Guy de Maupassant is often called the master of erotic prose. But the novel “Bel Ami” (1885) goes beyond the scope of this genre. The history of the career of the ordinary seducer and playboy Georges Durois, developing in the spirit of an adventure novel, becomes a symbolic reflection of the spiritual impoverishment of the hero and society. Time passes, but readers are still interested in the image of a cynical adventurer and womanizer, a seducer of secular beauties who do not disdain anything to break out of poverty and obscurity in high society. Not possessing special talents, except the...

Maupassant became famous in 1880 after the release of the short story "Pyshka". The writer considered Tolstoy and Turgenev to be his teachers in literary mastery. The most famous works of the writer, “Life” and “Dear Friend”, are filled with the subtle psychologism and realism that Maupassant strove for. The word artist spoke in detail about the life, way of life and mores of people. Maupassant was excited by completely different social classes and types, their problems and experiences, which he revealed with all honesty, without embellishment....