French literature had diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural time periods that shaped France into one of the most influential literary countries. Realism and symbolism helped to make the authors of this time, vital to the literary movement. ‘The Piece of String’, by Guy de Maupassant, reflects the realistic fiction that was used as a major impact of writing during the 1800’s through the 1900’s.
To begin, when Guy de Maupassant was writing ‘The Piece of String’, Protestants and French Catholics were in a tumultuous relationship. Before the French Revolution, the Roman Catholic church was the overall religion of the state. Also, Protestants were sometimes drawn into intense persecution. Although today the relationship between the Catholics and Protestants have largely disappeared, France’s churches have had a sharp decline. France is one of the most multiethnic societies in Europe. It is home to immigrants from around the world(Eidem). Most immigrants came to France in search for jobs because of the lack of labor(James). The growing economy was not supported which resulted in more people searching for jobs. Upon arrival, immigrants had poor living conditions. The large number of immigrants put a strain on available housing on some areas, and new arrivals had a struggle finding homes. The frustrated people ended up purchasing a home at the bottom of the housing market. A large number of people lived in overcrowded slums with poor sanitation. French ethnicity and religion greatly played a part in French culture and history(Eidem). The number of immigrants had plenty to do with France’s jobs and also their societies.
In addition, France was descended from Latin and considered a romantic language. Although, the language was not officially declared until 1992. The French language was spread across the world by French colonial and mercantile efforts and French is now called a lingua franca, meaning language of trade and diplomacy. Furthermore, Basque is a minority language that is spoken in metropolitan France. It was the most unique language in France. Basque survived the influence of Latin and is also the only language in southwestern Europe to survive. The influence was brought about by the Roman Empire and the spread of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Basque is not a written language, it has been in use among people since the 16th century. France’s language says an abundance about the spread of people, influences, and how long the languages have lasted(Eidem). The unique languages help unite culture and history together.
At the time of ‘The Piece of String’, Surrealism and Existentialism moved
beyond France to influence the works of writers, thinkers, and other artists throughout Europe and the Americas. Language, style, and tradition were imperative to most French writers in the literary time period of the 1800s. French writers had placed a special importance on form, language, style, and tradition. France’s writing is clear, self-controlled, and artistically well-crafted. In general, rationalism has often governed French writing(Strauss). There are also many periods of writing that help shape French literature.
France mainly had four periods of literature. Early French Literature was mainly poetry, the two main kinds are lyric and narrative. Also, early drama was another main type of literature, although it was not used as much. Most poetry was intended to be sung and recited to largely illiterate audiences. when French literature was taking place, lyric poetry and drama were still being used while fiction and epic poetry were being introduced. Romanticism was a movement that had its roots in the late 1700s and flourished during the early and middle 1800s. It emphasizes the emotions and imagination, mainly revolving around love. The Classical Age had three types of literature, poetry, drama, and prose. Classical poetry was clear, rational, sober poetry. It set the style for Classical verse. Drama was mainly tragedy, which results in no happy endings. Furthermore, Classical prose was brought in to reveal deep Christian faith. It was mainly revolved around religion, which the genre is mostly fiction and prose. Fiction is a made up form of literature. The many different periods of literature resulted in France having every major literary form from poetry to prose(Strauss).
Maupassant’s most famous story was a trivial incident among modest lives, or lives that do not count for very much. The main themes of this story were cruelty and injustice of humanity. Cruelty was a form of bullying and harassment in this matter. As they were mentally abusing him. Humans should not treat other humans in this manner. This would be an example of injustice of humanity. Equality is a ‘The Piece of String’ was about an innocent guy named Maitre Hauchecorne. He was accused of having stolen a man’s pocketbook. Maitre was not a wealthy person, he was very poor like a peasant. Hauchecorne claimed that he had bent down to pick up a piece of string and nobody had believed him, even when the pocketbook was found. He was turned into the police and the frustrated mayor had told him that he was placed on a warning. In the meantime, the mayor consulted a higher authority. Hauchecorne realized that he turned his fellow villagers against him, as they called him an old rascal and rogue. This overwhelming scenario resulted in Maitre’s death. He dies repeating, ‘A little bit of string.’ This was an example of how things that are inhumane can affect the mental stability of an individual. He died because they broke him(Maupassant).
very important thing that this story does not include. The overall theme of this story is ‘How small a thing is needed to make or ruin us!’ This tragedy had important themes and quotes that nicely connected to the famous story(‘Reader’s Guide:’The Piece of String’).
In the time this book was written, people were extremely poor(Eidem). This connects with how Protestants that immigrated to France ended up living in poverty and having a destructive relationship with the rich, as Protestants had intense persecution. In addition, immigrants experienced poor living conditions, as scouring the bottom of the housing market(James). Hauchecorne was a poor man that had to deal with the lack of equality(‘Reader’s Guide:’The Piece of String’). For literature, this story deals with fiction, drama, and tragedy, which was regular French Literature(Strauss). The drama is the peers turning against him and the tragedy being his death at the end(‘Reader’s Guide:’The Piece of String’). This fiction story connected greatly with France’s culture and literature. The lessons being taught make up a large part of the story.
Overall, French writers were renowned during this time period. The cultural time periods helped form French history into ‘The Piece of String’. The impact of writing during this time made France have multifaceted genres of literature. These connections reflected realistic fiction through drama, which shaped the theme for Maupassant’s famous story. Conflicts that faced France were religious poverty and lack of humanity. These issues made it easy for authors to form stories based on their surroundings. To be an author during this time period would be a struggle deciding whether or not to write about the current events of society or making up a more dramatic version.