoureux, clair, robuste comme la joie. . . ." An immortal, who is content to sign himself merely "Un Académicien," also emphasizes the classic virtues of Maupassant's style: Il dit la vie, la vie telle qu'elle apparaissait à son esprit chercheur, avec une netteté, une clarté de mots qui rappelaient les grands écrivains des 17e et 18e siècles, netteté et clarté telles que, dans son style sobre et exact, il est impossible de remplacer un mot par un autre. C'est qu'il emploie le mot propre, sans ambage comme sans falsification, et ce mot représente toujours une image ou une idée.87 He expresses also the regret that among the young generation of writers at least, "personne ne me paraît encore appelé à le remplacer." Fernand Vandérem of Le Journal speaks at length of what he considers to be the distinctive and dominant traits of Maupassant, his sensuality: "une sensualité extraordinairement sensible et lucide, telle qu'on n'en rencontre, je crois, dans aucun écrivain d'aucune époque." 88 According to him, it was this sensuality which alienated the new generation, the generation of poets, the symbolists, whose nature and temperament are anything but dominantly sensualist. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88.

Lepelletier, A-1893. Tomel, A-1893. Moguez, A-1893. Mallarmé, A-1893. Un Académicien, A-1893. Vandérem, A-1893.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

53

W e also have the testimony of one of Maupassant's feminine admirers, who, under the pseudonym of "Colombine," extols the verity of his feminine characters. Writing in the columns of the same Gil Bias in which the author's name had for years figured so prominently, she declares that of all the writers who profess to be feminists and who attempt to portray womanhood, "nul ne nous a mieux connues ni mieux chéries que l'auteur d'Une Vie et de Notre Coeur." And she continues to applaud the galaxy of women he has left in his work: Quelle galerie de portraits féminins immortels, cette oeuvre de MaupassantI II a pénétré notre âme à toutes, aussi bien l'âme élémentaire des rougeaudes paysannes de Normandie que l'âme sentimentale et perverse de la femme d'employé, de la boutiquière, que l'âme complexe, mobile de la mondaine. Son oeil clair, arrêté sur nous, a saisi nos formes et nos nuances; sa main ferme les a fixées, si ressemblantes qu'à les lire nous ne pouvons nous tenir de crier: "Comme c'est nousl" Ce sont des portraits à la fois réalistes et intellectuels, décelant la vision aiguë du peintre en même temps que sa faculté extraordinaire de diagnostic sentimental. C'est la perfection même.89 In a penetrating article entitled "Les Disparus," appearing in La Nouvelle Revue, Frédéric Loliée laments the loss of a great force in French letters. Commenting with insight upon the various phases of Maupassant's production—his pessimism, his philosophy, his exaltation of nature, his women, his pity—he makes the prophecy that in his superlative language, if nothing else, Maupassant has assured himself a place in the memory of all who read: Maupassant fut certainement un écrivain de la bonne école. Ses mérites de conteur, l'allure nette et rapide de sa narration, son style exempt d'apprêt mais solide, musclé, suffisant à toutes les finesses de la pensée sans cesser d'être correct, en sont le témoignage évident. Ennemi des supercheries d'un style factice, qui, sous le déguisement, la tenue prétentieuse, déguise souvent l'ignorance de la seule expression juste, il sut exprimer jusqu'aux détours les plus fuyants de l'idée, jusqu'aux nuances les plus subtiles de l'analyse et de la description, sans avoir besoin de torturer le vocabulaire ni d'appeler à son aide les archaïsmes condamnés à ne jamais revivre, en épithètes extraordinaires ou la périphrase compliquée. Il avait trempé sa plume dans le courant de cette onde limpide, la pure langue française, que les auteurs maniérés ne purent en aucun temps troubler et corrompre. 89. Colombine, A-1893.

54

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

Claire, logique, nerveuse, sa phrase est celle des maîtres. On peut ne pas aimer l'homme chez le romancier, juger rigoureusement sa philosophie, répudier son esthétique bien exclusive et condamner sa froide misanthropie, son pessimisme désespérant. L e prosateur est hors d'attaque en ses qualités essentielles. Car ces qualités se nomment: force, sobriété, grandeur naturelle et facile de l'image, précision jalouse des termes; et ce sont à celles-là seules que s'attachent, pour un écrivain, les rares chances de survie dans la mémoire des hommes. 90 La Revue Encyclopédique seems to have been the only periodical to utilize the popular enquête plan for judgments on Maupassant, and succeeded in obtaining contributions from nearly ten literary figures. Huysmans confines himself to recollections of Médan days, recalling the consistent good humor of the most obscure among them, the "très sûre affection" of Maupassant, and declares in the most explicit terms that . . . dans le monde des lettres, où les crocs sont sinueux et durs, je ne connais pas un seul des amis de Maupassant qui puisse relever contre lui la moindre méchanceté, la moindre vilenie; il est un des seuls auxquels on puisse rendre cette justice, sincèrement, nettement, sans même recourir à l'indulgent effort d'une amitié qui date. 9 1 Juliette Adam, who had bluntly dismissed Maupassant when he had submitted to her newly-founded La Nouvelle Revue one of his choice poems, "Vénus rustique," now refers to him as a "maître". Ludovic Haltvy considers La Vie errante and Notre Coeur "deux oeuvres absolument supérieures." Anatole France, who had always manifested the greatest sympathy and affection for our author, calls him " u n des princes du conte." Pierre Loti confesses that the author "d'ironiques chefs-d'oeuvre, dont le plus parfait . . . est peut-être La Maison Tellier . . . m'inspire une grande admiration presque mêlée d'antipathie." T h e psychology of Maupassant is much more profound than has heretofore been acknowledged, according to Stanislas Rzewuski. Louis de Cardonnel maintains that Maupassant was so constantly and completely preoccupied with the physical rather than the spiritual that his work is not likely to survive him very long. Whereas the symbolist Adolphe Retté, frankly confessing that it would be difficult for him to give an impartial appraisal of Maupassant's work, makes the following attempt: . . . on peut déclarer volontiers, mais sans enthousiasme, que le 90. I.oliée, A-i8g3, p. 413. 91. La Revue Encyclopédique, A-1893, p. 754.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

55

genre étant admis, M. de Maupassant l'a porté à sa perfection dans Boule de Suif; qu'il a, dans Une Vie, décrit d'une façon remarquable u n caractère de femme; qu'il existe de lui tels chapitres, nocturnes et frémissants, où passe le mystère de la mer et que, malgré un faire [MC] ingrat,—la phrase de Flaubert densifiée—il a su quelquefois évoquer la beauté. 9 2 T h e honor of pronouncing Maupassant's funeral oration had been bestowed upon Emile Zola; with one citation from that address we bring to an end the testimonies of those w h o were inspired to write upon the tragic end of one who, as he himself said, had passed over the literary sky like a meteor. Zola on that occasion gave a comprehensive account of the rise of his one-time disciple, and of the phenomenon, rare in literary history, of the immediate appeal of an author both to the élite and to the lowly: T o u t le génie propre de Maupassant est dans l'explication de ce phénomène. S'il a été dès la première heure, compris et aimé, c'était qu'il apportait à l'âme française, les dons et les qualités qui ont fait le meilleur de la race. O n le comprenait, parce qu'il était la clarté, la simplicité, la mesure et la force. O n l'aimait, parce qu'il avait la bonté rieuse, la satire profonde qui, par un miracle, n'est point méchante, la gaieté brave q u i persiste quand même sous les larmes. Il était de la grande lignée que l'on peut suivre depuis les balbutiements de notre langue jusqu'à nos jours; il avait pour aïeux Rabelais, Montaigne, Molière, L a Fontaine, les forts et les clairs, ceux qui sont la raison et la lumière de notre littérature. 93 T h e fact that in the half dozen years following Maupassant's death there appeared few studies of him has been interpreted to mean that Maupassant's literary destiny shared the fate common in the history of letters, a fate many great names have not escaped: an indifference on the part of both public and critics immediately after a writer's death. O r if he is not thus immediately forgotten, he may be the victim of an excessive critical reaction which may take years to find a true balance. T h e apparent indications notwithstanding, we believe with Marcel Prévost 94 that Maupassant's literary fortune was as exceptional after his death as it had been during his lifetime. In the first place, it is not strange that immediately after his death he should have received scant notice in the various publications of the day. 9*. Ibid., p. 758. 93. Zola, A-1893. 94. Prévost, B-1925, pp. V-VI.

56

Chapter

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

It must be remembered that even in his days of maximum production, according to the testimony of Jules Lemaitre, Maupassant lent himself very little to the bavardage of critics. Little wonder, then, that there should have been a long lull after the numerous notices inspired by his death, notices in which every chronicler had utilized all possible topics of discussion.95 In the second place, we have evidence that if Maupassant did not inspire a great deal of critical discussion, interest in him was nevertheless very much alive: periodicals were disputing for the privilege of publishing his unfinished works, a privilege finally acquired by La Revue de Paris, which in 1894 and the following year published L'Ame étrangère and L'A ngélus respectively. Finally, Maupassant's publisher Ollendorff had already begun preparations for the illustrated edition of his complete works which was to appear between 1899 and 1904. The violent reaction against Naturalism, extending from its leading representative, Zola, down to the "petits naturalistes" among whom Brunetière in his article of 1884 had included our author, was to spare Maupassant, who came to be regarded rather as an independent, as a continuator of a national tradition in prose. Just a year after Maupassant's death René Doumic, in his Ecrivains d'aujourd'hui, devoted a penetrating chapter to our author. This member of the "critique universitaire," academician-to-be and successor as well of Brunetière to the editorship of La Revue des Deux Mondes, can be taken as an example of the sympathy and consideration with which the academic group, otherwise so hostile to anything smacking of Naturalism, treated him. He speaks of his work as containing almost nothing that might be considered mediocre or insignificant; indeed, portions of it seem to him assured to withstand the stings of time." He finds Maupassant most vulnerable when he ventures into the domain of abstract ideas.97 He calls him an artist, "plus qu'aucun autre des écrivains de sa génération," 98 his art having attained its perfection in his nouvelles, where "il n'y a ni de manque ni d'excès, mais rien que justesse, harmonie, équilibre." 99 Finally, in regard to his own time and his own society, 95. According to the testimony of at least one commentator, too, (Vicomte de Colleville, A-1894), politics, anarchy, socialism had left little room for literature. It will be remembered also that 1894 was the year of President Carnot's assassination, and that soon after the Dreyfus Affair was to overshadow practically every activity of French life. 96. Doumic, B-1894, p. 48.

97. Ibid., p. 7». 98. Ibid., p. 84. 99. Ibid., p. g».

Maupassant Criticism in France

57

. . . il a donné de la vie une traduction et de l'art une expression qui, en dépit de différences profondes venues de la différence des temps, s'en vont rejoindre, à travers les siècles, le réalisme des maîtres classiques.100 This was praise indeed from a quarter not given to superfluous gestures; and it was followed the next year (1895) by the highest eulogy from the author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Introduced to Maupassant by Turgenieff, who had urged him to read La Maison Tellier, Tolstoy was, as we have seen, at first dismayed to find such outstanding talent not utilized to better purpose; for Maupassant lacked the essential trait which gives, according to Tolstoy, value to a work of art: the faculty to distinguish between good and evil and to prefer the former. In other words, Maupassant "aimait et dépeignait ce qu'il ne fallait pas aimer et dépeindre, et il n'aimait pas et ne dépeignait pas ce qu'il fallait aimer et dépeindre." 101 And thereafter Tolstoy did not return to Maupassant until he read Une Vie, recommended again by a friend. T h e author of La Maison Tellier now completely redeemed himself in the eyes of the Russian novelist, who then followed his work with undiminished interest. 102 Tolstoy hailed the prose of Maupassant's first novel as unequalled by any French writer, and thereafter encouraged the translation and publication of many of Maupassant's works. What he saw in many of the young author's nouvelles, however, and especially in Sur l'eau, which he considered to be Maupassant's best work, is surprising to any one familiar with the criticism often leveled at our author. For in contrast to the themes that had characterized the Norman's tales before the appearance of Une Vie, Tolstoy sees in what followed that novel a "puissant développement moral"; this is revealed, unwittingly, not only in the dethronement of physical love, but "il apparaît dans toutes les exigences morales de plus en plus hautes dont il demande à la vie la réalisation." 103 Disillusioned and disgusted with the physical love that had apparently left its author cold, Tolstoy sees Maupassant drawn to "l'amour pur, spirituel et divin": Et c'est cet amour-là que cherche Maupassant; c'est vers lui, vers ce libérateur de la vie depuis longtemps dévoilé à tous, qu'il se précipite avec un effort douloureux en s'arrachant des liens dont il se sent entravé. 100. Ibid., p. 96.

101. Tolstoy, B-1896, p. 100. We include this study by a Russian because it was published in France. 102. Cf. letter of Pierre Drieu La Rochelle in Appendix. 103. Tolstoy, B-1896, p. 155.

58

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

11 ne sait pas encore dire le nom de ce qu'il cherche, il ne veut pas prononcer des lèvres seules ce nom, de peur de profaner sa divinité. Mais son effort muet, manifesté par l'horreur de la solitude, est d'une sincérité telle qu'il attire et entraîne avec une force bien plus grande que celle de maints et maints sermons sur l'amour prononcés des lèvres seulement. 104 Maupassant a atteint ce tragique moment de la vie où commença pour lui la lutte entre le mensonge de la vie qui l'entourait et la vérité dont il commençait à avoir conscience. Les premiers symptômes de la renaissance spirituelle se manifestaient déjà en lui. Et ce sont les tourments de cette nouvelle naissance qu'il a exprimés dans ses meilleures oeuvres. . . . 105 T h e following year, in 1896, Emile Faguet challenged this unusual interpretation of Maupassant's work in the most vigorous terms. He deems incredible the Russian's stupefaction and perplexity before an author w h o is satisfied to write only and exclusively of what he sees, an author w h o does not write to prove or disprove a theory. T h i s academic critic also has a predilection for our writer, and describes thus his art: Et voici un romancier réaliste, le plus nettement et précisément réaliste des romanciers, qui n'a voulu et n'a su voir que l'humanité moyenne, province exclusive du réalisme, sans aucune idée générale qui pût se superposer à la réalité et la déformer, sans aucune passion qui pût troubler la vue et faire voir la réalité autre qu'elle n'est, sans aucun souci d'édification ou de satire, sans poursuite d'aucun but moral; un réaliste enfin tellement impersonnel que l'impersonnalité paraissait aller, chez lui, et allait en effet, jusqu'à l'inconscience. L e cas est tellement rare qu'il est peut-être unique et qu'il est merveilleux. 1 0 6 Faguet's article appeared in the June 13 number of La Revue Bleue. Exactly a month later Gustave Chatel contributed a study to the same periodical. H a d the editors wished to remain completely impartial in the debate on Maupassant? A t any rate, this particular contribution was entitled "Maupassant peint par lui-même," and proved conclusively that the author of so many works proclaimed the quintessense of realism had, 104. Ibid., pp. 157-58. 105. Ibid., pp. 167-68. Tolstoy's literary criteria must of course be interpreted in terms of his recent conversion. In line with the moralistic yardstick manifest in his article on Maupassant, in a volume published in 1898, What is AxtT, he ranked Hugo, Dickens and Dostoevsky above Shakespeare and Dante. 106. Faguet, A-i8g6; B - i g o j , p. 212.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

59

in fact, injected a great deal of himself and of his own life into his writings. His youth, his impressions of war, his long period of employment as clerk first at the Navy Department and later at the Ministry of Public Instruction, his career as journalist, as fashionable writer, were all chronologically recorded in his books, as well as the various maladies from which he had suffered. A n d not satisfied with depicting himself alone, he presents to us his family, his relatives and his friends: C'est ainsi qu'il y a toujours dans l'oeuvre de Maupassant quelque chose de vécu, de personnel; mais d'habiles transpositions, la combinaison d'éléments empruntés de côté et d'autre, l'exagération nécessaire pour grossir l'effet, l'impersonnalité de l'écrivain suffisent à dérouter le lecteur. 107 Jules Lemaître calls h i m "si peu moral" in the chapter he devotes to him in Les Contemporains of that year. Once more also the epithet classique is applied: "Maupassant offrait le singulier phénomène d'une sorte de classique primitif survenu à une époque de littérature vieillissante, décrépite et tourmentée." 1 0 8 T h e n the critic gives an account of the change which becomes manifestly visible midway in Maupassant's career, soon after Bel-Ami, when he seems to be moved to pity, when his observation loses some of its steel-like hardness and becomes compassionate. According to Lemaître, the transformation was due to the modification of this primitive's outlook by the moral atmosphere of his time as well - s by the fear of death that began to haunt him, by that fear of the unkno n and by the preoccupation of madness which he saw approaching inevitably day by day. T h e same year appeared that strangely captivating epistolary novel, Amitié amoureuse, in which the anonymous author, 109 long an intimate 107. Chatel, A-1896, p. 4«. 108. Lemaître, B-1896, p. 356. 109. T h e volume was dedicated to Mme Laure de Maupassant, mother of G u y , "en témoignage de ma profonde admiration et de mon tendre respect." Mme de Maupassant had known nothing of the project until she saw the book after its publication. She immediately severed all relations with its author (Cf. Lumbroso, B-1905, p. 337). T h e book has enjoyed tremendous popularity, being at this instant in its 349th edition. A number of works by the same author contain Maupassant material, notably En regardant passer la vie (1903), written in collaboration with Henri Amic, and La Joie d'aimer (1904). In both of these works the author is given as " l ' A u t e u r d'Amitié amoureuse". T h e dedication to Amitié amoureuse was signed H . L . N. Albert Lumbroso spt...V„ .IL. Ù JU> 1..^ „ 0 1 . . L I . A » . L^-CO./u.. ( I U Nouy. Edouard Maynial, on the other hand, refers to her throughout his study (B-1906) as Mme Leconte d u N o u y . In the Conard edition of Maupassant's complete works she is both M m e Lecomte d u Nouy (Pierre et Jean, p. 244) and M m e Leconte de Nouy (Mont-Oriol p. 429). Whereas Maupassant's latest French biographer, René

6o

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

friend of Maupassant, weaves a sentimental tale from the numerous letters she had received from him. Exactly how much of the letters attributed to Maupassant in the person of Philippe de Luzy were actually written by Maupassant himself has never been revealed; but it is to be acknowledged that Philippe is drawn as a most sympathetic, intelligent, and understanding character. Maupassant had been buried in the Montparnasse cemetery, and there he remains to this day, although in 1895 the movement to have his remains transferred to Père Lachaise was recognized by the city of Paris to the point of assigning a plot for him at the latter cemetery. This movement was thwarted by his mother, Mme Laure de Maupassant. Two years later friends and admirers gathered at the fashionable Parc Monceau for the unveiling of his statue. 110 In that connection Le Gaulois published one page of an article by Porto-Riche which had been written in 1885, but which for some reason or other did not see light of day at that time. It is a curious combination of praise and censure, where such assertions as "Guy de Maupassant ne connaît pas l'exaltation" and "pour lui, l'inspiration n'existe pas" rub elbows with the following: Seul ou presque seul parmi nos romanciers, M. Guy de Maupassant me semble avoir produit des chefs-d'oeuvre. Quant à sa forme, je n'en vois pas de plus belle, même en cherchant dans les noms fameux. 1 1 1 The inaugural had taken place on the 24th of October. On the following day the anonymous chronicler of the Catholic journal La Croix lamented the presence of so many literary luminaries, a minister, and the vice-president of the municipal council at the unveiling of a statue at the Parc Monceau "non à un bienfaiteur de l'humanité, mais à un romancier léger, mort fou . . . " 1 1 2 Dumesnil (B-1933) uses the form Leconte du Nouy throughout. Soon after writing to the obliging M. Maynial of our perplexity at so much variation, we saw advertised a four-page holograph letter bv "l'auteur d'Amitié amoureuse" which was listed under LECONTE DE NOUY, and sent for it, thinking to solve the problem once and for all. When it reached us, we discovered the author's unmistakably legible signature to read H. Lecomte du A'ouy (letter of January 27, 1904). Immediately afterward arrived a letter from M. Maynial, including the following paragraph: " J e possède une lettre autographe et signée à moi addressée par l'auteur d'Amitié amoureuse, le 4 novembre 1903. Cette lettre, admirablement écrite, presque calligraphiée, ainsi que la signature, est signée H. Lecomte du Nouy. . . ." 110. Executed by Raoul Verlet, who later collaborated with Louis Bernier on the monument erected in 1900 at Rouen. 1 1 1 . Porto-Riche, A-1897. u s . Anon.. A-1897, La Croix, As in the case of Tolstoy, the standard here is of course solely a moral one.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

61

T w o years later (1899) Gustave Larroumet published in La Revue Bleue the lecture on Maupassant he had delivered in Rouen in March of that year, in connection with the "gala" that had been organized to raise funds for the Maupassant monument in Rouen. 1 1 3 It is a discerning study of the Norman's work and career, singularly free from the hyperbolic eulogies that the Norman audience would have accepted concerning a native son. Larroumet concluded his speech by calling attention to what he considered to be Maupassant's chief merit, the quality of his prose: Romancier ou conteur, il écrit une langue incomparable par le naturel et la précision, par la fraîcheur et l'abondance, par le dédain de toute rhétorique et de toute manière. Il y a chez lui un rapport exact et parfait entre la pensée et l'expression, non seulement par la propriété et la justesse des termes, mais par la probité d'un homme qui, s'il se permet de choisir dans la réalité,—droit sans lequel il n'y a point d'art,—s'interdit d'altérer la vérité. Il ne déclame jamais; il dédaigne toute prétention et toute affectation. Dans un siècle où l'enrichissement de la langue s'est payé fort cher par l'invasion du jargon et de toutes les formes du précieux, par l'abandon de la simplicité et de la sobriété, par la méconnaissance de ses lois et de ses qualités naturelles, Maupassant respecte scrupuleusement le génie de notre idiome; il n'emploie que les mots les plus simples et les plus clairs; il construit ses phrases d'après une syntaxe impeccable. Il écrit comme il compose, avec une vigueur aisée, avec la passion de la clarté. . . . Lui seul, ou à peu près, dans le roman, est resté fidèle aux plus incontestables et aux plus nécessaires de nos qualités nationales. A cette source claire, abondante et froide, nos pouvons rafraîchir nos lèvres, brûlées par tant de liqueurs souvent enivrantes, parfois fébriles. 114 In 1899, Ollendorff, who had published during Maupassant's own lifetime most of his last writings, brought out the first volumes of the first edition of his complete works. It is noteworthy also that publication began with Bel-Ami and La Maison Tellier, and with good reason, the former having been Maupassant's most widely read work, attaining eighty editions before the author's death. T h a t year marks also the appearance of the first posthumous collection of tales, Le Père Milon, to be 113. Beside Gustave Larroumet's lecture, there was a talk by Albert sorel ^B-igoi) and a performance of Maupassant's Histoire du vieux temps by the same artists of the Comédie-Française who had created the roles at the play's introduction to the repertory of the Comédie only ten days previously. 114. Larroumet, A-i89g.

