# Misti explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

## What happens

A bachelor recounts his affair with a married woman, Emma, and their shared adventures, including a visit to a fortune teller whose story about a jealous cat leads Emma to give away her own cat, Misti, out of fear for her lover's eyes.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Desire

The narrator's affair with Emma is driven by desire and the pleasures of a secret relationship, including physical intimacy and shared adventures.

### Obsession and Delusion

Emma's superstitious nature and the fortune teller's story about a jealous cat lead her to give away Misti, fearing for her lover's eyes, illustrating irrational obsession.

### Gender and Power

The narrator's preference for married women and his view of husbands as friends highlights the power dynamics in extramarital relationships and the male perspective on female fidelity.

## Character check-ins

### Guy de Maupassant

The narrator, a bachelor who recounts his affair with a married woman and his fondness for her husband.

### Madame Tellier

The narrator's mistress, a married woman named Emma, who is superstitious and enjoys risky escapades.

### Monsieur Parent

Emma's husband, a civil servant who is often away, leaving the narrator and Emma free to meet.

## Key lines

> My mistress at that time was a funny little woman. She was married, of course, for I’ve a perfect horror of unmarried women.

The narrator's lover was a married woman, as he dislikes unmarried women.

_Establishes the narrator's preference for married mistresses._

> The chiefest pleasure enjoyed by a bachelor who has a married woman for his mistress, is that she provides him with a home, a comfortable, pleasant home in which everyone looks after him and spoils him, from the husband to the servants.

A bachelor's main joy in having a married mistress is the domestic comfort and care he receives from her household.

_Highlights the narrator's utilitarian view of relationships._

> I have another weakness: I like my mistresses’ husbands.

The narrator also enjoys the company of his mistresses' husbands.

_Reveals the narrator's unusual fondness for the husbands of his lovers._

> Emma, whose mind believed anything and everything, shivered with pleasure and uneasiness, and made room beside her for the hag.

Emma, being highly superstitious, eagerly invited the fortune teller to sit with them.

_Shows Emma's credulous nature._

> If you love a man, you must not keep it.

The fortune teller warns that a woman in love should not keep a cat like Misti.

_Foreshadows the cat's removal due to jealousy._

> I was afraid for your eyes, darling.

Emma gave away Misti because she feared the cat might harm the narrator's eyes.

_Reveals Emma's motivation for parting with her beloved cat._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/misti
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters