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the necklace introduction essay
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A life of glitz and glamor may not be for everyone but Mathilde may say otherwise. In Guy Maupassant’s short story the Necklace, Mathilde is a lovely looking woman who believes that she was always meant to live a life of luxury who was granted one night to live her dream but in the end of it she became the opposite of what she always dreamed off. Although it may sound as if it was a tragic downfall, it was anything but so as the story was written off of Mathilde’s selfish attitude. The Necklace is a story that portrays the protagonist, Mathilde as a ungrateful and vain women which causes her to fall to poverty and to self impose her own misery.
From the beginning it is shown how Mathilde live a comfortable life as the wife of a clerk and
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Continuing from her complaints of not having a jeweled accessory, her husband offered an alternative of stylish flowers only to reply with “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich” Mathilde is constantly lusting after a luxurious lifestyle, believing that she was born for the upper class, and refusing to appear any less of it. When Mathilde went to borrow her friend’s jewelry she looked through many different accessories, asking Mine. Forestier is she had more. Out of all the strands she picked the “superb necklace of diamonds” one, arguably one of the most expensive gems, taking it with ” her heart beating in immoderate desire.” After the ball was over, before Mathilde and her husband went home, he threw over her shoulders a modest wrap of common life to keep her warm. Mathilde was not pleased as she “wanted to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women, who were enveloping themselves in costly furs.”, again ungrateful to her husband’s kindness. She was paranoid about being seen with such rags, she did not listen to her husband’s suggestion to wait indoors while he hails a cab so she wouldn’t catch a cold. Between the transition of the ball to their home, the necklace was lost, Instead of telling the truth to Jeanne Forestier, they bought a replacement causing the two to live 10 long years of debt and
Maupassant delighted me with this story. I especially liked how he present the character Mathilde, she seemed to be extremely ungrateful with her mediocre life. She dreamed of wealth and fame and it seemed like nothing would please her. She focused so much on her desire to have social status that when she got the opportunity to go a social gathering with elite members of society, she would not go unless she had a fancy dress and fancy necklace. For one night, she felt like “somebody”. I found this story to display themes of gross vanity, irony and suffering. Because in the end Mathilde worked hard to replace the necklace that she presumed was real. She was never able to have another day of pleasure or go out to any other events. She made such a big deal of the one event, she lost herself in the feeling of being social accepted by a higher class in society.
Values are spread all around the world, and many people’s values differ. These can lead to people being judged, or indirectly characterized by other people. In “The Necklace” Mme. Loisel is a beautiful woman with a decent life, and a husband that loves her, and only wants to make her happy. She is not rich but she makes it along, she insists of a better, wealthier life. When her husband gets her invited to a ball, she feels the need for a brand new fancy dress and tons of jewelry. When the couple realizes they cannot afford jewelry as well, they search out to borrow her friend, Mme. Forestiers’ necklace. She comes to notice she no longer has the necklace on when she leaves the ball. This later troubles her, as she has to work for a long time to collect enough money to buy a new necklace. This story describes the relationship between a couple, who have different dreams, and how desires can revamp your life. Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace” uses literary devices to prove people come before materialistic items.
Over the course of the short story, The Jewelry, written by Guy De Maupassant, the main character, M. Lantin, goes through a clear change in personality, behavior, and values. At first M. Lantin is very content with his life and seems to love his wife, Madame Lantin. Then, after her death, M. Lantin is extremely depressed and filled with grief over his wife, however by the end of the story M. Lantin 's personality appears to change completely as he forgets his grief and is able to move on very quickly after being presented the money from the jewelry he sold.
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.
Until the time of her mishap, Mme. Loisel expresses ardent dissatisfaction with many (if not most) areas of her life; discontent defines her character. Her lofty expectations cause her to believe that, because she is beautiful, she deserves the "best" that life has to offer, but the reality of her situation greatly troubles her. She should have a prestigious husband, yet "she let herself be married to a little clerk" (de Maupassant 46). Mme. Loisel thinks that she deserves to reside in an elegant home, but instead she "suffer[s] from the poverty of her dwelling"(46). She longs for "delicate furniture" and experiences "torture" from the look of her "worn-out chairs" (46, 47). Mme. Loisel is even dissatisfied with her cuisine; while her husband dutifully compliments her cooking, she dreams of "dainty dinners" and "delicious dishes served on marvelous plates" (47). Truly, this woman finds little in her life which brings joy or even contentment.
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.
Furthermore, the lifestyle both women want ends up in disaster however, one ends in death while the other in hard labor. In "The Necklace", the wife ends up losing her friend’s expensive necklace which causes her to work hard to earn enough money to pay of a new one. Due to all the work she loses her beauty. In contrast, whereas in "The Jewels" the constant attendance of the opera house during the winter causes her to die of inflammation which resulted a deep sorrow towards the husband. Both wife’s lived life differently. Both tries to find the best way to fulfill their desire for the good
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 was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education. Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to afford any other, but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or fa...
In The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant the husband "Monsieur Loisel is content with the small pleasures of his life, but does his best to appease Mathilde's demands and assuage her complaints"(Spark Notes). By any means, Monsieur will do anything or try to do anything to make his wife happy. Mathilde the protagonist who's a stunning lady with beautiful looks who feel the need to be rich, so she stays dreaming of what her life would be like as a rich lady. Although she was not rich, but mid class she did have a rich friend that she stays away from because of the simple fact that she was not as fortun...
...tory is basically based on the necklace itself. In fact it almost seems as if the theme of the story instead was related to the definition of “deceiving” or “lying.” It doesn’t become obvious until the end of the story when Mathilde is faced once again with Mme. Forestier and it’s then made clear that the fallacy that Mathilde had was all wrong. Guy De Maupassant makes Mathilde seem foolish when Mme. Forestier tells her the truth about the necklace price and Mathilde is somewhat seemed as a fool. All her traumas of being “poor” are almost as if it backfired on her, because she was unhappy and kept complaining of her life.
In “The Necklace,” Mathilde’s internal struggle is with herself. She mentally battled with the physical and financial limitations placed on her, but more with her own soul. She was unhappy with her place in life and could not accept the simplicity of her station, believing it to be truly beneath her. “All those things… tortured her and made her angry. “ Her husband’s blatant acceptance of their place only fueled her frustrations further.
“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
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
The night of the ball came and Mathilde looked great; everyone admired her. The evening ended and everyone went home. Mathilde decided that she would look at herself in the mirror one last time before getting out of the clothes. When she did, she noticed the necklace that she admired so much was gone. Mathilde and her husband had to borrow thirty-six thousand francs from people they knew to buy another just like it so they could return it to the friend. Mathilde and her husband were deeply in debt. For ten years they worked day in and day out until finally the debt was paid off.