The Necklace Analysis

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People know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. In “The Necklace,” Guy De Maupassant tells the story of a middle-class woman who is materialistic and ambitious; she desires to be in the upper-class society. She goes great lengths to be a different person; she purchased a fancy dress and borrowed a diamond necklace from a friend. This necklace will change her destiny. Maupassant uses the setting to reflect the character and development of the main character, Mathilde Loisel. As a result, his setting is not based on vivid details. He does not even give a full description of the necklace, the main object in the story, but only states it’s a “ superb diamond” (202). The author seems to give vivid details of the setting, such as …show more content…

The Champs-Elysèes is in the upper class neighborhood, and her walk is too similar to her earlier day-dreams of upper-class wealth. But it’s on this street where she meets Mrs. Forrestier; this is the first time seeing her in ten years. Mrs. Forestier does not recognize her. She introduces herself and the other expresses surprise. She begins to explain why she has not been able to show up for such a length of time. She could not help but to be completely honest with Mrs. Forrestier about the necklace. In reply Mrs. Foresiter surprises her by telling Mathilde it was a false diamond necklace. The “smile” of “ innocent and proud happiness” filled Mathilde’s face (205). While the walk serves as the conclusion surprise and irony, Mathilde’s being on Champs-Elysèes is a complete character, in keeping with her earlier thoughts pleasantly lost in a daydream about …show more content…

The loss of the necklace does not cause a moral downfall in the lives of the Loisels. They did not inform Mrs. Forestier of the incident, nor did they simply take responsibility and challenge to replace the article however much it is of value. The Loisel’s paid thirty-four thousand francs for a real diamond necklace to replace the one they lost. If they were just honest in the beginning with Mrs. Forestier, they could’ve only paid four hundred francs. Maupassant uses the setting to illuminate Mathilde’s qualities, her misfortune, her loss of beauty, and finally, her growth into a responsible

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    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.

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    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

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    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

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