The Necklace and The Gift of the Magi Both short stories, “The Necklace,” and “The Gift of the Magi” showcase important literary elements. They most notably contain detail, imagery, and irony, however “The Gift of the Magi” showcases more of these elements far more effectively.
“The Necklace.” is a story about the value of Madame Loisel daydreams about being rich, and having “fashionable dinner parties”, “gleaming silverware and tapestries that make the walls come alive…,” so her husband gets her an invitation to an elegant party. Because Madame Loisel has no jewelry to wear, she borrows a beautiful diamond necklace from a friend. Madame Loisel has a lovely time at the party, however once the party is over, she realizes that she has lost the necklace that she borrowed. Madame Loisel and her husband decide that instead of telling the friend, they will simply purchase a replacement. They
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Her friend does not notice, she simply says tells Madame Loisel that “you might have given it back sooner, I might have needed it.” The Loisels spend the next ten years of their lives paying back the debts that they owe. In the conclusion of the story, Madame Loisel sees her friend, confesses to having replaced the necklace, and “smiles with proud and simple joy.” The word choice is no accident, pride has been a theme throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, she was proud and haughty, while now she has a different type of pride. She is satisfied with all of her hard work, and expects her friend to be pleased with her. However, in a major demonstration of situational irony, her friend is very shocked that her necklace was replaced with diamonds, but
5. (CP) Madame Loisel borrows seemingly expensive necklace to satisfy her arrogance and attend a party that was way above her social class, only to lose it. She has been blessed with physical beauty, but not with the lifestyle she desires. She may not be the ideal protagonist, but she went through a tough time after she lost the necklace and had to make money to replace it.
Situational irony occurs throughout most of The Necklace; it appears when Madame Forestier lends Madame Loisel a diamond necklace since “[she’s] upset because [she] haven’t a single piece of jewelry or a gemstone or anything to wear with [her] dress.[She’ll] look like a pauper. [She] almost think[s] it would be better if [she] didn’t go” and lets her borrow it for a ball one night so Madame Loisel can fit in; however, she ends up losing the necklace(174).Madame Loisel was not informed of the fact that the diamond necklace was actually fake. In a panic, Madame Loisel and her husband work hard and pay the loans off for many years trying to replace the necklace only to find out it wasn’t real; they gave up their decent lifestyle and had to save up for ten years. The situational irony is the fact that Madame Loisel thought that if she borrowed the diamond necklace it would help her become closer to the life she wanted, but the necklace ended up putting her and her husband into poverty and without the life that she longed for, instead. The ten years of poverty that Madame Loisel and
Values are spread all around the world, and many people’s values differ. These can lead to people being judged, or indirectly characterized by other people. In “The Necklace” Mme. Loisel is a beautiful woman with a decent life, and a husband that loves her, and only wants to make her happy. She is not rich but she makes it along, she insists of a better, wealthier life. When her husband gets her invited to a ball, she feels the need for a brand new fancy dress and tons of jewelry. When the couple realizes they cannot afford jewelry as well, they search out to borrow her friend, Mme. Forestiers’ necklace. She comes to notice she no longer has the necklace on when she leaves the ball. This later troubles her, as she has to work for a long time to collect enough money to buy a new necklace. This story describes the relationship between a couple, who have different dreams, and how desires can revamp your life. Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace” uses literary devices to prove people come before materialistic items.
Knowing how she feels he surprises her with a ticket to the ball. He gives her his savings in order for her to buy a new gown. Though he was unable to get her any jewels he suggests her to tell her rich friend to let her borrow a necklaces in order to see his wife happy. On the contrary, the husband from "The Jewel" does not fully satisfy his wife in the way that she wanted. He dreads going out to the opera while his wife loves it. He was also unable to buy her luxurious jewels so she pleases herself with false jewels and ornaments. Though both men adore and love their wife, one tries harder than the other, even though neither one can afford paying the objects the ladies truly desire.
Mathilde Loisel lived the life of a painfully distressed woman, who always believed herself worthy of living in the upper class. Although Mathilde was born into the average middle class family, she spent her time daydreaming of her destiny for more in life... especially when it came to her financial status. Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, tells a tale of a vain, narcissistic housewife who longed for the aristocratic lifestyle that she believed she was creditable for. In describing Mathilde’s self-serving, unappreciative, broken and fake human behaviors, de Maupassant incorporates the tragic irony that ultimately concludes in ruining her.
