The author of “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant, uses irony to teach a lesson on greed and materialism. For example, on page three, it states, “Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace…” At the moment, Madame Loisel was ecstatic with joy when she found the perfect diamond necklace. However, in the last scene on page 6, Madame Loisel encounters Madame Forestier and finds out that the magnificent necklace, was, in fact, a fake. The ironic situation in which the necklace that shaved off Madame Loisel’s ten years of youth, was less than half the price of what she expected it to be. Maupassant crafts her greed into the story as of when she was greedy, she had to pay off more than she needed if she had told the truth.
Situational irony is used in both O’Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant but the effect of the techniques on the tone of each story is very different. In O’Henry’s story, the protagonist, Red Chief, is being kidnapped by two criminals, Bill and Sam. There are many ironic events that occur in the story. For example, the reader expects Red Chief to want to go back home to his family but instead, he is having the time of his life. As hard as Bill tries, he cannot even send him home. Bill utters to Sam, “‘I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick’” (6). This is comical because it is using a literary technique known as slapstick comedy. The reader can imagine Bill swinging his leg and kicking Red Chief all the way back to Summit. Another example of situational irony in the story is that the reader would expect that Red Chief to be scared but what is actually happening is that Bill is terrified. While speaking with Sam, Bill complains about Red chief yet again, “‘I’ve stood by you without batting an eye ...
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.” 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 a life.
During the course of Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," the main character, Matilda Loisel, makes a number of ironic discoveries. In addition, there are other discoveries that the reader makes but Matilda does not. The discovery that forms the story's climax concerns the true nature of the necklace she has borrowed from her friend Mrs. Forestier. But this is perhaps not the most important lesson of this story.
In the story the necklace they faced concequnces in fear and assumptions. Guy de Maupassant wrote The Necklace. People in everyday life has fear,lies,assumption. Example I lost my friends shoes that I was borrowing. I told her i needed them the next day but i really lost them. She kept asking for them and I kept telling her I would bring them the next day. I eventually couldn’t find them and had to go look for new ones. I couldn’t find them in store, so I had to order them online. When they came in she came and got them. She noticed they didn’t look like hers. Just like in everyday life people lie thinking they are cool,scared to tell the truth, and etc. People destroy lives by lieing. One reason is because people may not become friends because there other friend is
In the end, the theme shines clear. The Necklace successfully shows that perception and reality greatly differ in many ways. An examination of Madame Loisel's character shows how this theme is integral to the story. A look at the several uses of irony within the tale proves this theme to be true. The symbolism of the necklace itself shows how what one perceives can often be the exact opposite from what really is. The story is a tragedy because Madame Loisel cannot understand reality as it is, but lets her perceptions and ideas about the way things work drive her actions. In the end, this leads to a hard life for her, and she loses everything she strove for. If only she had understood this simple theme, the consequences would have been far different, because as the story shows, things are not always what they seem.
One should appreciate the lifestyle they were raised in and not focus or desire materialistic things. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel, born into a family of clerks, believed she deserved the finer things in life. However, she was forced to marry a clerk and since then she chose to suffer instead of appreciating what her husband had to offer. One evening, her husband brought her an invitation to a ball in hopes to make her happy. Instead, Madame Loisel became irritated and complained she didn’t have anything to wear. Willing to do anything to make her happy, her husband sacrificed the money he had been saving up for a little shooting next summer so she would buy the dress she wanted. As the ball was approaching, Madame
As a character in the writing who was self-absorbed into looking wealthy because the community around her was, and she did everything she could to fit in with the expectations society was given to her. With a loving husband that found tickets to go to a ball, she continued to be bitter about her wealth; and she demanded for money for an expensive dress and a necklace so she went to a friend’s house to seek for a necklace to borrow (Maupassant, 1884, p. 2). Guy de Maupassant (1884) wrote, "All of a sudden she discovered, in a black satin box, a superb necklace of diamonds; and her heart began to beat with an immoderate desire. Her hands trembled as she took it" (p. 3). This quote illustrated the enjoyment the women got out of seeing a diamond necklace and hailing it as if it was worth one million dollars. Therefore, this reveals the the true power of perception and how this materialistic object satisfied the character because it made her look exquisite. The necklace is a sense of pride for this character to pursuit wealth and fame. Overall, a simplistic piece of jewelry was a meaning of wealth and please for this woman to be happy overall going to an event that fits her own reality of being
“The Necklace” ends up to be a very ironic story as it explains why valuing the more important things in life can be very effective towards a person’s happiness. One example of the story’s irony is when she is at the party dressed as a beautiful and fancy woman. ‘She danced madly, wildly, drunk with pleasure, giving no thought to anything in the triumph of her beauty, the pride of her success…’ (pg 193). This is a form of dramatic irony because Guy explains earlier that Mme. Loisel is just a middle class woman who dreams of a wealthy life, but she is just alluding herself as a luxurious woman. Another example of irony in the story is when Madame found out that the necklace was paste. On page 196, Mme. Forestier, Ma...
