# Monsieur Parent — Short Fiction character guide > Monsieur Parent in Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Parent, Little Georges, Georges, a new Georges, Poor Monsieur Parent **First appearance:** 0003-short-fiction ## Snapshot A devoted husband and father whose orderly domestic life begins to crack when suspicion about his wife's fidelity takes root and will not let him go. ## Who they are Parent is a respectable bourgeois whose identity rests on his household, his wife, and his small son Georges. When doubt about his marriage enters his mind, it spreads through every ordinary gesture until the home he trusted becomes a stage for quiet betrayal. His mounting anguish and his struggle to preserve appearances make him the story's fragile center, a man discovering how little he actually knows about the people closest to him. ## Relationships ### [Madame Lefèvre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_lefevre) _social_ Madame Lefèvre and Monsieur Parent are acquaintances who interact within their small-town social circle. ### [Madame Tellier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_tellier) _professional_ Madame Tellier and Monsieur Parent have a business-like relationship, possibly as client and madam. ### [Mother Magloire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mother_magloire) _social_ Monsieur Parent and Mother Magloire are casual acquaintances, often interacting in domestic settings. ### [Mademoiselle Henriette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mademoiselle_henriette) _romantic_ Mademoiselle Henriette shares a flirtatious and possibly secret romantic bond with Monsieur Parent. ### [Paul Limousin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/paul_limousin) _friendship_ Monsieur Parent and Paul Limousin are close friends who share confidences and leisure time. ### [Mother Magloire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mother_magloire) _social_ Monsieur Parent and Mother Magloire are casual acquaintances, often interacting in domestic settings. ### [Madame Lefèvre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_lefevre) _social_ Madame Lefèvre and Monsieur Parent are acquaintances who interact within their small-town social circle. ### [Mother Magloire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mother_magloire) _social_ Monsieur Parent and Mother Magloire are casual acquaintances, often interacting in domestic settings. ### [Mademoiselle Henriette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/mademoiselle_henriette) _romantic_ Mademoiselle Henriette shares a flirtatious and possibly secret romantic bond with Monsieur Parent. ### [Madame Lefèvre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_lefevre) _social_ Madame Lefèvre and Monsieur Parent are acquaintances who interact within their small-town social circle. ### [Madame Tellier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_tellier) _professional_ Madame Tellier and Monsieur Parent have a business-like relationship, possibly as client and madam. ### [Madame Tellier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/madame_tellier) _professional_ Madame Tellier and Monsieur Parent have a business-like relationship, possibly as client and madam. ## In the story ### [How the Dean Placed His Hopes in Eclecticism, the Doctor in Revelation and the Warden in Digestion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/v-how-the-dean-placed-his-hopes-in-eclecticism-the-doctor-in-revelation-and-the-warden-in-digestion) The Dean, who mediates the discussion and laughs boisterously at the end. ### [Les Dimanches d'Un Bourgeois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/les-dimanches-d-un-bourgeois) The central bourgeois figure whose Sunday experiences are chronicled. ### [I: Preparing for Excursions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/i-preparing-for-excursions) The protagonist, a fifty-two-year-old clerk who decides to take up walking excursions after a health scare. ### [VII: A Sad Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/vii-a-sad-story) The melancholy gentleman on the bench who tells his sad story to Patissot. ### [A Dinner and Some Ideas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ix-a-dinner-and-some-ideas) Chief clerk in the bureau, attends the dinner and engages in the political debate. ### [A Cock Crowed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-cock-crowed) The oblivious husband, described as stout and bald, who lives apart from his wife. ### [My Uncle Sosthène](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/my-uncle-sosth-ne) Uncle Sosthène, a freethinker and Freemason who becomes the victim of the narrator's joke. ### [A Reckless Passion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-reckless-passion) Appears as Jean Renoldi, the reluctant lover who becomes trapped in a passionate affair with Madame Poinçot. ### [An Old Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/an-old-man) M. Daron, the protagonist, an 86-year-old man obsessed with hygiene and longevity, who uses the elderly residents of Rondelis as an experimental field to learn how to avoid death. ### [A Parricide](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-parricide) The young joiner, Georges Louis, known as 'The Gentleman,' who confesses to the murder of his parents. ### [The Pardon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-pardon) Berthe's husband, a stockbroker who has been having an affair with Madame Rosset. ### [A Million](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-million) Léopold Bonnin, a conventional and painstaking government clerk, is the husband whose desperate efforts to conceive for the inheritance nearly ruin his health and marriage. ### [Madame Baptiste](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/madame-baptiste) The narrator who follows the funeral and learns the tragic story. ### [My Wife](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/my-wife) Likely the character George Duportin, who comments on marriage and introduces the story. ### [Christmas Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/christmas-eve) Henri Templier, the protagonist who tells the story of his disastrous Christmas Eve. ### [The Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-awakening) Jeanne's husband, who is kind and trusting but fails to perceive her inner turmoil. ### [The Jewels](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-jewels) The protagonist, a chief clerk who marries a woman he adores, only to discover after her death that her false jewels were real, leading to a crisis of trust and a new life of