62

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

followed in the next two years by Le Colporteur and Les Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris, respectively. Before we go on, however, to an exposition of the reaction to Maupassant after the turn of the century, we pause a moment for a word in regard to the favor, or rather disfavor, he enjoyed at the hands of the younger generation of writers, a disfavor at once evident in the almost complete silence toward Maupassant and his work in such periodicals as La Revue Indépendante, Le Symbolisme, La Plume, and Le Mercure de France,115 Maupassant's brilliant début in letters with his Boule de Suif coincided almost exactly with the emergence of a movement which exalted the very qualities that were anathema to our author. T h e adherents of Symbolism were in vigorous reaction against Naturalism in general, and in particular against the logical, didactic and technical verse of the Parnassians. They extolled, on the contrary, the mysterious and the unconscious, the vague and the immaterial. It is little wonder the precise, sensual Maupassant exasperated and revolted them. Fernand Vandérem had commented on this incompatibility of temperament: . . . il leur fait l'effet d'un érotomane absurde et bestial, d'une sorte de commis-voyageur lubrique et près du bouc, et nécessairement il les surprend, il les froisse, il les dégoûte. 116 Whereas only a few days previously Léopold Lacour had pointed out that had the Symbolists been more discerning, they would have discovered, in at least some of Maupassant's works, a fellow artist rather than an antagonist: Un névropathe à la Baudelaire, un symboliste—avant l'étiquette— (il a commenté avec amour le fameux vers sur les correspondances des parfums, des couleurs et des sons); tel Maupassant nous apparaît dans Sur l'eau, notamment, confession de sensitif, qui, à mon sens, est son plus beau livre. La jeune école lui est injuste, lui est ingrate. 117 One of their own, Fernand Gregh, epitomized the attitude of the group in regard to Maupassant. He considered "ses conceptions un peu grossières, et son style trop purement plastique. Cela manquait, à mes yeux, de recherche, de subtilité, d'exquisité." 118 In a word, Gregh found Mau115. T h e last mentioned periodical had published in connection with Maupassant's passing the article by Mallarmé (A-1893). 116. Vandérem, A-1893. 117. Lacour, A-1893. 118. Gregh, B-igoi, p. 156.

Maupassant

Criticism in France

63

passant's form "trop saine". This early judgment of Maupassant's work he was later to change radically, however, when, as he confesses, he realized that art should be more than a delightful game, that it should be rather an expression of life. With that conviction, he was to affirm: Peu d'oeuvres sont aussi pleines de vérité, de "l'humble vérité". Peu d'oeuvres ont une telle sincérité d'accent. Nulle tricherie, point de littérature, ou à peine. C'est de la vie,—et de l'art, mais si sobre qu'il se dissimule presque toujours, laissant le lecteur en contact direct avec la réalité qu'il exprime. On ne songe même pas à admirer, tant on est pris. 119 Nor did Maupassant escape the usual play of professional jealousies which is inevitable in the wake of any outstanding success. The venomous entries made by Edmond de Goncourt, for instance, in the widely read Journal,120 have not yet ceased to cast a shadow on the prestige of our author. 121 Maupassant's aversion to "talking literature" was often interpreted as indifference to the work of others, and he was charged with outright snobbery; especially in his latter years, when he was preoccupied with society, all sorts of exaggerated rumors were broadcast to the effect that he acknowledged acquaintance only with members of the aristocracy, etc. If, moreover, Maupassant's conduct in his last days seems to justify some of these incriminations, it must in all justice be borne in mind that at the time the author's mind was in process of disintegration, and the sane Maupassant could not be held to account for those acts. Early in 1900 Le Temps carried a long article by Gaston Deschamps, who, while calling the creator of Boule de Suif and La Maison Tellier a direct descendant of the authors of "fabliaux gaulois," admits that the posthumous collection which had just been published, while interesting, would probably not add much lustre to its author's reputation. Nevertheless, according to Deschamps, readers would find in those tales the same power which had made Maupassant the uncontested master of the short story form: 119. Ibid., p. 157. Among the "poor" studies devoted to Maupassant, Lumbroso (B1905, p. 219, note) cites Gregh's article as "ce qu'il a de plus réussi." We are somewhat perplexed by this categoric denunciation, for the article gives, on the whole, an unusually candid and sincere account of Gregh's early antipathy for Maupassant, and his later sympathy for the man as well as his appreciation of what Maupassant produced. 120. Goncourt, B-1892. 181. Cf. letter of Pierre Frondaie in Appendix. For an account of the relations between Maupassant and Edmond de Goncourt, see beside the Journal, Guerinot's article (A-1928), Maynial (B-1906, pp. 207-208), and Dumesnil (B-1933, pp. 207-208).

64

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

La principale raison de sa maîtrise et la cause première de sa réussite, c'est qu'il conte pour conter, par vocation, par instinct, et que la narration coule de sa fertile veine comme d'une source inépuisable. Il ne dédaigne rien. T o u t ce qu'il rencontre en chemin sert à nourrir la fécondité de sa verve conteuse. . . . 122 T h e same critic calls attention to Maupassant's indifference to ideas, his predilection for the external characteristics of his men and women, a predilection which would be natural to any one believing primarily in the physical and material motivations of human beings. That, too, according to Deschamps, is reminiscent of the summary philosophy of the writers of fabliaux, with an essential difference, however, that whereas those old tales exude an "optimisme souriant," those of Maupassant reveal the "pessimisme découragé" of their author. And the reason? "Cela tient principalement à l'idée trop simple, trop élémentaire que Maupassant se faisait de la femme. Cette idée ne pouvait être qu'une occasion de rancoeur et de désillusion." 123 T h e reading of Le Père Milon and Le Colporteur, on the other hand, inspired in Charles Maurras reflections quite opposed in nature to the general appreciations made of Maupassant. Classic equilibrium? Vigorous style? Mere illusions, according to this critic. Maupassant succeeds in giving the appearance of detachment on the part of the author. At heart, however, insists Maurras, he was as much as Flaubert, if not even more so, "un irrécusable témoin et une victime certaine de la maladie romantique." 124 Convincing proof of it he finds in the hundreds of letters written by Maupassant in the possession of Pol Neveux. But actually he does not need to go beyond the writer's own work. From Boule de Suif, which he considers probably Maupassant's supreme achievement, to many of the hitherto unpublished tales, he would easily draw an unflagging line representing the romantic conception, always present, and at times even apparent. T o Maurras Boule de Suif is "la courtisane sublime," sister of Fantine and Marion. Another reviewer, Rachilde, also called attention to the romantic strain in these tales: ". . . si le Tic paraissait aujourd'hui, signé d'un nom inconnu, je pense que l'on crierait au romantisme et au plagiat d'Edgar Poe." 125 And as if to accentuate the divergence of reactions, Georges Pellissier, in a study of "Le Paysan dans le roman français moderne" which ap122. 123. 124. 125.

Deschamps, A-1900. Ibid. T h i s is in direct contrast with the opinion of "Colombine," supra, p. Maurras, A-1900. Rachilde, A-1900.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

65

peared that same year, makes exactly the contrary assertion in so far as the depiction of peasants at least is concerned: "Chez Guy de Maupassant rien de romantique. Nous voyons en lui le réaliste par excellence, ou même le seul réaliste de nos conteurs." 126 T h e "gala" of March 12, 1899, at which Gaston Larroumet had spoken, led successfully to the big celebration of the following year. Even for the important city that was Rouen, the group that gathered at the Jardin Solférino on Sunday, May 27, for the unveiling of the Maupassant monument was distinguished indeed: José-Maria de Heredia and Albert Sorel of the Académie; Henry Fouquier represented the Société des Gens de Lettres; Louis Bernier of the Institut, architect of the monument, and Raoul Verlet, the sculptor; Pol Neveux, representing the Ministry of Education; Mile Moreno of the Comédie-Française, who was to recite some of the author's verses; Catulle Mendès was there also, along with Jacques Normand, collaborator of Maupassant in Musotte, as well as many other friends and admirers of the author in Paris. 127 T h e principal addresses were delivered by José-Maria de Heredia, Henry Fouquier, and Pol Neveux. Let us see briefly the highlights of their discourses. Heredia emphasized the affiliation between the work of Flaubert and his disciple; Boule de Suif is a masterpiece; Maupassant, who "avait en littérature le sens critique le plus juste et le plus délicat sentiment," had himself judged his collection of poetry: they are not the verses of a poet; in contrast to the Romanticists, contemporary writers chose to depict the average, the ordinary, and "de tous ces explorateurs de régions morales ignorées ou mal connues, nul aussi profondément que Maupassant n'aura scruté ces âmes obscures: la fille et le paysan." 128 Henry Fouquier stressed the classic quality of Maupassant's prose, but insisted that the author was not the impassively objective writer that many saw in him: "Dans cette oeuvre, je trouve et l'émotion et l'idéal." Pol Neveux also defended the memory of the author against accusations of haughty impassibility; even had he started out so, there was progressive decline in his insensibility as he came into closer contact with life, as he lived it himself and understood it better, until he ended by revealing himself a tender, compassionate figure, moved by a purely human rather than religious or mystic charity. T h e following year, i.e., 1901, it was not so much the publication of 126. Pellissier, A-1900, p. 490. 127. For a complete account of the dedicatory exercises as well as the speeches made on that occasion, see Lumbroso, B-1905, pp. 187-227. 128. Heredia's address appeared the following year in Les Annales politiques et littéraires.

66

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

Les Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris that brought Maupassant's name once more to the fore as the very successful presentation of the adaptation by Pierre Berton of a favorite story, Yvette. T h e next year also it was two adaptions, Boule de Suif in May and La Vieille in November, that kept his name before the public. Mme Laure de Maupassant's death early in December of 1903 again occasioned various miscellaneous articles, including, immediately after her death, an inquiry into the possibility of Maupassant children. His mother, who during her lifetime had guarded very jealously any attempts to bring to light obscure points in her son's life, would literally have turned over in her grave had she suspected the extent to which Guy's every move would thereafter be scrutinized. And for many years, in spite of occasional studies that appeared in periodicals, in spite of the monographs issued by admirers, the literary destiny of G u y de Maupassant seemed to be at an enigmatic standstill: few contemporaries referred to his work, fewer still were the young who proclaimd him their master. It is noteworthy, for instance, that in the investigation on contemporary literature conducted in 1905 by Le Cardonnel and Vellay, in which the editors solicited opinions from nearly all living writers, only four mentioned the name of Maupassant—René Boylesve, André Gide, Hugues Rebell, and Henry Bordeaux—and for only two of those did the work of our author seem to have a chance of surviving. René Boylesve spoke of him as "le plus grand nom et le plus original que l'art du roman ait produit avec chance de durée, depuis Flaubert. . . ." 1 2 9 Whereas Hugues Rebell, contending that contemporary novelists were producing novels more interesting than a Gil Bias or a Le Rouge et le noir, cited Maupassant as at least one who held the reader's interest more successfully and whose books were "mieux composés" than those or Balzac's or Dickens', although Rebell believed that on the whole Maupassant is not to be compared with them. Had ten brief years sufficed, then, to obscure a name which had recently been the password for a short story? Hardly. For the silence on the part of the professional world of letters was in sharp contrast to the continued and undiminished interest of the reading public. T h e Ollendorff edition of his complete works had enjoyed such favorable reception that plans were now under way to issue a critical, definitive edition of his works. Moreover, it must be constantly kept in mind that if during Maupassant's own lifetime his novels had occasioned more discussion than his tales, after his death, on the contrary, it was increas129. Le Cardonnel and Vellay, B-1905, p. 27.

Maupassant Criticism in France

67

ingly realized and acknowledged that his superiority lay in the short story form, a form which he had resurrected and brought to perfection. A n d that, it seems to us, is at the basis of the relative silence in which he is thereafter to be held, at least in so far as articulate critical expression is concerned. For, as we have already noted, even at the peak of his career Maupassant's tales imposed a definite restriction to the "bavardage" of critics: they were found to be so complete in themselves, that they precluded extensive discussion. One liked them, or one disliked them, but other than that there was not much more to say. Besides, a great deal of the possible critical material had already been exhausted. In the meantime, Albert Lumbroso had for several years been collecting every possible source of available material on the author he had long admired. This genuine interest and admiration had won over Guy's mother, who communicated a number of his letters. Lumbroso had also been in touch with every person who had been an intimate of the writer, with everyone who might, however remotely, contribute to the understanding of the author, his work, and his life. T h e result was the monumental dossier of documents relating to Maupassant, which appeared in 1905, and which furnished most of the material utilized by subsequent biographers and critics. 130 T h e first in date, and one which has remained the standard biography, was Edouard Maynial's La Vie et l'oeuvre de Guy de Maupassant, published in 1906. 1 3 1 Thereafter, studies and biographies appeared regularly, testifying to the interest of the public in the author of so many matchless stories. T h e same year as the work of Maynial, Louis Thomas published his monograph La Maladie et la mort de Maupassant, a particular phase of the life of Maupassant which has tempted many, specialists as well as amateurs. 133 T h e publication in the same year of both the general study by Maynial as well as the more specialized one by Thomas inspired a vigorous article in the Catholic periodical L'Univers, with an import obvious in its title, " L a Leçon morale de l'oeuvre de Maupassant." Its author, J . Calvet, while admitting that it would be "malaisé" to speak at length of Maupassant in that particular publication, justifies his intention to 130. Lumbroso, B-1905. 131. It seems remarkable that this excellent study, a model of restraint and good taste on the part of a professed admirer of the author, should have been the work of a young man only in his twenties. 132. Thomas, B-1906. 133. T h e first dissertation, for instance, devoted exclusively to Maupassant, was Lacassagne's La Folie de Maupassant, a Toulouse thesis which appeared in 1907.

68

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

do so in an opening paragraph which is significant to our purpose, acknowledging as it does that our author's work was far from being forgotten, previous indications to the contrary notwithstanding: ". . . Il fut un artiste incomparable et le premier après Flaubert, à côté de Flaubert, des romanciers réalistes; nous avons le droit de nous demander pourquoi son oeuvre a marqué et a duré." 134 Then the author continues to elucidate the thesis of his study. He maintains that among the mysterious causes which brought about the death of this writer "des contes réalistes d'une facture impeccable" should certainly be included the moral one: . . . une âme d'artiste, très pure, très haute, très exigeante, assoiffée d'un bonheur relevé et exquis, faite pour l'idéal, est enfoncée, enfermée et prisonnière dans un corps au sang lourd et bouillonnant, avide de jouissances grossières et viles, pour tout dire d'un mot—et j'oserai le dire—dans un corps de brute. Cette association étrange ne pouvait pas être harmonieuse; un jour ou l'autre, un déséquilibre violent devait se produire, et ce déséquilibre, ce fut la folie. 135 Calvet finally draws the inevitable moral of this lesson: Le plaisir ne donne pas le bonheur, il fait sentir l'impossibilité de l'atteindre. La douleur, la vieillesse et la mort gâtent les joies et empoisonnent les jours de l'homme qui ne croit qu'en soi et sent qu'il s'écoule et s'anéantit. De telle sorte que même pour les incrédules qui ont banni le surnaturel de leur esprit, la morale chrétienne qui s'appuie sur la croyance au surnaturel serait encore l'unique source des joies possibles.136 W e cannot refrain from opposing to the above judgment one that was made three years previously by André Chaumeix in an article also significantly entitled "La Sagesse de Maupassant" in which he speaks of him as a "conteur imperturbable, qui ne semblait ni blâmer ni approuver, sans notion du bien ni du mal . . . ce fut une façon de sage." 137 Léon Daudet was also inspired by Maynial's study to speak of the Maupassant whom as a youngster he had seen at his father's home. 138 He believes that the story teller was endowed "d'un magnifique talent," that he was 134. Calvet, A-1906. T h e A b b é Calvet is the author of many textbooks used in Roman-Catholic schools, as well as the general editor of a series of works on the history of French literature. H e is also Dean of the "Faculté Libre" of Paris. 135. Ibid. 136. Ibid. »37. Chaumeix, A-1904. 138. See letter of Léon Daudet in Appendix.

Maupassant Criticism in France

69

un excellent écrivain, sobre, dur, lucide, en certaines pages magistrales, surtout quand il exposait les traits visibles, tangibles d'un caractère ou d'une passion. Il ne fut jamais et à aucun degré un esprit supérieur.139 And he concludes, in the vein of Calvet, that what Maupassant lacked was the "rayon céleste" which would have counteracted the overwhelming pessimism of the man. Maurice Dumoulin of Le Temps is of the opinion that Maupassant's prestige had not diminished after his death: L'oeuvre de Maupassant n'a point connu l'oubli. La gloire lui a épargné cette sorte de purgatoire de dédain qu'elle a imposé à tant d'autres oeuvres, avant de les admettre dans le paradis d'Immortalité. De son vivant, Maupassant fut célèbre et populaire; il le demeura après sa mort sans discontinuité. C'est un rare privilège, dont bien peu ont joui, surtout dans un domaine où la vieillesse vient vite: celui de la nouvelle et du roman.140 In 1908 appeared ten volumes of the magnificent twenty-nine volume Conard edition of Maupassant's works, including, in the first volume (Boule de Suif), the ninety-page introduction by Pol Neveux, one of the most penetrating and discriminating interpretations of the author's life and work. After delineating the background and early work of Maupassant, Pol Neveux explains the reasons for the phenomenal success that characterized his literary career. Maupassant's success was due, in the first place, to the fact that he was a direct lineal descendant of the jongleurs of long ago, the continuator of a tradition that had been sustained by Brantôme and Desperiers, by Voltaire and Grécourt. And the French public, essentially the same public that had been amused by the jongleurs, found in Maupassant a story teller of the old souche, one with whom they felt perfectly and delightfully at ease. C'est que l'ordonnance de ses récits, précise et nette de contours, porte en elle une force singulière, bien faite pour conquérir les cerveaux latins. Rien ne vient interrompre la promptitude de sa vision; pas d'intermédiaire entre le conteur et la nature. L'observation a tracé la route; jamais l'imagination n'en détournera l'écrivain, jamais elle ne l'entraînera, fussent-ils fleuris, dans les sentiers nonchalants de la fantaisie. Confiant dans son instinct, il n'interroge pas de 159. Daudet, A-igo6. 140. Dumoulin, A-igo7.

7°

Chapter

4: Contes

and

Nouvelles

guides: il renonce à l'expérience de ses devanciers et se refuse à leur contrôle. 1 4 1 A d d to that the quality of his style, which is "limpide, exact, franc d'allures et fortement trempé, d'une anatomic bien portante et possédant la souplesse des organismes vivants." 1 4 2 W i t h those traditional virtues of French prose, little wonder indeed that he was called a Classicist at the very beginning of his career. In regard to his temperament and his philosophy, Pol Neveux calls Maupassant "peut-être le pessimiste le plus déterminé de la litérature française," 1 4 3 one who found perhaps his only comfort and joy "dans l'admiration de cette Nature, qu'il faut chérir sans rien espérer de sa cruelle indifférence." 1 4 4 But as the author comes into closer contact with life and with suffering, N e v e u x notices an attenuation of the rigid impassibility that had characterized his work. T h i s change is immediately evident in his novel Mont-Oriol. His sensibility is subordinated in Pierre et Jean, and appears more unmistakably than ever in the works that follow: Quel est le secret de cette évolution? L a lecture de ses oeuvres nous le dévoile suffisamment. L e jongleur a été accueilli dans les châteaux; il a été admis " a u x chambres des dames". Il a renoncé à composer ces fabliaux rapides qui firent sa gloire, pour s'ingénier aux beaux romans d'amour et de mort. 1 4 5 Finally, setting aside all pretense at the impersonality which he felt escaping him in spite of himself, he decides, according to Pol Neveux, to speak in the first person, and does so "dans un soliloque admirable" which is Sur l'eau: Sur l'eau, c'est le livre d u désenchantement moderne, le miroir fidèle du dernier pessimisme. L e journal de bord, décousu et hâtif, mais si noble en son tumulte, a pris place pour jamais à côté de Werther et de René, de Manfred et d'Obermann.14e Soon after the appearance of Pol Neveux' study, Léon Gistucci was to give his lecture in Lyons on the pessimism of Maupassant. 147 T h e 141. Neveux, B-1908, pp. x x x v i i i - x x x i x . R e n é Dumesnil put his work (B-1933) under the aegis of Pol Neveux. 142. Ibid., p. xlviii. 143. Ibid., p. lii.

