Irony in Maupassant's The Necklace Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is situational irony written in 1884. The story was written in a time when there were very distinct social classes primarily determined by one's birth. It is about a woman who can not come to terms with her position in the middle class. Although she knows she can not escape her class, she refuses to accept it gracefully. It is through Matilde that Maupassant develops the story's irony. This is reflected through Matilde's daydreaming, which only serves to torment her, the loss of the necklace borrowed for show, which only worsens their economic position, and finally, their unnecessary sacrifice. The irony begins with Matilde's frequent daydreaming. She is a beautiful and charming woman who feels "herself destined for all delicacies and luxuries" (4). Fate, however, placed her among the middle class where life was very simple. For her, the only means to a more affluent class was through her imagination. She dreams of "large silent anterooms, expensive silks and of achievement and fame that would make her the envy of all other women" (4). What she fails to realize is that these daydreams only make her more dissatisfied with her real life. As a result, she becomes more focused on what she does not have rather than what she does have. Contributing to the irony is the borrowed necklace. Matilde's husband brings a coveted dinner invitation home, and her first reaction is concern for ap...
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 ...
Edna’s move into the Pigeon House is symbolic as well as physical because it “added to her to her strength and expansion as an individual”. This implies that Edna is striving towards her independence away from Mr. Pontiellier and her kids, and a deep sought into her life. This represents in the development of her self-awareness that Edna is no longer concerned of about the content of “feed upon opinion when her own soul had invited her.” In hence, Edna is no longer in care of others’ lives and what they think of Edna, that she only wants to focus on her own.
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym ?). As a result, Montresor plans to bury Fortunato alive.
her will to survive by responding to the negativity that surrounded the lives of females, especially the
Maya is constantly feeling like she is stuck in a stereotyped provided by others and has no way of escaping it.
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.
During the early 1900s there was a slow and powerful movement from negative emphasis in the critical examination of American life and modern society as a whole to positive revaluation of materials and affirmation. A few writers attained positive reviews early in this period and in their careers. A large number receive negative reviews. However, among the writers of eminence and influence, many of those individual’s development corresponded to the general pattern. The character of the ultimate affirmation varied widely. The findings included positive values in democracy, in materialism, in the common man in religion, in man’s relation to the earth and in human life as a whole. Guy de Maupassant and James Thurber used the techniques of irony and conflict to explore and view marital relationships.
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
In his dramatic monologue, Robert Browning uses irony, diction, and imagery to achieve a haunting effect.
Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.
In Guy De Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace,” the writer presents the main character Mathilde Loisel. Throughout the story, Madame Loisel, a beautiful women married to a clerk from the Ministry of Education, is preparing for the upcoming ball. With the event daunting on her mind, Mathilde asks her husband for money to buy a new dress. However, even with the new dress in hand she is still dissatisfied with the lack of jewels to match her outfit, and after a prompting from her husband, Mathilde asks her friend Madame Forestier to lend her a diamond necklace. On the day of the even, Madame Loisel, is declared the prize of the ball, and men and women alike shower her with affection as she steels their hearts with elegance and grace. Finally
her life. She longed to live an independent life, but struggled to earn a living wage with the jobs she
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.
The life of an author may often reflect through their works. This is the case in the short story, The Necklace, written by Guy de Maupassant. An ironic and a self-explanatory tale, The Necklace is written filled with twists that might just make you doubt your stand in life. Characters which anyone might not think much about, symbols that many seem to miss, and principles that few seem to understand, The Necklace might just be short but with it, you can clearly see the life and ways of a person like Guy de Maupassant. Every word might just seem ordinary, but through the minds of some great authors, every single letter, every meaningless word, and every combined sentence create worlds for them. Imaginary it might seem, but their lives are intertwined with their works, so with this paper, the world of a great author, like Guy de Maupassant would be unraveled through one of his greatest work, The Necklace. The purpose of this report is to analyze the background in which The Necklace was written and to analyze its values and its characters.
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.