...Literary Analysis of “The Necklace” In the short story of “The Necklace,” Guy De Maupassant narrates about a woman who just cannot seem to be happy and dreams about being rich. Maupassant uses imagery and symbolism to convey his theme as well as the value of a false materialism in the story. The narrator uses the necklace as a symbol to show us the biggest deception of appearances. At the story’s heart is a masterful depiction of the protagonist, Loisel Mathilde. She is a young, beautiful, charming, materialistic, discontent and snobbish lady. Mathilde agrees to marry a clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction, who always tries to make her happy. Mathilde cares very much about beautiful things and appearances that, in fact, do not match with her reality. She borrows a necklace and loses it, and then spends ten years of hard life paying back the cost of the lost necklace. Maupassant shows ironic situation by using a necklace as a symbol to illustrate Mathilde’s obsession with wealth and her dishonesty, which cause her downfall in the story. The protagonist, Mathilde, lives in middle-class society but longs to be a member of high-class society. She spends most of her time envying everybody with a sweeter life than her own. Maupassant narrates that Mathilde has a little peasant girl who works in her house and washes the dishes and does other housework; this indicates that she has a decent life at the beginning. Nevertheless, Mathilde feels she deserves more...
Words: 1636 - Pages: 7
...“The Story of an Hour” Versus “The Necklace”; Very Comparable, and Still, Poles Apart Rebecca Rheinscheld ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Maria Rasimas July 22, 2014 As in all literary works, short stories entertain the reader with characters, imagery and tone; in general, the story as a whole. Short stories are to the point, then on the other hand, they have a profound message reverberating throughout the progression of the writing leaving the reader pondering a lee way to the story and envisioning the imaginable conclusions, only if the short stories existed as novels as an alternative. “The Story of an Hour”, inscribed via writer Kate Chopin compared to “The Necklace”, which was inscribed via author Guy De Maupassant are binary stories that are being viewed and compared due to the distinctive themes of each story that discrete authors can compose; comparable but separate stories in dissimilar epochs. Both stories are varied readings that the themes emphasizes on the responsibility of feminineness and matrimonial obligations. Even though with the alikeness’s between the two texts, there are as well multiple divergences. These divergences, for example are of the two main characters, women; the first, facing the heartbreak of passing away versus the second facing an experience due to life that teaches a lesson. In an older time, around the late 19th century to mid-20th century, the expectancy for a woman stood as the family units’ caregiver; females...
Words: 2283 - Pages: 10
...the short story, “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant illustrates a dynamic character. The author illustrates: 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 [....][…] She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.[…]All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her. […]The day of the party arrived. Madame Loisel was a success[….][…]Madame Loisel came to know the ghastly life of abject poverty. […]She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. […]And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her money. (de Maupassant) This quote describes a drastic change in the protagonist, the author narrates “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.” She lives in an illusionary world where her actual life does not match the ideal life she has in her head; she believes that her beauty and charm makes her worthy of greater things. “The day of the party arrived. Madame Loisel was a success” The party is a triumph because for the first time, her appearance matches the reality of her life. She is prettier than the other women, sought after by the men, and generally admired and flattered by all. (de Maupassant) Her life is as she...
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...‘The Necklace’, written by Guy de Maupassant in the mid-1800s, is a short story depicting the pitiful situation of a poor, young French girl. Maupassant plays on the growing issues of vanity within society, to coerce the reader into feeling sadness for the main character; Madame Loisel. Maupassant’s over exaggerated writing is quick to reflect the flaws of humanity and, combined with the subtle irony of the text, he communicates the piece’s main theme: lies only lead to hardships. Much of Maupassant’s story is conversation, echoing the style of traditional storytelling. He acts as an impartial observer, stating the facts as they are and leaving the reader to draw any conclusions regarding the characters’ personality and morality. For example, the fact that the first six paragraphs all start with the third tense pronoun ‘she’, indicates that the narrator is objective towards the events of the story, even though the writer’s choice of vocabulary holds a cynical undertone, as does the speech. Mathilde often say things such as ‘What earthly use is that to me’ in a tone that is described as irritable, to contrast with her lighter tone, and playful alliteration that explore her dreams of wealth. Phrases like ‘spectacle’, ‘oriental tapestries’, ‘pretty little parlours’ and ‘bronze candelabras’ are strong indicators of her love for fortune, something that is a common character trait nowadays. This also indicates a split in her personality; to the world she appears to be cold, hard...
