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    A Comedy of Marriage: "A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one"
    A Comedy of Marriage: "A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one"
    A Comedy of Marriage: "A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one"
    Ebook97 pages1 hour

    A Comedy of Marriage: "A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one"

    By Guy de Maupassant

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    About this ebook

    Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5th, 1850 near Dieppe in France. Maupassant’s early life was badly torn when at age 11 (his younger brother Hervé was then five) his mother, Laure, a headstrong and independent-minded woman, risked social disgrace in order to obtain a legal separation from her husband. After the separation, Laure kept custody of her two boys. With the father now forcibly absent, Laure became the most influential and important figure in the young boy's life. Maupassant’s education was such that he rebelled against religion and other societal norms but a developing friendship with Gustave Flaubert began to turn his mind towards creativity and writing. After graduation he volunteered for the Franco-Prussian war. With its end he moved to Paris to work as a clerk in the Navy Department. Gustave Flaubert now took him under his wing. Acting as a literary guardian to him, he guided the eager Maupassant to debuts in journalism and literature. For Maupassant these were exciting times and the awakening of his creative talents and ambitions. In 1880 he published what is considered his first great work, ‘Boule de Suif’, (translated as as ‘Dumpling’, ‘Butterball’, ‘Ball of Fat’, or ‘Ball of Lard’) which met with a success that was both instant and overwhelming. Flaubert at once acknowledged that it was ‘a masterpiece that will endure.’ Maupassant had used his talents and experiences in the war to create something unique. This decade from 1880 to 1891 was to be the most pivotal of his career. With an audience now made available by the success of ‘Boule de Suif’ Maupassant organised himself to work methodically and relentlessly to produce between two and four volumes of work a year. The melding of his talents and business sense and the continual hunger of sources for his works made him wealthy. In his later years he developed a desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death as well as a paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth. On January 2nd, 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat. Unsuccessful he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris. It was here on July 6th, 1893 that Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant died at the age of only 42.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStage Door
    Release dateNov 7, 2017
    ISBN9781787375192
    A Comedy of Marriage: "A lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one"
    Author

    Guy de Maupassant

    Guy de Maupassant was a French writer and poet considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern short story whose best-known works include "Boule de Suif," "Mother Sauvage," and "The Necklace." De Maupassant was heavily influenced by his mother, a divorcée who raised her sons on her own, and whose own love of the written word inspired his passion for writing. While studying poetry in Rouen, de Maupassant made the acquaintance of Gustave Flaubert, who became a supporter and life-long influence for the author. De Maupassant died in 1893 after being committed to an asylum in Paris.

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      Book preview

      A Comedy of Marriage - Guy de Maupassant

      A Comedy of Marriage by Guy De Maupassant

      Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5th, 1850 near Dieppe in France.

      Maupassant’s early life was badly torn when at age 11 (his younger brother Hervé was then five) his mother, Laure, a headstrong and independent-minded woman, risked social disgrace in order to obtain a legal separation from her husband.

      After the separation, Laure kept custody of her two boys. With the father now forcibly absent, Laure became the most influential and important figure in the young boy's life. 

      Maupassant’s education was such that he rebelled against religion and other societal norms but a developing friendship with Gustave Flaubert began to turn his mind towards creativity and writing.

      After graduation he volunteered for the Franco-Prussian war. With its end he moved to Paris to work as a clerk in the Navy Department.  Gustave Flaubert now took him under his wing.  Acting as a literary guardian to him, he guided the eager Maupassant to debuts in journalism and literature.  For Maupassant these were exciting times and the awakening of his creative talents and ambitions.

      In 1880 he published what is considered his first great work, ‘Boule de Suif’, (translated as as ‘Dumpling’, ‘Butterball’, ‘Ball of Fat’, or ‘Ball of Lard’) which met with a success that was both instant and overwhelming.  Flaubert at once acknowledged that it was ‘a masterpiece that will endure.’ Maupassant had used his talents and experiences in the war to create something unique.

      This decade from 1880 to 1891 was to be the most pivotal of his career.  With an audience now made available by the success of ‘Boule de Suif’ Maupassant organised himself to work methodically and relentlessly to produce between two and four volumes of work a year.  The melding of his talents and business sense and the continual hunger of sources for his works made him wealthy.

      In his later years he developed a desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death as well as a paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth.

      On January 2nd, 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat.  Unsuccessful he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris.  It was here on July 6th, 1893 that

      Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant died at the age of only 42.

      Index of Contents

      A COMEDY OF MARRIAGE - LA PAIX DU MÉNAGE

      DRAMATIS PERSONAE

      THE SCENE

      ACT I

      SCENE I

      SCENE II

      SCENE III

      ACT II

      SCENE I

      SCENE II

      SCENE III

      SCENE IV

      GUY DE MAUPASSANT – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

      GUY DE MAUPASSANT – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY

      A COMEDY OF MARRIAGE - LA PAIX DU MÉNAGE

      DRAMATIS PERSONAE

      MONSIEUR DE SALLUS

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      MADAME DE SALLUS

      THE SCENE: Paris, 1890

      ACT I

      SCENE I

      MME. De SALLUS in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.

      Enter JACQUES De RANDOL noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses MME. De SALLUS quickly upon her hair. She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh! How imprudent you are!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Don’t be afraid; no one saw me.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      But the servants!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Oh, they are in the outer hall.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      How is that? No one announced you

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      No, they simply opened the door for me.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      But what will they think?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Well, they will doubtless think that I don’t count.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      But I will not permit it. I must have you announced in future. It does not look well.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL [laughs]

      Perhaps they will even go so far as to announce your husband―

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Jacques, this jesting is out of place.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Forgive me.

      [Sits.

      Are you waiting for anybody?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes―probably. You know that I always receive when I am at home.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      I know that I always have the pleasure of seeing you for about five minutes―just enough time to ask you how you feel, and then some one else comes in―some one in love with you, of course,―who impatiently awaits my departure.

      MME. DE SALLUS [smiles]

      Well, what can I do? I am not your wife, so how can it be otherwise?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Ah! If you only were my wife!

      MME. DE SALLUS

      If I were your wife?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      I would snatch you away for five or six months, far from this horrible town, and keep you all to myself.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      You would soon have enough of me.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      No, no!

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes, yes!

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Do you know that it is absolute torture to love a woman like you?

      MME. DE SALLUS

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