The Beautiful Friend: A Popular Edition of World Literature

Author: Guy de Maupassant
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: The Beautiful Lady is a representative work of Guy de Maupassant's long. It caused a sensation upon its publication in May 1885 and was reprinted more than thirty times within a few months. The lower-ranking officer of the French colonial army in Algeria, Duroy, arrives in Paris and is introduced to a position as an editor at The Life of France by a friend. He relies on his handsome appearance and his charm to attract women from the upper class, using them as stepping stones to achieve upward mobility. Finally, he seduces the daughter of the newspaper owner, forcing the owner to marry her to Duroy, who then becomes the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. The novel also hints at the end that he is about to become a senator and a minister of the cabinet, with a bright future still ahead of him.