Fantasy Versus Reality In The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

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Recommended: Use of Symbolism

Ashleigh Caldwell
Professor Buchanan
English 1020-C03
3 March, 2014 Fantasy Versus Reality In the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the character Madame Loisel portrays the truth about honesty, arrogance, and poverty. The story’s setting is in Paris, France during the 1880s, and during this time frame, many women believed their beauty and even wealth was what happiness was made of. Maupassant portrays Mrs. Loisel as a prideful character yet who is also deprived of wealth and fame. This controversial lifestyles helps the story have many ironic features. Maupassant is known for “...his characters as unhappy victims of their greed, desire, or vanity but presents even the most sordid details of their lives without sermonizing" ("Maupassant, …show more content…

Many people believe honesty is an important human trait yet everyone is susceptible of being dishonest. Sometimes people are pressured into dishonesty; therefore, these people do not consider the long lasting effects. Without honesty, no one can better themselves. Lying to achieve a goal or to hide a fact will only hurt the person lying. If Mrs. Loisel had been content with her lifestyle, she would have never wanted to wear jewelry to the party; therefore, she would not have had to lie about losing the necklace. If Mrs. Loisel did not lie about losing the necklace, she would not have had to work for “ten years” (Maupassant 191). At the end of the story Mrs. Loisel finally asks herself, “What would life have been like if she had not lost the necklace?…How little a thing it takes to destroy you or to save you!”(Maupassant 191) which shows the readers that Mrs. Loisel has finally thought about the true worth of material …show more content…

The ending of the story shows the hard work Mr. and Mrs. Loisel has done for ten years is all for nothing because the lost necklace is only a fake. It also shows if Madame Loisel had only told Mrs. Forrestier of the accident, she could have lived a life only remembering that wonderful night at the party. Why was the necklace fake all along? The main reason for this ending is because “this kind of ending is often associated with Guy de Maupassant” (Allen 307). However, this aspect of the story brings about a twist that makes a reader pull for Mrs. Loisel. She might have started off as an arrogant lady, but she turns out to be a woman who learns her lessons the hard

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