'Bel Ami' (1885) is one of Maupassant's most famous and frequently filmed novels. Time passes, but readers remain captivated by the image of the cynical adventurer and womanizer Georges Duroy, a seducer of society beauties who stops at nothing to rise from poverty and obscurity to high society. Possessing no special talents other than his ability to seduce women, the hero manages, albeit not without difficulty, to achieve everything he desires.