Character guide

Doctor Heraclius Gloss

major

Also known as Heraclius Gloss, Doctor Heraclius, the learned Heraclius, Heraclius, Reverse Doctor Heraclius, Doctor

A learned but eccentric doctor who becomes obsessed with metempsychosis and a mysterious manuscript.

Monsieur Parent

major

Also known as Parent, Little Georges, Georges, a new Georges, Poor Monsieur Parent

A man whose life unravels after discovering his wife's infidelity, central to a domestic drama.

Boule de Suif

major

A kind-hearted prostitute who is scorned by her traveling companions during the Franco-Prussian War.

Madame Tellier

major

Also known as Tellier, Madame

The proprietress of a brothel who takes her girls on a country outing for a first communion.

Yvette

major

Also known as Mam'zelle Yvette, Mam'zelle, Hip - Hip - Hurrah—Mam'zelle Yvette

A beautiful young woman navigating love and societal expectations in Parisian high society.

Joseph Renardet

major

Also known as So Renardet, Renardet, Still Renardet

A wealthy and powerful landowner whose dark past haunts his present.

Miss Harriet

major

Also known as this Miss Harriet, this strange Miss Harriet

An eccentric English painter who falls in love with a French artist while staying in Normandy.

Paul Pavilly

supporting

Also known as Paul, old Pavilly, Pavilly

A man entangled in a complicated romantic relationship with a possessive mistress.

Duc de Servigny

supporting

Also known as Servigny, le Duc de Servigny, Duc, So Servigny

An aristocratic friend who observes and comments on the romantic intrigues of his circle.

Monsieur Saval

supporting

Also known as Saval, Monsieur le Baron Saval, Baron, Baron Saval

A baron who hosts a memorable hunting party and dinner for his friends.

Guy de Maupassant

supporting

Also known as M. Guy de Maupassant, M. de Maupassant, de Maupassant, M. d'Apreval

The author appears as a character in some of his own frame stories.

Simon Bombard

major

Also known as Simon, little Simon, Prosper Bombard, M. Simon Bombard, Bombard

A young boy who bravely confronts a bully and finds a father figure in a blacksmith.

Walter Schnaffs

supporting

A timid Prussian soldier who desperately seeks to be taken prisoner to avoid fighting.

Madame Loisel

major

Also known as Loisel

A woman who borrows a necklace for a ball and pays a devastating price for losing it.

M. Lesable

supporting

Also known as the wretched M. Lesable, Lesable, Jacques Léopold Lesable, Léopold

A man whose marriage is tested by his wife's friendship with another man.

Maître Chicot

supporting

Also known as Monsieur Chicot, Chicot, The Little Cask Maître Chicot

A cunning innkeeper who tricks an old woman into giving up her property for a cask of wine.

Madame Lefèvre

supporting

Also known as Madame Julie Lefèvre, Juliette, Julie, Madame

A miserly farmer's wife who buys a dog to protect her poultry.

Césaire Houlbrèque

supporting

Also known as Césaire, Houlbrèque

A sailor who returns from the sea to find his life has changed forever.

M. Cachelin

supporting

Also known as M. César Cachelin, papa Cachelin, Cachelin, César

An old man whose family is thrown into turmoil by his late-in-life marriage.

Mademoiselle Henriette

supporting

Also known as Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle Henriette Bonnel, Henriette, Henriette Bonnel

A young woman who becomes the object of affection during a country excursion.

Old Levas

minor

Also known as Monsieur Levas, Levas

An old man whose death becomes a source of morbid curiosity and family conflict.

Pierre Martel

minor

Also known as Martel

A man who recounts a strange and haunting story from his past.

Boitelle

supporting

Also known as Boitelle Old Antoine Boitelle, Antoine Boitelle, Antoine, young Boitelle, Old Boitelle

A Norman peasant whose love for a black woman is thwarted by his parents' prejudice.

Hector de Gribelin

supporting

Also known as Hector

A man who challenges another to a duel but struggles with his own cowardice.

Lormerin

supporting

Also known as the handsome Lormerin

A vain and aging man who encounters a former lover and her daughter.

Cornudet

supporting

A republican traveling in the same coach as Boule de Suif, who preaches virtue but acts hypocritically.

Marroca

supporting

A passionate and free-spirited woman living in Algeria who has a secret affair.

Mohammed ben Lam'har

minor

Also known as Mohammed

An Arab man whose story of love and betrayal is told in a North African setting.

Baron Mordiane

minor

Also known as Mordiane

A cynical and worldly baron who enjoys manipulating others for his amusement.

Mister Belhomme

minor

Also known as Belhomme, But Belhomme

A man who becomes entangled in a bizarre legal and marital situation.

Hautot

supporting

Also known as César, César Hautot, The elder Hautot, young Hautot, the young Hautot, The young Hautot

A wealthy farmer whose death reveals a secret second family to his son.

Denis Marambot

minor

Also known as Denis, Marambot, Monsieur Marambot

A man who discovers a disturbing truth about his wife's past.

Saint Anthony

minor

Also known as Anthony

The saint appears in a story about a man who makes a pact with the devil.

Old Amable

supporting

Also known as Old Amable, father Amable, Only old Amable

A stubborn old peasant who refuses to accept the changing ways of his family.

Jacques Parent

minor

Also known as Jacques

A man whose life is overshadowed by his more famous and successful brother.

Sabot

minor

Also known as Théodule Sabot

A peasant who builds a privy and becomes the subject of a humorous local scandal.