Words: 778 - Pages: 4
...understand the context that the author has written about. Characteristics throughout a story assist with painting the image inside the readers head on the time, surrounding, and appearance of a character. In the Necklace, by Guy De Maupassant character development is illustrated. Character development is an essential element that authors use throughout their stories to make the character become more realistic to their audience. There are several factors that make up the development of a character such as action, setting, and descriptions. Having these factors of character development identified while reading a story can make the text become more realistic to the readers eyes. A characters description is very important when developing a story. For an example, in the short story Sweat by Zora Neal Hurston, the protagonist Delia physical appearance is greatly expresses within the story. Hurston describes Delia as a southern African American washer woman who is so skinny that her legs resemble a chicken’s, and is physically drain from all the hard work she does around her house. Delia physical appearance is not beautiful, because she endures physical beatings from her cheating husband. This evidence of descriptions in the story helps with visualizing an image inside the reader mind of how Delia looks. Having a setting in a story tells the audience where the location is taking place and also the time period the story is set on. In the movie Titanic, a person can tell the setting is relating...
Words: 1383 - Pages: 6
...In this essay, I would like to compare and contrast gender roles/marriage and primarily show through two literary works found in my textbook the differences and likenesses of each story, as they are being told to the audience. The short stories that I have chosen to discuss for this essay are “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, by James Thurber. I will try to compare and contrast both stories and give the audience a brief summary, explaining the likenesses and differences and engaging the reader, while doing so. In the short summary of the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". This short-story tells the tale of Walter Mitty while on a trip into town with his wife, the bossy and serious Mrs. Mitty. Walter is sadly incompetent of doing many things; he forgets a lot of things, is very absent-minded while driving, and cannot handle the simplest tasks. But, what makes Walter unique throughout this short-story is his imagination. While Walter goes through his tasks, he escapes into a world of many fantasies, each brought on by reality. While driving his car he starts to day dream that he is a commander on a “Navy hydroplane" going through a storm. (Clugston, 2010). While passing a hospital, he believes he is a famous surgeon, known throughout the world for saving lives. He imagines he is being interrogated in court on a case, when he hears a newsboy shouting about a trial. Also, when he is waiting for his wife, he imagines himself...
Words: 3290 - Pages: 14
...The Necklace Summary How It All Goes Down At the beginning of the story, we meet Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she were wealthy. She's got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who marry her to another clerk (M. Loisel) in the Department of Education. Mathilde is so convinced she's meant to be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life she's not having. She envisions footmen, feasts, fancy furniture, and strings of rich young men to seduce. One day M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss, the Minister of Education. M. Loisel has gone to a lot of trouble to get the invitation, but Mathilde's first reaction is to throw a fit. She doesn't have anything nice to wear, and can't possibly go! How dare her husband be so insensitive? M. Loisel doesn't know what to do, and offers to buy his wife a dress, so long as it's not too expensive. Mathilde asks for 400 francs, and he agrees. It's not too long before Mathilde throws another fit, though, this time because she has no jewels. So M. Loisel suggests she go see her friend Mme. Forestier, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. Mathilde goes to see Mme. Forestier, and she is in luck. Mathilde is able to borrow a gorgeous diamond necklace. With the necklace, she's sure to be a stunner. The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone...
Words: 2467 - Pages: 10
...Marriage ENG 125: Introduction to Literature In Guy De Maupassant's, "The Necklace" and Kate Chopin's, "The Story of an Hour" the characters are females who struggle with inner conflicts. Many differences as well as likenesses are identified between the two characters, which would like to make major changes in their life. “The settings of the stories take place in the late 1800's, which during this time women were restricted from doing many things such as: working outside of the home, they were controlled by their spouses, and they had to be subservient females”(Wikipedia). Mrs. Mallard is the main character in "The Story of an Hour" and Mrs. Loisel is the character in "The Necklace." The type of tone the writers chose for the main characters were discontent women, who yearned for a better life than their current one. Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is the story of Mathilde Loisel, who resents her current lifestyle. When Monsieur Loisel presents his wife with an invitation to a formal ball, she bursts into tears because she has nothing elegant to wear. Mathilde's husband agrees to let her buy a gown, and, following his suggestion, she borrows a beautiful necklace from a friend. As a result, she has a wonderful time at the ball. Upon returning home she realizes that she has lost the necklace she borrowed from her friend. The Loisels replace it with a similar one, for which they enter into debt for ten years. One day Mathilde sees her old friend and decides to tell her the...