144. Ibid., p. lviii. 145. Ibid., pp. lxix-lxx. 146. Ibid., p. lxxxv. 147. March 29, 1909. Cf. Gistucci, B-1909.

Maupassant Criticism in France

71

pessimism which is striking in his irréligion, in his attitude toward nature, in his conception of love, in his obsession of death, in his scorn of man, and in his repudiation of science is not unmitigated. Both in the life of Maupassant and in his work Gistucci finds numerous indices which would substantiate his point. He finds them, in the first place, in Maupassant's personal relations with his fellow men: he adored his mother, venerated Flaubert, was indulgent toward a strange father and generous toward an unfortunate brother, beside attracting to himself friends who were to remain faithful to the end. But even more than in the life of the author, which he so jealously guarded from the scrutiny of the curious, Gistucci finds justification for his thesis in the works of the man: Et dans son oeuvre, quelle source de douceur, d'humanité, de pitié I A côté des lâches, des inconscients, des criminels qu'il flétrit—et qu'il plaint—quel groupe émouvant de figures, pour lesquelles il s'intéresse, dont il épouse la misère et les souffrances! Quelle compassion pour les faibles, les humbles, les déshérités: pour la folle, pour l'estropié, l'infirme, la vieille fille et la fille-mère, la servante de ferme, le bureaucrate chétif, l'humble paysan et le petit soldatl Ce n'est plus pitié qu'il faut dire ici, c'est charité. C'est la pure charité qui inspire Maupassant dans son amour de l'être faible par excellence, de l'innocente victime—l'Enfant. Et Maupassant a bien fait parler le coeur des mères, grandes dames ou paysannes. Et il a exprimé toutes les tendresses des vrais amants. 148 Gistucci is of the belief that the origins of Maupassant's pessimism can be traced directly to the malady that finally crushed him; 140 and however much we may regret this misfortune, we must admit, maintains this critic, that it was his pessimism, brought about by the malady, which "a singularisé son génie et finalement servi sa gloire . . . qui a fait son génie plus original et plus près de nous, plus personnel à la fois et plus humain." 150 T h e same year as the above appeared Albert Schinz' article in La Revue des Langues Romanes on the vocabularies of Maupassant and his fellow Norman, Mérimée, a study resulting from the author's preparation of textbooks for use in American schools. His findings are interesting, confirming as they do the general remarks already made on the 148. Gistucci, B-1909, p. 29. 149. T h e long apprenticeship under Flaubert was, of course, a vital factor in his pessimism. Cf. Dumesnil, B-1933, p. Î27. 150. Gistucci, B-1909.

72

Chapter

4'- Contes

and

Nouvelles

nature of Maupassant's vocabulary. T h e comparative study demonstrated, in the case of Mérimée, a "vocabulaire noble," in which the artist "veut qu'on sache qu'il domine son sujet et qu'il juge ses personnages." 161 His conclusion in regard to Maupassant follows: Chez Maupassant le réalisme est bien plus profond, c'est l'artiste qui se laisse absorber par son oeuvre, se contentant de souligner le vrai sans le juger. Ce procédé semble supérieur à celui de Mérimée, qui ne devait tant affirmer dans le texte son détachement, que parce qu'il ne réussissait pas à le réaliser. Mérimée avait aspiré à un art objectif—le romantisme était le réalisme du classicisme; il fallait attendre Maupassant pour réaliser cette aspiration (parlons au moins de la nouvelle);—le romantisme est le classicisme du réalisme moderne. 1 5 2 In 1911 Delagrave published the first general anthology of Maupassant, with selections not only from his tales, but as well from his poetry, theatre, travel journals, and novels. T h e r e have been issued many popular editions of his stories, but as far as we have been able to ascertain, the Delagrave edition has remained the only all-inclusive anthology of our author. 1 5 3 It contains a long preface by F. Bernot that must also be considered among the most judicious analyses of Maupassant's life and work. H e calls attention to "le trait essentiel de la composition dans ces contes," which is "qu'elle est véritablement dramatique." 1 5 4 Bernot states that to the achievement of the dramatic exposition Maupassant brought "la magie du style": Personne n'a su faire tenir en moins de mots l'immensité d'un horizon, le panorama d'une ville comme Rouen, la perspective d'un fleuve, —ni surtout évoquer aussi complètement les sensations diverses que peut provoquer un beau spectacle de la nature. Personne n'a su révéler comme lui par une attitude, un geste, une physionomie la vie secrète d'un être humain. Il a enfin le don de l'image saisissante grâce à laquelle il anime la nature inanimée. Il vous montrera les feuilles d'automne "courant le long d'une allée ainsi que des bêtes rapides"; il vous communiquera sa tendresse pour la surface des lacs, des fleuves et de la mer. Avec cela peu d'artifices de style,—quelques rapprochements de mots: "Le jus ruisselant sur la peau rissolée",—destinés à renforcer une image,—et c'est tout. Naturellement, sans vaine re151. 152. 153. 154.

Schinz, A-1909, p. 531. Ibid. T h i s work was in its sixth edition some twenty years after publication Bernot, B - i g n , p. 26.

(1932).

Maupassant Criticism in France

73

cherche d'écrivain, il trouve, en même temps que le détail caractéristique, l'expression unique qui fait la perfection du style. 155 T h e same year François Tassart, who had served Maupassant from 1883 until his death ten years later, allowed the publication of his Souvenirs stir Maupassant in which the author is depicted as "le meilleur, le plus droit et le plus loyal des hommes." 1 5 9 From 1 9 1 1 to approximately 1922, when a movement was started to erect a memorial for him at Miromesnil to commemorate the seventyfifth anniversary of his birth, there was again a relative lull in the press in regard to Maupassant, with recollections in one form or another predominating. I shall refer briefly to the more significant appraisals. Remy de Gourmont is of the opinion that none of his later works is likely to survive: . . . mais de ses contes on tirera bien un ou deux volumes très bons, l'un des histoires un peu gaillardes, l'autre des récits plus modérés, que l'on se transmettrait éternellement. Mais le moment n'est pas venu. On peut encore lire tout Maupassant. 1 5 7 Abel Hermant is of the belief that Maupassant should be granted "une grande place dans l'histoire des lettres françaises." 1 5 8 After speaking of the Goncourts, Daudet, and Zola, Fortunat Strowski refers to the work of our author in the following terms: A mesure que les années s'écoulent, les romans, et surtout les contes de Maupassant sont plus goûtés et plus admirés. . . . Il y a des chances pour qu'avec ce bagage excellent et que rien n'alourdit, l'auteur de Notre Coeur, de Bel Ami, de Fort comme la mort, et de plusieurs centaines de vivantes "nouvelles", aille beaucoup plus loin, dans la mémoire des hommes, que la plupart des romanciers dont nous avons parlé. 1 8 9 When in 1921 La Revue de Paris published Le Docteur Héraclius Gloss, Emile Henriot of Le Temps, while admitting that its pages were not "dépourvues d'intérêt," expresses what must have been the opinion of most critics, that this early Voltairian effort added nothing to the glory of Maupassant. And in that connection we should like to stress a point which has not been sufficiently emphasized in considerations of «55. Ibid., pp. 28-29. 156. 157. 158. 159.

Gauthiers-Ferrières, A - 1 9 1 1 . Gourmont, B-1912, p. 148. Hermant, B-1912, p. 404. Cf. also his letter in Appendix. Strowski, B-1912, p. 4 1 1 .

74

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

Maupassant's literary destiny after his death. We believe that the posthumous publications—Le Père Milon (1899), Le Colporteur (1900), Les Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris (1901), and the occasional bits that appeared from time to time thereafter, including Le Docteur Héraclius Gloss,—were injurious and detrimental to the author's prestige. Without contesting the justification for their publication, since even the most insignificant efforts of a great writer are of interest to the critic, we believe that these posthumous works contributed no little to the low esteem in which Maupassant is held by some critics and readers. The author is obviously not at his best in these stories which he himself had not admitted into his published volumes. So their appearance, especially at a time when there was a violent reaction, among the young generations at least, against the literature of the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, could not but contribute to the hostility to Maupassant. Add to this the sustained antagonisms of such vital forces as Léon Daudet, for instance, and we have at least a partial explanation for the comparative neglect of Maupassant.160 René Lalou places Maupassant "parmi les grands conteurs français"; 161 notice also the following judgment on the author's reputation expressed by that historian of Naturalism, Pierre Martino: Sa gloire—car c'en fut une tout de suite—n'a fait que grandir. Aujourd'hui, il semble que Maupassant devienne un classique, et au sens le plus exact du mot: un auteur qui pénètre dans les classes, parce qu'il peut être une excellente nourriture pour les intelligences. En Amérique et en Allemagne, des choix de ses contes sont dans les listes de livres scolaires; en France, il a été inscrit sur des programmes d'examen; on l'a vu comme sujet de thèse. Déjà, comme à Flaubert, comme à Balzac, on lui a fait l'hommage d'une édition complète, documentée et définitive. 162 As early as January, 1922, 163 notices in the Paris press began carrying accounts of the projected monument to be erected in 1925 at the Château de Miromesnil. This revived a long-drawn polemic in regard to the birthplace of our author, a polemic which has not yet been concluded to the satisfaction of all, although Miromesnil is generally accepted as his birthplace. At any rate, the period 1922-1928 is the most active since 160. Several literary historians, too, by completely ignoring Maupassant, did him considerable injustice. 161. Lalou, B-ig22, p. 66. 162. Martino, 6-1923, p. 122. 163. Cf. Spalikowski, Á-1922.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

75

Maupassant's death in so far as press notices are concerned, and for once there was no question about the actualité of our author. A n d the appearance during the same period of two editions of his complete works, issued by Flammarion and A l b i n Michel, must have rejoiced all admirers of Maupassant. 164 Marcel Prévost had been invited by Albin Michel to write a preface to their Contes Choisis, Edition pour la Jeunesse. In this introduction Prévost refers to Maupassant's literary destiny as an exceptional one, for, according to him, the place in French letters occupied by Maupassant had been so unique that . . . disparu, cette place lui reste tout entière. Personne après lui ne s'y est pas installé. Il est aussi lu que de son vivant; il l'est peutêtre davantage, si l'on en juge par ce signe brutal du succès d'un conteur: la vente de ses livres. . . . L e seul effet de la mort de l'auteur a été que l'opinion a classé cette oeuvre par catégories: contes, nouvelles, romans, et, continuant de goûter l'ensemble, semble avoir préférér les contes, tout en mettant les nouvelles au-dessus des romans. 168 T h a t indeed is the impression imposed on any one reading the numerous chronicles that were devoted to Maupassant in this period. In them the conteur is emphasized throughout and the novelist generally subordinated, the first inspiring again and again the epithet that has now become proverbial in connection with the stylist-classic: Maupassant possède cette faculté de concentration, cet art de synthèse, cette aptitude de sacrifier le particulier à l'essentiel qui lui permet de rendre frappant tout ce qu'il touche. C'est en cela surtout qu'il est latin. . . . C'est parmi ses contes que l'on doit chercher ses plus belles réussites. C'est là qu'il faut l'admirer, c'est là qu'il rivalise souvent avec le grand fabuliste et avec le dramaturge de Bérénice.16e T h e anonymous author of an article in Les Nouvelles Littéraires accounts as follows for the manifest disregard of contemporary authors in respect to Maupassant: his lack of intellectual interests and his violent denunciation of the "écriture artiste" must have made him many enemies among the esthetes; then, too, his tremendous public vogue must have inspired no little jealousy and resentment in literary circles. T h e critic hopes that the injustice would soon be rectified: En le relisant de bonne foi, sans préventions, on constatera que ce 164. A l b i n Michel utilized the old plates of the Ollendorff edition. 165. Prévost, B-ig25, p. vi. 166. Ségur, A-1925, pp. 289-300.

76

Chapter

4: Contes and

Nouvelles

style si clair, si aisé, est aussi très riche de substance, de couleur et de vie; Maupassant, en quelques pages ou en quelques lignes, directes et spontanées, en dit plus que tel ou tel autre en d'interminables descriptions et en savantes analyses à perte de vue. 167 It was in the summer of 1925, too, that the unexpected toast of the Norwegian novelist Johan Bojer became the sensation of Parisian literary circles. A t an important banquet of the p e n club which he was attending, a conversation with Luc Durtain had inspired him to rise and make a toast to Maupassant, whom he called the greatest contemporary French writer. 168 T h i s distinction, accorded to an author who had been dead for over thirty years, emphasized the extent to which he had been unjustly treated in his own country, and called the attention of many writers once again to Maupassant. In the chorus of praises which is characteristic in the notices of this period one of the dissident voices was that of Léon Daudet, who, writing in L'Action Française, calls him "un médiocre bien doué," and makes the following prediction concerning his tales: Quant à l'avenir des contes du "pauvre Guy", il me paraît assez incertain. La postérité efface et oublie, en général, ce qui n'est pas nécessaire à l'enchaînement, à la courbe littéraire d'une époque, ce qui n'est pas un maillon indispensable. En outre, l'émotion, chez Maupassant, est brusque comme un choc et sans nuances, car il était de nature fort vulgaire. Mais il reste ceci que chez le coiffeur, chez le dentiste, dans les trains, il est de nature à tromper l'attente, par le don de l'intérêt qui est en lui. Enfin, les grammairiens—race falote, mais persistante chez nous—lui sauront gré d'avoir écrit assez correctement et, en tout cas, sobrement. Il a droit à la statue de sable. 169 Another biographer-historian of Maupassant, Lacaze-Duthiers, reiterates the idea that had been strongly expressed by the author's first historian, Edouard Maynial: probably no author put more of himself into his work than did Maupassant: L'oeuvre est bien ici le témoignage d'un homme qui a exprimé, par elle, sa conception du monde, son tempérament, son caractère. Il s'y 167. Anon., A-1925, in Les Nouvelles Littéraires. 168. Cf. letter of L u c Durtain in Appendix (there is an obvious lapse of memory in regard to the date). See also the article in Les Nouvelles Littéraires for July 25, where the incident is reported. 169. Daudet, A-1925. For a similar point of view, see also the article by Sinvast, A-1925. For a possible explanation of Daudet 's attitude, read Frondaie's letter in our Appendix.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

77

est mis tout entier: la beauté de son oeuvre se confond avec la beauté de sa vie. 1 7 0 For him also the novelist must not be completely dissociated from the story teller: "Les romans de Maupassant ne sont qu'une suite de contes reliés par une idée dominante." 1 7 1 But it is in the latter form that we must seek the qualities that make Maupassant preeminent, for he possesses in the highest degree the essential gifts of a story teller: "Nature, simplicité, sobriété, vérité, santé, sincérité." 172 Lacaze-Duthiers also published soon after a study on the critical destiny of Maupassant in which he brought together an impressive array of favorable judgments, pronounced by a variety of sources in France and outside his own country. He regrets that in spite of Maupassant's international reputation, he should be neglected in his own land. A n d he raises a question which needs to be borne in mind: he wonders if all of Maupassant's readers are worthy of him, for he admits regretfully that most of them see in his work only the sensuality, without penetrating into its essence. Others, however, realize that Maupassant did not write exclusively for his "clientèle," . . . mais pour nous contraindre à réfléchir. Les âmes meurtries, les êtres que dégoûtent la bêtise infinie, la banalité de l'existence, l'hypocrisie des hommes sociaux, les amoureux de calme, de solitude, tous les êtres sincères et délicats, ce sont là les vrais lecteurs de Maupassant. 173 And by his high literary ideals . . . Maupassant réalise ce miracle de satisfaire l'élite la plus exigeante et de plaire à la foule, mais celle-ci ni voit que certains côtés de son oeuvre, incapable d'en saisir la portée esthétique. L'anecdote compte seule pour elle. 1 7 4 T h a t the memory and prestige of Maupassant were at last being effectively revived may reasonably be concluded from the number of fulllength volumes now devoted to him. T h e same year as the above study by Lacaze-Duthiers there appeared in France a study by Georges Normandy, as well as two books in Germany. T h a t same year also saw the publication of the first English biographies in those of Sherard and 170. 171. 172. 173. 174.

Lacaze-Duthiers, B-1926, p. 5. Ibid., p. 34. ibid., p. 29. Lacaze-Duthiers, A-1926, p. 248. Ibid., p. 253.

78

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

Boyd, the latter having only recently completed an eighteen-volume edition of Maupassant's stories and novels, 175 which had coincided with the independent publication of a twelve-volume collection in England." 6 This activity continued the following year also with two additional books on Maupassant by Georges Normandy; Jean Terrier issued Le Génie et la maladie chez Guy de Maupassant, while Pierre Borel and an early friend of our author, "Petit Bleu" [Léon Fontaine], collaborated on another work. In 1928 Pierre Borel published a collection of letters addressed by Maupassant to Flaubert, and in 1929 appeared the exposition of Maupassant's malady by Doctors Voivenel and Lagriffe. That same year, in the history of Naturalism by Léon Deffoux, may be read the following general appraisal of our author: Maupassant est aujourd'hui à sa vraie place, comme un grand conteur français, le seul peut-être qui, dans le plus limpide des styles, ait su exprimer le pathétique banal de la vie quotidienne; si son art de conteur empoigne c'est que, dans ses récits, tout est disposé en scènes, en action: c'est l'art objectif par excellence. Il ranima et rajeunit une grande tradition oubliée: l'art de "filer" une nouvelle en deux cents lignes ou en trente pages; il a, de plus, ce mérite sur les vieux "nouvellistes" français qu'il compose mieux qu'eux son récit et que son style est autrement sobre et ferme. Enfin, il a peint l'humanité moyenne, celle qui se méfie, chez elle et chez autrui, des sentiments sortant du train-train ordinaire. Il a surtout décrit exactement les misères, les faiblesses, les sottises de cette humanité sans buts élevés ni grandes passions; et cela, peu de conteurs l'avaient fait avant lui.1" T h e fiftieth anniversary of Les Soirées de Médan was duly commemorated by the publication of a special edition of that collection, with a preface by Léon Hennique, the sole survivor of the original contributors. A complete number of Les Marges also was at that time devoted to Naturalism and Les Soirées; and the importance of the year 1880 as a date in literary history was emphasized in 1933 by the publication in the series "Les Grands Evénements Littéraires" of René Dumesnil's La Publication des Soirées de Médan. T h e author of this last work thereafter established himself as the most active of contemporary historians of Maupassant's work by publishing his study of Maupassant in 1933 and by 175. New York, A. A. Knopf, 1926. 176. London, Lowrie, 1926. 177. Deffoux, B-iga8, pp. 78-79.

Maupassant Criticism in France

79

editing the following year the first volumes of the critical fifteen-volume Oeuvres Complètes Illustrées de Guy de Maupassant issued by the Librairie de France and the concluding volume of which was issued in 1938. In bringing this survey of Maupassant's destiny as a story teller so near our own day, we can do no better than to quote from René Dumesnil's own preface to this most recent edition of Maupassant's complete works: L'oeuvre de Maupassant, dans sa diversité si humaine, dans sa simplicité si probe, reste un deces exemples valables en tous lieux et pour toutes les générations. 178 T H E INVESTIGATOR of Maupassant's critical destiny in France is immediately struck by the relatively few press notices which the volumes of tales occasioned during the lifetime of the author. Les Soirées de Médan, in which Boule de Suif first appeared, inspired a great deal of comment primarily because it was regarded as a militant manifestation of the growing strength of Naturalism. It must be remembered, too, that its short preface was designed to be provocative. Maupassant's contribution to the collection was universally hailed as a masterpiece of the nouvelle form, and its young author unstintingly acclaimed. But thereafter, as volume after volume by the same writer made its appearance, few indeed are the notices in newspapers or periodicals. A striking case in point is the three-year period 1884-1886, when Maupassant published no fewer than nine collections of his stories, and yet they passed practically without mention in the reviewers' columns. There were two reasons for this relative silence in regard to Maupassant's short stories. In the first place, that particular literary form had never been considered as important as the novel, the drama, or collections of poetry; and since as early as 1883 Maupassant began to publish novels as well, his longer works naturally eclipsing the shorter, they inspired more reviews. The other reason for the apparent neglect was more subtle, and was first expressed by Jules Lemaître: most of these shorter pieces were so perfect and complete in themselves that they provided critics very little to talk about—one either liked them or disliked them, but in either case they furnished little material for the usual preoccupations of the busy critic.

Nevertheless, at one time or another during Maupassant's years of productivity his tales were considered by nearly every critic of the day, and it is to his credit that a minor literary form should have inspired extensive discussion by such figures as Brunetière, France, Sarcey, and 178. Dumesnil, B-1934, p. xxvi.

8o

Chapter 4: Contes and

Nouvelles

Lemaitre. The case of Brunetiere is especially revealing of the way Maupassant eventually won over to his side even some who had been violently opposed to him at the outset of his career. Brunetiere, as editor of that most conservative periodical, La Revue des Deux Mondes, kept a reserved silence in regard to Maupassant until 1884, and then spoke of him in an article significantly entitled "Les Petits Naturalistes." Subsequent reviews were progressively more favorable, however, until in 1890 Maupassant was actually contributing to his periodical. From the first his prose inspired the most lavish praise, even from those who found him in other respects almost unbearably, while violent objections were made to his bitter pessimism and to the themes he chose to develop. Maupassant's persistent answer to these criticisms was that an author has complete freedom to seek his material wherever he may please, and that the critic's yardstick should merely judge to what extent the author has succeeded in attaining a particular objective. Whereas in his own lifetime his novels had attracted more notice than the shorter pieces, at his death and after the tales imposed themselves both by their numbers and by their general superiority. In the scores of articles inspired by his death, for example, rare indeed are the references to his novels, and that has continued to be the case to this day. Although the studies devoted to Maupassant since 1893 cannot be considered extensive, their number is surprisingly large considering the nature of his work. Immediately after his death there was for some years a relative silence which was natural after the numerous articles occasioned by his passing. But that silence on the part of critics was offset by the activity of publishers, who vied with one another in issuing editions of his works. The seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth in 1925 occasioned even more articles than had his death some thirty years before; and if critics do not often refer to him to-day, it is not because his work is unread—rather might it be said that whereas there are authors who are more frequently talked about than actually read, Maupassant is one of those who are more often read than discussed.

