In this blog post, we’ll take a step-by-step look at Jules Renard’s life, the background behind his masterpiece ‘The Beetroot’, the work’s content and the historical context of its time, and the process of adapting it for the stage.
The Life of Jules Renard (Jules Renard, 1864–1910)
French novelist and playwright Jules Renard was born on February 22, 1864, in Salon-du-Mén, France, as the youngest of three children. When Jules was two years old, his father, François Renard, gave up his career in construction and moved the family to their home in the rural village of Chitré. The family led a relatively stable life devoted to hunting and fishing, and the house in Chitré where Jules spent his childhood, along with the surrounding landscape, later became the setting for ‘The Red-Cheeked Girl’.
Starting in 1875, Jules attended the Nevers boarding school alongside his older brother Maurice, where he excelled particularly in literature. Six years later, Jules left for Paris on his own and attended the Lycée Charlemagne, but he decided against enrolling in the École Normale Supérieure and began seeking employment at a newspaper. Around this time, he began writing poetry and novels in earnest; he published his first collection of poems, ‘Les Roses’, at his own expense, though it did not receive much attention.
In 1888, Jules met and married Marie Morneau; their married life was relatively happy, and their financial situation gradually stabilized. A year after their marriage, when he visited his family home in Chitry with his pregnant wife, he observed his mother treating his wife coldly, which inspired the idea for ‘The Red Cheeks’. After the birth of his first son, Pierre-France Renard, Jules co-founded the literary magazine ‘Le Mercure de France’ and steadily published his work, making a name for himself.
In 1892, his daughter Julie-Marie Renard was born, and that same year, he achieved great success with his novel ‘The Gourmet’. Two years later, her novel ‘The Beetroot’ was published; its originality—blending short stories, dramatic elements, and epistolary form—earned widespread acclaim and solidified her position as a writer.
However, along with great popularity came misfortune. In 1897, her father took his own life after succumbing to heart disease, and three years later, her brother Maurice also passed away from heart disease. Despite his grief, Jules remained prolific; his plays ‘The Joy of Parting’ and ‘Daily Bread’ were successful on stage, and the play ‘Red Beets’ was performed at the Théâtre Antoine in 1900 to great acclaim. That same year, Jules was awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration.
Jules was also actively involved in public service. In April 1904, he became a city councilman in Chitry, and in May, he was elected mayor. Three years later, he served as a member of the Académie Goncourt, the body that awards the Prix Goncourt, France’s highest literary prize. During this period, he continued to publish plays such as ‘The Joy of Parting’, ‘Homemade Bread’, and ‘Vigot’, solidifying his position in the French literary world.
After being re-elected mayor of Chitry in 1908, Jules began to feel the symptoms of the heart disease that had claimed the lives of his father and brother. His health deteriorated rapidly beginning in 1909, and he passed away on May 22, 1910, at his home in Paris at the age of 46 due to arteriosclerosis. After his death, works such as ‘Chats’ (Conversations), ‘La Fille de rat’ (The Rat’s Daughter), and ‘Journal’ (Diary) were published; in particular, ‘Journal’, which captures his anguish as a writer and his reflections on life, is highly regarded as a model of diary literature.
One of Jules’s famous quotes is, “Life is short. Yet people still find it boring.” The works of Jules Renard, who devoted his entire life to literature, remain widely beloved even now, more than a century later.
The Irresistibly Charming Rascal, ‘Red Hair’
Published in 1894, Jules Renard’s novel ‘Red Hair’ depicts the events that unfold when a boy nicknamed “Red Hair” because of his fiery red hair stays home during school vacation. The story features a cold and cantankerous mother, a gruff father, an older brother who bullies Carrot, an older sister who cares for him, and Carrot himself—the unhappiest member of the family.
The work bears many similarities to the author’s own childhood. Jules’s mother was not affectionate, his father was obsessed with hunting and fishing, and Jules had an older brother and sister. However, the character of Carrot is entirely fictional, and Jules portrayed his mother in a far harsher light to enhance the story’s humor and satire. Many people mistakenly believe that Jules had a dark childhood because he lacked his mother’s love, but in reality, he was the pride of his family thanks to his outstanding academic performance and was also loved by his older sister, Amélie.
