Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a French writer in the Naturalist tradition. He wrote novels, travel essays, poetry, and more than 200 short stories in his lifetime. With his economical prose, he is considered a pioneer of the modern short story.

Maupassant's story "A New Year's Gift" can pose some challenges for contemporary readers, particularly when it comes to attitudes about adultery. Nevertheless, whether you agree with the main characters or find their behavior abhorrent, the story is likely to provoke strong reactions that could be the basis of some very lively discussions.

You can read "A New Year's Gift" for free at Project Gutenberg.

Plot

Jacques de Randal sits down on New Year's Eve to reflect on the preceding year and to write New Year's greetings to various friends. His first letter is addressed to someone named Irene, who we later learn has been his "sweetheart" for the past ten months. He begins by asking her if she received the gift he sent, "addressed to the maid," which is our first clue that Irene may be married. He pauses while deciding what to write next, musing that Irene is "not like the others." For her, he harbors a "great and deep affection."

His thoughts are interrupted by the doorbell. Irene is there, distraught. She enters the house crying, declaring, "I can no longer live like this." She informs Jacques that her husband has been physically abusive and that she will not return to him. Jacques tries assiduously to convince her to return to her husband and pursue a legal divorce in order to save her wealth, reputation, and social standing.

When Jacques sees that nothing will change Irene's mind, he declares his love for her and vows to stand by her, even in her folly. At this announcement, Irene reveals that her story isn't true at all. She just wanted "a New Year's gift -- the gift of your heart."

The Unsympathetic Adulterers

As a general rule, a successful literary work needs to have at least one sympathetic character (that is, someone the reader can identify with and find at least partially likable). Contemporary readers might struggle to find either Irene or Jacques sympathetic. She seems like a melodramatic, manipulative adulterer, and he seems like the kind of guy who falls in love with a melodramatic, manipulative adulterer.

It might help to consider that attitudes toward marriage were likely very different in Maupassant's time. Jacques takes great pains to differentiate between the legal bond of marriage and the moral bond of love. He says that when a man and a woman freely choose to give themselves to each other:

"... they pledge themselves toward each other by this mutual and free agreement much more than by the 'Yes' uttered in the presence of the mayor."

He refers to love as a "sacred contract," and argues: 

"Marriage which has a great social value, a great legal value, possesses in my eyes only a very slight moral value."

Contemporary readers may believe that marriage should be based on exactly the kind of love he describes; the difference is that Maupassant was writing at a time when marriages were still much more likely to be formed out of social pressure or financial necessity than they are today.

Reason Versus Emotion

Jacques approaches his emotional life almost like an accountant. Every year, he draws up "the balance sheet" of his friendships. This year, he specifically draws up "the balance sheet" of his relationship with Irene, which he analyzes "with the precision of a merchant making a calculation."

He approaches life with "a practical spirit." Once he learns of Irene's plan, he offers her "wise and sensible" advice, counseling her against "caprice," "folly," and "risk."

I particularly love Maupassant's thorough, methodical description of the way Jacques opens the door for Irene, because it seems to reflect the thorough, methodical character of Jacques:

"So he took a wax candle, passed through the antechamber, drew back the bolts, turned the key, pulled the door back, and saw his sweetheart."

When someone opens a door, I'm willing to take it on faith that he might have unlocked it first. But for a character like Jacques, who keeps balance sheets on his life, we need to know every step.

Irene seems the opposite. She weeps, she sobs, she covers her face (a symbol of her deception), she weaves intricate lies and offers ultimatums. Then her emotions turn on a dime and she becomes "radiant," elated that Jacques has given her "the gift of [his] heart."

I won't lie -- I'm appalled by her deception. But when you consider that she wished for a gift "besides the necklace you sent me," you can see a glimmer of values that might be more palatable to you. She prefers emotional commitment over a physical token of affection. No matter how luxurious that necklace is, it can only represent a mercenary, "balance sheet" approach to love. Irene won't really ask Jacques to put himself at risk, but she needs to know he loves her enough to follow her into folly.