5 NOVELS T H O S E W H O HAD K N O W N the early writing days of Maupassant wondered, after the appearance of Boule de Suif and his decision to devote his energies exclusively to writing, how he would adapt himself to the merciless demands of journalistic literature. It was one thing, of course, to compose at one's leisure a few successful poems and tales, and quite another actually to meet a specified minimum every day. T h e answer had been an incredible one: the one-time plodding, lumbering amateur seemed miraculously to be transformed into a master, and the apparently inexhaustible muscular energy that had hitherto been expended in rowing jousts was now translated into literary activity, with results that astonished even the few who might have suspected the extent of the young mail's ability. Not only did he contribute regularly to the press, but at the end of a year Victor Havard was issuing a collection which contained only two previously published stories, all of them masterpieces of their kind. And the appearance of another volume the following year left no doubt either as to Maupassant's talent or to his fertility. But precisely because there was no longer any question of his genius, the conservative press censured him for misuse of a gift worthy of a more serious outlet than the one he had selected. We have already noted the vigorous and vehement expression Sarcey and Wolff gave to this point, 1 both of them strongly urging the author to abandon the vulgar themes of his robust tales and to direct his energies to more acceptable channels. Jules Lemaître, too, was later to call attention to the fact that however superlative the works of Maupassant might be, that author could not aspire to perfection in a literary form which he considered to be inherently imperfect. 2 It cannot be said that Maupassant was altogether converted by these arguments, although his answer to Wolff at least may not sound very convincing. 3 In any case, he had already been working on a novel which appeared first in Le Gil Bias early in 1883 (February 25 to April 6) and was published by Havard a few days after the last instalment. Une Vie, with its significant subtitle L'Humble Vérité, was an immediate success, attaining twenty-five editions by the end of the year. 1. Supra, pp. 27-29. 2. Supra, p. 37. 3. Supra, p. 29.

82

Chapter y. Novels

Paul Alexis, friend and fellow Médaniste, was one of the first to hail this first sustained work of the story teller and to point out that it epitomized the literary ideals of its author. T h e theme: life itself, life in general clearly and unmistakably reflected in that of one individual. Montaigne had seen and studied mankind in himself: Maupassant was portraying life as he saw and understood it in that of Jeanne. But it is more than an effective symbol, Alexis believes, for it is fashioned in reality: "toutes les femmes croiront plus ou moins avoir été Jeanne, retrouveront leurs propres émotions. . . ." 4 T o anyone who has followed Maupassant's career, all the familiar qualities of that robust story teller will be discovered in this novel, summarized and accentuated as in no other of his works: "Exubérance de santé, style chaud, phrase musclée et d'aplomb, attaches solides d'athlète, j'ai retrouvé tout Guy de Maupassant." 8 Others saw in this first novel even more than the sympathetic Alexis. Although it is still found to be in the tone so dear to the Naturalists, Maxime Gaucher, for ins'ance, perceives a ray of hope; Maupassant may yet extricate himself from the disagreeable and ill-smelling mud flats of his colleagues. Une Vie is not recommended for family reading; but there are pages—and Gaucher considers them the best by far—which a mother may safely allow her daughter to read: Ce qui nous charme . . . et nous charme pleinement dans son oeuvre, ce sont les pages dont la mère permettrait la lecture à sa fille. Que de jolies toiles de genre, que de petits tableaux ravissants, que de portraits d'une touche spirituelle et légère! . . . Nous montons donc cette fois vers des régions moins malsaines; héros et héroïnes sont présentables. 0 T h e same sentiment is voiced a few days later by Philippe Gille in his notice of Le Figaro;7 but whereas that critic congratulates the author of Une Vie for abandoning at last the naturalistic formula of Zola, the anonymous reviewer for Le Temps of May 13, while reviewing the notable classic qualities of prose that distinguish the work of Maupassant, expresses the view that Une Vie again falls short of attaining the heights to which his talents had given promise. Whatever unmistakable qualities may be manifest in this novel, the critic believes Maupassant to be superior to it. Why, for example, make the portrait of an 4. Alexis, A-1883. 5. Ibid. 6. Gaucher, A-1883. 7. Gille, A-1883.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

83

ostensibly typical life such a violently gloomy one? And he reminds the author that it was precisely that sort of systematic pessimism which prevented Flaubert from revitalizing his work, the same malady which undermines the psychological verity of Zola's creations. T h e refusal on the part of the publishers Hachette to include Une Vie in their collection of railroad literature had apparently occasioned considerable criticism. 8 Firmin Boissin approves the decision of the publishers in an article appearing in Le Polybiblion. This Catholic finds sufficient justification for the action in the presentation of one episode alone, that in which the abbé Tolbiac savagely kicks to death a helpless dog which had just given birth to a litter. This type of "distortion" the critic holds to be dangerous, the more so since its author is remarkably talented, and since numerous parts of the work provide admirable reading. But the reading of the book as a whole produces . . . l'impression désolante et désolée que produirait un chapitre de Schopenhauer ou de Léopardi, chantant le désespoir en prêchant l'anéantissement. Du pessimisme et du plus affreux mis au roman. O n n'en peut louer que le style, qui est vraiment d'un maître. Pourquoi faut-il que l'écrivain à qui Dieu a donné une si belle intelligence en fasse un si déplorable usage?9 In the well known study significantly entitled "Les Petits Naturalistes" which appeared in La Revue des Deux Mondes about a year after the publication of Une Vie, Brunetière, arch enemy of Zola and his adherents, allows himself a few kind words in regard to Maupassant. While attributing to our author the various shortcomings inherent in the school to which he assigns him, he detects in his work qualities rare in his colleagues, such as sensitiveness, for instance, as well as sympathy and emotion. His style, too, according to Brunetière, is more simple, more natural, more straightforward and direct; and his pessimism impresses one as being less literary, less affected, and consequently genuinely painful. Une Vie, for example, is in parts almost remarkable; and the critic generously confesses that wishing to reread it for purposes of review, he had done it with not the slightest displeasure. Although not a judiciously balanced book, it is held together by the sheer power of its three or four primary episodes, and from the work as a whole there 8. ". . . on se souvient encore du bruit qui accompagna la publication d ' U n e Vie, en 1883. L e refus de mise en vente de ce roman par la bibliothèque des chemins de fer amena une discussion à la Chambre, et cette réclame inattendue accéléra le tirage qui monta bientôt à 40 éditions de 500 exemplaires. . . ." (Tomel, A-1893). g. Boissin, A-1884.

84

Chapter

5:

Novels

emanates definite strength. Even this praise is given stintingly, however, Brunetière confessing he is afraid further eulogy might be interpreted as a recommendation to the reader to see for himself. As we have noted, he too, like Lemaitre, was to make amende honorable for these early reservations. 10 We have previously spoken of the little known but important study devoted to Maupassant by Count Stanislas Rzewuski in his Etudes littéraires.11 He considers Une Vie a direct answer to the charge that its author is capable only of short, sketchy creations. Here, too, the author has remained faithful to the injunctions of the master of Croisset in spite of many opportunities for romantic expansion; the same economy of means prevails which characterized his earlier work: L'auteur a le don de peindre, en quelques mots, l'homme tout entier; de jeter, par quelques faits de détail, une lumière sur toute sa personne morale; il joint le talent de l'observation à un non moindre talent d'exécution. 12 Jeanne, central figure of this epic account, represents to the critic not only a life, but life itself; and the creation of a type is no small merit for a novelist. In the hands of a writer of ordinary talent this type would have become a mere abstraction, devoid of interest; that we have, instead, a living figure is eloquent testimony of the subtly profound psychological insight of the author: Chacune des actions de l'héroïne est une véritable révélation psychologique, un phénomène mental logiquement motivé, et il nous fait admirer l'art du penseur qui ne trouble jamais d'une note fausse la splendeur de cette peinture de la vie d'une femme. . . . 13 Rzewuski believes, however, that Maupassant forces the issue at least in one episode, that in which he has Jeanne discovering the letters which reveal her mother's one-time infidelity. T o the critic this is an invention . . . qui révolte les plus délicats sentiments de l'homme, ses plus chères conceptions éthiques, qui provoque la révolte de la pudeur même plus encore que les épisodes érotiques que renferme incontestablement le volume. . . . 14 Dans cette scène seulement on sent 10. Brunetière, A-1884. 1 1 . Rzewuski, B-1888. T h a t at least part of this study had appeared in 1883 1 8 quite certain from the text (p. 232), but we have not been able to ascertain its original f o r m of publication.

12. Ibid., p. 204. 13. Ibid., p. 227. 14. Ibid., p. 234.

Maupassant Criticism in France

85

comme un accord faux: et c'est parce que l'auteur a oublié un moment son calme objectif, son sang-froid, pour céder au désir d'éclairer plus vivement les tendances de son livre: tandis que ces tendances vraies et justes, n'avaient pas besoin d'une falsification ou même d'une exagération des faits: elles se témoignaient parfaitement par le seul exposé des drames de la vie, de la nue réalité. La profonde justesse morale des desseins de l'auteur lui a permis de ne pas diminuer l'objectivité de son oeuvre et de ne point sacrifier ses vues subjectives. . . , 15 T h e reaction of this critic toward the fanatic young curé who had revolted the sensibilities of Firmin Boissin is also negative: Si j'appelle cette figure manquée, ce n'est pas qu'elle blesse ma façon personnelle de voir le clergé. . . . Le critique doit demander seulement que les figures qu'on lui offre satisfassent aux exigences de la vérité et de l'esthétique littéraire; et la figure de l'abbé Tolbiac, d'après moi, n'y parvient en aucune façon. . . . ] S Otherwise Rzewuski sees in this novel the work not only of a talented writer but of a ranking psychologist, one in whom is to be found the rare combination of a keen perception of things visible and invisible working hand in hand with remarkable powers of expression: Que le lecteur lui-même . . . lise le chapitre des adieux de Jeannine à . . . tout le petit monde où elle a passé son existence étroite, et je puis lui garantir qu'il lira quelques-unes des plus belles, des plus humaines, des plus véridiques pages de la littérature universelle. On a écrit des études psychologiques aussi profondes; personne n'en a créé de plus belles. 17 And however depressing the account of Jeanne's life may appear at first sight, the work is really of considerable ethical elevation; for what, after all, is its conclusion? For Rzewuski, it is the realization on the part of the long-suffering Jeanne that perhaps she has not been defeated, that there is promise in the continuity of life which her youngster offers. And for the reviewer that is of the utmost significance, not only in the evolution of Maupassant himself, but in the evolution of contemporary letters. Naturalism has made a definite step forward in this liberation from the unmitigated pessimism of Zola and his imitators. While still a pessimist, Maupassant yet reveals in his work a deep-felt love and a sincere sympathy for a humanity which he considers weak and bad, but

15. Ibid., p. 238. 16. Ibid., p. 243.

17. Ibid., p. 255.

86

Chapter 5:

Novels

which he finds at the same time so miserable in a civilization which is incomplete and a nature which is indifferent. With this compassion, then, the author of Une Vie reestablishes the equilibrium which had been destroyed by the Naturalists. 18 On January 16, 1885, appeared the collection of tales Toine; two months later, on March 14, appeared another collection, Contes du jour et de la nuit. This was feverish activity indeed, since the previous year had witnessed the publication of three volumes of short stories as well as Au soleil, first of the travel chronicles, beside the important study on Flaubert which served as preface to the Lettres de Gustave Flaubert à George Sand. So in April, in company with the artist friend Henri Gerveix, Guy set out on an extended trip which was to take him to Italy and Sicily. But before leaving for this much needed relaxation, he had left in his publisher's hands the manuscript of his longest novel. Bel-Ami was issued on the 15th of May under the Havard imprint and immediately became the center of all literary discussions. The fellow was truly amazing: tenth volume in three years, not to mention the considerable journalistic work which did not appear in book form. We have the impression that the stubborn Brunetière is beginning to show signs of weakening before the steady attacks of the Norman story teller. Although the editor of La Revue des Deux Mondes still deplores the influence of Flaubert on the author of Bel-Ami, although he seems to cringe before two or three daring figures of speech created by Maupassant, he readily conceded that not only is this latest work the most impressive of Maupassant's efforts, but he adds that it is the most remarkable produced by the entire naturalistic movement. Both Germinal and Sapho have obvious defects when considered in the light of the naturalistic formula, the first being too poetic, even epic, the second unduly sentimental: . . . Rarement la main d'un artiste a moins déformé ce que percevait son oeil. Tout est ici d'une fidélité, d'une clarté, d'une netteté d'exécution singulière. M. de Maupassant ne voit pas loin, ni bien profondément, mais il voit juste, et ce qu'il voit, il sait le faire voir. 19 18. It is surprising to find that none of these critics noticed what has since been pointed out frequently: that in this first novel Maupassant utilized several tales which had previously appeared in Le Gaulois or Le Gil Bias. T h e following stories were used either textually or nearly so in various episodes of the novel: Par un soir de printemps (Gaulois, May 7, 1881): Le Saut du berger (Gil Bias, March 9, 1882); La Veillée (Gil Bias, J u n e 7, 1882). 19. Brunetière, A-1885, p. 215.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

87

Brunetière's study, entitled "Le Pessimisme dans le roman," considers as well Bourget's Cruelle Enigme, in which the critic finds the analyses of motivation studied to excess, and prefers Maupassant's method; for if the latter can be accused of not dealing sufficiently with the inner motivations of his characters, it may well be said in his defense that he really does not need to interpret the actions of his men and women. As Maupassant apparently believes, there are gestures so obvious that all commentary not only would be superfluous but would actually obscure the intention of the author. According to the critic, Maupassant may be accused of depicting individuals whose psychology is all too summary; but it must be allowed that he presents his characters "d'un trait si sûr, qu'avec la ressemblance physique, il nous en donne aussi la ressemblance intellectuelle." 20 But this sort of characterization is fundamentally inadequate, for his men and women represent only and uniquely themselves, whereas, strictly speaking, a novel should be composed to the extent of emanating that general verity without which there can be no art. In regard to the nature of Maupassant's pessimism, also, Brunetière has a few judicious remarks to make. Life is bad, it is true; but more than that, it is mediocre, and man is "plat." Notwithstanding, both life and man would be tolerable if only death were not staring at one at all moments. T h a t , according to Brunetière, is at the heart of Maupassant's pessimism, as well as of that of his fellow Naturalists. Since we must ultimately die like animals, the only difference between man and animal is the greater capacity of the former to suffer. Maxime Gaucher, writing in La Revue Bleue, complains that BelAmi has no conclusion, adding sarcastically that the Naturalists are proclaiming "nous avons changé tout cela"! Conclusion or no, the reviewer urges his readers to become acquainted with the work, however repulsive they may find it, for the truth should prevail, distasteful though it may at times be. For Gaucher, moreover, Maupassant is not "un réaliste p u r " but a Realist who selects: Il n'est pas de ceux qui versent pêle-mêle en un tas peu odorant tous les documents humains; il fait un triage, lui, l'aristocrate. Et il ne rejette pas seulement ceux qui sont malpropres, mais ceux qui tiendraient une place inutile ou feraient double emploi. Le gros mot ou le mot gras n'ont pas pour lui un attrait particulier, le détail répugnant un charme spécial. Faut-il absolument un de ces mots et un de ces détails pour jeter une note qui concourt à l'effet général, il l'articule vite et non pas en gourmand qui s'en délecte et en a plein

88

Chapter

5:

Novels

la bouche. En vérité, je vous le dis, c'est un aristocrate, un réaliste en gants paille. C'est un artiste! et fin, et délicat, et distingué! Aussi, comme on dit parmi ces dames qui ne résistent pas à Bel-Ami, j'ai un béguin pour lui. Et la preuve, c'est que le sujet de son récit me froisse, que l'intérêt dramatique de ce roman, qui ne finit même pas, me semble nul ou à peu près, et que cependant, une fois ce livre bleu entre les mains, je ne l'ai pas lâché, mais l'ai lu tout d'une haleine, non pas le dévorant, mais le savourant. Que voulez-vous? Cela est à la fois irritant et exquis. 20 Lafcadio Hearn erroneously attributed 2 1 to Jules Lemaître the judgment of Sarcey that he knew of no book at once so fascinating and so sickening. But what the aging critic more particularly reproaches Maupassant with is that having chosen to give his hero Georges Duroy a journalistic setting, he should not have reproduced with more fidelity a milieu with which he himself was so familiar. T o him nothing could be more false than the overthrow of a cabinet by that upstart and ignoramus of a journalist Duroy. A n d while the novel contains many pages "qui sont d'une vérité et d'une profondeur étonnantes," such, for instance, as those devoted to Mme Walter, he is on the whole dissatisfied with the work, which has no conclusion! As in many another work of the Naturalists, spicy and salacious bits abound, but Sarcey renders Maupassant the just credit that even "dans les passages les plus vifs, dans les peintures les plus lascives, il respecte sa plume; il ne tombe jamais à l'abjection du style purement naturaliste, il illumine l'ordure d'un rayon de poésie." 22 T h e reproach of outright exaggeration and distortion of contemporary journalism is made by another critic, Firmin Boissin, who two years before had taken our author to task in connection with Une Vie. BelAmi is false from beginning to end; if any conclusion is to be drawn from such a picture as the author presents, it must be that he knows only the very scum of present day journalists. N o one will deny the place Maupassant has won for himself among the masters of French prose. It is the more pity, then, that he should make such unworthy use of his talents, for Bel-Ami is more than Naturalism, "c'est de l'obscénité voulue, c'est de la pornographie." 2 3 20. Gaucher, A-1885. 21. Hearn, A-1885. 22. Sarcey, A-1885, P- 853. Maupassant defended himself against the charges of distortion and falsification of the world of journalism in an article which appeared in the June 7 number of Gil Bias [Bel-Ami, Edition Conard, B-1908, pp. 576-81]. 23. Boissin, B-1885, p. 291.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

89

Bel-Ami was an immediate sensation. Critics deplored the fact that Maupassant's exceptional talent should preoccupy itself with subjects unworthy of it; but the general reading public seemed little concerned with such academic questions and exhausted edition after edition as soon as they were issued. It reached its thirty-seventh printing within three months, 24 and Maupassant, whose interest in the sales of his works only increased with the years, had good reason to rejoice over his choice of that enterprising publisher, Victor Havard. Soon after his return from the sojourn in Italy and Sicily, Maupassant spent a while in Auvergne, and it was then that he began work on Mont-Oriol. In August of that year he was writing his mother: Je ne fais rien que préparer tranquillement mon roman . . . Ce sera une histoire assez courte et très simple dans ce grand paysage calme. Cela ne ressemblera guère à Bel-Ami.25 A n d in March of the following year, in a letter to his intimate friend, Mme Lecomte du Nouy, there is an indication that perhaps our author was not altogether insensitive to the imperious demands of the critics who urged him to extricate himself from the "bas-fonds" and devote himself to a theme which would meet a more welcome response from sections of the reading public who had not as yet been won over to his work. It was not without some difficulty, however, that he tried to yield to this demand for a more poetic love than he had hitherto depicted: Je fais une histoire de passion très exaltée, très ardente et très poétique . . . Les chapitres de passion sont beaucoup plus raturés que les autres. Enfin ça vient tout de même. O n se plie à tout, avec de la patience; mais je ris souvent des idées sentimentales, très sentimentales et tendres que je trouve, en cherchant bien! J'ai peur que ça ne me convertisse au genre amoureux, pas seulement dans les livres, mais aussi dans la vie. Quand l'esprit prend un pli, il le garde; et vraiment il m'arrive quelquefois, en me promenant sur le cap d'Antibes,—un cap solitaire comme une lande de Bretagne,—en préparant un chapitre au clair de lune, de m'imaginer que ces histoires ne sont pas si bêtes qu'on le croirait. 26 24. Lumbroso, B-1905, p. 421. Maupassant was at first dissatisfied with the sales of Bel-Ami, complaining that in July it had attained only its 27th printing. In a letter to his mother he writes: " L a mort de Victor H u g o lui a porté un coup terrible." [Bel-Ami, Edition Conard, B-1908, p. 594]. 25. Mont-Oriol, Conard Edition, B-1908, p. 42g. 26. Ibid., pp. 429-30.

9o

Chapter

y.