Marquise Obardi

supporting

Also known as Obardi, The Marquise Obardi, Madame Obardi, The Marquise, Marquise, the Marquise, The astonished Marquise

A wealthy and fashionable society hostess in Paris.

Mademoiselle Pearl

supporting

Also known as Pearl, Mademoiselle

A quiet, devoted governess whose secret past is revealed on a festive evening.

Rosa la Rosse

minor

Also known as Rosa, fat Rosa

A prostitute who works in Madame Tellier's establishment.

Paul Limousin

minor

Also known as Limousin, Paul

A young man who becomes involved in a tragic love triangle.

Madeleine

minor

Also known as Madame Madeleine, Madame

A woman whose past catches up with her in a surprising way.

Isidore Paturon

minor

Also known as Isidore, Paturon, this Isidore

A young man who is tricked into a marriage by a clever matchmaker.

Pierre de Marchas

minor

Also known as Marchas

A journalist and friend who accompanies the narrator on various adventures.

Joseph Rivet

minor

Also known as Joseph, Monsieur Joseph Rivet, Monsieur Rivet, Rivet

A Norman farmer who becomes involved in a local scandal.

Father Matthew

minor

Also known as Matthew

A priest who offers counsel and performs a memorable exorcism.

Philip Remy

minor

Also known as Philip

A friend of the narrator who shares a strange and unsettling experience.

Labouise

minor

A soldier who tells a grim story about a comrade's fate during the war.

Monsieur Boivin

minor

Also known as Boivin, old Boivin

A man whose wife's obsession with a dog leads to a tragic accident.

Madame Berthe Vilers

minor

Also known as Madame Vilers, Berthe

A woman who writes a letter revealing her innermost feelings.

Henri Fontal

minor

Also known as Henri

A man who recounts a bizarre and haunting tale of a haunted house.

Maître Hauchecorne

supporting

Also known as Hauchecorne

A peasant falsely accused of stealing a pocketbook, which destroys his reputation.

Mother Magloire

minor

Also known as Mother, Old Mother Magloire

An old woman who outwits a greedy notary with a clever trick.

Irma

minor

Also known as the beautiful Irma, Irma Pavolin, the lovely Irma

A beautiful young woman who becomes the object of a soldier's affection.

Luc Le Ganidec

minor

Also known as Luc

A Breton sailor who tells a story of a supernatural encounter at sea.

Comte de Mascaret

supporting

Also known as the Comte de Mascaret, the Comte

A nobleman whose marriage is strained by the burden of repeated childbirth.

Rachel

minor

A prostitute who works in Madame Tellier's house and has a tender moment with a young man.

Madame Savage

supporting

Also known as Madame

A mother who takes a terrible revenge on the Prussian soldiers billeted in her home.

Jeanne Cordier

minor

Also known as Cordier, Jeanne

A young woman who defies her father to marry the man she loves.

Honoré Bontemps

minor

Also known as Honoré

A man whose wife's infidelity is revealed in a public and humiliating way.

Mademoiselle Francesca Rondoli

supporting

Also known as Francesca, Mademoiselle Rondoli, Mademoiselle Francesca, Suddenly Francesca, Rondoli, Francesca Rondoli

A beautiful Italian woman who captivates a traveler during a train journey.

Monsieur Loiseau

supporting

Also known as Loiseau, Madame Loiseau, Unfortunately Loiseau, Madame

A vulgar and opportunistic wine merchant traveling in the coach with Boule de Suif.

Bertha

minor

Also known as Madame Lelièvre, Madame Bertha Lelièvre

A woman whose secret correspondence leads to a dramatic confrontation.

De Garelle

minor

Also known as M. de Garelle

A young man who is the lover of the Marquise Obardi.

Madame Husson

supporting

A virtuous woman who establishes a 'May King' festival to promote morality in her town.

Monsieur Morissot

supporting

Also known as Morissot

A Parisian who goes fishing with a friend and is captured by the Prussians.

Madame Dufour

minor

Also known as Madame

A mother who takes her family on a country excursion where her daughter is seduced.

Sorieul

minor

A Norman farmer who tells a story about a clever trick played on a neighbor.

Maillochon

minor

A soldier who participates in a grim and humorous prank.

Coco

minor

Also known as Zidore, Coco - Zidore

A neglected old horse that becomes the focus of a poignant story about cruelty.

Muscade

supporting

A pet monkey belonging to Doctor Heraclius Gloss, who causes much chaos.

Clochette

minor

Also known as Mother Clochette, this Mother Clochette

An old nun who tells a story of a tragic love from her youth.

Queen Hortense

minor

An eccentric old woman who believes she is a queen and lives in a fantasy world.

Old Boniface

minor

Also known as Boniface, postman Boniface, old Boniface

A postman who becomes the victim of a cruel practical joke.

Polyte

minor

Also known as Monsieur Polyte

A farmhand who has a secret affair with a farmer's wife.

Bel-Ami

minor

Also known as Anna, Isabella

A pet dog whose fate is tied to a story of love and loss.

Mouche

supporting

Also known as Man, Mouche A Boating Man, little Mouche

A young woman who lives on a boat with three men and keeps a secret.

Gaspard Hari

minor

Also known as Gaspard, old Gaspard Hari, old Hari, old Gaspard, Old Hari, Old Gaspard, Hari, Old Gaspard Hari

An old Norman peasant whose life is marked by a terrible secret.

Madame Lecacheur

minor

Also known as Lecacheur

A shrewd innkeeper who hosts a memorable dinner party.

Morin

minor

Also known as Madame Morin

A man who is arrested for assaulting a woman on a train and must face the consequences.