Guy de Maupassant is considered to be one of the fathers of short stories, he is a French author who lived in the 19th century. Born in 1850 at the Chateau de Miromesnil in France, to a lone literary mother who passed on her passion for books to Guy. The author’s writing style is characterized by economy of style, brilliant irony and elegant denouement. Maupassant wrote over 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and a volume of verse. Maupassant incorporated genres such as realism and naturalism within his works and his first published story; “Boule de Suif” (ball of fat) is considered by many as being his masterpiece. “The Necklace” is an ironic, amusing and witty short story which deals with themes such as the deceitfulness of appearance, the threat of martyrdom and the power of objects. The main protagonist in this short story is Mathilde Loisel. Born in a family of clerks, the alluring Madame Loisel is convinced that her social status the “Petite Bourgeoisie” is simply a blunder and Mathilde is destined for a life of prosperity. She pursues her life in perpetual revolt against her circumstances. However she is not living in poverty, with a comfortable home and a caring husband, yet she remains oblivious of all other than the riches she craves. Her lust for wealth is a continual torment and turmoil. Mathilde is a furious and turbulent woman consumed with jealousy who would sacrifice anything and do all in her power to cure her “misfortune” and reverse “destiny’s error” that has her living a unacceptable and incompetent life. Due to her materialistic and flirtatious personality, Madame Loisel is an unsympathetic character, she covets wealth and affection from prosperous playboys and neglecting all devotion Monsie... ... middle of paper ... ...ame Loisel comprehends the meaning of humility. Prior to the necklace Mathilde lived the life of princess in a working class home fantasizing of "thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware". After the necklace, Mathilde has metamorphosed into a determined woman who fights hard for her bread. Every so often she experiences her past daydreams but these have matured into objective and rational queries. Rather than crying and complaining she ponders upon a rational thought of her past life, this example of free indirect discourse gives us an insight into her more mature thoughts,"What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? who knows? How strange and changeful is life!". Madame Loisel develops a positive mindset and embraces failure as a lesson of life. Humbled by the events, she is truly a transformed lady. Works Cited whitgift school
She is getting by in life, isn’t to poor nor overly rich. When her husband gives her an invintation to a very formal ball, she is astonished at the fact that he thinks she can attend in the things she owns. So Madame Loisel goes out and buys a nice dress and borrows jewlrey from her friend. She attends the ball and has a wonderful time. When she arrives how she is horrfied to see that she has lost the diamond necklace that her friend Madame Forestier lent her. After searching for the necklace for hours on end, she buys an expensive replacement and hopes that Madame Forestier won’t notice. After 10 years of hard work, Mathilde and her husband finish paying off the debt of the necklace. Throughout those 10 years, Mathilde saw what it was like to really struggle in life. She realizes that her life before wasn’t all that bad. One day, old and worn down Mathilde sees Madame Forestier in the street. She says hello to her friend and tells her about all the hardships she went to because of the lost necklace. Madame Forestier responds that her necklace was only worth 500 francs at most… way less than what Mathilde had payed for the replacement, and wasn’t even real diamond. This is ironic because Mathilde spent all those years paying of a replacement that was way more money than the original.
The central characters, setting, and tone of the story help create the central idea of the psychological and internal desires of a woman. Through the view of the central characters it is established that the lawyer’s wife wants more than her average day and is searching for more to life than the daily routine of a house wife. Jean Varin is believed to be the desire she is looking for; however, she is not fulfilled or happy with the outcome of her choices. The setting and the tone reveal the psychological need for the wife to have an adventurous, lavish, and opulent lifestyle that she feels can only be achieved in Paris.
In conclusion, Mathilde Loisel, in Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace, reveals the theme of being spoiled and ungrateful will only make things worse in many ways. Even though Mathilde Loisel is charming and beautiful she also posses the unpleasant traits of being spoiled and ungrateful. These are all ways being spoiled and ungrateful will get you
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 Necklace”, Maupassant utilizes verbal and dramatic irony to aid in the reader’s comprehension of Mathilde Loisel’s characteristics. From deceiving people to covering herself up, Mathilde Loisel continues to use many devious methods to make herself look perfect. Mathilde’s conniving methods help the reader understand her characteristics.
" Mathilde appears to regret nothing about the night except losing the necklace. She fails to realize that it was her desire to appear to be someone other than herself that led to her demise. Despite her hardships, Mathilde has failed to learn from her mistakes and instead be asking herself what would have happened if she hadn’t borrowed the necklace in the first
As the day drew near Mathilde’s envy overtook her once more and she became distraught. She decided that she could not go. When Mr. Loisel asked why, she replied that she had no jewelry to wear and that she would look l...
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.
She thought that she had a horrible life when really she was a strong woman with a lucky life and a loving husband. Towards the end of the story it says, “Madame Loisel looked old now. She had become the sort of strong woman, hard, and coarse, that one finds in poor families”(Maupassant 300). Loisel was, again very poor from the ten years of trying to pay off her necklace debts, but not only is ten years older, she looks much older than that from the constant working. At the end of the story, she runs into the woman whom she borrowed the necklace from, and the woman says this, “Oh, my poor, poor Mathilde! Mine was false, it was only worth five hundred Francs at the most”(Maupassant 301)! Loisel, after all the hard working her and her husband did finds out the the necklace was false and worth thousands less than what she had payed off. At the end of “The Necklace” Madame Loisel is much older from the ten years of aging work, and realized that the hard life she thought she had before. She did not actually have until now, but all the hardships made her a stronger and tougher woman than
Loisel repaid the necklace together with their sweat and tears. Mathilde didn’t have a choice; she had to change from a vain, ungrateful, material, bored wife, into a hardworking proud and loving wife. She even says, right before she runs into Mme. Forestier, “What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How life is strange and changeful! How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!”(39) In that quote I saw 2 things, when she asked herself what would have happened if she didn’t lose the necklace, she doesn’t go into some fairytale about what life she could be living, she just accepts what she is now, even if it’s not the easiest life in the world. At the very end of that quote “How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!”(39) The fact that she added “or to be saved!” to her thought, tells me that she realizes that she was vain and unappreciated and that she lacked character, but now she is grateful, even though it was such a terrible thing, she was grateful that she was able to say that she was a better person now, even after everything that happened to her than she ever “dreamed” of being before. Guy de Maupassant certainly described a very difficult hardship for Mathilde in “The Necklace” but in the end, everything that happened to her, made her a much better and stronger woman inside and out. This story teaches a very important lesson, you have no idea what you can do and who you can become, until your chips are down and you’re put between a rock and a hard
There comes a time in a woman’s life where she tends to become bitter and ungrateful. It is natural to feel that way in any time period for young women coming to age as they do not realize what they have to do stay beautiful. Some women can even get so caught up in their life, that no one, not even their husband really matter to them. In “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant it reveals Mathilde’s selfish and conceited ways, as she is not thankful for an invitation Mr. Loisel gives to her to attend the ball. Although Mathilde may not be the most grateful wife, she learns the hard way of what struggle really is later on in the story. It is clear on a psychological note that Mathilde generates materialistic, unappreciative, and egotistical tendencies.
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.
Hence the situational irony had taken place. First the original necklace was fake and all that pain of ten years could have been avoided. Secondly, Mathilde’s character had a turn around as in the beginning she was greedy but after the tragic events She is more self sufficient and does work to make money. And most importantly Mathilde did not divorce on Mousier and supported him and help herself pay up the debt. Ture characteristic of a person is not shown when he has everything but rather when he has
Maupassant (1850-1893) was a French writer who wrote from a naturalist/realism point of view. Swimming, boating and studying law were some of his interests when not writing. He was kicked out of a seminary, contracted syphilis in his twenties and started writing poetry. He had to withdraw his first volume of poems which were so scandalous they caused a lawsuit. He wrote novels, articles, travel books and short stories. At a young
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