Novels

We have seen that Albert Wolff, who had been so vitriolic against Maupassant and his fellow Médanistes at the time of the Soirées, was to make amends for his early animosity toward our author. So now he was one of the first to hail the appearance of Mont-Oriol. His little note in Le Figaro is significant of the way Maupassant gradually won over to his side many of those who at the beginning of his career had spoken disparagingly of his work, if they had not ignored it completely: Aucun de nos jeunes romanciers de valeur ne m'a donné,—au même degré que Maupassant, la double sensation de la comédie et de la tragédie humaines . . . Il a ce double don, si rare chez un écrivain, d'attendrir le lecteur et de l'égayer, de le distraire et de le pousser à la méditation . . . Cette note attendrie, sans déclamation, venant après tant de pages où pétille l'esprit d'observation, clôt le livre sur une sensation durable. 27 A few days later, in his column of La Revue Bleue, Maxime Gaucher praises the "plume magique" which seems to animate and transform everything it touches, to the extent of inspiring the reader with deep regret when he reaches the last page and the word Fin. What especially impresses this reviewer is the classic clarity of the work; all characters and all scenes are so precisely drawn that nothing would be easier than to create, once the novel is completely read, a life-like portrait of every person the author has introduced. But with the author's permission, Gaucher would make one suggestion: that Maupassant "cherchât maintenant ses modèles dans des régions un peu plus distinguées . . . Il y a de l'art plus difficile. C'est cet art plus difficile et plus délicat qui l'appelle." 28 It is André Hallays, however, who first notices the almost imperceptible but important change of tone which this novel announces in the work of Maupassant. Writing in Le Journal des Débats of February 27, he points out that although all the qualities which had been noted in Boule de Suif—"son style vigoureux et clair, la puissante sobriété de ses descriptions, l'amertume de ses bouffonneries et le tragique de ses farces"—are to be found in Mont-Oriol, what strikes him even more is the presence of traits which had been conspicuously lacking in the previous production of Maupassant, traits which single it out as unique and which, therefore, deserve particular emphasis in a study of its author: 27. W o l f f , A-1887. 28. Gaucher, A-1887.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

91

L'observation, sans rien perdre de sa précision et de sa vigueur, est ici moins brutale, le style moins tendu, le récit plus alerte. Cà et là, des remarques presque féminines, de la grâce, de l'abandon, même de la gentillesse. L'ironie qui est au fond du conte est voilée d'une légère mélancolie. Les niaiseries sentimentales de l'amour en sont plus impitoyablement bafouées. Enfin,—et ceci est bien remarquable, —par delà la scène où se meuvent les personnages, apparaissent brusquement des lointains imprévus et des lueurs d'idées générales. 29 Raoul Frary of La Nouvelle Revue writes of the striking contrast between the author of Mont-Oriol and Paul Bourget, the first attaining his goal in the least number of strokes, whereas the latter insists on analysing every nuance and subtlety of action and emotion. Maupassant, although beginning his career under the aegis of Zola, has never imprisoned himself within the bounds of any school or formula. T h e influence that is most often discernible in his work, unfortunately, is that of Flaubert, whose violent hate of the bourgeoisie and of all bourgeois characteristics he seems to have inherited: M. de Maupassant semble être entré dans la vie avec une puissance de mépris que cinquante ans d'expérience justifieraient à peine. O n n'a jamais possédé à un plus haut degré la faculté d'apercevoir du premier coup d'oeil le laid, le ridicule et l'odieux. C'est chose incroyable que la multitude de pleutres, de faquins et de grotesques dont il a déjà accroché le portrait ou la caricature dans sa galerie. . . -30 But in this latest creation of Maupassant, there is a reminder of the fact that he is the author as well of a collection of poems. Perhaps the poet in him is not altogether dead, for . . . il semble quand on lit certaines pages de la première moitié du roman, qu'on ait affaire à un Maupassant transformé, guéri de sa misanthropie par quelques bonnes promenades dans les montagnes. 31 Brunetière also rejoices in this transformation. Mont-Oriol indicates that while its author remains a pessimist, the harsh misanthropy that has so far characterized him has at least been considerably mitigated, that "son pessimisme a souri": 3 2 ...

la scène finale est vraiment belle et d'une beauté noble. Ce

29. Hallays, A-1887. 30. Frary, A-1887. 51. Ibid. 32. Brunetière. A-I887, p. 211.

Chapter

92

y.

Novels

genre de scènes et l'émotion qu'elles provoquent,—dont on est assez sûr avec M. de Maupassant qu'elle ne tournera jamais au sentimentalisme,—voilà ce qui manquait encore à ses romans, et voilà ce que nous sommes heureux de signaler dans Mont-Oriol.33 Rejoicing over this new note in Maupassant's work, Brunetière at the same time feels constrained to point out another novelty of this work which he regrets and about which he seriously warns its author: he deplores certain negligences which are surprising in the observer and artist that Maupassant has proved himself to be. In the first place, although the plan of the novel is judiciously conceived, the whole was apparently realized too rapidly, or at least in a somewhat summary fashion, with the result that some of the personages show it. T h e doctors, for instance, appear to Brunetière to be exaggerations, caricatures; Paul Brétigny, the hero, impresses the critic as a misplaced romantic in the realistic world in which Maupassant sets him. T h e reviewer for the Polybiblion, Firmin Boissin, continues to lament the materialistic, nihilistic pessimism of Maupassant, while granting that the author of Montoriol (spelled thus throughout the notice) again gives evidence of qualities of the first magnitude. But these artistic characteristics are marred, according to the critic, by the systematic misanthropy of an author w h o believes neither in the virtue of women nor in the probity of men. 34 It was left to Lafabrie, critic of Le Monde, to express in the most unrestrained terms the displeasure and the disappointment he had experienced in reading Mont-Oriol. Sarcastically captioning his notice "L'Espoir des Lettres," he condemns the author for expanding into 400 pages a tale that might have been recounted in ten lines. Moreover, has the author been commissioned to write a guide-book of Auvergne? For that is what the would-be novel degenerates into. A n d . . . que dire de la misérable qualité du style et de l'incurable stérilité de l'imagination? Dans ces 400 pages, si j'en excepte l'apothéose du nez dont on a lu les principaux passages, pas un détail nouveau, pas une scène originale, pas un moyen qui n'ait traîné partout. Et la forme! Il vaut mieux n'en pas parler. T o u t cela est plat jusqu'à l'abjection, banal jusqu'à l'écoeurement. 35 Lafabrie is especially scandalized by the present-day means employed to seduce women, and regrets the days when heroes of novels were 33. Ibid. 34. Boissin, B-1887, p. 313. 35. Lafabrie, A-1887.

Maupassant

Criticism

in

France

93

fashioned of other clay, when they won their fair ladies by truly heroic deeds: A u temps où florissait Octave Feuillet, les amoureux cherchaient à plaire par quelque action empreinte d'héroïsme ou de délicatesse: on sauvait un enfant en train de se noyer; on arrêtait un cheval emporté; on se précipitait par la fenêtre d'une tour en ruines pour ne pas compromettre la réputation d'une femme adorée. T o u t cela aboutissait à quelque bon mariage et tout le monde était content. L a jeune école dont M. de Maupassant est l'espoir nous a changé tout cela. 36 According to the testimony of Mme Lecomte du Nouy, Maupassant was working on his next novel, Pierre et Jean, in the summer of 1887; she had noted in her journal, under date of J u n e 22, that the author had read to her the first pages of his novel, inspired, as were many of his works, by a fait-divers: a friend having just come into an inheritance of eight million francs from an acquaintance of the family, Maupassant decides to develop his interpretation of this unusual news item. And he immediately makes plans to go to L e Havre for a first exploration of the setting of his story. Moreover, as René Dumesnil points out, 37 the theme of the adulterine child is a favorite with our author, who had previously treated it in several of his tales before doing so in MontOriol and finally as the central theme of Pierre et Jean. It first appeared in La Nouvelle Revue, in December, 1887, and January, 1888, before being published in book form under the Ollendorff imprint on the eighth of January. 3 8 Its appearance in book form had been, indeed, retarded by a week because Le Figaro was first to publish the study on the novel which was in turn to serve as preface to the work. T h i s preface, justly famous to-day as the most detailed account of Maupassant's literary principles, was very close to the heart of the author; so it is not surprising that Le Figaro, having without permission omitted portions of it in its January 7th number, was threatened with a lawsuit by its indignant author. 39 In a letter to Mme Juliette Adam, founder and editor of La Nouvelle Revue, Maupassant wrote of the preface in the following terms: "C'est une étude très travaillée sur le 36. Ibid. 37. Dumesnil, 8 - 1 8 3 4 , X , v. 38. A sumptuous q u a r t o edition, with illustrations by Ernest Duez and A l b e r t Lynch, was published late that same year by Boussod and Valadon. 39. F o r an account of this episode, cf. M a y n i a l , B-1906, p p . 155-58.

94

Chapter

5:

Novels

roman actuel dans toutes ses formes, et j'espère qu'elle fera un peu discuter. . . .',49°5 Lumbroso, A. Il M. novelliere e romanziere. Italia Moderna, Vol. 1. . M. inedito. La Nuova Parola, Vol. 7. Dubosc, Georges. Généalogie de M. Normandie, 7 juil. Thomas, Louis. La Maladie et la mort de M. MF, 55:336-54. 1906 Calvet, J . La Leçon morale de l'oeuvre de M. Univers, 13 déc. Daudet, Léon. Deux foudroyés. Gaulois, 31 oct. Noritel, Jean. Un Biographe de M. (Edouard Maynial). R B , 3 nov. Pellissier, Georges. G. de M. Revue (former Rev. des Revues), 15 déc. 1907 Anon. The Greatest short-story writer that ever lived. Current Literature, 42:636-38. . La Vie et l'oeuvre de G. de M., by Maynial. Bookman, May, pp. 270-74. Dumoulin, Maurice. Sur M. Temps, 26 nov. Mahn, Paul. M. als Journalist. Literarische Echo, 10:77-85, 149-57. S. [Chantavoine]. La Vie et l'oeuvre de M. Débats, 14 jan. 1908 Céard, Henry, et Calvain, Jean de. J.-K. Huysmans intime. Les Soirées de Médan. Rev. Hebdomadaire, 28 nov. Giffard, P. M. à Sartrouville. Figaro, Supp. Litt., 29 fév. Gourmont, Jean de. Oeuvres complètes de G. de M. MF, 1 mai, p. 107. Grappes, Georges. L'Art de G. de M. Opinion, 21 mars. . Quelques notes sur les vers de M. Opinion, 3 oct. Lagrifïe, Dr. Louis. G. de M. Etude de Psychologie Pathologique, sept. 1908 à avril 1909. Mabie, H. W. Sketch. Outlook, April 25, pp. 973-76. Mathiex, Paul. Solution d'un petit problème littéraire. Presse, 1 mars. Rémond and Voivenel, Drs. G. de M. Progrès Médical, 30 mai. Rod, Edouard. Les Poésies de M. Rev. Hebdomadaire, 24 oct., pp. 540-58. Schinz, Albert. The Tragic End of G. de M. Lippincott's Magazine, 81:665*71. Zobeltiz, F. von. Das Leben M.s (Mahn). Literarische Echo, 11:1000-2. •9°9 Anon. M's picture of Swinburne. Current Literature, 47:44-5. Blake, W. B. Swinburne and M. Dial, Aug. Caspari, H. Neu M. Literatur. Herrig's Archif, 123:138-44. Heurteau, André. Pierre et Jean. Débats, 11 fév. Lagrifïe, Dr. Lucien. Psychologie Pathologique de M. Mois Colonial et Maritime, juin. Schinz, Albert. Notes sur le vocabulaire de M. et de Mérimée. Revue des Langues Romanes, 52:504-31. 1910 Clouzet, Gabriel. G. de M. Portraits d'hier, No. 41, pp. 130-60.

202

Bibliography

Heugesbach. G. de M. (Mahn). Literarische Rundschau, May i. Peyroux, L. La Peur dans les Nouvelles de M. Revue Médicale de Normandie, î jan. 1911 Audiat, Gabriel. Souvenirs sur G. de M. Polybiblion, 74:160-2. Gauthiers-Ferrières. Souvenirs sur G. de M. Larousse Mensuel, juil. Hepp, Alexandre. La Prose d'un valet de chambre. Gaulois, 20 mars. Le Senne, Camille. M. dramaturge. Masques et Visages, No. 73. Normand, Jacques. M. et Musotte. Revue de Paris, 6:187-200. [Tassart, François]. La Mort de G. de M. RDM, 2:195-217. 1912 Anon. Recollections of G. de M., by his valet François. Bookman, 35:621-24. E. J . B. La Mystérieuse amie de G. de M. Temps, 26 oct. Maizeroy, René. M. à Sartrouville. Gaulois, 3 juil. Porto-Riche, George de. G. de M. Dimanche Illustré, 21 avril. . G. de M. Figaro, Supplément Littéraire, 16 mars. Voivenel, Dr. Paul. Le Chant du Cygne. MF, 99:258-72. •9'3 Anon. Correspondance anonyme de Marie Bashkirtseff et de M. Vie, 6 sept. Pillet, Dr. Maurice. Le Mal de M. Aescalape, juin. . La Paralysie générale de M. Aescalape, août. . La "Migraine" de M. Temps, 26 sept. Mme X [Louise Colet]. G. de M. intime. Notes d'une amie. Grande Revue, 25 mars, 10 avril. '9>4 Moselly, Emile. G. de M. RB, mars, pp. 365-70. Prado, Coelho A. G. de M. Revista de historia (Lisbon), 3:26-47. «9»7 Anon. What G. de M. owed to the Franco-Prussian War. Current Opinion, 63:49-5°. The Paresis of G. de M. Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov. 3, pp. 1555-56. Deffoux et Zavie. G. de M., romancier de soi-même. MF, 121:21. 1918 Lokhorst, Emmy van. G. de M. Grost-Nederland Letterkundig Maandschrift (Amsterdam), August, pp. 182-216. Moore, Olin H. Literary Relationships of G. de M. Modern Philology, 15:645-62. . The Romanticism of G. de M. PMLA, 33:96-134. »9>9 Dubosc, Georges. Louis Bouilhet et G. de M. Journal de Rouen, 20 juil. Maurice, A. B. G. de M's Paris. Bookman, 49:652-58.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

203

îgîo Bar thou, Louis. M . inédit. A u t o u r d ' U n e Vie. R D M , 59:746-75. Bennett, Arnold. Chekhov, Maupassant, a n d James. L o n d o n Mercury, Oct., p. 677. Croce, B. M. Nuova Antologia, 204:350-57. (Reproduced in L o n d o n Mercury, 6:61-7). Gelzer, H . M. u n d Flaubert. Herrig's Archif, 140:222-39. Massingham, H . J . M. G. de M. Nation (London), Oct. 30, p. 166. N e u b e r t , F. M. als Essayist u n d Kritiker. Germanisch Romanische Monatsschrift, 8:165-78. T h i b a u d e t , Albert. Le G r o u p e de Médan. Nouvelle Revue Française, dec., PP- 9*3-331921 Affable Hawk. Books in General. New Statesman, 18:138. Cé, Camille. A G. d e M. [Poem]. Revue N o r m a n d e , juil.-sept. Guérinot, A. M. et la composition de "Mont-Oriol." MF, 148:597-623. H e n r i o t , Emile. U n inédit de M. Temps, 15 nov. M., G. de. Le Docteur Héraclius Gloss. (With prefatory note by J e a n Ossola). R e v u e de Paris, 15 nov., p p . 225-51; 1 déc., p p . 501-23. Sapir, Edward. M. a n d Anatole France. C a n a d i a n Magazine, 57:199-202. Woodbridge, Benj. M. Le Horla. M L N , J a n . . N o t r e Coeur. M L N , M a r . 1922 Bauër, Gerard. G. d e M. et la poésie. Echo de Paris, 8 juin. Croce, B. M. L o n d o n Mercury, 7:61-67. ( R e p r o d u c e d in his E u r o p e a n Literature in the N i n e t e e n t h Century, L o n d o n , 1925). G. D. G. de M. et " L e Château des Coeurs" de Flaubert. MF, 1 j u i n . Guérinot, A. M. et Louis Bouilhet. MF, 1 j u i n . M a r i n o n i , A. La Maison Tellier. M L N , Mar. Spalikowski, E. P o u r le M o n u m e n t de G. de M. à Miromesnil. Figaro, 5 j a n . . G. de M. à Etretat. Dépêche de R o u e n , 12 avril. . Des Vers inédits de G. de M. MF, 15 déc. (Reproduced in Etudes de littérature n o r m a n d e contemporaine, 1923). Woodbridge, Benj. M. M's Realism. T e x a s Review, 8:7-20. . Picaresque Satire vs. Realism in M. T e x a s Review, 8:124-33. Ybarra, T . R . G. de M. N . Y. Times, Book Review, J a n . 22, p. 13. »923 A n o n . An early M. Dr. Héraclius Gloss. L o n d o n T i m e s Literary Supplement, J a n . 25, p. 57. Borel, P. G. de M. sur la côte d'Azur. Figaro, S u p p l é m e n t Littéraire, 18 fév. Bourget, Paul. G. de M. Revue Française, 22 juil. Bourgine, E. U n pèlerinage au château de Miromesnil. Belles-Lettres, 1 juil. Brindejont-Offenbach, J . Avec Flaubert et M. Gaulois, 19 oct. G. D. M. Fonctionnaire. J o u r n a l de R o u e n , 24 mars.

204

Bibliography

Dubosc, G. La Tombe de G. de M. Journal de Rouen, 8 nov. Lang, Georges-Emmanuel. Le Prétendu Naturalisme de G. de M. Figaro, Supplément Littéraire, 18 fév. Porterfield, Alan VV. G. de M. N. Y. Times Book Review, June 3, p. 1 1 . Redman, Ben Ray. G. de M. Nation, Aug. 1, p. 118. . French Masters. Dial, Aug. 1, p. 178. Renoult. Quelques Blagues de G. de M. Dépêche de Rouen, 20 nov. Spalikowski, E. Un Monument à G. de M., à Miromesnil où il est né. Petit Journal, 10 juin. . Un Monument en l'honneur de G. de M. Radical, 1 juil. . Pour un Monument à G. de M. Dépêche de Rouen, 22 déc. Anon. Reminiscences of M. Mémoirs of Henri Gervex. Living Age, Feb. 23. . M. in English. London Times Literary Supplement, Oct. 16, p. 644. " G . F. B." G. de M. Christian Science Monitor, July 5, p. 27. Bourgine, Edouard. U11 Monument à G. de M. Journal de Rouen, 14 juin. . Un Buste de G. de M. à Tourville-sur-Arques. Belles-Lettres, juil. . Un Monument à G. de M. dans son village natal. Revue Normande, juil.-sept. G. D. Le Domaine des M. à la Neuville Chant d'Oissel. Journal de Rouen, ig avril. . A propos du lieu de naissance de G. de M. Une Lettre de Mme de M. Journal de Rouen, 13 juil. Gelzer, H. Die Novellen von G. de M. Herrig's Archif, 147:55-74; >48:50-69. Janin, Clément. Lettres inédites de G. de M. Monde Nouveau, 15 juil. Lecomte, Georges. Naturalisme et Réalisme. Causeries Françaises, 4e causerie. Normandy, Georges. Où naquit M.? Revue Normande, 1 déc. Regnault, Dr. Félix. La Maladie de G. de M. Revue moderne de médecine et de chirurgie, mai. Renze, A. La Fin du Bel-Ami. Candide, 16 oct. Spalikowski, E. Le Monument de G. de M. Petit Journal and Dépêche de Rouen, 18 nov. Treich, Léon. Une Préface de G. de M. Eclair, 14 oct. . G. de M. Almanach des lettres françaises et étrangères, pp. 52, 61, 62, 66, 84, 102, 166, 229, 257, 283, 367. Wickham, H. A Cat and lier Boswell. Atlantic, 133:77-81. Wilbur, Susan. G. de M. Chicago Evening Post Review of Books, July 11, p. 1. !925 Anon. Où naquit M.? Journal de Caen, 20 mars. . Le Lieu de naissance de M. Dépêche de Rouen, 3 juil. . La Jeunesse de G. de M. à Fécamp. Petit Journal, édition normande, 20 juil. . Le Monument de G. de M. Nouvelles Littéraires, 25 juil. . G. de M. N. Y. Sun, Nov. 4, p. 26. . M. as a flyer. Living Age, 327:688. . Le Monument de G. de M. Journal de Rouen, 5 sept.

Maupassant

Criticism in

France

205

. The Romanticism of M. London Times Literary Supplement, Oct. 8, p. 652. Bauër, Gérard. Influences de M. Echo de Paris, 23 juil. Bazin, R. Où naquit M.? Revue Normande, jan.-fév. Berger, Marcel. Les Héritiers du Naturalisme. Causeries Françaises. Bersancourt, A. de. Un Monument à M. Opinion, 5 sept. Bourgine, E. En relisant M. Journal de Rouen, 6 sept. . Miromesnil. Revue Normande, Noël 1925. Le Chat. [G. Le Cardonnel], Commentaires. Journal, 10 sept. Courthioux, P. Au château de Miromesnil. Eclair, 6 sept. G. D. A propos des armoires de M. Journal de Rouen, 30 mars et 13 avril. . Une lettre de jeunesse de M. J R , 18 août. Daudet, Léon. A propos d'une statue. Action Française, 8 sept. Deffoux, Léon. Mort d'un ami de M. MF, 15 mai. Delamare, Robert. Au château de Miromesnil. DR, 7 sept. A Friend. G. de M. as I knew him. Living Age, Oct. 3. Guérinot, A. M. à Etretat. MF, 182:289-312. Lacage-Duthiers, Gérard de. L'oeuvre critique de G. de M. NRC, 15 juin. . G. de M. critique d'art. Revue Mondiale, 15 juil. . Une page inédite de G. de M. Candide, 30 juil. . G. de M. NR, 1 sept. . G. de M. en Auvergne. Mouette, 1 oct. . Un Grand Normand. Semeur de Normandie, déc. Langlet. Une enquête sur la naissance de M. DR, 16 mars. Lécuyer, Raymond. G. de M. critique d'art. Gaulois, 16 juil. Lefèvre, F. Une heure avec Arnold Bennett. Nouvelles Littéraires, 14 fév. Martel, Tancrède. M. Souvenirs et impressions. Figaro, Supplement Littéraire, 5 sept. Mathiex, P. Où naquit M.? Patrie, Presse, 23 juil. Mauclair, C. M. Progrès de Lyon, 14 sept. Mélia, Jean. G. de M. "Algérien". Figaro, 5 sept. Mérat, Paul. Conférence sur G. de M. Figaro, 11 juil. Montel, François. Les débuts littéraires de M. d'après une correspondance inédite. Figaro, Supplément Littéraire, 11 juil. Normandy, Georges. Oùnaquit M. J R , 13 juin et RN, mars-avril. . A propos d'une inauguration. Querelle autour d'un berceau. Radical, 22 juin. Perié, L. M. et le pessimisme. Courrier du Centre, 3 août. Porto-Riche, G. de. G. de M. Gaulois, 1 août. (Reproduction of article which had appeared on Oct. 24, 1897). Robert, P. L. L'inauguration du monument de G. de M. J R , 7 sept. P. S. [Paul Souday]. G. de M. Temps, 20 juil. Ségur, M. A propos de M. Revue Mondiale, 1 oct. Scrgeenko, M. Methods of Characterization in M.'s story Miss Harriet. Scholar's Notes, Saratsov State Univ. [U.S.S.R.] Vol. I, 3rd ed. Sigma. G. de M. A Recollection. Cornhill Magazine, 59:151-68. Sinvast, Michel. Les Yeux baissés de M. Vie Catholique, 12 sept. Souday, Paul. G. de M. N. Y. Times Book Review, Sept. 13, p. 7.

