# Marquise Obardi — Short Fiction character guide

> Marquise Obardi in Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Obardi, The Marquise Obardi, Madame Obardi, The Marquise, Marquise, the Marquise, The astonished Marquise

**First appearance:** 0003-short-fiction

## Snapshot

A Parisian society hostess whose drawing room becomes the stage for a tale of passion told over dinner.

## Who they are

The Marquise Obardi presides over an elegant Parisian table where guests trade stories, and it is in her company that the legend of the Marquis d'Arville and his hatred of hunting is unfolded. She is a woman of fashion and appetite, quick to admire strong feeling — 'it is beautiful to have passions like that,' she says of a tale of vengeance. Her salon is the frame that holds the story's central anecdote, and her reactions measure how the tale lands.

## In the story

### [The Log](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-log)

The old lady listening to the story; the hostess in the drawing room.

### [Mother and Daughter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/mother-and-daughter)

The Comtesse Samoris, a tinsel foreign adventuress and courtesan, whose daughter's death is the focus of the chapter.

### [The Window](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-window)

The narrator's betrothed, referred to as Mme. de Jadelle, a widow who tests his character before marriage.

### [Beside the Bed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/beside-the-bed)

The Comtesse de Sallure, who cleverly uses her husband's own logic and past behavior to negotiate a transactional arrangement for her affections.

### [Yvette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/yvette)

A figure in Yvette's social circle, representing the older generation's influence and expectations.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/i)

Hostess of the salon, described as a beautiful, feline adventuress who runs a house of gambling and pleasure.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii)

Troubled by Yvette's revelation of Servigny's proposal, she reflects on her own past and the impossibility of such a marriage, yet avoids making a firm decision.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/iii)

Madame Obardi is confronted by her daughter. She reacts with a mix of shame, anger, and defiance, refusing to change her ways and asserting her control over Yvette.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/iv)

Yvette's mother; hosts a party and is unaware of Yvette's despair until the suicide attempt.

### [Checkmate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/checkmate)

The young married woman, wife of a dragoon captain, who is traveling to join her husband in Ajaccio.

### [The Secret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-secret)

The Marquise de Rennedon, who confesses her revenge against her husband Simon.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/i)

The little Marquise de Rennedon, who bursts into her friend's room and announces she can get a divorce.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/ii)

The narrator of the story, who orchestrates the divorce plot.

### [The Sign](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-sign)

The little Marquise de Rennedon, a divorced woman, is awakened by her friend's early visit and offers cynical advice.

### [The Baroness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-baroness)

Referred to as Baroness Samoris, a woman of the world with a daughter, who maintains a respectable facade while engaging in discreet transactions with lovers.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters/the_marquise_obardi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters