Boule de Suif (1880) is a famous novella by Guy de Maupassant. The story is set in the Franco-Prussian War and follows a group of French residents of Rouen, recently occupied by the Prussian army. The ten travelers decide, for various reasons, to leave Rouen and flee to Le Havre in a stagecoach. Sharing the carriage are Boule de Suif or "Butterball", a prostitute; a strict Democrat; a shop-owning couple from the petty bourgeoisie; a wealthy upper-bourgeoisie factory-owner and his wife; the Comte and Comtesse of Bréville; and two nuns. Thus, the carriage constitutes a microcosm of French society, representing different parts of the French population during the late 19th century. The story focuses on how the "representatives of Virtue" handle Boule de Suif before, during and after blundering into Prussian-held territory, where the only way out is that she sleeps with a Prussian officer…