The falling action of the story was when Madame Loisel learned her lesson. For ten years, she and her husband slaved away to make up the money for the necklace. The jeweller stated a solid price of 34,000 francs. As the couple only possessed 18,000, they borrowed the rest from multiple people with the intent of paying them back, and they did. Ten years later and the debt was payed off, with the biggest change being Madame Loisel’s looks. She use to be a beautiful, young-looking woman, but in those ten years, it looked as if she aged fifty. This brings us to the resolution of the story. Madame Loisel was out for a Sunday walk when she bumped into her old friend that leant her the diamond necklace ten years ago. Madame Forestier didn’t even recognize her because of how much she aged. After Madame Loisel told her that the reason she looked so different was because of her necklace, Madame Forestier revealed the biggest plot twist. The beautiful diamond necklace that Madame Loisel lost and spent so many hours replacing was fake. It was worth 500 francs at the most. The ending of “The Necklace” was very shocking but clever on the author’s part. Without the big finale, the story would be remembered as mediocre at best, but with the resolution, the story was quite memorable.
The short story written by Guy Maupassant titled “The Necklace” is a story based in France in the later 1800’s about a women Mathilde Loisel whom feels she deserves better, and daydreams of a rich life often. She married a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction instead of rich and distinguished man, cause of family names and birth rights she had no choice they did not go on beauty, grace, or charm. Mathilde said “she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station: since with women there is no caste or rank.”(Maupassant, p.1) The Writer did a great job with using dynamic characters, figurative language, and making it a parable which included the consequences they dealt with during their lives.
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 Necklace” is a story about a woman named Madame Loisel and her husband. They were invited to a dinner party but Madame Loisel had nothing to wear. She begged her husband for money so she could buy a new dress so she did not look poor. After buying a new dress, she real...
The author Maupassant states "Here 's something for you" (Para 9). He had trouble getting the invitation and her reaction to that was throwing it. She says in the (Para 12) "What do you want to do with that?" as she did not have anything appropriate to wear among the rich people. The maupassant 's states Why, the dress you go to the theater in" (Para 19). Her husband tries to please her with that invitation, so that she can enjoy that night with him. Instead of appreciating him for the invitation, which he got with lot of trouble. She wants new dress and jeweler for the ball night. He saved the money for his next summer shooting trip with his friends. The author states "All right. I will give you four hundred francs. And try to have a pretty dress"(Para 29). He gave her the money for the dress without thinking about himself, now she demands for the necklace. He says "You might wear some natural flowers. It 's very stylish at this time of year" (Para 35). He told her borrow the necklace from her friend Madam Forestier and she gives her the diamond necklace. Next day she goes to Madame Forestier 's house to borrow the necklace and she gives her this stunning diamond necklace. In the source the author Jason Pierce "The main character is trying to fulfill her desire for the ball, the gown, and the most importantly, Madame Forestier 's jewels" (Para
The moral of Guy de Maupassant’s story “The Necklace” seems to be suggested by the line, “What would have happened if Mathilde had not lost the necklace?” If Mathilde had not lost the necklace, or in fact, even asked to borrow the necklace, she and Mr. Loisel would not of been in debt ten long years. Because Mathilde had to borrow the necklace to make herself and others like her better her and Mr. Loisel’s economic situation had become worse than it already was. I think that the moral of the story is that people need to be happy with what they have and not be so greedy.
Several different elements are necessary to create a story. Of all the elements, the conflict is most essential. The conflict connects all pieces of the plot, defines the characters, and drives the story forward. Once a story reaches its climax, the reader should have an emotional connection to the both story and its characters. Not only should emotions be evoked, but a reader should genuinely care about what happens next and the about the end result for the characters. Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is the perfect example of how a story’s conflict evolved the disposition of its characters.