Les femmes chez Maupassant

The purpose of this study is to investigate thematically how Guy de Maupassant who was influenced by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and French writer Gustave Flaubert handles women characters in his works. Maupassant is the pioneer of short story writing in French literature. This pessimist writer portrays moral corruptions of his era in his works. Beside pessimism, woman is the theme which was mainly dealt with by the writer in his works. Woman as the theme is the main focus of our study. The study adopts qualitative research. For this study, the writer's novels and short stories were reviewed. Especially the works in which woman was the main theme were examined. While investigating how woman was portrayed in his works, women's position in the society in 19th century was also explored. The women who had very few rights at the beginning of this century were able to obtain some rights towards the end of the century. The women in Maupassant's works generally consist of prostitutes, women who betray their husbands for various reasons, women who are not happy in their love and marriages. Among these prostitutes, there are patriots, those who prefer to be prostitutes to support their family or those who adopt prostitution as their profession. The effect of Maupassant's being pessimist is seen in the issues of marriage and love. In the majority of the Maupassant's works which was reviewed, it was found that there was not real love and as a result of this there was not happy marriage and women who were not happy in their marriages betrayed their husbands. Key Words: Guy de Maupassant, Women, Love, Marriage, Betrayal