An Adventure in Paris

"An Adventure in Paris" (original title: Une aventure parisienne) is a story by French author Guy de Maupassant, first published in 1881. It is a short story, about nine pages long in my English version.

After an introduction where it points out that curiosity is a unavoidable flaw in women, the story then gives us an example: a provincial woman, who, after reading too much of what the 19th century equivalent of tabloids and gossip magazines were, decides she needs to go to Paris to see the nightlife. She does so, and while looking around in an antique store, she finds a famous writer looking at a porcelain figure. Amazed by the presence of a famous writer, she buys the figurine for him (for 1500 francs, and I don't know just how impulsive that is, in 1881 money), and then proceeds to follow him around in his "glamorous" life, leading to a sexual encounter, after which she feels shame, especially when she sees just how normal a celebrity looks. The story ends with her crying in shame.

This is beginning to be a familiar refrain from me as far as Maupassant's works are concerned, but parts of the story seemed very insightful and realistic, such as the portrayal of celebrity worship and the almost grotesque description of her viewing the "famous author" as balding older man after they have sex, but other parts of the story seem contrived for no other reason than to lay shame on the female protagonist in a heavy-handed way.

That was my opinion, but you can judge for yourself: