When Guy De Maupassant wrote the story “The Necklace” in the 19th Century there were already issues that arises in the society. Most of the issues revolve around gender equality, social class, appearance and the power of the material objects. These issues are quite evident in the short story “The Necklace”. The main themes of the story are: the equality between genders, appearance and ranking in the society and how powerful material objects are. In the story, Madame Loisel is not happy about her status in life, but because she is a women she can’t do anything about it other than marrying someone who is of higher class than she is. Unfortunately, for Madame Loisel, she married someone who is in the same class as she is. The author wrote in the story; “since with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and …show more content…
In the story she believes that owning a pretty dress and nice jewelry can make her feel content and happy, “she had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.” (Maupassant 2). She envied others who have beautiful objects in their house as she feels that she deserves to be someone who is envied by others. Madame Loisel wasn’t contented of what she has and she is not happy. The only thing that can make her happy is to have a dress that she can wear to the party and a necklace to go with it. For Madame Loisel, these things are the ones that can make her look wealthy and have class because that what she believes in. She believes that when she own things that are valuable she will seem valuable to other people as well. The fact the Madame Loisel’s friend who has a higher class than hers owns a fake jewelry; it shows that she understands that objects are only powerful as people perceived them to
which explains well how she had a finite amount of money and thought material wealth was more important than happiness. If she only knew before that she would spend the next decade working off her debt, she would have never asked for the necklace and she would have had a happy life. Furthermore, wealth isn’t the only thing that brings happiness to life. With an easy explanation, it explains how having material possessions doesn’t matter, because the moments we have are more valuable.
...only to find out years later that the necklace was not made of real diamonds but glass. This story shows the social pressure put on those of lower classes and how they wish to be a part of the better group. Maupassant uses Mathilde’s obsession to drive her into poverty and shame. For the time, this story analyzes how hard one had to work to even attain any bit of fortune.
In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant the character Madame Loisel was always longing for expensive possessions, larger
5. (CP) Madame Loisel borrows seemingly expensive necklace to satisfy her arrogance and attend a party that was way above her social class, only to lose it. She has been blessed with physical beauty, but not with the lifestyle she desires. She may not be the ideal protagonist, but she went through a tough time after she lost the necklace and had to make money to replace it.
“She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.” (Maupassant). All of these things could only be imagined in her mind. The luxurious life was never a reality for her, but only a dream she greatly wanted to come true. In result, this attitude of jealousy caused her to fall into depression.
Although Madame Loisel isn’t wealthy or part of the social class that is considered high, she tried to do everything to make herself appear as if she is. She believes that her beauty can bring her as far as becoming wealthy or being able to socialize with the wealthy. The ball is important to her because for once her appearance is equivalent with the fantasy of rising above middle class she has dreamt up in her head and “[she] was a success. She was the loveliest of all; elegant, graceful, smiling, and radiant with joy. All the other men looked at her, asked who she was, and wanted to be introduced to her… [t]he triumph of her beauty and the glory of her success enveloped her in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all the compliments” (175). The reality is beneath her appearance because she is not wealthy, nor is she actually happy with the life she lives on a daily basis. She easily deceives everyone with her appearance to make it seem as if she does have money. Uncontrolled self-absorption can distort lives to those who worry about their appearance too much. Another example of how appearances can be misleading is the necklace that Madame Loisel borrowed. It appears as if it is made of real diamonds but instead it is fake jewelry. The fact
Madame Loisel thinks only of herself, “She had a rich friend, an old school friend whom she refused to visit, because she suffered so keenly when she returned home.” (Maupassant). This sentence displays her greediness because she refuses to see her friend because her friend is more wealthy than her. She cannot be around her friend, whom makes Madame Loisel seem small, and makes her wanting more. Madame Loisel searches for jewelry at her friend’s house, “She tried the effect of the jewels before the mirror, hesitating, unable to make up her mind to leave them, to give them up.
Around the world, values are expressed differently. Some people think that life is about the little things that make them happy. Others feel the opposite way and that expenses are the way to live. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, he develops a character, Madame Loisel, who illustrates her different style of assessments. Madame Loisel, a beautiful woman, lives in a wonderful home with all the necessary supplies needed to live. However, she is very unhappy with her life. She feels she deserves a much more expensive and materialistic life than what she has. After pitying herself for not being the richest of her friends, she goes out and borrows a beautiful necklace from an ally. But as she misplaces the closest thing she has to the life she dreams of and not telling her friend about the mishap, she could have set herself aside from ten years of work. Through many literary devices, de Maupassant sends a message to value less substance articles so life can be spent wisely.
