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blueyorkie 's review for:
Une Vie
by Guy de Maupassant
"A life" or the banal story of a woman!
Indeed this book of crude realism tells little: Jeanne, a naive young girl, will marry a boor who will humiliate and deceive her.
But the interest lies above all in the painting of women in the nineteenth century: the author, who, let us remember, is a man, manages to put himself in the shoes of this anti-heroine, Jeanne. And he describes his sufferings, these minor daily outrages, with subtlety and clarity.
I don't know Maupassant's feelings for his character: compassion, annoyance, or resentment. But for my part, that's a bit what I felt: Jeanne is moving at the beginning because it is certain she undergoes the mistreatment of an ungrateful husband. But, then, she gradually disturbs us with her passivity. She does not deserve her marital fate. Who is so "flower-blue" in her youth, so sweet and faithful as a wife, will go from disillusionment to frustration. And yet, she has nothing: richer than Julien; she has property, a vital rank, and her parents are always with her to support her. It cannot be said that all women are given a chance at birth. So why so few reactions from him? We would have liked her to get carried away by this so cruel husband when, for example, she discovers adultery or pushes him out of her home with the support of her parents, who, let us remember, are the actual owners. Peoples. In short, she could have reacted as much as she has strengths despite her inferior status as a woman.
This fact is perhaps what the author seeks to do: make us react, we readers, by telling us about this life "suffered," gloomy and frustrating. Maybe the fate of women will one day change and gain rights and consideration. What will happen a century later in Western societies with their emancipation?
Indeed this book of crude realism tells little: Jeanne, a naive young girl, will marry a boor who will humiliate and deceive her.
But the interest lies above all in the painting of women in the nineteenth century: the author, who, let us remember, is a man, manages to put himself in the shoes of this anti-heroine, Jeanne. And he describes his sufferings, these minor daily outrages, with subtlety and clarity.
I don't know Maupassant's feelings for his character: compassion, annoyance, or resentment. But for my part, that's a bit what I felt: Jeanne is moving at the beginning because it is certain she undergoes the mistreatment of an ungrateful husband. But, then, she gradually disturbs us with her passivity. She does not deserve her marital fate. Who is so "flower-blue" in her youth, so sweet and faithful as a wife, will go from disillusionment to frustration. And yet, she has nothing: richer than Julien; she has property, a vital rank, and her parents are always with her to support her. It cannot be said that all women are given a chance at birth. So why so few reactions from him? We would have liked her to get carried away by this so cruel husband when, for example, she discovers adultery or pushes him out of her home with the support of her parents, who, let us remember, are the actual owners. Peoples. In short, she could have reacted as much as she has strengths despite her inferior status as a woman.
This fact is perhaps what the author seeks to do: make us react, we readers, by telling us about this life "suffered," gloomy and frustrating. Maybe the fate of women will one day change and gain rights and consideration. What will happen a century later in Western societies with their emancipation?