Pierre et Jean (II): Changing Places

Abstract

This novel, Maupassant’s fourth, has always excited a positive critical response and for many readers is a perfect illustration of the precision and economy of his prose style. At the same time, these qualities of the prose have been placed at the disposal of a psychological analysis of considerable subtlety. Indeed, Sullivan, among others, see Pierre et Jean as a clear statement of Maupassant’s secession from Naturalism and a corresponding move towards the ‘psychological’ novel.¹ It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in spite of its diminutive proportions, Pierre et Jean is deemed to be a great work, the brevity of the text belying the intricacy of the composition. This is a novel which is subtle without being cumbersome, complex but compact.