Lantin knows a big truth that the fake jewelry is real and valuable, he seems to be reborn from despair and stand in the peak of career rather than feeling inconsolable and sorrowful about his wife’s death. What a big and unprepared turning point！No sooner did his wife die than he is devastated by this terrible fact. His hair turns white in thirty days, declaring his despair. Besides, there is a constant stream of tears on his face the whole day, which recounts that he is tormented with inexpressible sorrow—ever obsessed by everything of his wife (par. 15). All his behavior tells everyone how he loves this woman and can’t forget her, which makes us praise their sincere love. However, when he realizes that the “fake” jewelry, which becomes valuable, can bring him huge wealth, he can’t wait to sell all of them in exchange for money. M. Lantin argues with jewelers about computed price and angrily insists on checking the books. The higher the computed price is, the louder his voice is (par. 62). The detail description of disputing estimated value reflects M. Lantin’s inner activities that he is excited by the higher price, which means his greed and vanity are expanding. In addition, he disdains to look the occasional carriages, and desires to loudly tell at passers-by that he has two hundred thousand francs (par.68). Furthermore, he tells his supervisor that he possess a fortune of three hundred thousand francs, yet he tells others that he inherit four hundred
It is said that “everything that shines isn't gold.” A difficult situation can result a vast illusion that is not what one thought it would be, which leads to disappointment and despair. Just like Guy De Maupassant stories, “The Necklace” and “The Jewel.” In the first story, the protagonist, Mathilde Loisel’s need for materialistic fulfillment causes her hard labor which ends her natural beauty. In the second story, the husband Monsieur Latin ends up living a dreadful life due to the passing of his wife and her admiration for jewels. “The Necklace” and “The Jewel” both share many similarities such as the unconditional love each husband haves toward their wife, the necessity each wife haves towards materialistic greed, the beautiful allurement
In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.
In conclusion, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a less than satisfactory short story. The characters that are introduced are all flat and stereotypical. The themes can be misinterpreted or missed. Lastly, the ending is obnoxiously anticlimactic. While most classics that are found in English books are intriguing or satisfactory, “The Necklace” is neither of
In the beginning of "The Necklace," the reader can clearly distinguish Madame Loisel's immense need for luxurious items. Maupassant describes Madame Loisel as somewhat miserable due to her ordinary standard of living: "She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class...She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury" (Par. 3). Madame Loisel complains about her husband and his common profession, feeling as though she should be "married by a man rich and distinguished" (Par. 1). She knows that her husband can not provide the luxuries which she so desperately desires. These lingering feelings cause Madame Loisel to undervalue the nonmaterial importance of life.
The Necklace also displays distinctive realism in the use of socioeconomic influences which are essential to the plot. The major conflict in the story would be absent and the theme would not be obtainable without Mathilde Loisel’s insecurity about her own socioeconomic reputation. An example of Loisel’s self-deprivation nature is presented when she realizes she does not have a necklace, she says “I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party” (Maupassant, sec. 3). Another example of the self-conflict caused by social pressure is Loisel’s immediate attempt to replace the necklace and her reluctance to speak to her friend Madame Forestier about the necklace for ten whole years. If she were not conflicted by societal pressures she might have avoided the whole situation altogether. The Necklace establishes a realistic difference in value between the necklaces and proposed clothing. Her husband proposes flowers which were valued 10 franks so in any case if she had chosen the flowers there would have been an insignificant economic loss. Her decision not to tell her friend about the necklace ends up costing her seven times the worth of the original. The roses symbolize the simpler things in life to the theme of the story. Mathilde Loisel’s withered appearance at the end
The life of an author may often reflect through their works. This is the case in the short story, The Necklace, written by Guy de Maupassant. An ironic and a self-explanatory tale, The Necklace is written filled with twists that might just make you doubt your stand in life. Characters which anyone might not think much about, symbols that many seem to miss, and principles that few seem to understand, The Necklace might just be short but with it, you can clearly see the life and ways of a person like Guy de Maupassant. Every word might just seem ordinary, but through the minds of some great authors, every single letter, every meaningless word, and every combined sentence create worlds for them. Imaginary it might seem, but their lives are intertwined with their works, so with this paper, the world of a great author, like Guy de Maupassant would be unraveled through one of his greatest work, The Necklace. The purpose of this report is to analyze the background in which The Necklace was written and to analyze its values and its characters.