Pierre and Jean

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Pierre et Jean

Pierre and Jean is a naturalistic novel by Guy de Maupassant that was first published in La Nouvelle Revue in 1887/88 . This is the author's fourth and shortest novel, written in Étretat between June and September 1887 and first published in three installments in the Nouvelle Revue before being published in book form in 1888. The foreword of the book is the treatise Le roman , in which Maupassant is committed to realistic portrayal, but on the other hand also refrains from the meticulous, naturalistic portrayal of events that Émile Zola preferred.

people

  • Gérôme Roland - the father, a retired jeweler who is enjoying his old age in Le Havre and is passionate about fishing
  • Louise Roland - his wife
  • Pierre Roland - the couple's elder son, doctor
  • Jean Roland - Pierre's younger brother by 5 years, lawyer
  • Léon Maréchal - was friends with the family years ago and a customer of the jeweler Roland; Jeans biological father; does not appear personally in the novel, is only mentioned in reports
  • Madame Rosémilly - a 23 year old captain's widow

content

The two brothers Pierre and Jean Roland from Le Havre are very different characters. In the course of history it becomes clear why this is so: they have different fathers. The father, Gérôme Roland, a retired jeweler and passionate fisherman, does not notice any of the problems in his family. The mother, Louise Roland, confesses to her son Jean what his brother Pierre found out in intensive research: his father was Léon Maréchal, a long-forgotten friend of the family. Only his death and the fact that he left Jean a considerable fortune bring to light the adultery of his mother many years ago. Both young men adore the captain's widow Rosémilly. When she decides in favor of Jean, Pierre decides to hire a ship's doctor for a few years. Father Roland doesn't see through the real motives of his son and is simply thrilled that he wants to go to sea.

Literary analysis

Pierre and Jean is the only one of Maupassant's novels that is not set in high society Paris, but in the provinces. The two brothers are contrary characters:

  • Pierre, the "real" Roland, is romantically devoted to his mother - which of course leads to bitter disappointment when he finds out that she was not always loyal to her husband, his father. He is the more complicated of the two and always looks at everything with skepticism. This inevitably leads to a conflict with the mother.
  • Jean, the "wrong" Roland, sees the world much more relaxed. He also loves his mother, but does not see her through rose-colored glasses . Interestingly, it is not he who begins to ponder why Léon Maréchal bequeathed him a great fortune, but the brother who has not inherited anything. Jean's optimistic view of things helps him take the unusual circumstances of his inheritance for granted and simply enjoy them.

The father, Gérôme Roland, does not seem affected by any of this. He loves fishing, is enthusiastic about seafaring, and doesn’t even think about what motivates his son Pierre to hire himself as a ship's doctor.

Film adaptations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kindlers Literatur Lexikon, dtv edition 1974–1982, Volume 17.