Greed In The Necklace

453 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The necklace research paper

In a world of uncertainty, anything could happen in the blink of an eye. The narrator’s statement “How little a thing it takes to destroy you or to save you!” (paragraph 105). In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace,” Mathilde Loisel is a beautiful young woman who is full of pride and envy towards other women. Her husband is a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education. Likewise, she is ungrateful and unhappy for what she has. One day, she borrows an elegant necklace from her friend to look exquisite; unfortunately, she lost the Necklace on the evening of the party. Life is full of choices can be right or wrong, the protagonist in the short story Mrs. Loisel unable to adjust to her surroundings, enormous ambitions for herself and seek more attentions from everyone. Due to her unrealistic desires which lead to great despair and massive downfall. …show more content…

Loisel continues being impatience with her surroundings. “She would weep for the entire day afterward with sorrow, regret, despair, and misery (paragraph 5). The feeling of dissatisfactions of her life style, it contributes to her unhappiness. The ambitions of Mrs. Loisel attribute to her downfall, she wants to have a mansion with lots of servants, expensive furniture, beautiful jewelry and gorgeous gowns. Since she is not born to wealthy family nor married to a rich man, this is impossible to obtain. She wants to be admired and be an envy of everyone. Prior the party, she purchases an expensive gown and borrows a superb diamond necklace. During the party, she is the most stunning and elegant. “All the important administrators stood in line to waltz with her. The Chancellor Himself eyed her” (paragraph 50). After the party, she feels embarrassed of her everyday shawl and being a middle-class

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Greed In The Necklace

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins with a middle class girl who dreams of being rich, and cannot achieve this so she lives in a utopian world she creates. Then in an attempt to please his wife, M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a party, which Mathilde does not want to attend, only because she does not have a dress. When she is given money to buy a dress, she then lusts for fancy jewelry. She also does not have a necklace to show off to the guests at the party. Her husband suggest her theater dress and she does not want to wear that one, her husband also suggest a few roses but again she insists on a necklace. It is her greed that fuels the entire story plot, and it is her greed that causes the decline in social status in the

    Read More

  • 'Civil Peace And The Thrill Of The Chase'

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay will include “The Necklace”, “Civil Peace”, and “The Thrill of the Chase”. The necklace is a great example of how our desires can create tragedy rather than happiness. Madame Forestier would have rather been idolized for her wealth instead of buying items that grant her survival. She says,”It’s just that I have no evening dress and so I can’t go to the party.”

    Read More

  • Ann Petry: The Street

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    She utilizes important devices such as imagery, personification, and selection of detail to walk us through Lutie’s journey of finding a home. As readers, we learn how one should handle the negative effects of unfortunate events, and we learn to remain gracious as we walk through life.

    Read More

  • The Ungrateful In The Necklace

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace expresses the theme of being spoiled and ungrateful will only make things worse in many ways. Mathilde Loisel is a beautiful woman who is born into a family of poor clerks and feels she has nothing even though she wishes to have the best of everything. At times she can be charming and elegant, but she also possesses the unpleasant traits of being spoiled and ungrateful as shown in the story multiple times.

    Read More

  • A Fools Payment

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story, “The Necklace,” a greedy and selfish woman brings financial ruin upon herself and her husband. They go from a comfortable lifestyle in a slightly shabby apartment to an impoverished existence in an attic apartment. Mathilde Loisel was born to a lower middle class French family, but she wished that she could have of noble birth. Her longing for a better life caused her great grief. When she could have been happy with her situation in life, instead she would dream of a grand home and wealthy, dignified friends. When she borrowed a diamond necklace from a friend and lost it at an elegant party, she brought downfall to her husband and herself. Not only does Guy de Maupassant use the necklace as a vehicle for the hard times that the Loisels had to endure, but he also uses it as a symbol to teach a lesson about the repercussions of greed, ruin, and regret.

    Read More

  • The Stolen Party By Liliana Heker

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    Young individual’s perspectives change and mature as they go through experiences, both good and bad. In the short story, “The Stolen Party,” written by Liliana Heker, Rosaura’s childish view and enthusiasm is stolen from her. Initially Rosaura stubbornly argues with her female parent that she is getting to the birthday party as an invited friend. As the story progresses Rosaura is over confident as she is consistently called upon by Senora Ines to help host the party. Towards the end, Rosaura figures out that she was taken advantage of and discriminated against because of her socioeconomic class. Therefore, Rosaura’s experience of the party changes her positive perspective about rich people to a negative one, causing her to mature.

    Read More

  • Comparing Greed In The Necklace And The Most Dangerous Game

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some people may say that human nature is to be greedy, whereas others say greed is developed over time. Whichever way it is, needless to say both Mrs. Loisel and General Zaroff in The Necklace and Most Dangerous Game, natures were to be greedy. Bored of simple things Mrs. Loisel longed for a life of a queen. One day she got to live out her dream, she got a fancy dress, but it didn’t end there, she wanted more, she wanted jewels, which she then lost. Bored of hunting General Zaroff invented his own kind of hunting where he hunted humans, which led to his battle of life or death with Rainsford. Even though in both the Most Dangerous Game and The Necklace, the antagonists, Mrs. Loisel and General Zaroff, experienced greed, and boredom of their

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Stolen Party

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    is partly aware that she does not belong in the upper class. Furthermore, when the party was over, her

    Read More

  • Situational Irony In The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Exposition of Plot in Maupassant's The Necklace

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Life…is composed of the most unpredictable, disparate, and contradictory elements,” according to Guy de Maupassant. “It is brutal, inconsequential, and disconnected, full of inexplicable, illogical catastrophes” (“The Writer’s Goal" 897). Utterly to the point with his words, Guy de Maupassant’s fame as a writer stemmed from his “direct and simple way” of telling readers what he observed (Chopin 861). His short story, “The Necklace,” is no exception. “The Necklace” is evidence of the literary realism that dominated literature during the 19th century. Cora Agatucci, a professor of Humanities, states that the subjects of literature during this time period revolved around “everyday events, lives, [and the] relationships of middle/lower class people” (Agatucci 2003). In “The Necklace,” Maupassant describes an unhappy woman, born to a poor family and married to a poor husband, who suffers “ceaselessly” from her lower-class lifestyle, “[…] feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries” (Maupassant 524). Through the unfolding of the plot and the exquisite characterization of Mathilde and her husband, Maupassant offers readers a dramatic account of what could happen when a person is not satisfied with her place in life.

    Read More

  • Mathilde's Pride

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    She is charming. She possesses the things that are valued in women in 19th century France. She is not high society only because she was born into a family of employees. (par 1) Women were expected to marry in their class despite having the potential to be more than what they were born into. Parts of the Napoleonic Code gave men the right to control women.

    Read More

  • The Conflict in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace”

    424 Words  | 1 Pages

    It took ten years for Mathilde and her husband to pay off the debt of buying a new necklace. Those ten years were not spent with the luxuries she experienced so many years ago at the party, nor were they filled with the simple things she once owned and despised. She came to know “the horrible existence of the needy. She bore her part, however, with sudden heroism.” When passing her rich friend again in the street, she was barely recognizable. Who she was the day she ran into her friend was not who she was the night she wore that necklace.

    Read More

  • The Necklace

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Realism In Guy De Maupassant's 'The Necklace'

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    Guy de Maupassant is a realist whose claim to fame is the style in which he conveys political and socioeconomic themes in his literary publications. He achieves his writing style by putting small unfortunate life events under a spotlight. His literary performance is described in his biography from Cambridge, the writer says “He exposes with piercing clarity the small tragedies and pathetic incidents of everyday life, taking a clear-sighted though pessimistic view of humanity” (Halsey, par. 1). Guy de Maupassant’s story The Necklace is a great representation of the style he uses. In The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel a beautiful but impoverished woman married to a clerk is in conflict with her lack of wealth and desire to acquire

    Read More

  • The Moral of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mathilde Loisel grew up in the working class and had no expectations in life. Mathilde settled for a lifestyle she was unhappy with. When she got married, she and her husband would sit around the dinner table and imagine they were eating a luxurious meal. Together, they had nothing. Mathilde had no clothes, no jewels, and only one friend (who was rich). Mathilde dreamt of wealth, fine clothes, and a beautiful house. She knew that those dreams were unrealistic and unattainable.

    Read More

More about Greed In The Necklace

Open Document