Bel-Ami

Compliments and Maupassant

A few weeks ago, at my coworking space The Hub, Stéphane arrived and said ‘Comment ça va, belle amie ?’. Now, I would definitely describe myself as a feminist and can be quite véhémente about it, but I’m certainly not adverse to compliments! And there is always a certain charm to the way Frenchmen pay compliments, in this case, light and bright! Then Stéphane asked me if I had read Maupassant’s novel, Bel-Ami. I said that I hadn’t; I have a masters degree in French and Philosophy, but I admit that over the last 21 years (wow, that long!) of living here, I have barely read one book in French*. It always felt like I should be underlining passages to be able to quote them in analyses, or looking up words to be certain of the meaning. Stéphane insisted, saying that it’s an easy read, and lent me his copy of the book. So Bel-Ami had been in my pile of books to read for a while, when I, almost begrudgingly, started it.

What a surprise, what a delight! The language is wonderful, the characters, especially Georges Duroy, known as Bel-Ami in the book, so humanly flawed and engaging. Originally published in 1885, it is a novel about the emerging bourgeoisie during the belle époque of the Third Republic.

Reflection on the Third Republic

The preceding 100 years in France had been tumultuous. The country had been through no less than eight political regimes: one absolute monarchy, three constitutional monarchies, two republics and two empires. Not to mention one revolution and several wars! But at last, stability started to gain ground after a third restoration of the monarchy had been avoided (when the Bourbon, Henri d’Artois, Comte de Chambord, refused the tricolor in favour of the royalist white flag for the second time!). In 1875, new laws concerning the political organisation of the state were voted, and these laws, although (or perhaps because) they were based on compromise, were to last 65 years. They were followed by other laws in which we can recognise the republican values of the France of today and included public secularism, legalisation of trade unions, freedom of the press, as well as free and obligatory education.

Descriptions of Paris

Part of the reason I enjoyed the novel was for the beautiful descriptions of Paris which are still true today. For example, a passage describing Duroy walking down Boulevard Malesherbes in the winter: ‘Paris était presque désert cette nuit-là, une nuit froide, une de ces nuits qu’on dirait plus vastes que les autres, où les étoiles sont plus hautes, où l’air semble apporter dans ses souffles glacés quelque chose venu de plus loin que les astres’. (pp 142-143, Bel-Ami, Guy de Maupassant, édition Livre de Poche, 1989).

In English, this translates as: ‘Paris was almost deserted that night, a cold night, one of those nights that seem larger than the others, when the stars are even higher, and the air seems to bring on its icy breaths something coming from farther than even the planets.’ (my translation).

Une vie nouvelle et charmante

Another passage that I particularly enjoyed is near the beginning of the book, where Georges Duroy, during his first society dinner, for which he has rented evening dress, sits in a velvet chair: ‘... quand il sentit plier sous lui le velours élastique et doux du siège, quand il se sentit enfoncé, appuyé, étreint par ce meuble caressant dont le dossier et les bras capitonnés le soutenaient délicatement, il lui sembla qu’il entrait dans une vie nouvelle et charmante, qu’il prenait possession de quelque chose de délicieux, qu’il devenait quelqu’un, qu’il était sauvé...’ (pp 34-35, Bel-Ami, Guy de Maupassant, édition Livre de Poche, 1989).

In English ‘... as he felt the soft velvet seat yield underneath him, as he felt himself sinking in, supported and gently held by the softly padded back and arms of the chair, it seemed to him that he was starting a new and enchanting life, that he was taking possession of something delightful, that he was becoming somebody, that he was saved…’ (my translation).

This is something that I would like for all of my clients to feel; as if, when they first sit in a velvet chair in their new (to them) Parisian pied-à-terre, I would like them to feel that they have finally arrived, that this is what they have been waiting for all these years. That this ‘new and enchanting life’ of living in Paris in their own home has just begun.

*I did make an exception for one of the French historical figures that I find the most intriguing; Napoleon Bonaparte. But more about that another time (despite 5th May 2021 being the bi-centinary of his death … !).

Boat named Le Bel Ami spotted on the Seine (phenomenon of when you concentrate on something, you start noticing it everywhere!)