Hongdangmu finds solace only in the corner under the dining table or inside a cramped rabbit hutch to escape his mother’s harsh treatment. In the story, Madame Lepic’s coldness toward Hongdangmu is severe; she frequently slaps him and repeatedly subjects him to abuse such as withholding food. Hongdangmu even attempted suicide once because he could no longer bear his mother’s abuse.
However, Hongdangmu is not merely a victim. She is far from the image of the innocent child typically found in fairy tales. She displays complex and at times chilling aspects of her personality—such as acting coy with her father one moment, then brutally killing animals or concocting cunning lies the next. In his 1890 diary, Jules wrote, “Most writers think of children as angels. But children possess cruel and wicked sides.”
Through ‘Red Carrot’, Renard sought to show that children are complex individuals who possess both vices and virtues. For such a child to grow into a well-rounded individual, parental love and understanding are necessary, but Red Carrot cannot expect this. In a situation where no matter what he does, he receives only his mother’s scolding, he gradually matures, and by the end of the story, he finally finds the courage to stand up to his mother’s unreasonable behavior. In this way, Renard depicts the coming-of-age story of a boy who, even in miserable circumstances, confronts adversity in his own way.
“Carrot Top” is considered one of Jules Renard’s greatest masterpieces and was so popular that it sold over 80,000 copies in France by 1908. It has enjoyed repeated success as a play and film, has been adapted into a film three times, and has been translated into numerous languages, continuing to be consistently reimagined today as plays, films, and animations.
Life in the 19th-Century Middle Class as Depicted in “The Carrot”
In late 19th-century France, where Jules Renard lived, industrialization was driving a massive migration of the rural population to the cities, yet many farmers remained in the countryside to continue their way of life. The Lefic family in ‘The Beetroot’ are not farmers, but they live in the countryside; even without a garden, they raise chickens and rabbits in their courtyard and spend their leisure time hunting and fishing. With only one servant, each family member shares the household chores, and Mr. Lefic worries about financial burdens such as school tuition. Based on these points, Mr. Refik’s family can be viewed as a “non-wealthy” middle class caught in the midst of rapid social change.
At that time in France, many people lived on state pensions, and a large portion of the middle class lived in the countryside, spending their time hunting and fishing while receiving these pensions. In the novel, it is revealed that the money Hongdangmu’s father kept in the safe was precisely such a pension.
The middle class sought to maintain the dignity associated with their class, and the novel illustrates this attitude in several scenes. When Hongdangmu says she wants to stay at boarding school even during vacation, Mr. Lefic worries about his family’s reputation, stating that this is “something only permitted for poor students.” Mrs. Lefic cooks at home but does not hold a job, as having a career was considered unbecoming of their class. Hongdangmu herself is also class-conscious; she takes offense when Grandmother Onorin speaks to her informally and reveals her sense of superiority to her friend Mathilde by saying, “You’re poor, and I’m rich.”
There were even more restrictions governing family and society. At the time, young lovers were not free to act as they pleased before marriage, and it was common for parents to choose their children’s marriage partners. The strained marital relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Le Pic can also be explained by this social context. Attitudes toward religion also differed: while men tended to be critical of Catholicism, women relied on religion, and priests wielded significant influence.
Furthermore, unlike today, there was no compulsory elementary education at the time; only middle-class children received a proper education, and girls were excluded from higher education. With inadequate retirement and social security systems, the poor led extremely miserable lives.
Influenced by Realist literature, Jules Renard insightfully depicted the hypocritical lives of the middle class living in the countryside. He was particularly influenced by the works of Maupassant, and ‘The Red Cheeks’ is regarded as a work that clearly illustrates his literary philosophy and serves as an excellent example of French Realist literature.
“The Beetroot” Takes the Stage
Following the novel’s great success, Jules Renard personally adapted “The Beetroot” into a play. In March 1900, the play “The Beetroot” premiered at the Théâtre Antoine and achieved even greater popular success than the novel. In October of the same year, a party was held at the restaurant “Le Mail” to celebrate the 100th performance of “The Beetroot.”
The play “The Beetroot” has been consistently staged not only in France but around the world, and it continues to be beloved today, having been reimagined in various formats, including films and animations.