Bibliography

20Ô

Spalikowski, E. Autour du berceau de G. de M. Petit Journal, 26 mars. . Livres nés ou à naître. D R , 11 juil. . Où est né G. de M. Radical, 18 et 19 juil. . Les Avatars de G. de M. Radical, 27 juil. . Une querelle autour d'un berceau. Radical, 7 août. . L'Amitié chez G. de M. Figaro, 22 août. . M. et le philosophe Caro. Figaro, 5 sept. . G. de M. et ses confrères de lettres. DR, 6 sept. . Souvenirs de Miromesnil. DR, g sept. . La Femme et l'écrivain. D R , 14 sept. Stuart, Henry L. G. de M. N. Y. Sun, Jan. 17, p. 6. Talmeyer, Maurice. Souvenirs d'avant le déluge. Correspondant, 301:701-23. Thomaron, François. G. de M. R N , jan.-fév. Treich, Léon. Quelques anecdotes sur G. de M. Eclair, 18 juil. . Le 75e anniversaire de G. de M. Candide, 23 juil. Uzanne, Octave. L'Esprit d'indépendance de G. de M. Figaro, Supplément Littéraire, 5 sept. Vandérem, F. L'Amitié chez M. Figaro, 22 août. Waleff, M. de. Un hommage à G. de M. Journal, 3 sept. 1926 Anon. G. de M. London Times Literary Supplement, Nov. 1 1 . . Tales from M. London Times Literary Supplement, Dec. 23, p. 948. Answer to this, p. 961. Bauër, Gérard. Esthétique et individualisme de M. Echo de Paris, 23 sept. Boyd, Ernest. G. de M. Saturday Review of Lit., Oct., pp. 253-54. Dubosc, Georges. G. de M. vu par l'écrivain anglais, Robert Sherard. J R , 24 oct. Glantière, Lewis. G. de M. N. Y. Herald Tribune Books, Dec., p. 4. Girard, Henri. G. de M. et l'Histoire du Vieux Temps. Bulletin de l'Association Amicale des Anciens Elèves de l'Institution Sainte-Marie de Monceau, No. 30 (janviers), pp. 8-12; No. 31 (mars), pp. 8-12. Guérinot, A. G. de M. à Etretat. MF, 1 sept. Huebner, F. M. De M's laatste liefde. Met portret. Gulden Winckel, pp. 73-74-

E. J . Notes maçonniques. Catulle Mendès et M. Revue internationale des sociétés occultes, 31 oct. Krutch, Joseph Wood. The Melancholy Bull. Nation, Dec. 22. Lacage-Duthiers, Gérard de. Un Grand Normand. Semeur de Normandie, jan., fév., mars. (Continued from Dec., 1925). . Notes sur M. Pensée Française, jan., fév., mars. . M. devant la critique. N R C , 15 mai et 15 juin. , et Normand, G. En relisant M. MF, 1 déc. Lavrin, Janko. Chekhov and M. Slavonic Review, June. Littell, Robert. T h e Melancholy Bull. New Republic, Dec. 15. Mathiex, Paul. Les Enfants de M. Liberté, 3 sept. Maurevert, Georges. La Particule et le marquisat de G. de M., MF, 1 oct. Maurice, Arthur Bartlett. G. de M. N. Y. Evening Post Lit. Review, Nov.

Maupassant Criticism in France

207

Nazaroff, A. I. G. de M. was not the Pattern of Morality. N. Y. Times Book Review, Nov. si. Nordy, Auguste. Où sont les enfants de M.? Oeuvre, 22 sept. J. G. P. La Particule de M. MF, 15 nov. Salpeter, Harry. G. de M. N. Y. World, Nov. si, p. 10M. Schroeder, J. A. G. de M. Vragen van den Dag, pp. 593-608. Sée, Ida-R. Un M. russe. Primaires, mars. Ségur, N. G. de M. aïs vonganger. Mit het fransch. Wetenschappelijte Bladen, I, pp. 231-37. Seldes, Gilbert. G. de M. Dial, March, p. 252. Sheppard, A. T . G. de M. Bookman (London), Oct. 1.

«9*7

Atkin, E. G. The Supernaturalism of M. PMLA, 42:185-220. Barr, Stringfellow. The Spirit and the Flesh. Virginia Quarterly Rev., July, pp. 447-50. Borel, Pierre. La Folie de M. Souvenirs et documents inédits. Revue de France, 3:527-34. et Fontaine, L. M. avant la gloire. Revue de France, 5:385-410. Brugmans, H. K. M. (De jaren van Bel-Ami). De Stem, Jaargang IX, pp. 18-24. Collins, Joseph. The Real de M. and His Self-Expression. Lit. Review of N. Y. Evening Post, Jan. 8. Duplessy, Lucien. M., source de Gabriel D'Annunzio. MF, 200:345-376. Gauss, Christian. The Norman Master. Saturday Rev. of Lit., June, p. 910. Gold, Michael. G. de M. New Masses, Feb., p. 28. Redman, Ben Ray. N. Y. Herald Tribune Books, Feb., p. 16. Rondel. G. de M. Helvetia (Bern), 46:288. Roz, Firmin. G. de M. Revue Française, 1 avril. Rudwin, M. The Supernaturalism in M. PMLA, 42:1065. Sheppard, A. T. The Three Maupassants. Bookman (London), 71:307-8. Talvart, Hector. M. in La Fiche Bibliographique Française, juin, No. 12. Welby, T . Earle. The Bull That Thought. Saturday Rev., 143:113-14. Woodbridge, Benj. M. G. de M. A Biographical Study by E. Boyd. Modern Language Journal, 11:474-76. L. D. X. A propos des enfants de G. de M. MF, 1 jan. Zévaès, Alexandre. Le Procès de G. de M. NR, 90:110-25. Voivenel, Paul. Sur la fin de G. de M. Revue moderne de médecine et de chirurgie, déc. 1928 Borel, Pierre. G. de M. et Gustave Flaubert. Lettres inédites à Gustave Flaubert. Revue de France, 4:234-60. Bowen, Roy P. Some Common Elements in Vigny and M. Sewanee Review, 36:418-25. Brandes, G. G. de M. Vragen van den Dag, pp. 282-301. Frierson, Wm. C. Realism in the Eighteen-nineties and the M. School in England. French Quarterly, 10:31-43.

2O8

Bibliography

Golgi, E. Begegng. mit G. de M. Weltbühne, 23 J. II, p. 66. G r a b e n , W . G. de M.'s Novellen, i. Unterricht. Schule und Wissenschaft. V.:Westermann, Br. II, 340-48. Guérinot, A. M. et les Goncourt. MF, 208:567-91. Henriot, Emile. Flaubert et M. T e m p s , 24 avril. Maurceley, Baude de. G. de M. Souvenirs personnels. Figaro, Supplément Littéraire, 14 avril. Normandy, Georges. Lettres de Flaubert à M. Manuscrit Autographe, jan.fév., pp. 40-56; mars-avril, pp. 109-30; juil.-août, pp. 33-58. O'Brien, E. J. T h e Fifteen finest short stories. Forum, June, pp. 908-914. Pradel de Lamasse, Martial de. G. de M . commis à la Marine. M F 206:309-59. Shank, Edward. M. Saturday Review, 145:68. >929 Borel, Pierre. Unpublished Letters of G. de M. (Translated by Lawrence S. Morris). Plain T a l k , 5:385-91, 546-54, 697-702; 6:104-10. Powys, Llewelyn. A Gnawing Snake. Dial, March, pp. 255-58. Rascoe, Burton. G. de M. Plain T a l k , Sept., pp. 280-85. Schmidt, L. Neue M. Dokumente. Gegenwart, 58:102. W o l f , Virginia. Phases of Fiction. Bookman, 6g: 126. 1930 A n o n . 88 Short Stories. Bookman 79:100 (Christmas Supplement). Borel, Pierre, et Petit Bleu. Les Logis de M. Nouvelles Littéraires, 18 jan. Lewent, K. E. literar. Anleihe d'Annunzio's bei G. de M. Monatsschrift akad.soziale. Berlin, german-roman. S. 145-49. Sencourt, R. G. de M. Criterion, July. >93» Auriant. 17, rue Clauzel. MF, 1 mai, 15 mai. Réponse de Léon Deffoux, 1 juin. Beilesort, A. La Maison Tellier, adaptation de Géroule et Mayrargues. Débats, 3 mars. Deffoux, Léon. Euphémérides de la controverse relative au logis de M., rue Clauzel. MF, 228:248-51. Réponse de Auriant, 228:510. . Ouvrage faussement attribué à M. Les cinq cousines de la colonelle. M F , 15 oct. et 1 déc. . Ouvrage faussement attribué à G. de M. L'Oeuvre, 20 oct. Dufay, P. A propos de Flaubert et de M . MF, 15 juin. Jaloux, Edmond. L e Souvenir de M. T e m p s , 15 mai. McCarthy, Desmond. Skirmishers. (M. compared to Somerset Maugham). L i f e and Letters, Feb. Zévaès, Alexandre. Autour de G. de M . Nouvelles Littéraires, 25 avril. >932 Boyd, Ernest. New Letters of G. de M . Virginia Quarterly Review, 8:204-18. Canu, J. Flaubert et la phrase finale d ' U n e Vie. M L N , Jan. Ginzburg, Leone. Inediti di M. Cultura, July-Sept.

Maupassant Criticism in France >933 Billy, André. Sur M. Gringoire, 30 juin. Daudet, Léon. La Critique des livres. " G . de M." par René dide, 22 juin. Dumesnil, René. La Normandie de M. MF, 15 jan. . La Jeunesse de M. d'après des documents nouveaux. Oeuvres libres, 142:207-62. (Reproduced in his G. de M., Létourneau, Réginald. M. et sa conception de l'oeuvre d'art. versité d'Ottawa, 3:364-90; 4:478-90. Régnier, Henri de. G. de M. Nouvelles Littéraires, 29 avril.

209

Dumesnil. CanVariété inédite. 1933). Revue de l'Uni-

>934 Anon. G. de M. (Review of Dumesnil's study). London Times Literary Supplement, Feb. 1. . Balzac, Flaubert et M. Une Lettre inédite de G. de M. MF, 253:220. Canu, Jean. M. et "Les Déracinés". Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France, 41:448-51. Crémieux, Benjamin. L'Actualité littéraire. M. homme de gauche. Marianne, 18 avril. Dumesnil, René. Essai de classement par sujets et par dates des contes et des nouvelles de G. de M. Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France, 41:106-27. Jackson, Joseph F. G. de M. Saturday Rev. of Lit., Aug. 5, p. 34. O'Brien, Maurice N. G. de M. Outlander, Fall. Spalikowski, E. A propos des bustes d'Etretat. Petit Havre, 5 fév. 1935 Altman, I. Creative theme of M. Literary Criticism [U.S.S.R.], Sept., pp. 56-76. Anon. Moussia and the Melancoly Bull. Letters of Marie Bashkirtseff to G. de M. Golden Book, Aug. Billy, André. Pour le cinquantenaire de Bel-Ami. Oeuvre, 14 mai. . Une Vie et Pierre et Jean. Oeuvre, 24 déc. Dumesnil, René. Essai de nomenclature et de classement des lettres de M. Bulletin du Bibliophile, 1935-36. Nouvelle série, année 14, pp. 493-98, 545-52; année 15, pp. 15-21, 76-80, 117-25, 158-63. Lounatacharski, A. G. de M. à notre point de une. Littérature internationale, décembre. Spalikowski, E. Flâneries autour de Briauté. Petit Havre, 17 avril. . La Maison de M. à Etretat. Petit Havre, 1 sept. . Un Musée M. DR, 4 sept. . Etretat. Petit Havre, 21 sept. . A. Bornambusc. Un Cousin de M. Petit Havre, 2 nov. '936 Ambrière, Francis. Actualité de M. Nouvelles Littéraires, 19 déc. Auriant. Juliette Adam, Francis Poictevin, M. et quelques autres. 271:219-21.

MF.

st 1 0

Bibliography

Billy, A n d r é . U n e Vie. Pierre et Jean. F e m m e de France, 19 jan. Cassou, Jean. Sur l'art du conte. R e v u e de Paris, 15 sept., pp. 439-49Dumesnil, R e n é . M., Huysmans et H u g u e s L e R o u x devant la T o u r Eiffel. Nouvelles Littéraires, 4 jan. T r a z , R o b e r t de. R e t o u r à M . Nouvelles Littéraires, 12 sept. »937 A n o n . L ' A m i de T o q u e . Marianne, 7 juil. D u f a y , P. G . de M., ou, la phobie de son image. M F , 280:446-47. G . D . L e Rosier de Madame Husson. (Operette). Marianne, 29 sept. J a l o u x , Edmond. Visite à M . Marianne, 15 déc. >938 A n o n . T h e Vision of G . de M . (Review of Stanley Jackson's biography). L o n d o n T i m e s Literary Supplement. O t h e r notices of Jackson's biogr a p h y in English periodicals: N e w Statesman and Nation, June; Daily T e l e g r a p h , M a y 24; Fortnightly R e v i e w , August; T h e Queen, July 14; Manchester Guardian, J u n e 24; Sunday T i m e s , June 12; Catholic Herald, J u n e 24. Berger, Marcel. Réflexions sur le conte actuel. Marianne, 11 mai. D u f a y , P. U n e Correspondance de M . M F , 284:715-21. Dumesnil, R e n é . L a Légende de M . M F 287:38-60. Henriot, Emile. L a Correspondance de M . T e m p s , 31 mai. L e e b , Gabriel. U n i t e d States Twist. Some Plot Revisions by Henry C u y l e r B u n n e r . American Literature, Jan. »939 A r t i n i a n , Artine. Stanley Jackson's G u y de Maupassant. French Review, Dec., pp. 155-57. A u r i a n t . M., " N o t r e C o e u r " et Dumas fils. M a r i a n n e , 10 mai. . U n e belle histoire de plagiat. M F , 293:487-500; 294:240-47, 510-12, 759-60; 295:463-68. Serra, R . Maupassantiana. N u o v a A n t o l o g i a (Rome), 402:207-209. 1940 Dumesnil, R . U n Cinquantenaire: L ' I n u t i l e Beauté et La V i e errante de G . de M . Nouvelles Littéraires, 11 mai. »94« A n o n . D e M ' s Trials. N. Y. Times, Sept. 1, p. 2E. Also T h r o u g h with Love. T i m e , Sept. 8, p. 24. A r t i n i a n , Artine. M . Material. Saturday R e v i e w of Lit., July 5, p. 9. M o n n i e r , P. M. était-il le fils de Flaubert? Candide, 19 fév.

Maupassant Criticism in France

s u

B. BOOKS 1881 Zola, Emile. Une Campagne. Charpentier. 188s Alexis, Paul. Emile Zola, Notes d'un Ami. Charpentier. 1883 Brunetière, Ferdinand. Le Roman Naturaliste. Calmann-Lévy. T h e édition of 1892 contains important additions. 1885 Anon. Le Livre. Flammarion. Yvette, pp. 7-8; Bel Ami, pp. 297-8. Champsaur, F. Le Massacre. Dentu. Lemaître, J . Les Contemporains, 1ère série, pp. 285-310. Lecène, Oudin. 1888 Anon. Le Livre. Flammarion. Le Rosier de Madame Husson, p. 195. France, A. La Vie littéraire, I. Calmann-Lévy. Pp. 47-58, 177, 185, 234. James, Henry. Partial Portraits. N. Y. and London, Macmillan. Pp. 243-287. Renard, G. Etudes sur la France contemporaine. Le Naturalisme. Savine. Rzewuski, Comte Stanislas. Etudes littéraires. Librairie de la Revue Indépendante. Pp. 195-285. 1889 David-Sauvageot, A. Le Réalisme et le naturalisme dans la littérature et dans l'art, in Petit de Julleville's Histoire de la langue et de la littérature françaises. Calmann-Lévy. James, Henry. Introduction to T h e Odd Number. N. Y. and London, Harper. 1890 Anon. M. in Grand Dictionnaire Universel du X I X " sicèlle, 2* supplément, PP- 514> 633. '575Agan, Boyer d\ Biographies célèbres. Savine. France, A. La Vie littéraire, II. Calmann-Lévy. Pp. 23, 28-35. Gaucher, Maxime. Causeries littéraires. Armand Colin. Le Goffic, Charles. Romanciers d'aujourd'hui. L. Vanier. 1891 France, Anatole. La Vie littéraire, III. Calmann-Lévy. Pp. 4-9, 47, 263, 265, 375Huret, Jules. Enquête sur l'évolution littéraire. Charpentier. Pp. 5, 43, 90, 100, 168, 185-88, 224, 255, 257, 366, 408, 433. Le Roux, Hugues. Portraits de cire. Lecène, Oudin. Pp. 79-91. 1892 Berg, Leo. Der Naturalismus: zur Psychologie der modernen Kunst. München, Poessl. Bianchi, A. G. La Patologia del genio e G. de M. Milano, Max Kantorowicz.

212

Bibliography

Cornut, Etienne. Les Malfaiteurs littéraires. V. Rétaux. Pp. 83-93. France, A. L a Vie littéraire, IV. Calmann-Lévy. Pp. 10-18, 20-22, 26. Goncourt, Edmond et Jules de. Journal. Charpentier. T o m e 6 (pp. 109, 1 4 1 , 182, 345, 346); T o m e 7 (pp. 85, 166-68, 175, 186, 223); T o m e 8 (pp. 23, 59, 122, 180, 184, 186, 233, 287, 288); T o m e 9 (pp. 5, 6, 8, 62, 103, 1 4 1 , 147. 234. 35». 4»7)Lemaître, J . Les Contemporains, V. Lecène, Oudin. Pp. 1-12. Perret, Emile. L e Roman. Etude morale. Lausanne, Librairie F. Rouge, Pp. 179-87. »893 Bunner, Henry Cuyler. Introduction to Made in France. N. Y., Keppler & Schwarzmann. Delille, E. Some French Writers. London, Chapman & Hall. Flaubert, G. Correspondance, IV, 1869-1880. Charpentier. 1872: 30 oct.; 1873: 23 fév., 20 juin, 12 déc.; 1874: 28 juillet; 1876: 28 août, 25 Oct., Noël; 1877: 5 nov., 31 déc.; 1878: 16 juillet, 2 nov.; 187g: 29 fév., 25 oct., 3 déc.; 1880: 2 janvier, 2 lettres sans date (janvier 1880), 8 jan., 13 fév., 2 lettres sans date (fév. 1880), 19 fév., 4 lettres sans date (marsavril 1880), 4 avril, 2 lettres sans date (avril 1880), 16 avril; lettre à Mme Charpentier, sans date (janv. 1880); lettre à Georges Charpentier, 15 fév. 1880. Pellissier, Georges. Essai de littérature contemporaine. Lecène, Oudin. Le Pessisme dans la littérature contemporaine, pp. 33-40, 58-59. 1894 Deschamps, Gaston. L a Vie et les livres, I. Armand Colin. Sur la mort de G. de M., pp. 167-78. Doumic, René. Ecrivains d'aujourd'hui. Perrin. Pp. 47-96. (Reproduced in his Contemporary French Novelists, 1899.) Morillot, Paul. Le Roman en France depuis 1610 jusqu'à nos jours. G. Masson. Pp. 563-69. Pinchon, Robert. Préface au Théâtre. Rouen, Schneider frères. Puglisi-Pico, M. Note di letteratura contemporanea. Acireale. Tolstoy, L. N. M.s Menschenschiksal. Die Zukunft (Harden), VIII, pp. 219321895 Deene, Harley. Preface to Messalina's Daughter (Yvette). Chicago, J e v e t t fc Buchanan. Diehl, Rudolf. Französische Schulgrammatik und Moderner Sprachgebrach, (bei M.). Wiesbaden. Lavedan, Henri. Préface au Lit. Evreux, Société normande du livre illustré. 1896 Blaze de Bury, Yetta. French Literature To-day. Boston. Cameron, A. Guyot. Introduction to Coppée and Maupassant Tales. N. Y., Henry Holt. Pp. xxxi-xlviii.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

21$

Geiger, L. Dichter und Frauen. Berlin. Pp. 341-73. Gilbert, Eugène. Le Roman en France pendant le X I X e siècle. Pion, Nourrit. Pp. 437-42. Lecomte du Nouy, H. Amitié amoureuse. Calmann-Lévy. Lemaître, J. Les Contemporains, VI. Lecène, Oudin. Pp. 351-59. Salomon, Michel. Etudes et portaits littéraires. Pion. Tolstoy, Léon. Zola, Dumas, Maupassant. [Traduit par E. Halpérine-Kaminsky.] Léon Chailley. Pp. 93-168. '897 Alt, R. Preface to Una Vita. Milano. Ballet, Dr. Gilbert. Leçons de Clinique médicales. Psychoses et affections nerveuses. G. Doin. Fleury, Dr. Maurice de. Introduction à la médecine de l'esprit. F. Alcan. Roz, Firmin. G. de M. in Library of the World's Best Lit. N. Y., T h e International Society, vol. 25, pp. 9803-08. 1898 Brisson, A. Pointes sèches. Cinqualbre. Burlat, A. Le Roman médical. Montpellier, Firmin et Montague. Grotthuss, J. E. Probleme und characterköpfe. Stuttgart, Greiner & Pfeiffer. Pp. 390-409. Pinotti, F. La Letteratura francese moderna. II romano. Roma. Wells, Benjamin W. A Century of French Fiction. N. Y., Dodd, Mead. Pp. 348-61. 1899 Brisson, A. Portraits intimes, IVe série. Armand Colin. Pp. 55-76. Doumic, René. Contemporary French Novelists. Boston, T . Y. Crowell. Giraud, Victor. Essai sur Taine. Hachette. Symons, Arthur. Introduction to Boule de Suif. London, Heinemann. T h i s study, combined with the introduction to the collection issued by Putnam in 1903, constitutes the study on M. appearing in his Studies in Prose and Verse, 1906. Pellissier, Georges. G. de M. in Histoire de la langue et de la littérature françaises, de Petit de Julleville, T o m e 8, pp. 214-21. A Colin. 1900 Frédérix, Gustave. Trente ans de critique, I. Hetzel. Pp. 395-403. Mignot, Dr. Contribution à l'étude des troubles pupillaires dans quelques maladies mentales. Thèse, Paris. Proal, Louis. Le Crime et le suicide passionnels. Alcan. 1901 Bashkirtseff, Marie. Nouveau journal inédit de Marie de Bashkirtseff, accompagné de la correspondance inédite avec G. de M. Editions de la Revue. Brandès, G. Samlede Skrifter. Copenhagen. VII, pp. 183-203. Brisson, Adolphe. Portraits intimes, Ve série. A. Colin. Gilder, Jeanette L. T h e Last Confessions of Marie Bashkirtseff and her correspondance with G. de M. With a foreword by J. L. G. N. Y., F. A. Stokes.

