Marxism In The Necklace Analysis

Marxism Within the Necklace

Introduction: The Marxism theory was originally founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. Their theory urges people to look at the social and economic status and revolution. This theory relates to the short story “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant. This story generally manifested the social and economic differences in a woman named Mathilde’s life. Guy De Maupassant created his stories so that they would create less sympathy for their characters. Maupassant was able to display through his story that conflict is caused through proletariat and bourgeoisie for Mathilde’s desire to be upper-class.

Body Paragraph: The concept of proletariat was shown because “She from the poverty of her dwelling, from the wretched

All those things, of which another women of her rank would never have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry” (Maupassant, 505). Marxism was portrayed here because she is conscious that all these things are worrying her and it is all pessimistic. The fact that she is in the lower-class makes matters worse because all the things she wants, she can never have. She is trapped in a class that would not help mitigate the fact that she does not have what the upper-class have. Another concept of proletariat is shown because “She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing.” (Maupassant, 505). Maupassant displayed Proletariat to this problem because she cannot go to these fancy events made for the upper-class. Mathilde felt that in order to fulfill the expectation of the wealthier, she needed to buy a new dress. The stereotype is shown here that the upper-class people wear nicer, better and more expensive clothes because they are

He says “She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometime, as if by a mistake of destiny, born into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved or wedded by any rich and distinguished man; and she let herself be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Education” (Maupassant, 505). Maupassant shows Marxism through this because he is basically saying that people are born into their class. In this example, since Mathilde was born in a family of lower-class (clerks), she too married a man from the lower-class. This shows the upper-class has more power of the lower-class because they are the best and no one below them can ever be with them. Also, Mathilde’s husband works as a clerk for the upper-class, so the upper-class is basically paying him. Bourgeoisie is shown again when “She danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to a women’s heart” (Maupassant, 507). Being at the ball showed her and made her believe that this is what it means to be in the upper-class. She felt rich, wealthy and an upper-class because of what she is known to believe the upper-class do.