Arts Studies and Criticism

As an important representative of 19th-century French realist literature, Guy de Maupassant created numerous female characters from the lower strata of society in his extensive body of short stories. These women often find themselves trapped in multiple predicaments, including war, poverty, class oppression, and moral discipline, yet they demonstrate resilient vitality and distinct subjectivity in extreme circumstances. Taking Boule de Suif, The Port, Madame Baptiste, and Old Woman Souvrette as the main research texts, and in connection with Maupassant’s realist creative stance, this paper focuses on analyzing the typological features and spiritual connotations of the female characters he portrayed. The study argues that these women are neither idealized moral symbols nor simply victims; rather, they are concentrated bearers of structural social injustice. Through detailed depiction of individual women’s fates, Maupassant transforms the traumas of war, class oppression, and institutional violence into concrete and tangible life experiences, thereby profoundly revealing the long-endured suffering of the common people and reflecting the realist critique and humanitarian concern embedded in his works.