The Upstart Page #2

"The Upstart" by Guy de Maupassant is a short story that explores themes of ambition, social status, and the nature of wealth. It follows the journey of a rising man who, through cunning and manipulation, seeks to elevate his social standing. As he navigates the complexities of high society, he grapples with the moral implications of his pursuits and the fleeting nature of success. Maupassant's keen observation of human behavior and social dynamics provides a poignant critique of the societal values surrounding wealth and respectability. The story ultimately highlights the emptiness that can accompany the relentless quest for status and recognition.

• Short story

								

husbands, and that he was the perfect counterpart of Sganarelle.[20]

[Footnote 20: The Cocu Imaginaire (The Imaginary Cuckold), in
Molière's play of that name.]

Furious at having been duped, he set a whole private inquiry agency to
work, continually acted a part, and one evening appeared unexpectedly
with a commissary of police in the snug little bachelor's quarters which
concealed his wife's escapades.

Therése, who was terribly frightened, and at her wits' end at being thus
surprised in all the disorder of her lover's apartments, and pale with
shame and terror, hid herself behind the bed curtains, while he, who was
an officer of dragoons, very much vexed at being mixed up in such a
pinchbeck scandal, and at being caught in a silk shirt by these men who
were so correctly dressed in frock coats, frowned angrily, and had to
restrain himself so as not to fling his victim out of a window.

The police commissary, who was calmly looking at this little scene with
the coolness of an amateur, prepared to verify the fact that they were
caught flagrante delicto, and in an ironical voice said to her
husband, who had claimed his services:

"I must ask for your name in full, Monsieur?"

"Charles Joseph Edward Dupontel," was the answer. And as the commissary
was writing it down from his dictation, he added suddenly: "Du Pontel in
two words, if you please, Monsieur le Commissionaire!"
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