214

Bibliography

Gregh, Fernand. La Fenêtre ouverte. Fasquelle. Pp. 154-64. Halpérine-Kaminsky, E. Yvan Tourgueneff d'après sa correspondance avec ses amis français. Charpentier-Fasquelle. Pp. 269-76. Pellissier, G. Le Mouvement littéraire contemporain. Hachette. Pp. 9-18. Sorel, Albert. Etudes de littérature et d'histoire. Pion, Nourrit. 1902 Alméras, Henri d'. Avant la Gloire. Leurs Débuts. Lecène, Oudin. Crewe, Earl of. Critical Preface to Pierre and Jean. N. Y., P. F. Collier. Pp. v-xl. Uzanne, Octave. The Portraits of M. In Pierre and Jean. N. Y., P. F. Collier. Pp. 229-37. Vicaire, G. Manuel de l'amateur de livres du X I X e siècle, Tome 5. Rouquette. Pp. 604-25. 1903 Amie, Henri and l'Auteur d'Amitié Amoureuse [H. Lecomte du Nouy]. En regardant passer la vie. Ollendorff. Arnot, Robert. Introduction to the Alliance Française edition of the Works of G. de M. N. Y. and London, M. Walter Dunne. Gourmont, Remy de. Epilogues, 1895-1898. Mercure de France. Pp. 178-79. Nordau, Max. Vus de dehors. Essai critique et scientifique sur quelques auteurs français contemporains. Traduit de l'allemand par Auguste Dietrich. Alcan. Schmidt, Bertha. Esquisses littéraires. Le Groupe des romanciers naturalistes. Karlsruhe, Bade, G. Braun. Pp. 178-95. Sollier, Dr. Phénomèmes d'autoscopie. Alcan. Symons, Arthur. Introduction to collection Masterpieces of Literature. G. de M., translated by George Burnham Ives. N. Y., G. P. Putnam. 1904 Canat, René. Du sentiment de la solitude morale chez les romantiques et les parnaissiens. Hachette. Pp. 24-27. Conrad, Joseph. Introduction to Yvette and Other Stories, translated by Ada Galsworthy. N. Y., Knopf. Also in Notes on Life and Letters. London, J . M. Dent, 1921. Lecomte du Nouy, H. La Joie d'aimer. Calmann-Lévy. Orino, Ch. d'. Contes de l'au-delà. F. Juven. Stem, A. Studien zur Literatur der gegenwart. Leipzig, Koch. Pp. 305-326.

>9°5 Faguet, Emile. Propos littéraires, Ille série. Lecène, Oudin. Holländer, F. M. Berlin, Bard, Marquard. Le Cardonnel, Georges et Vellay, Charles. La Littérature contemporaine. Mercure de France. Pp. 27, 30, 89, 106, 125. Lumbroso, Albert. Souvenirs sur M. Rome, Bocca Frères; Paris, Schleicher Frères.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

215

1906 Bourget, Paul. Etudes et Portraits, T o m e 3. Pion. Pp. 290-319. . Sociologie et littérature. Pion. . Preface to A. Lumbroso's Gelosia. T u r i n , Streglio. Mazel, H e n r i . Ce qu'il f a u t lire d a n s sa vie. Mercure de France. Maynial, E d o u a r d . La Vie et l'oeuvre de G. de M. Mercure de France. Sherard, R o b e r t H a r b o r o u g h . T w e n t y Years in Paris, Being some Recollections of a Literary Life. L o n d o n , Hutchinson, a n d N. Y., George W . Jacobs. Pp. 54-65. Symons, Arthur. Studies in Prose a n d Verse. London, J . M. Dent a n d N. Y„ E. P. O u t t o n . P p . 97-107. T h o m a s , Louis. La M a l a d i e et la mort de M. Bruges, Arthur Herbert. [Nouvelle édition revue et augmentée, Paris, Messein, 1912.] 1907 Bosson, Olof. G. d e M. Quelques recherches sur sa langue. L u n d , H . Ohlsson. Lacassagne, Dr. Zacharie. La Folie de M. (Thèse) Toulouse, Gimet-Pisseau. Matthews, Brander. Inquiries a n d Opinions. "A N o t e on M." Pp. 167-79. N. Y„ Scribner's. Rency, George. Physionomies littéraires. Bruxelles, Association des écrivains belges. 1908 A n o n . G. d e M. La m o r e t t i n a i n n a m o r a t a . Con u n o studio sulla vita e sulle opere dell'autore. Napoli. Amie, H e n r y et l'Auteur d'Amitié Amoureuse [H. Lecomte d u Nouy]. Jours passés. Ollendorff. Cim, Albert. Le Livre, T o m e 2. Flammarion. Pp. 112, 210, 304, 306. T o m e 4, p. 129; T o m e 5, p p . 320, 426, 506. Frye, P. H . Literary Reviews a n d Criticisms. N. Y., G. P. P u t n a m . Pp. 190203: M. in English. M a h n , Paul. G. de M. Sein Leben u n d Seine Werke. Berlin, Fleischel. Neveux, Pol. G. de M., Etude, in Boule de Suif, Vol. I of the Conard edition of M's complete works. Vorberg, Gaston. G. de M. Krankheit. Wiesbaden, Bergmann. (In Greuzfragen Seelensieben des Nerven, No. Go). 1909 Beaunier, André. Eloges. Roger et Chernoviz. Clouzet, G. Poi trails d'hier. G. de M. Michaud. Gistucci, Leon. I.e Pessimisme de M. Lyon, Publications de l'Officc Social. 35 PPLange, Wilhern. Die Psychose M. Leipzig, Barth. R o u j o n , Henry. La Galerie des bustes. Hachette. Pp. 7-30. 1910 Le Golfic. Charles. L ' A m e b r e t o n n e , IIle série. H o n o r é Champion. Pp. 5 1 62: G. de M. et la Bretagne. Vautier, Paul. Au pays de M. Nouvelles normandes, préface de J e a n Richepin. Dumont.

2i6

Bibliography

1911 Bernot, F. Préface aux Oeuvres choisies de G. de M. Delagrave. Eulenberg, Herbert. Scattenbilder. Berlin, Cassirer. François (Tassart). Souvenirs sur G . de M., 1883-1893. Pion. J a k o b , Gustave. L'Illusion et la désillusion dans le roman réaliste français (1851-1890). (Thèse de doctorat d'Université). Paris, Jouve. Pillet, Dr. Maurice. Le Mal de M. Maloine. Zarifopol, Paul. M. der Sentimentale. Suddent Monatshefte, I X . 1912 Brisson, Adolphe. L e Théâtre, Septième Série. Libraire des Annales. Flake, Otto. Der französische R o m a n und die Novelle. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. Gourmont, Remy de. Promenades littéraires. IVe série. Mercure de France. Hermant, Abel. Essais de critique. Grasset. Hollier, Robert. L a Peur et les états qui s'y rattachent dans l'oeuvre de M. Thèse présentée à la Facultée de Médecine de Lyon. Mille, Pierre. Anthologie des humoristes français. Delagrave. Rolland, Joachim. G. de M. Niort, G. Clouzot; Paris, Editions de la Revue des Etudes Littéraires, 1924. Strowski, Fortunat. Tableau de la littérature française au X I X e siècle. Mellottée. Voivenel, P. et Rémond, A. L e Génie littéraire. Alcan. >9'3 Anon. [John L. Gerig] M. in New International Encyclopedia. N. Y., Dodd, Mead. Lorde, André de. L a Folie au théâtre. Fontemoing. La Petite Roque, pp. 161-283. de Monzie, A. A u x confins de la politique. Grasset. Pietrkowski, Anna. Bemerkungen zur Syntax M. Berlin. «9»4 Daudet, Léon. Fantômes et vivants. Souvenirs des milieux littéraires, politiques, artistiques et médicaux de 1880 à 1905. 1ère série. Nouvelle Librairie Nationale. Pp. 48-53. L'Hôpital, Joseph. Quatre grands écrivains normands contemporains. Evreux. Neubert, Fritz. Die Litterarische Kritik G. de M. Chemnitz, Gronau. Normandy, Georges. G. de M. Recueil de morceaux choisis, précédé d'une étude bio-bibliographique, anecdotique, critique et documentaire. Albert Mericant. Souday, Paul. Les Livres du temps, T o m e 2. Emile-Paul. Pp. 77, 305, 306, 430. >915 Harris, Frank. Contemporary Portraits. N. Y., Mitchell Kennerley. Marvin, F. R . Fireside Papers. Boston, Sherman, French. Matthey, Hubert. Essai sur le merveilleux dans la littérature française .depuis 1800. Payot.

Maupassant

Criticism, in France

217

1916 Reuel, Fritz. M. als Physiognomiker, mit einer einleitungüber Theorie und Geschichte der Physiognomik. Marburg. '9'7 Dubosc, Georges. Trois Normands. Pierre Corneille, Gustave Flaubert, G. de M. Rouen, Defontaine. Howells, William Dean. Introduction to The Second Odd Number, N. Y „ Harper & Brothers. 1918 Deffoux, Léon et Zavie, Emile. G. de M. Romancier de soi—même. Delassalle. Gilbert, Pierre. La Forêt des cippes. Essai de critique. Champion. Tome I, p. 1 1 ! ; Tome II, pp. 101-04, 172. Saintsbury, George. A History of the French Novel, Vol. II. London, Macmillan; pp. 484-515. >9»9 Conrad, Joseph. Preface to Mademoiselle Fifi, translated by Mrs. John Galsworthy. Boston, The Four Seas Co. Ladame, Dr. Ch. G. de M. Etude de psychologie pathologique. Lausanne, Revue Romande. Neubert, F. Die Kritischen Essays G. de M., mit Anschluss der literarischen Kritik. Jena, Gronau. 1920 Albalat, Antoine. Souvenirs de la vie littéraire. Fayard. Deffoux, Léon et Zavie, Emile. Le Groupe de Médan. Payot. Nouvelle édition augmentée, Crès, 1925. Riddell, Agnes R. Flaubert and M. A Literary Relationship. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Spalikowski, Edmond. Autour de Dieppe, près du berceau de M. à Miromesnil. Rouen, Lestringant. 1921 Antoine. Mes souvenirs sur le Théâtre Libre. Fayard. André-Marie, P. Les Ecrivains normands, parodies et pastiches. Rouen, Defontaine. Conrad, Joseph. Notes on Life and Letters. London, J . M. Dent. Esch, Max. En relisant M. Lausanne, Editions de la Revue Romande. Nouvelle édition revue et augmentée, 1925. Neppi, Alberto. Le Novelle di G. de M. Ferraro, Teddei. Spalikowski, Edmond. Autour d'Yvetot. Rouen, Lestringant. 1922 Beaune, Georges. Parmi les vivants et les morts. Nouvelle Librairie Nationale. Bourget, Paul. Nouvelles pages de critique et de doctrine, Vol. I. Pion, Nourrit. Pp. 65-74: Un Roman inachevé de M. Lalou, René. Histoire de la littérature française contemporaine, 1870 à nos jours. Crès. Edition revue et augmentée, 1931. Pellegrini, Carlo. Preface to G. de M. Novelle. Ferrara. Vorberg, G. Zusammen Bruch. München.

2l8

Bibliography

'9«3 Bacourt, Pierre de and Cunliffe, J . W. French Literature during the last half-century. N. Y., Macmillan. Boyd, Ernest. Introduction to Doctor Heraclius Gloss. N. Y., Brentano's. Croce, Benedetto. Poesia e non poesia. Bari. Dordan, E. Le Paysan français d'après les romans du X I X e siècle. Toulouse, Imprimerie du Centre. Martino, Pierre. Le Naturalisme français, 1870-1895. Armand Colin. Spalikowski, Edmond. Etudes de littérature normande contemporaine. Rouen, Defontaine. Stauber, E. G. de M. Calw, Oelsclager. 1924 Mordell, Albert. Introduction to Saint Anthony and Other Stories, translated by Lafcadio Hearn. N. Y., A. & C. Boni. Pellegrini, C. Introduction to G. de M. Opere scelte. Florence. Robert, Paul-Louis. Trois portraits normands. Flaubert, Bouilhet, M. Rouen, Laîné. Treich, Léon. Almanach des lettres et de la pensée françaises et étrangères, 2 vols. G. Crès. »925 Brunetière, F. Etudes critiques sur l'histoire de la littérature française, T o m e 9. Hachette. Croce, Benedetto. European Literature in the Nineteenth Century. London, Chapman & Hall. Frierson, Win. C. L'Influence du naturalisme français sur les romanciers anglais de 1885 à 1900. Marcel Giard. Ley, Hermann. G. de M. und das normanische Bauerntum. Kòln, A. R. H . Macy, John. T h e Story of the World's Literature. N. Y., Boni & Liveright. Prévost, Marcel. Préface aux Contes Choisis, Edition pour la jeunesse. Albin Michel. Ross, Crystal Roy. Le Conteur américain O. Henry et l'art de M. Strasbourg, Imprimerie Strasbourgeoise. Sinclair, Upton. Mommonart, an Essay in Economic Interpretation. Pasadena, Calif., published by the Author. Pp. 283-85: T h e Sportive Demon. Thibaudet, Albert. Le Liseur de romans. G. Crès. 1926 Boyd, Ernest. G. de M. A Biographical Study. N. Y., Knopf. Deffoux, Léon. Article in L ' A m i du Lettré, Un Ami de M : Robert Pinchon, dit la Toque. G. Crès. Gelzer, Heinrich. G. de M. Heidelberg. C. Winter. Lacage-Duthiers, Gérard de. G. de M. Son oeuvre. Document pour l'histoire de la littérature française. Nouvelle Revue Critique. De Casseres, Benjamin. Forty Immortals. N. Y., J . Lawren. Pp. 287-95: Malady of de M. Normandy, Georges. G. de M. V. Rasmussen. Guiches, Gustave. Le Banquet. Spes.

Maupassant

Criticism

in France

219

Sherard, Robert Harborough. The Life, Work and Evil Fate of G. de M., Gentilhomme de Lettres. London, Werner Laurie, and N. Y., Brentano's. Urtel, H. G. de M. Studien zu seiner küntlerischen Persönlichkeit. München. 1927 Baillot, A. Influence de la philosophie de Schopenhauer en France. (18601900). J . Vrin. Borel, Pierre et "Petit Bleu" [Léon Fontaine], Le Destin tragique de G. de M., d'après des documents originaux, avec une pièce inédite (La Trahison de la Comtesse de Rhune) et des dessins de G. de M. Editions de France. Ford, Ford Madox. Introduction to Stories from M. N. Y., Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith. Galsworthy, John. Castles in Spain and Other Screeds. London, Heinemann. (Article, Six Novelists in Profile) (Same essay in Candalabra, 1932). Mornet, Daniel. Histoire de la littérature et de la pensée françaises contemporaines (1870-1927). Larousse. Normandy, Georges. M. intime. Albin Michel. . La Fin de M. Albin Michel. Schwartz, W. L. The imaginative interpretation of the Far East in Modern French Literature. 1800-1925. Hororé Champion. M. pp. 102-05. Terrier, Jean. Le Génie et la maladie chez G. de M. Les Presses Modernes. 1928 Antoine, André. Mes souvenirs sur le Théâtre Antoine et sur l'Odéon (Première direction). Grasset. Borel, Pierre. Lettres inédites de M. à Flaubert. Editions des Portiques. Culcasi, Lucie Gugenheim. Introduction to Contes Choisis de G. de M. Milano. Huddleston, Sisley. Articles de Paris. N. Y., Macmillan. Pp. 144-48: M.'s Madness. Landini, Armand. Introduction to Contes choisis de G. de M. Roma. Roz, Firmin. G. de M., in Columbia University Course in Literature, Vol. 7, pp. 326-31. N. Y., Columbia Univ. Press. Anon. G. de M. in Encyclopedia Britannica. London and N. Y., Encyclopedia Britannica. Defïoux, Léon. Le Naturalisme, avec un florilège des principaux écrivains naturalistes. Les Oeuvres représentatives. Lebey, André. Disques et pellicules. Editions de Valois. Lunacharsky, A. G. de M. in Collected Works of G. de M. Vol. I, pp. 5-50. Moscow. Voivenel, P. et Lagriffe, L. Sous le signe de la P. G. La Folie de M. La Renaissance du Livre. !93 0 Anon. Le Naturalisme et les Soirées de Médan. Les Marges, Cahier de Printemps.

220

Bibliography

Hennique, Léon. Préface aux Soirées de Médan, Edition du Cinquantenaire. Fasquelle. Lanson, Gustave. Histoire de la littérature française. 22nd ed. Hachette. Pp. 1084-86. Mille, Pierre. Le Roman français. Firmin-Didot. Munthe, Axel. The Story of San Michele. X. Y., Dutton. Pp. 296-302. Pilon, Edmond. Préface aux Contes de G. de M. Piazza. Watson, Paul Barron. Tales of Normandy. Boston, Marshall Jones Co. Pp. 132-63: Flaubert and M. 193« Green, F. C. French Novelists from the Revolution to Proust. London and Toronto, J . M. Dent. Lo Curzio, L. Introduction to G. de M. Con tes choisis. Palermo. March, Harold. Types of the French Short Story. N. Y., Thos. Nelson & Sons. G. de M.: pp. 16-19. Mordcll, Albert. Introduction to Adventures of Walter Schnaffs and other tales, translated by Lafcadio Hearn. Japan. The Hokuseido Press. Moreno, Artemio. En torno a M. Buenos Aires, Instituto cultural Joaquin Gonzâles. '932 Cox, Roy Allen. Dominant Ideas in the Works of G. de M. Boulder, Colorado, University of Colorado Studies, Vol. X I , No. 2. Kirkbride, Donald de L. The Private Life of G. de M. N. Y., Sears Publishing Co. Monahan, Michael. Introduction to the Short Stories of G. de M. N. Y., Modem Library. Verkov, P. N. G. de M. and the French Novel in French Realistic Novel of the 19th Century. Moscow. Pp. 198-222. '933

Bennett, Arnold. The Journal of Arnold Bennett. N. Y., Viking Press. Dumesnil, René. G. de M. Armand Colin. . La Publication des Soirées de Médan. Malfère. Picco, Francesco. Preface to G. de M. Trenta Novelle. Torino. '934

Dumesnil, René. Préface aux Oeuvres Complètes Illustrées de G. de M., Tome I, Boule de Suif. Librairie de France. Elizarov, M. Motifs in the Work of M. in The History of 19th C. Realism in the West. Moscow. Pp. 115-150. Gould, Gerald. Introduction to Everyman's Library Edition of Short Stories of G. de M. London, J . M. Dent. Maugham, W. Somerset. Preface to East and West. N. Y., Doubleday, Doran. Picco, Francesco. M. Torino. . L'Italie de M., in Mélanges de philologie, d'histoire et de littérature offerts à Henry Hauvette, pp. 763-772. Les Presses Françaises. Schneider, Hans. M. als Impressionist. Munster, Buchdruckerei Heinrich Pöppinghaus o. H.-G., Bochum-Langendreer; Paris, E. Droz.

Maupassant Criticism in France

221

1935 O'Brien, Edward J . The Short Story Case Book. N. Y., Farrar 8c Rinehart, G. de M.: pp. 96-111. Picco, Francesco. Introduction to G. de M. Novelle scelte. Torino. Polinet, A. La Belle Ernestine. Suivi d'une étude sur Brand Whitlock et d'une notice sur G. de M. Bruxelles, Léon Lielens. 1936 Dumesnil, René. G. de M. in Vol. I X of J . Calvet's Histoire de la littérature française. J . de Gigord. Calogero, G. Introduction to G. de M. Contes choisis. Torino. Jones, Malcolm B. French Literature and American Criticism. 1870-1900. (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Harvard.) Mclver, Claude Searcy. William Somerset Maugham. A Study of Technique and Literary Sources. (Univ. of Penna, diss., devoted largely to the influence of M.) Philadelphia (No publisher or printer indicated). Schaffer, Aaron. Introduction to Pierre et Jean. N. Y., Scribner's. Spalikowski, Edmond. M. à Etretat. Rouen, Imprimerie Albert Laine. 14 pp. Stock, P.-V. Mémorandum d'un éditeur. Deuxième série. Stock. Pp. 109-18. Thibaudet, Albert. Histoire de la littérature française de 1789 à nos jours. Stock. 1937 Bédé, Jean-Albert. Quelques textes naturalistes. N. Y., Henry Holt. Bisson, L. A. M. in France, A Companion to French Studies, edited by R. L. Graeme Ritchie. London, Methuen, pp. 299-301. Bruneau, Charles. Explication de M. Contes: La Ficelle. Centre de Documentation Universitaire. 1938 Anon. Catalogue d'éditions originales, de manuscrits et de lettres autographes de G. de M. provenant de la bibliothèque de M. le comte de S . . . [Suzannet]. L. Giraud-Badin. 91 pp. Graaf, J . de. Le Réveil littéraire en Hollande et le naturalisme français (1880-1900). Amsterdam, H. J . Paris; Paris, Nizet 8c Bustard. M. pp. 19, 20, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 48, 60, 64, 75, 78, 81, 122, 141, 145, 155, 158, 187, 204. Jackson, Stanley. G. de M. London, Duckworth. Urgiss-Kayser, Eva A. T h e Theatre of G. de M. (Unpublished M.A. thesis, Columbia). !939 Anon. [Une Adoratrice de M.] Le Cahier d'amour in Les Oeuvres libres, No. 216, pp. 71-100. Fayard.