wealth. ### [Friend Joseph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/friend-joseph) The conservative, methodical husband who reconnects with his old friend Joseph Mourador, only to be overwhelmed by his radical behavior. ### [The Greenhouse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-greenhouse) The jovial, fat husband who endures his wife's harsh treatment and later discovers the maid's secret in the greenhouse. ### [André’s Disease](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/andr-s-disease) The lawyer, Mathilde's husband, who returns from Paris and discovers the bruises on André. ### [My Uncle Jules](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/my-uncle-jules) Joseph Davranche, the main narrator of the inner story, who recalls his family's history with Uncle Jules. ### [The Little One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-little-one) A widowed draper who adored his wife and spoils their son Jean; he commits suicide after learning the boy is not his own. ### [A Vendetta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-vendetta) Antoine Saverini, the murdered son, is the catalyst for the vendetta. ### [The Avenger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-avenger) Antoine Leuillet, the protagonist, marries his friend's widow and becomes consumed by posthumous jealousy. ### [Suspense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/suspense) Referred to as 'illustrious Master' or 'illustrious Advocate'; the lawyer telling the story. ### [The Father](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-father) The protagonist, a lonely bureaucrat who falls in love with a woman on the omnibus, fathers a child, abandons her, and later seeks to reconnect with his son. ### [A Wise Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/a-wise-man) Blérot, the friend who marries a woman with an insatiable sexual appetite, leading to his physical decline and near death. ### [The First Fall of Snow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-first-fall-of-snow) The unnamed wife of Henri de Parville, who suffers from the cold and her husband's neglect. ### [Misti](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/misti) Emma's husband, a civil servant who is often away, leaving the narrator and Emma free to meet. ### [The Patron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-patron) Jean Marin, the protagonist, is a State Councillor who revels in his newfound status and patronizes everyone he meets. ### [My Landlady](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/my-landlady) George Kervelen, the narrator and protagonist, a young law student from Brittany. ### [The Drunkard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-drunkard) The protagonist, whose drinking leads to his ruin. ### [The Confession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-confession) The strict, austere officer who confesses his infidelity to his wife. ### [The Dowry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-dowry) Maître Simon Lebrument, the notary who marries Jeanne for her dowry and then flees with the money. ### [The Legacy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-legacy) Husband of Madame Serbois; initially hopeful for a legacy, then suspicious and accusatory, ultimately pragmatic and eager to accept the inheritance by dividing it. ### [Berthe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/berthe) Berthe's father, who consults the doctor about the possibility of marrying Berthe in hopes that motherhood might awaken her intelligence. ### [The Confession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-confession) The narrator of the confession, a young man in Paris who takes a mistress and fathers a child, leading to his moral crisis. ### [Old Mongilet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/old-mongilet) Old Mongilet, the eccentric clerk who never leaves Paris. ### [Monsieur Parent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/monsieur-parent) Confronted by his servant Julie with accusations of his wife's infidelity and doubts about his son's paternity, he spirals into confusion and obsessive scrutiny. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii) Parent is consumed by loneliness and obsessive thoughts about his son's paternity. He follows his ex-wife and her lover, plotting revenge, but ultimately sinks into a stagnant, solitary life. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii) The husband who is caught in the trap. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/iii) The narrator, referred to as 'sonny' by Monsieur Chantal, who asks about Mademoiselle Pearl's origin. ### [Are We to Teach Latin?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/are-we-to-teach-latin) The narrator's father, who places him as a day-boarder at the school and later sends him away after the escapade. ### [The Hole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-hole) The accused upholsterer who claims the death was an accident during a fight over a fishing hole. ### [Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/love) The cousin Karl de Rauville, a country gentleman who hosts the narrator and participates in the hunt. ### [In the Wood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/in-the-wood) The husband, a draper from Paris, caught in the woods with his wife; he is ashamed and blames her for the situation. ### [The Door](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-door) The husband in the story, who orchestrates a scheme to reveal his wife's unflattering appearance. ### [Moiron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/moiron) Not directly present; no relevant appearance in this chapter. ### [Divorce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/divorce) The retired notary and client who narrates his unfortunate marriage and discovery of his wife's secret. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/i) A retired tradesman living in Saint Germain, placid and logical, who argues that a deceived husband is not necessarily dishonored. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii) Bondel is the protagonist of this chapter, tormented by doubt and suspicion about his wife. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/iii) Bondel (likely an alias for Monsieur Parent) orchestrates a reconciliation between his wife and Tancret, but is shocked by his wife's affectionate response. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/iii) Not present in this chapter. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/monsieur_parent - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters