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.
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 life. With an easy explanation, it explains how having material possessions doesn’t matter, because the moments we have are more valuable.
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.
“The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant tells of Mathilde Loisel who “by error of destiny” was born poor and winds up marrying a clerk. Mr. Loisel surprises Mathilde with an opportunity to taste the luxurious life for an evening and she unexpectedly bursts into tears because she has nothing to wear. Mr. Loisel agrees to buy her a gown and suggests that she borrow jewelry from her wealthy friend. The evening turns out to be a dream come true until the Loisels arrive home to find that the borrowed necklace is no longer around Mathilde’s neck. The Loisels secretly replace the necklace with an expensive duplicate that takes them ten long, hard years to pay off. Shortly after the loan is paid off, Mathilde runs into her rich friend and confesses her secret. Mathilde is distraught to find that the necklace was not the expensive gem she believed; but a faux. The central idea of this story is that when you desperately seek a life not destined for you, you end up sacrificing your own happiness.
In the story “The Necklace” the author’s theme is to show us that greed and envy can lead to destruction. In this story Mathilde is a very envious woman whom always dreamed of a life that she could not have. She was very charming and beautiful woman who thought that she must have been born into the wrong life, since she had no way of getting known and married by a rich man.
At the beginning of the story, “The Necklace” Madame Loisel was young, beautiful, and had a loving husband, but was very concerned about her looks, reputation, and status. She wishes for an elegant upper class life and longs to have much more than she does. The story starts off by telling about the beauty and youthfulness of Loisel, “ She was one of
“Guy de Maupassant’s, “The Necklace”, is about a young couple who discovers the upper society appears to sparkles like a real diamond necklace, but in reality it is not always true. A decision that seems to protect their integrity turns out to tarnish it – like a fake necklace. However, through ironic insights we witness drama, character revelations and experience surprise” (Clugston, 2010) .The Necklace is told from a 3rd person point of view with limited omniscience. The title suggests that the plot will center on a necklace. So, naturally we, the audience or reader wants to know what the significance of the necklace is. After reading the story I believe that Maupassant used the necklace to symbolize the upper society or wealth. Another symbol that the necklace represents is appearance. In the story Mme. Loisel was a beautiful young woman that had admirers at the reception. She made all the attendees believe she was from...
Madame Loisel was a proud woman who was extremely poorly along with her husband, who earned a low amount of money, but she dreamed of being someone who owned extravagant clothing and jewelry that was worth plenty of money. Someone who has money would be seen as a highly respectable person who was elegant and looked up to. This could be seen in paragraph 3 where it says, “The modest clothes of an ordinary life, whose poverty contrasted sharply with the elegance of the ball dress.” Madame Loisel for example, wanted to pretend to be a high class individual while in reality she was only an average poor person. She had not realized what it actually took to acquire the money needed to a fine women so all she could do was dream. She did not value the life she had where she did not have to work and all she had to do was stay home and clean. Also in paragraph Add Paragraph “She had become strong, hard and rough like all women of impoverished households.” This helps develop the idea that valuable items have an emotional attachment because the necklace was so valuable money wise but it also helped her develop a different personality that was more accepting to what she had already. The necklace represented something to her that she could never own on her own but in the process of being selfish and greedy she learned many values of life. Treasurable
In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” Mathidle is unhappy with the life she currently has. Furthermore, Mathidle is always striving to be like her “rich” friends. Even though Mathidle’s husband tries extremely hard to please Mathidle, Mathidle is always unsatisfied with her materialistic wealth in the beginning of her life. Likewise, Mathidle is an object-oriented idealist who momentarily escapes reality only to experience a tragic loss and eventually finds happiness through her journey.
“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
Between misplacing priorities and self-absorption Mathilde Loisel is created in the story, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Mathilde has just about everything a woman could want: remarkable beauty, a loving husband, and a comfortable lifestyle. Material riches are the only category in which she believes she is inadequate to other women. This one factor sets up the conflict present in the story. Throughout the turmoil she must endure, due to her egotistical ways, one would think she would have a change in heart and mindset. Mathilde has a dissatisfied disposition that does not evolve even as her situation does; she is disgruntled being in the middle class, as well as attending a first class event, and ultimately being in the working class.
It took ten years for Mathilde and her husband to pay off the debt of buying a new necklace. Those ten years were not spent with the luxuries she experienced so many years ago at the party, nor were they filled with the simple things she once owned and despised. She came to know “the horrible existence of the needy. She bore her part, however, with sudden heroism.” When passing her rich friend again in the street, she was barely recognizable. Who she was the day she ran into her friend was not who she was the night she wore that necklace.
Janwillem Van De Wetering says, “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace” tells of Mrs. Mathilde Loisel’s longings for the finer things in life. Her desires are so intense she risks her husband’s affections, the friendship of an old chum, and even her mediocre lifestyle to pursue these cravings. One small decision based on an ill-placed desire causes a slow drawn out death of the spirit, body and relationships.
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
At many places in the story he shows the irony of Madame Loisel’s situation. From the time of her marriage, through her growing years, Madame Loisel desires what she does not have and dreams that her life should be other than it is. It is only after ten years of hard labor and abject poverty that she realizes the mistake pride led her to make. At that point, the years cannot be recovered. In my opinion, the moral lesson of the necklace story is that we should not judge people on appearances because they may appear to be rich and successful and they may not be. It also explains us we should not pine after material possessions, but realize we are happy with what we have and we must be satisfied with what we have and what we are. We must be honest enough to confess his mistake instead of running from situations and turning back. There’s nothing wrong in have wishing though and dreams, but you must know your limits and your condition as
Throughout the ages, literature has consistently reflected the interests and activities of a people. Therefore, some themes have been dominant in World Literature from ancient times to the present. One such theme greed and generosity, which is explored in the French short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.