Book Corner – June 2020 (3)
Bel-Ami – Guy de Maupassant
I have mused before about what makes a novel a classic and my conclusion always has been that it has a sort of universality and is able to speak to and resonate with its readers through the centuries. Maupassant’s Bel-Ami, published in 1885, has this in spades with a plot line featuring corrupt politicians, sleazy journalism, and a lust for sex, women and power.
We follow the protagonist, Georges Duroy, on his climb up the greasy pole to success. Working in a job without prospects Duroy bumps into an old army friend, Charles Forestier, and through his good offices lands a position as a journalist on an influential newspaper, La Vie Francaise. Without any writing experience, he finds the task of writing his piece daunting and is persuaded to seek help from Forestier’s wife, Madelaine. The resultant piece is a success.
Duroy, possessing a moustache described as irresistible, “crisp and curly, it curved charmingly over his lip, fair with auburn tints, slightly paler where it bristled”, soon discovers that the cachet of being a journalist provided him with opportunities to chase the ladies. Soon gaining the nickname of Bel-Ami, Duroy’s first conquest is Madame Clotilde de Marelle with whom he has a passionate affair.
Forestier has tuberculosis and his deathbed scene with Madelaine and Duroy in attendance is poignant and moving, the fear of death heightened by Maupassant’s own predicament, having contracted syphilis by the time he penned this. Duroy further cements his rise up the greasy pole by marrying Madelaine, whilst still conducting affairs. Madelaine comes into a sizeable inheritance which Duroy forces her to share with him and then makes a small fortune by trading on insider information. When Duroy discovers that Madelaine has been cheating on him, with a French minister of state, he unmasks her and divorces her, leaving him free to marry an heiress to an even greater fortune.
What makes the book for me is the development of Duroy’s character. He is the focal point of the book and the fulcrum around which the plot turns. At first, we are encouraged to be sympathetic towards him, he comes from a poor background and through a combination of luck and strength of character makes something of his life. But there is a restless energy to him, he is never content with what he has got, always searching to better himself, highly opportunistic. By the time the book ends, any scintilla of sympathy for him has been stripped and he stands before us a s a character who is a nasty piece of work.
The takeaway from Maupassant’s book is that whilst native cunning laced with mediocrity can lead to success, there is a sort of natural justice in operation when Duroy realises the basic futility of ambition. Despite all his trappings of success, he is so envious of the triumphs of others that he cannot enjoy what he has and, we assume, never will.
The female characters are well drawn, they are not just doll-like figures, and they give as good as they take. The translation I read was sympathetic and made reading the book an enjoyable experience. Maupassant takes delight in skewering Parisian society and showing that all is not as it seems. There is a darker side lying underneath, fuelled by hypocrisy and unseemly ambition. With the spectre of death looming large over the narrative, we are left to ponder whether grasping ambition is really worth all the effort.
I had only come across Maupassant before through his short stories but I thoroughly recommend this novel.
