# Yvette — Short Fiction character guide

> Yvette in Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mam'zelle Yvette, Mam'zelle, Hip - Hip - Hurrah—Mam'zelle Yvette

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

## Snapshot

A beautiful young woman raised among the demimonde, caught between her mother's world of calculated pleasure and her own longing for something she can believe in.

## Who they are

Yvette has grown up in a Parisian milieu where charm is currency and love is a transaction, and she has learned to wield her beauty without yet understanding its cost. Her mother, a courtesan, wants her to marry respectably, while the men around her see only the daughter of her mother's trade. Her struggle to choose between the life she was raised for and the love she imagines makes her the story's restless, sympathetic center.

## In the story

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

Yveline Samoris, the virtuous daughter who overhears gossip about her mother, confronts her, and ultimately commits suicide by chloroform.

### [Rose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/rose)

Simone, the other young woman in the landau, engages in conversation about love and servants.

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

The central character, a young woman whose actions and desires drive the chapter's narrative.

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

The Marquise's eighteen-year-old daughter, a mysterious and captivating figure who is the object of Servigny's desire and confusion.

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

Innocently reports Servigny's marriage proposal to her mother, showing both naivety and determination; later wakes Servigny with gravel, eager to discuss a scheme.

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

Yvette is the central figure, grappling with the revelation of her mother's secret. She moves from tearful confusion to a dramatic, determined stance, insisting on a new, honest life.

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

Contemplates suicide to avoid becoming a kept woman; procures chloroform and attempts to kill herself; is revived by Servigny.

### [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/yvette
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_23_se/characters