“‘The Necklace’ is one of the most famous of Maupassant's short stories but also one of the most enigmatic” (Adamson). Guy de Maupassant was born in Normandy to wealthy parents. His childhood setting and character reflected in his fiction writing. His mother provided the characterization of slighted, overbearing women in most of his stories. The plot is about the loss of a diamond necklace by a low-ranking officials wife. She finds outs the price of a similar necklace is 36,000 francs. Madame Loisel spent 10 years paying off her debt for the necklace only to find out that the gems were paste costume jewelry instead of diamonds. Guy de Maupassant develops his theme that objects can have a perceiving power in his short story “The Necklace” through …show more content…
“She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her” (de Maupassant). Madame Loisel wanted more, but she ended up much worse than how she started. “Mathilde focuses on her lack of jewels and fine clothing rather than on enjoying her life” (Brackett). She worried about wanting more instead of enjoying the life she lived. De Maupassant uses her physical changes to show what a large impact a small item can do. “Oh, my poor Mathilde! How you are changed!” (de Maupassant). Madame Loisel wanted to be prettier, but she became old and wrinkly. “At first not recognizing Mathilde, Madame Forestier is shocked by her friend’s haggard appearance. She cries out with sympathy over Mathilde’s transformation” (Brackett). This is ironic because all Madame Loisel wanted was to look better among the rich crowd and ended up worse than how she …show more content…
"Madame Forestier went to her dressing-table, took up a large box, brought it to Madame Loisel, opened it, and said: "Choose, my dear”” (de Maupassant). Madame Forestier wanted to help Madame Loisel look her best at the high-end party, so she let her borrow any jewelry she owned. It also shows that she is wealthy and owns more than one expensive item. "Madame Forestier’s reserved attitude toward Mathilde makes clear that, although they began life on the same level, she believes herself superior to Mathilde” (Brackett). Madame Forestier believes that she is better than Madame Loisel because she owns expensive-looking jewelry and ends up looking better than
Guy de Maupassant expresses his theme through the use of situational irony. Guy de Maupassant says, “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her.”(De Maupassant). She is poor and thinks of herself too much and then he says "but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have no caste or class.”(De Maupassant). She wants more than she can get which will ruin her later in the story. When she lost the necklace by the end of the week they had lost all hope to find it. Loisel, who had aged five years, declared:
Other details in the story also have a similar bearing on Mathilde’s character. For example, the story presents little detail about the party scene beyond the statement that Mathilde is a great “success” (7)—a judgment that shows her ability to shine if given the chance. After she and Loisel accept the fact that the necklace cannot be found, Maupassant includes details about the Parisian streets, about the visits to loan sharks, and about the jewelry shop in order to bring out Mathilde’s sense of honesty and pride as she “heroically” prepares to live her new life of poverty. Thus, in “The Necklace,” Maupassant uses setting to highlight Mathilde’s maladjustment, her needless misfortune, her loss of youth and beauty, and finally her growth as a responsible human being.
In Guy de Maupassant’s story, The Necklace, he utilizes situational irony in order to highlight the theme. He displays this irony in order to reveal several themes that can be observed in the story. One of the major themes in this short story is how appearances can be misleading.
In the short story, “The Necklace,” a greedy and selfish woman brings financial ruin upon herself and her husband. They go from a comfortable lifestyle in a slightly shabby apartment to an impoverished existence in an attic apartment. Mathilde Loisel was born to a lower middle class French family, but she wished that she could have of noble birth. Her longing for a better life caused her great grief. When she could have been happy with her situation in life, instead she would dream of a grand home and wealthy, dignified friends. When she borrowed a diamond necklace from a friend and lost it at an elegant party, she brought downfall to her husband and herself. Not only does Guy de Maupassant use the necklace as a vehicle for the hard times that the Loisels had to endure, but he also uses it as a symbol to teach a lesson about the repercussions of greed, ruin, and regret.
In the story, Guy de Maupassant clearly and effectively proves that people come before materialistic items. Such literary devices such as symbolism, situational irony, and juxtaposition are used to prove the theory. Symbolism was expressed through the necklace having a greater meaning within itself. The situational irony was expressed in three different ways. Mme. Loisels’ beauty, her judgment of character, and that her old life she hated, turned out to be greater than what was to come her way. The juxtaposition was shown through her and her husband marriage and values. In conclusion, people always have values that can change, or stay the same. Sometimes people’s values are poor and misleading, but it doesn’t mean they are not a good person at heart.
Known as a master of the short story form, Guy de Maupassant was a French writer who had a number of works published. From books to short stories, they capture and demonstrate the lifestyle of a nineteenth century individual, particularly in France and Normandy, where most of the stories take place. The collection of eight stories, The Necklace and Other Short Stories, contains different elements that may or may not appeal to readers. War and life morals are elements that may appeal to readers alongside prostitution and language, which may not.
This can describe as her being spoiled because although her husband got her the letter she wanted more and her husband gave her more. In other words, Madame Forestier is another character in “The Necklace” whose dialogue is shown. Madame Forestier let her friend Mathilde Loisel borrow a necklace that was gorgeous and unique she was going to attract attention towards her. “Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace; her heart began to beat covetously. Her hands trembled as she lifted it. She fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of her. Then, with hesitation, she asked in anguish: "Could you lend me this, just this alone?" "Yes, of course." (Guy De Maupassant 1884). This showed that Madame Forestier was nice enough to let Mathilde borrow the necklace.
Immediately, Mathilde realises necklace is not on her neck anymore it is lost. They checked the cab, but could not find it. Monsieur follows there step back, but unfortunately he could not find it. They decide to go to the jewelry store and look for similar diamond necklace Mathilde Loisel was wearing. De Maupassant let 's reader know the price of Necklace, “ The price was forty thousand francs. The store will let them have it for thirty-six thousand” ( Maupassant 177 ). Monsieur made some arrangement for the money. He had Eighteen thousand franc which his father gave to him and the rest he had to borrow from other people and promised to pay them as early as possible and with a healthy interest rate. They successfully replace the new necklace and went to Mathilde friend 's house to return it. give to her friend. And start paying up people they loaned money
Around the world, values are expressed differently. Some people think that life is about the little things that make them happy. Others feel the opposite way and that expenses are the way to live. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, he develops a character, Madame Loisel, who illustrates her different style of assessments. Madame Loisel, a beautiful woman, lives in a wonderful home with all the necessary supplies needed to live. However, she is very unhappy with her life. She feels she deserves a much more expensive and materialistic life than what she has. After pitying herself for not being the richest of her friends, she goes out and borrows a beautiful necklace from an ally. But as she misplaces the closest thing she has to the life she dreams of and not telling her friend about the mishap, she could have set herself aside from ten years of work. Through many literary devices, de Maupassant sends a message to value less substance articles so life can be spent wisely.
Guy de Maupassant is a realist whose claim to fame is the style in which he conveys political and socioeconomic themes in his literary publications. He achieves his writing style by putting small unfortunate life events under a spotlight. His literary performance is described in his biography from Cambridge, the writer says “He exposes with piercing clarity the small tragedies and pathetic incidents of everyday life, taking a clear-sighted though pessimistic view of humanity” (Halsey, par. 1). Guy de Maupassant’s story The Necklace is a great representation of the style he uses. In The Necklace the main character Mathilde Loisel a beautiful but impoverished woman married to a clerk is in conflict with her lack of wealth and desire to acquire
In the story, “The Necklace”, Madame Loisel is very childish. She is the main character for this story. In the beginning of the story she thinks about all of the things she wants to have in order to fit in with the other wealthy people she lives around with. She is not poor nor is she filthy rich, but she seems very ungrateful for almost everything she does have. Her husband was in charge of keeping her happy and keeping each other on track.
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.
She is constantly whining about how plain and uninteresting her life is, even though she has a comfortable home and loving husband. Having what most would kill for, she still dreams of a world of gold and wealth; a reality of extravagance and luxury that is chalk-full of rich, exciting people and parties. Fundamentally restated, she is a vain, thankless woman who possesses the steadfast credence she was born to live a better life. Monsieur Loisel, her husband, on the other hand, is a hardworking, modest man who enjoys the unpretentious simplicity of his life, completely satisfied with the food that is cooked for him as well as his routine job at the Ministry of Education. When invited to a formal ball, Mathilde borrows a necklace seemingly expensive and misplaces it.
The fact the Madame Loisel’s friend who has a higher class than hers owns a fake jewelry; it shows that she understands that objects are only powerful as people perceived them to
Mathilde is a peasant in France, yet she dreams of riches and desires sparkly, rare gems like any normal girl. She spends her days captivated by her own fantasies. Mathilde believed that “fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans” (Maupassant). Her destiny was to be a part of a normal family and not an aristocratic family.