# Short Fiction — Character guide

> Key figures in Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

- [Doctor Heraclius Gloss](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/doctor_heraclius_gloss.md): A learned but eccentric doctor who becomes obsessed with metempsychosis and a mysterious manuscript.
- [Monsieur Parent](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_parent.md): A man whose life unravels after discovering his wife's infidelity, central to a domestic drama.
- [Boule de Suif](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/boule_de_suif.md): A kind-hearted prostitute who is scorned by her traveling companions during the Franco-Prussian War.
- [Madame Tellier](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_tellier.md): The proprietress of a brothel who takes her girls on a country outing for a first communion.
- [Yvette](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/yvette.md): A beautiful young woman navigating love and societal expectations in Parisian high society.
- [Joseph Renardet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/joseph_renardet.md): A wealthy and powerful landowner whose dark past haunts his present.
- [Miss Harriet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/miss_harriet.md): An eccentric English painter who falls in love with a French artist while staying in Normandy.
- [Paul Pavilly](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/paul_pavilly.md): A man entangled in a complicated romantic relationship with a possessive mistress.
- [Duc de Servigny](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/the_duc_de_servigny.md): An aristocratic friend who observes and comments on the romantic intrigues of his circle.
- [Monsieur Saval](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_saval.md): A baron who hosts a memorable hunting party and dinner for his friends.
- [Guy de Maupassant](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/guy_de_maupassant.md): The author appears as a character in some of his own frame stories.
- [Simon Bombard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/simon_bombard.md): A young boy who bravely confronts a bully and finds a father figure in a blacksmith.
- [Walter Schnaffs](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/walter_schnaffs.md): A timid Prussian soldier who desperately seeks to be taken prisoner to avoid fighting.
- [Madame Loisel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_loisel.md): A woman who borrows a necklace for a ball and pays a devastating price for losing it.
- [M. Lesable](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/m_le_sable.md): A man whose marriage is tested by his wife's friendship with another man.
- [Maître Chicot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/maitre_chicot.md): A cunning innkeeper who tricks an old woman into giving up her property for a cask of wine.
- [Madame Lefèvre](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_lefevre.md): A miserly farmer's wife who buys a dog to protect her poultry.
- [Césaire Houlbrèque](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/cesaire_houlbreque.md): A sailor who returns from the sea to find his life has changed forever.
- [M. Cachelin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/m_cachelin.md): An old man whose family is thrown into turmoil by his late-in-life marriage.
- [Mademoiselle Henriette](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mademoiselle_henriette.md): A young woman who becomes the object of affection during a country excursion.
- [Old Levas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/old_levas.md): An old man whose death becomes a source of morbid curiosity and family conflict.
- [Pierre Martel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/pierre_martel.md): A man who recounts a strange and haunting story from his past.
- [Boitelle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/boitelle.md): A Norman peasant whose love for a black woman is thwarted by his parents' prejudice.
- [Hector de Gribelin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/hector_de_gribelin.md): A man who challenges another to a duel but struggles with his own cowardice.
- [Lormerin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/lormerin.md): A vain and aging man who encounters a former lover and her daughter.
- [Cornudet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/cornudet.md): A republican traveling in the same coach as Boule de Suif, who preaches virtue but acts hypocritically.
- [Marroca](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/marroca.md): A passionate and free-spirited woman living in Algeria who has a secret affair.
- [Mohammed ben Lam'har](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mohammed_ben_lamhar.md): An Arab man whose story of love and betrayal is told in a North African setting.
- [Baron Mordiane](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/baron_mordiane.md): A cynical and worldly baron who enjoys manipulating others for his amusement.
- [Mister Belhomme](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mister_belhomme.md): A man who becomes entangled in a bizarre legal and marital situation.
- [Hautot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/hautot.md): A wealthy farmer whose death reveals a secret second family to his son.
- [Denis Marambot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/denis_marambot.md): A man who discovers a disturbing truth about his wife's past.
- [Saint Anthony](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/saint_anthony.md): The saint appears in a story about a man who makes a pact with the devil.
- [Old Amable](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/old_amable.md): A stubborn old peasant who refuses to accept the changing ways of his family.
- [Jacques Parent](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/jacques_parent.md): A man whose life is overshadowed by his more famous and successful brother.
- [Sabot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/sabot.md): A peasant who builds a privy and becomes the subject of a humorous local scandal.
- [Marquise Obardi](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/the_marquise_obardi.md): A wealthy and fashionable society hostess in Paris.
- [Mademoiselle Pearl](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mademoiselle_pearl.md): A quiet, devoted governess whose secret past is revealed on a festive evening.