INDEX Adam, Juliette, 54 , Paul, 47 Ade, George, 129 Alexis, Paul, 1, 47, 82 Allen, Hervey, 129 A me étrangère, L', 56. 109 Amitié amoureuse, 59 Anderson, Sherwood, 129 Angélus, L', 56, 109 Antoine, André, regrets his failure to interest M in his theatre, 20 quoted: on La Paix du ménage, 18-19; on success of dramatic adaptations of M's work, 23n Arène, Paul, 39 Arland, Marcel, 130 Arnoux, Alexandre, 1 1 7 , 119, 130 Atherton, Gertrude, 131 Au bord du lit, 16 Au soleil, 10-11 Bailly, Auguste, 118, 131 Baldensperger, Fernand, 132 quoted: on subjectivism in criticism, 124 Ballande, rejects La Trahison de la Comtesse de Rhune, 13 Banville, Théodore de. quoted: on Boute de Suif, 5; on La Maison Tellier, 25; on reasons for M's immediate success, 30 Bartet, J u l i a , 16, 17 Barthou, Louis, quoted: on M as novelist, 1 1 1 - 1 1 2 Baudelaire, Charles, 6a Bel-Ami, 59, 61, 86-89, , 0 I > popularity with public, 89 Bel-Ami [adaptation], 22 Bellaigne, C., unfavorable reaction to La Paix du ménage, 18 Benjamin, René, 1 1 7 , 133 quoted: on absence of poetry in M s work, 120 Bergeret, Emile, 47 Bernier, Louis, 65 Bernot, F., quoted: on travel chronicles, 1 1 ; on M as playwright, 21; on M as novelist, 111

Berr, Emile, recommends an anthology, 5' Berton, Pierre, 19, 21, 23 Billy, André, explains why literary historians have neglected M, 116 Boissin, Firmin, considers setting of BelAmi distorted, 88: objects to M's themes, 98; regrets M's immorality, 102; regrets M's manner, 107-108 quoted: on Monsieur Parent, 38; on Une Vie, 83: on M's pessimism, 92 Bojer, Johan, 133; toast to M in 1925, 75 Bonne à rien faire, La, 22 Bordeaux, Henry, 118, 119, 134 Borel, Pierre, 12, 78 Boule de Suif, 1-6, 43, 45, 64, 118 see also Soirées de Médan Boule de Suif [adaptation], 19, 21, 23 Bourdeau, J., quoted: on Fort comme la mort, 101 Bourget, Paul, explanation of M's early succcss, 32-33: compared with M, 87, 9 1 ; quoted: on ^ u bord de l'eau, 8; on M's abandoning poetry, 9; on M's poetry, 10 Bourget-Pailleron, Robert, 134 Boyd, Ernest, 78 Brittain, Vera, 135 Bromfield. Louis, 135 Brunetière, Ferdinand, 80, 83, 86; early silence in regard to M, 33-34; compares M and Bourget, 87 quoted: on M's style, 41; 011 M's psychology, 42; on M's evolution, 91-92 Buchan, John, 135 Cabell, James Branch, 136 Cahuet, Albéric, 136 Caldwell, Erskine, 136 Caldwell, Taylor, 136 Calvet, J., quoted: on moral cause of M's insanity, 68 Canby, H. S., 137 Caraguel, Joseph, 47 Cardonnel, Louis de, 54 Céard, Henry, 24« quoted: on M's early success, 31 Céline, Louis-Ferdinand, 121, 137

224

Index

Cendrars, Blaise, 123, 137 Chapron, L., quoted: on Soirées de Médan, 3 Charpentier, John, 119, 138 Chatel, Gustave, 58 quoted on M s subjectivism. 59 Chaumcix, André, quoted: on M's moral equilibrium, 68 Claretie, L „ 15 Cobb, Irvin S., 138 Colleville, Vicomte de, 56 Colporteur, Le, 64, 74 Comtesse de Rhétune, La, 12 Contes de la Bécasse, 29, 32 Crémieux, Benjamin, prediction on M's future reputation, 1 1 6 Croce, Benedetto, 139 Daudet, Alphonse, 20, 39, 48 Daudet, Léon, 68, 74, 117, 140 quoted: on M's destiny, 76 Deffoux, Léon, considers Pierre et Jean masterpiece of M, 1 1 3 quoted: on M as conteur, 78 Dekobra, Maurice, 118, 141 Demande, La, 12 Deschamps, Gaston, 50, 63 Desperiers, Bonaventure, 35 Deslande, Raymond, 13 Des Vers, 8-10; dedication to Flaubert, 8; Bourget's explanation as to why M abandoned poetry, 9 Dimanches d'un bourgeois de Paris, Les, 74. '09 Docteur Héraclius Gloss, Le, 73 Dorgelès, Roland, 118, 141 Dos Passos, John, 141 Doumic, René, 56; calls M only conteur of the day, 104; considers novels inferior, 109 quoted: on Notre Coeur, 105 Dreiser, Theodore, 142 Drieu La Rochelle, Pierre, 142; objects to M's conception of life, 120 Dumas fils, Alexandre, 16, 17, 46 Dumesnil, René, 21, 26, 590, 78, 79; believes conteur and novelist should be considered as identical, 1 1 3 Dumoulin, Maurice, quoted: on M's prestige, 69 Durtain, Luc, 76, 144

Ellis, Havelock, 144 Enfant, I.', 14 Erskine, John, 144 Esch. M., 1 1 2 Estaunic, Edouard. 117, 118, 145 Etampes, Affaire d', 3 Etre lines, 16 Faguet, Emile, challenges Tolstov's interpretation of M's works, 58 Farrell, James T., 145 Farrère, Claude, 119, 122, 146 Ferber, Edna, 147 Filon, Augustin, quoted: on Notre Coeur, 107 Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 147 Flaubert, Gustave, 12, 64; relations with M, 7; opinion of M's poetry, 8; M preferred to, 1 1 9 quoted: on Boule de Suif, 4-5 Fort comtne la mort, 44, 45, 100-102, 114 Fouquier, Henry, 50, 65 France, Anatole, 39-40, 45, 47, 54; objections to Notre Coeur, 104 quoted: on Pierre et Jean, 95-96; on M's style, 96 Frank, Bruno, 147 Frary, Raoul, 40; compares M and Bourget, 91 Frondaie, Pierre. 118, 120, 147 Gale, Zona, 148 Ganderax, L „ quoted: on La Paix du ménage, 18 Gaucher, Maxime, 33, 38, 82; urges M to select his characters in more refined circles, 90 quoted: on Le Horla, 40; on M's realism, 87-88; on Pierre et Jean, 94 Gibbs, Philip, 14g Gide, André, 117, 149 quoted: on M as conteur, 118; on lack of interest in personality of M, 121 Gilbert, Eugène, 110 Gille. Philippe, 82 Ginisty, Paul, quoted: on Fort comme la mort, 100; on Notre Coeur, 105 Giraud, Victor, 150 quoted: on M's style, 122 Gistucci, Léon, 70 quoted: on pessimism of M, 70-71

Maupassant Criticism in France Glasgow, Ellen, 150 Glesener, Edmond, 117, 151 Goncourt, Edmond de, 47, 48, 63 Gourmont, Remy de, 73 Gregh, Fernand, 62 quoted: on M as novelist, 1 1 1 Guérard, Albert, 152 Guiches, Gustave, 47 Gunnarsson, Gunnar, 153 Halévy, Ludovic, 51 Hallays, André, points out evolution in M's manner, go-91 quoted on M's style, 106 Hamsun, Knut, 153 Hansen, Harry, 153 Havard, Victor, 26, 89 Hazard, Paul, 119, 123, 154 Hennique, Léon, 78 Hearn, Lafcadio, 88 Henriot, Emile, 73 Heredia, J.-M. de, 10, 65 Hermant, Abel, 73, 154; regrets M's abandoning of the stage, 20; M not sufficiently intellectual and philosophical, 121 Heurteau, André, 1 1 1 ; objects to M's themes, 96-97 Hilton, James, 154 Histoire d'une fille de ferme, 26 Histoire du vieux temps, 12, 13, 20, 6 m Huret, Jules, interviews M, 46-47 Horla, Le, 40-41 Huysmans, J.-K., quoted: on M's character, 54 Huxley, Aldous, 155 Inutile Beauté, L', 45 Inquiry in Books Abroad, n 6 n Inquiry into present fame of M, diversity of opinions, 122-123 Jaloux, Edmond, 1 1 6 Jean-Aubry, G., 156 Joulie, Marius, quoted: on rise of M as writer, 30 Kahn, Gustave, 47 Kaye-Smith, Sheila, 155 Kistemaeckers, Henry, 27 Koning, Victor, 16 Krutch, J . W., 155

225

Lacassagne, Z., author of first French dissertation on M, 67ra Lacaze-Duthiers, Gérard de, regards Pierre et Jean as M's best novel, 1 1 2 quoted: on M's subjectivism, 76-77 Lacour, L., 62 quoted: on travel chronicles, 1 1 ; on evolution in manner, 50 Lacretelle, Jacques de, 119, 122, 156 quoted: on absence of poetry in M's work, 120 Lafabrie, P., quoted: on style of M, 92 La Fontaine, Jean de, 55; compared with M, 35, 48, 49, 52 Lagriffe, L., 78 Lalou, René, 74 Lapierre, Charles, 49, 49n Larbaud, Valéry, 156 Larroumet, Gustave, 1 1 0 quoted: on travel chronicles, 11 ; on M's style, 61; on M as novelist, 1 1 1 La Varende, Jean de, 1 2 1 , 122, 123, 157 Leacock, Stephen, 158 Lecomte du Nouy, H., 59n, 93; M writes her of Mont-Oriol, 89 Lefèvre, Frédéric, 159 Leloir, Maurice, 12 Lemaître, Jules, 1 1 , 26, 34-37; 44-45, 48, 59, 79, 101; explains silence of critics in regard to M, 27; circumstances of first article on M, 34-35 quoted: on M's poetry, 9; on Musotte, 15; on Fort comme la mort, 102 Lemonnier, Léon, 123, 159; answers charge of brutality, 120 quoted: on his defense of M's selection of types, 121 Lengyel, Emil, 160 Lepelletier, Edmond, 5 1 , 96, 100 L e Reboullet, Ad., 3 Le Roux, Hugues, points out moral evolution in fyl's manner, 100-101 Lewis, D. B. Wyndham, 162 Lichtenberger, André, 162 Loliée, Frédéric, quoted: on M's style, 53 Loti, Pierre, 25, 54 Lucas, F. L „ 162 Lumbroso, Albert, 59«; material on M, 67 Luzy, Philippe de, represents M in Amitié amoureuse, 60

22Ô

Index

M a d a r i a g a , Salvador de, 163 Mademoiselle Fifi, 27-29, 32, 35 Mademoiselle Fifi [adaptation]. 19. 21 Main gauche, La, 45 Maison Tellier, La, 25-27, 35, 54, 57, 6 1 ; composition, 26: tales sum up M s favorite themes, 26 Maison Tellier, La, [adaptation], 22 Maison turque à la feuille de rose, La, 12 M a l l a r m é , Stéphane, 52 M a n n , Heinrich, 163 , T h o m a s , 164 Martel, T a n c r è d e quoted on Pierre et Jean, 1 1 3 M a r t i n du Gard, Roger, 1 1 8 , 164; considers M "monocorde," 120 M a r t i n o , Pierre, 74 quoted on M as novelist, 1 1 2 Masefield, J o h n , 165 M a u g h a m , W. Somerset, 165 Mauclair, Camille, 1 1 3 Maurois, André, 165; considers stories too "clever," 120 Mencken, H . L „ 165 Mille, Pierre, 166; explains why M's stories are still read, 1 1 8 Miomandre. Francis de, 1 1 8 , 166; objects to M's conception of life, 120 Miss Harriet, 33 Mérimée, Prosper, 50 Maupassant, G u y de, known to restricted g r o u p before Boule de Suif, 4; relations with Flaubert, 7; supersensitive and irritable, 16; dramatic adaptations of his works, 21-23; interest in short story bef o r e 1880, 24; obtains leave of absence f r o m Ministry of Education, 24; publishers of most of his works, 29*1; peak years of productivity in short story, 3 1 32; represents tendencies of his generation. 32; influence of Flaubert, 34; dissociation from group of Naturalists, 43; presentation of love, 44-45; representative of his generation, 50: 011 Nature, 50: legends of physical excesses disputed, 51-52; feminine characters, 53; universal appeal, 55; aversion 10 discussing literature, 63; first dissertation in France, 67n\ insanity, 68; reasons for popularity, 69; vocabulary compared with that of Mérimée, 71-72; essential trait of his stories, 72; later works, 73;

place in French letters. 73; posthumous publications. 74; first biographies in English, 77-78; neglected. 79: adulterine child a favorite theme. 93. literary principles discussed in preface to Pierre et Jean, 94. 95, 97. 98; prolific, 99: unwillingness to publish ill the Rei'ue des Deux Mnndes, 103; interest in sales of works, 106; first exhibit in the U. S., 11711; dissertations in progress at Univ. of Paris, 11711: popularity in U. S. S. R „ 117« Character, 54, 73; reveals himself in travel chronicles, 1 1 ; characterized by Ceard, 240 Classic traits, 36, 49, 50, 52. 57, 59. 74 Conteur, 24-80, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 , 123 Destiny, 77, 79-80; early success, 30; explanation of early success, 3 1 , 32; immediately after death, 55-56; after death, 66-67; prestige not diminished after death, 68, 69; popularity, 73; reasons for low esteem, 74; why neglected, 75; present reputation. 1 1 5 124; eclipse. 1 1 5 - 1 1 6 ; " r e h a b i l i t a t i o n " of his prestige, 1 1 6 ; popularity today, 122-123 Evolution in his manner, 59, 85, 90 Influences, 50. 91 Novels, 77, 8 1 - 1 1 4 ; 119; utilization of short stories in, 86h; society novels regretted, 123 Pessimism, 33, 3 1 , 36, 40, 42, 64. 70, 87, 9°' 92 Psychology, 1 1 , 42, 85. 87, 99, 109. 1 1 0 Romanticism, Gj. 65, see also subjectivism Sensuality. 36. 52 Shortcomings, 34, 37. | j ; world he depicts, 90: themes. 98; manner, 107108; essence of poetry lacking, 119120; portrayal of low type of humanity, 120; philosophy of life, 120; "monocorde." 120: mechanical, 120, 1 2 1 : insufficiently intellectual and philosophical, 1 2 1 ; personality lacking in interest, 1 2 1 : M justifies his apparent predileciion for lusty themes, 28. 29; answers his critics. 80 Style, 1 1 , 30. 33. 39, 43, 45, 48, 52, 53, 6 1 . 70, 72-73, 75, 76, 77, 80, 83, 92, 96, 1 1 7 - 1 1 8 , 122

Maupassant Criticism in France Subjectivism, 58-59, 76-77 T h e a t r e , 12-23 T r a v e l Chronicles, 1 0 - 1 1 Quoted: on preoccupation to succeed in literary world, 1; on his decision to a b a n d o n writing plays, 13; on Mont-Oriol, 89; on preface to Pierre et Jean, 93-94; on Fort comme la mort, 100; on Notre Coeur, 105; on essential traits a n d functions of critics, 124 Maupassant, L a u r e de, 590, 60, 66 Maurois, André, 123 Maurras, Charles, 165 quoted: on M's romanticism, 64 M a y n i a l , Edouard, 20, 5971, 67 Meilhac, 12 Mendès, Catulle, 65 Moguez, E., quoted: on M's style, 52; on Pierre Jean, 108-109 Molière, 55 Monsieur Parent, 37-38 Montaigne, 55 Montherlant, Henry de, 1 2 1 , 166 Mont-Oriol, 45, 89-93, " 4 Moreno, Mile, 65 Morice, Charles, 47 M u m f o r d , Lewis, 167 M u r r y , J . Middleton, 167 Musset, A l f r e d de, 17 M motte, 14, 19, 21

et

Necklace, The, [adaptation], 22 Némirovsky, Irène, 167 N e v e u x , Pol, 1 1 , 2 1 , 64; introduction to C o n a r d edition, 69 quoted: on M's poetry, 9-10; on Pierre el Jean, 1 1 1 ; on M's romanticism, 65; on M's style, 70 Nolhac, Pierre de, predicts M will not write poetry after Des Vers, 8 N o r m a n d , J a q u e s , 15, 65: collaborator of M in Musette, 14 quoted: on what might have been M's destiny as playwright, 19 N o r m a n d y , G., 77. 78 Notre Coeur, 46, 54. 103-108, 114, 1 1 9 O'Faolain, Sean, 168 Ohnct. Georges, 39 Ollendorff, 56. 61

227

Paix du menage, La, 15-19, 20, 21 Partie de campagne, Une, 26 Paul, Louis, 169 Pellissier, Georges, 64 Père M Hon, Le, 6 1 , 64, 74 Pessart, H . quoted: on La Paix du ménage, 17 "Petit B l e u " [Léon Fontaine], 78 Petit Bottin des lettres et des arts, 38-39 Petite Roque, La [adaptation], 19, 22 Pierre et Jean, 45, 93-99. 1 0 1 - 1 0 2 , 108, 1 1 1 , 1 1 2 , 1 1 3 , 1 1 4 : preface to, 124 Pinchon. R o b e r t , 13 Plessis, F., 3 Poe, E d g a r A., 64 Porto-Riche, G . de, 60 Pourtalès, Guv de, 1 1 9 , 170 Powys, J o h n Cowper, 170 , Llewelyn, 1 7 1 Prévost, Marcel, 55, 75, 1 1 1 Priestley, J . B „ 1 7 1 Rabelais, 55 Rachilde, 64, 171 Rascoe, Burton, 1 7 1 R e n a n . Ernest, influence on M, 50 Répétition, Une, 12, 13 Retté, Adolphe, 54 Richepin, Jean, 3 R o d , F., quoted: on Soirées de Médan, 3-4; on M's poetry, 10 R o l l a n d , J o a c h i m , 11 Rolypoly [Boule de Suif adaptation], 22 R o m a i n s , J u l e s , 172 Rosier de Mme Husson, Le, [adaptation], 22 R o u j o n , Henry, 1 1 1 Roussel, R o m a i n , 122, 172 quoted: on M's style, 1 1 7 Rzewuski. Count Stanislas. 43. 44, 54 quoted: on Une Vie, 84-86 Saiten, Felix. 174 Sarcey. Francisque. 43: warns M upon the nature of his themes, 27-28; considers journalistic setting of Bel-Ami false, 88 quoted: on Musotte, 14-15: oil Monsieur Parent, 37 Sarovan, William, 178 Scherer, Edmond quoted: 011 Pierre et Jean, 97-98

22 8

Index

Schinz, Albert, 71 Ségur, Nicolas, 113 Seillière, Ernest, 118, 179 Sheean, Vincent, 180 Sherard, R . H., 77 Sillanpiia, F. E., 182 Silvestre, Charles, 183 Simenon, Georges, 183; considers M "artiste pur," 121-122 Sinclair, Upton, 184 Soirées de Médan, Les, 78, 79; polemic around, 1; preface to, 2; popularity, 4; explanation of attacks upon, 5; unifying theme, 6 see also Boule de Suif Sorel, Albert, 61 n, 65 String, The, [adaptation of La Ficelle], 22 Strowski, Fortunat, 73 Suckow, R u t h , 184 Sur l'eau [travel chroniclc], 10-11, 57, 70 Sur l'eau [short story], 26 Swinburne, A l g e r n o n C., 46 Swinnerton, Frank, 184 Symbolism, 62-63 T a i n e , Hippolyte, influence on M, 50 T a r k i n g t o n , Booth, 185 Tassart, François, 73 Terrier, Jean, 78 T h a r a u d , Jérôme et Jean, 118, 185 T h é r i v e , André, 118, 119, 185 Tic, Le, 64 T i l l e t , J. d u quoted: on La Paix du ménage, 17 Tolstoy, L., first acquaintance with M's works, 25; interest in M's works, 57, 58, 109-110 quoted: on three indispensible qualities of artistic creations, 110 T o m e l , Guy, 52

Trahison de la Comtesse de Rhune, 12, 13; rejected by Bal lande, 13 T u r g e n i e f f , 12, 25

La,

Undset, Sigrid, 186 Valéry, Paul, 186 Vandérem, Fernand, 62 quoted: on M s sensuality, 52 Van Dören, Carl, 186 Vercel, Roger, 117, 119, 122, 186 Verlet, Raoul, 65 l ie, Une, 25, 43, 44, 57, 81-86, 83, 101, 108, 109-110, 119 l ie errante, La, 10-11, 45, 54 Viguier. Charles, 47 quoted: on M's psychology, 96 Vieille, La, [adaptation], 22 Voivenel, P., 78 Walpole, Hugh, 187 Werfel, Franz, 187 Williams, William Carlos, 188 Wolff, Albert, regrets M's choice of subjects, 28-29 quoted: 011 Les Soirées de Médan, 2; on Musotte, 14; on Mont-Oriol, 90 Yvette,

[adaptation], 19, 21, 23

Zola, Emile, 12, 20, 47, 48, 83; attacks on Soirées de Médan directed at him, 3; antagonism to, 6 quoted: on Boule de Suif, 5; on La Maison Tellier, 25; on M s universal appeal, 55; on Pierre et Jean, 109 Zweig, Arnold, 188 , Stefan, 190