Maupassantwasapopular19th-centuryFrenchwriter,
consideredoneofthefathersofthemodernshortstoryandoneofthe
form'sfinestexponents.
Hedelightedincleverplotting,andservedasamodelforSomersetMaughamandO.Henryinthisrespect.
HisstoriesaboutexpensivejewelleryareimitatedwithatwistbyMaughamandHenryJames.
TakinghiscuefromBalzac,Maupassantwrotecomfortablyinboththehigh-Realistandfantasticmodes;storiesandnovelssuchas"L'Héritage"andBel-AmiaimtorecreateThirdRepublicFranceinarealisticway,whereasmanyoftheshortstoriesdescribeapparentlysupernaturalphenomena.
ThesupernaturalinMaupassant,however,isoftenimplicitlya
symptomoftheprotagonists'troubledminds;Maupassantwasfascinated
bytheburgeoningdisciplineofpsychiatry,andattendedthepubliclecturesofJean-MartinCharcotbetween1885and1886.Thisinterestisreflectedinhisfiction.