- [Rosa la Rosse](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/rosa_la_rosse.md): A prostitute who works in Madame Tellier's establishment.
- [Paul Limousin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/paul_limousin.md): A young man who becomes involved in a tragic love triangle.
- [Madeleine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madeleine.md): A woman whose past catches up with her in a surprising way.
- [Isidore Paturon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/isidore_paturon.md): A young man who is tricked into a marriage by a clever matchmaker.
- [Pierre de Marchas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/pierre_de_marchas.md): A journalist and friend who accompanies the narrator on various adventures.
- [Joseph Rivet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/joseph_rivet.md): A Norman farmer who becomes involved in a local scandal.
- [Father Matthew](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/father_matthew.md): A priest who offers counsel and performs a memorable exorcism.
- [Philip Remy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/philip_remy.md): A friend of the narrator who shares a strange and unsettling experience.
- [Labouise](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/labouise.md): A soldier who tells a grim story about a comrade's fate during the war.
- [Monsieur Boivin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_boivin.md): A man whose wife's obsession with a dog leads to a tragic accident.
- [Madame Berthe Vilers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_berthe_vilers.md): A woman who writes a letter revealing her innermost feelings.
- [Henri Fontal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/henri_fontal.md): A man who recounts a bizarre and haunting tale of a haunted house.
- [Maître Hauchecorne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/maitre_hauchecorne.md): A peasant falsely accused of stealing a pocketbook, which destroys his reputation.
- [Mother Magloire](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mother_magloire.md): An old woman who outwits a greedy notary with a clever trick.
- [Irma](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/irma.md): A beautiful young woman who becomes the object of a soldier's affection.
- [Luc Le Ganidec](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/luc_le_ganidec.md): A Breton sailor who tells a story of a supernatural encounter at sea.
- [Comte de Mascaret](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/the_comte_de_mascaret.md): A nobleman whose marriage is strained by the burden of repeated childbirth.
- [Rachel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/rachel.md): A prostitute who works in Madame Tellier's house and has a tender moment with a young man.
- [Madame Savage](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_savage.md): A mother who takes a terrible revenge on the Prussian soldiers billeted in her home.
- [Jeanne Cordier](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/jeanne_cordier.md): A young woman who defies her father to marry the man she loves.
- [Honoré Bontemps](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/honore_bontemps.md): A man whose wife's infidelity is revealed in a public and humiliating way.
- [Mademoiselle Francesca Rondoli](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mademoiselle_francesca_rondoli.md): A beautiful Italian woman who captivates a traveler during a train journey.
- [Monsieur Loiseau](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_loiseau.md): A vulgar and opportunistic wine merchant traveling in the coach with Boule de Suif.
- [Bertha](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/bertha.md): A woman whose secret correspondence leads to a dramatic confrontation.
- [De Garelle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/de_garelle.md): A young man who is the lover of the Marquise Obardi.
- [Madame Husson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_husson.md): A virtuous woman who establishes a 'May King' festival to promote morality in her town.
- [Monsieur Morissot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_morissot.md): A Parisian who goes fishing with a friend and is captured by the Prussians.
- [Madame Dufour](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_dufour.md): A mother who takes her family on a country excursion where her daughter is seduced.
- [Sorieul](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/sorieul.md): A Norman farmer who tells a story about a clever trick played on a neighbor.
- [Maillochon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/maillochon.md): A soldier who participates in a grim and humorous prank.
- [Coco](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/coco_zidore.md): A neglected old horse that becomes the focus of a poignant story about cruelty.
- [Muscade](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/muscade.md): A pet monkey belonging to Doctor Heraclius Gloss, who causes much chaos.
- [Clochette](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/clochette.md): An old nun who tells a story of a tragic love from her youth.
- [Queen Hortense](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/queen_hortense.md): An eccentric old woman who believes she is a queen and lives in a fantasy world.
- [Old Boniface](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/old_boniface.md): A postman who becomes the victim of a cruel practical joke.
- [Polyte](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/polyte.md): A farmhand who has a secret affair with a farmer's wife.
- [Bel-Ami](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/bel_ami.md): A pet dog whose fate is tied to a story of love and loss.
- [Mouche](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/the_mouche.md): A young woman who lives on a boat with three men and keeps a secret.
- [Gaspard Hari](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/gaspard_hari.md): An old Norman peasant whose life is marked by a terrible secret.
- [Madame Lecacheur](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_lecacheur.md): A shrewd innkeeper who hosts a memorable dinner party.
- [Morin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/morin.md): A man who is arrested for assaulting a woman on a train and must face the consequences.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters