Maupassant's The Necklace 'And Henry James' The Real Thing

Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and Henry James’ “The Real Thing” both utilize characterization to showcase their moral center. In Maupassant’s “The Necklace”, Mathilde Loisel’s materialistic character illustrates that wealth does not equal happiness. In James’ “The Real Thing”, the painter must battle the ethical dilemma of flourishing his own career at the expense of others.

Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” tells the story of Mathilde Loisel: a less-than-fortunate woman who believes she was destined for a life of luxury, and is thus dissatisfied with her life. Through Mathilde’s unhappy personality, the morality at the heart of the story is addressed; who you appear to be does not define who you are, but rather the way you go about

The story begins with a couple arriving at a painter’s home in search of work as models. The couple had recently lost everything, and were interested in marketing their one skill: aristocratic appearance. Though the couple had many drawbacks, such as the fact that the narrator “didn’t easily believe in them” (636), that they wished to model contemporary, despite the narrator being “already equipped” with people who were more capable (637), and Ms. Monarch’s lack of “variety of expression” (640), the painter still enjoyed their presence and chose to hire them for the hour, contingent upon his satisfaction. The Monarchs soon prove to be inflexible and reduce the meaning of the painter’s work, evident when his peer Jack Hawley criticized the narrator’s painting that featured the Monarchs, stating “Major and Mrs. Monarch did [you] a permanent harm” (649). Branching off of this quote, it can be said that the narrator’s character flaw is that he did not how to be a boss, much like the narrator of Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, as the narrator sought out new employment for the Monarchs, as well as defended them to Jack Hawley. The painter’s ethical dilemma to abandon the couple that “counted on [him] so immensely” (645) was at its height when the narrator fired the Monarchs. The Monarchs’ impact on the painter’s work is clear when he announces,