The Story Archive

Boule de Suif

Guy de Maupassant · 1880 CE · Short Story · French · Victorian

Ten people share a coach out of occupied Rouen in the winter of 1870: two nuns, a democrat, three couples of property, and a plump prostitute none of the respectable ones will speak to until her provisions basket comes out and they have eaten nothing for a day. At an inn on the road a Prussian officer will not let the coach go on, and names his condition. Maupassant's first published story, in a war volume brought out by Zola's circle at Médan.

Open Boule de Suif in the archive — filters, lineage graph and full facet browsing.

Lineage

Attributes

Genre
SatireWar
Theme
Class & InequalityBetrayalWar & ViolenceAppearance vs Reality
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Fallen WomanScapegoatEveryman
Plot structure
Ironic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The FeastThe JourneyWinter
Conflict
vs Societyvs Person
Mode / tone
IronicRealistSatirical
Culture / tradition
French

Closest analogues