Barbey d'Aurevilly, J. 1808-1889. Diaboliques

Les Diaboliques (The She-Devils) is a collection of short stories written by Barbey d'Aurevilly and published in France in 1874. Each story features a woman who commits an act of violence, or revenge, or some other crime. It is considered d'Aurevilly's masterpiece. D'Aurevilly, due to the boredom induced by bourgeois life in the French Second Republic, was a dandy. Similarly, the acts committed by the characters in these stories are induced not only by their extreme passion but also by their boredom. Some of the characters spend hours playing whist while others take delight in wearing fine clothes. All of the female characters are best at concealing their passions and are strong, independent instigators. D'Aurevilly uses récit parlé, a bracketing narrative, as a structural tool for five of the six short stories.