Miss Fifi

Miss Fifi is a work of Guy of Maupassant who was published for the first time in Gil Blas the March 23rd 1882. Maupassant takes again, in this work, the topics of the war and the prostitution which made its success.

Topics

Miss Fifi milked, like several stories of Maupassant written after the war of 1870, of contrast between French and Germans. The German officers depicted in the novel are typical French resentment according to 1870 towards the Germans: they all are of rough the teutonnes fair or russet-red carrying enormous barbs and Moustache S. Pompeux, they do not have any culture and obey any order blindly.

Violent one, immoral, arrogant, fascinating pleasure to destroy without reason the objects of collection and the works of art priceless of the castle which it occupies, Fifi itself is a digest of the worst stereotypes touching with the Germans. By contrast, Rachel, the principal French character, represents the French honor in the defeat. Personifying the pride and the French honor in spite of the defeat and humiliation main roads, Rachel, although it belongs, as a prostitute, with lower classes of the company, incarnates the ordinary French resisting their manner with oppression of their German winners.

History

Prussian invaded France and occupy the castle of Uville.

The major is the count de Farlsberg. There are a commander and three officers of less rank: a lieutenant, Otto de Grossling; two second lieutenants, Fritz Scheunaubourg and the marquis Wilhem d' Eyrik, “a very small proud and brutal cableway with the men”. This last, since its entry in France, is called Miss Fifi by her comrades because of his small size, its pale figure and the practice which it had taken, to express its supreme contempt of the beings and the things, to employ the French phrase constantly “ fi ”, “ fi thus ”, that it pronounced with a light whistle.

Occupying a castle in Normandy, these five désœuvrés Prussian officers make come from the prostitutes. One of them, a small cableway called Miss Fifi, insults France and maltreats Rachel. The patriotic prostitute inserts a knife in the throat to him. She runs away herself and will marry, some time close, a man well. Maupassant thus renews the romantic reason for the prostitute in the large heart, rédimée by his good deeds.

Adaptations

  • In its film, Christian-Jaque interfered two news Boule tallow and Miss Fifi , which involved important modifications of the original intrigue. After having yielded to the Prussian with Tôtes, Swell of tallow and the voyageuses ones are found with the castle of Uville where they are used partners for the invaders. Swell of tallow stabs of Eyrik and takes refuge in the bell-tower like Rachel in the news.
  • Claude Santelli makes incarnate Fifi by a brown actor, Yves Lambrecht, just like Christian-Jaque had entrusted this role to Louis Salou.

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