When the plot progresses, she losses a necklace that she borrowed from her friend, and she cannot muster the courage to ask the price of the necklace so she can pay for a replacement. "You must write to your friend," he said, "and tell her that you've broken the clasp of her necklace and are getting it mended. That will give us time to look about us. “She wrote at his dictation. (4 Maupassant).
Values are spread all around the world, and many people’s values differ. These can lead to people being judged, or indirectly characterized by other people. In “The Necklace” Mme. Loisel is a beautiful woman with a decent life, and a husband that loves her, and only wants to make her happy. She is not rich but she makes it along, she insists of a better, wealthier life. When her husband gets her invited to a ball, she feels the need for a brand new fancy dress and tons of jewelry. When the couple realizes they cannot afford jewelry as well, they search out to borrow her friend, Mme. Forestiers’ necklace. She comes to notice she no longer has the necklace on when she leaves the ball. This later troubles her, as she has to work for a long time to collect enough money to buy a new necklace. This story describes the relationship between a couple, who have different dreams, and how desires can revamp your life. Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace” uses literary devices to prove people come before materialistic items.
It conveys the look and appeal of glam but turns out to be false just like wealth. The necklace is the object of Madame Loisel’s desire, just like wealth. Having wealth is not worth the trouble, just like the fake necklace was not worth the ten years of debt. The couple had went through a long period of hardships to get back on their feet. Even deeper than wealth, the necklace could represent appearance.
Many critics agree, “The Gift of the Magi” is, in all respects, an amazing and one of a kind story. One critic says, “Ironically, Fagin arrives at something utterly crucial to the success of 'The Gift of the Magi': that it has everything—an absorbing (if short) narrative drive and a twist ending that makes it wholly original” (Korb). Even renowned critic, Rena Korb, agrees; O.Henry did an excellent job with this story. Though O. Henry wrote many great stories, one of his most famous, and favorite, stories of all time is “The Gift of the Magi.” “The gift of the Magi” is a classic about a couple who sacrifices their happiness for the other. It is one of Henry’s most popular stories by far; even being remade many times. Such a popular story must have a powerful base with which to explain its message. That message is incorporated quite well into a few major themes; though, many different themes were used in this story. These themes ranged from materialism, generosity and love to more subtle undertones like selflessness and poverty. Of course, the most prominent is materialism; though, Henry goes to great lengths to show such a complex theme to his audience. He uses excellent literary devices like setting, conflict, creative syntax, and even figurative language all to his advantage. O. Henry uses many different, complex, literary elements to portray these different themes in “The Gift of the Magi.”
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”, narrated by Guy de Maupassant in 3rd person omniscient, focuses the story around Mathilde Loisel who is middle class, and her dreams of fame and fortune. The story is set in 19th century France. One day, Mathilde’s husband brings home an invitation to a fancy ball for Mathilde; to his surprise Mathilde throws a fit because she doesn’t have a dress or jewelry to wear to the ball. M. Loisel gets her the beautifully expensive dress she desires and Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from Mme. Forestier, a rich acquaintance of Mathilde. Mathilde goes to the ball and has a night she’s dreamed of, until she gets home from the ball at 4 A.M. to find
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.
Her Husband gets her an invitation to this luxurious party, but she is not content. In addition, she doesn’t have the correct jewelry or the correct outfit to wear, she doesn’t want to appear out of place among all the rich women who are attending. She goes to significant lengths in order to get the proper things for the party so, she borrows a necklace from her prosperous friend. She had a spectacular time being the center of attention at the party, however that is all ruined when on her way home she loses the necklace. Consequently, she spends the next ten years working off the debt to replace the necklace, she was quite unhappy.
I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on, (O’henry 108). This demonstrates that money doesn’t make happiness because at the end of it all their love was enough. Money doesn’t make happiness in the story, The Necklace. Throughout the story, “The Necklace”, it shows that money doesn’t make happiness by stating, “Loisel explained the horrible life the needy live.
The Gift of the Magi is a short story by O. Henry (the pen name of William Porter), published in the New York Sunday World in December 1905. Its primary theme is love and giving. The gift of magi is centered on the theme of love for a wonderful couple comprising Della and Jim young. As a young couple, they are still great lovers. Della is a young wife and despite their economic hard times where they do not have sufficient money to cater for their needs, Della still loves Jim and is ready to sacrifice by saving in order to buy him a good Christmas present (Henry). This is a great show of appreciation to her fiancée especially at a special festive season.