Words: 1561 - Pages: 7
..."The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin. In both these stories, authors portray two very different yet alike women who have trouble accepting their fate and are trying to reject the life of women of their class. Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard are very alike because they dream of something they do not have, then their dreams come true, but destiny plays a fatal role in both stories, and ladies lose everything they had. In both stories, ladies have caring husbands, whom they do not appreciate .Unfortunately, the endings of both stories are tragic. From the first lines of both stories, it is clear that Mathilde Loisel and Mrs. Mallard dream of living different lives. The only difference between them is that they dream of different treasures. Mathilde Loisel suffers from her middle-class lifestyle. "She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that. She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after." (Maupassant, p. 36) It is clear that Mathilde is envious of her reach friend, Madame Forestier and would trade places with her if only she had the chance, but unfortunately she is stuck with her clerk husband in their middle-class apartment. Unlike Mathilde Loisel, Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” doesn’t suffer from her middle-class lifestyle. Mrs. Mallard, who is a fragile woman afflicted with heart trouble, suffers from being trapped in a marriage...
Words: 1177 - Pages: 5
...Compare and contrast “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “The Necklace” Dreams, sacrifice, marital unhappiness and escapism are often themes involving men and women in English Literature. Throughout history, stories have been filled with main characters living out fantasies and dreams, hoping for more out of their own lives, only to find they had what they wanted right in front of them, all along. These aforementioned these are the main focuses of the two stories I am going to write about, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” by James Thurber and “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant. The main characters in these two stories are, Walter Mitty, in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace.” Both characters are dreamers of a different, fancier or exciting life, which ultimately cause problems for each character. This paper will compare and contrast these two stories by showing, although each was written very differently, both are from different time periods, different languages, different social settings, and each have different outcomes, they are still very much the same. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” it portrays the inner soliloquy of a man’s mind flowing in and out of fantasies as he completes his routine tasks on an otherwise routine day. Walter Mitty is trapped in an unhappy marriage with an overbearing wife, who runs his life in every moment she is present in the story. Walter’s story begins deep in a fantasy battle, operating...
Words: 2327 - Pages: 10
...Angela Baer ENG 125: Introduction to Literature Instructor Hinton September, 3, 2013 In comparing two short stories that include similar themes such as Country Lovers (1975) by Nadine Gordimer and The Necklace (1884) by Guy de Maupassant; it is apparent that not only do they share the same theme of gender roles and marriage they also share the underlying theme of prejudice and stereotyping as well. Both women in these stories marry within their socioeconomic caste and race. However, both women also suffer from prejudice, whether by their hand or the hand of someone else. It is a struggle of women that has been handed down through the ages. The fact that these two stories Country Lovers (1975) and The Necklace (1884) were written almost a century apart and contain the same theme proves this plight for equality of women. Country Lovers (1975) by Nadine Gordimer not only deals with gender roles and arranged marriages but also with racism. This underlying theme of racism is not surprising; since Gordimer lived in South Africa during the apartheid movement. Ms. Gordimer was very much against this socioeconomic movement and included this tone in her writing (Clugston, 2010). Ms. Gordimer once wrote that the importance of great literature is its power to change the consciousness of the reader even if they are unaware it had been done (Gordimer, 2001).This idea is what she wished to accomplish with her writings. She wanted to bring attention to the inequality between gender...
Words: 2806 - Pages: 12
...I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research paper is made possible through the help and support from everyone, including: parents, teachers, family, friends, and in essence, all sentient beings. Especially, please allow me to dedicate my acknowledgment of gratitude toward the following significant advisors and contributors: First and foremost, I would like to thank to Mrs. Juliet Lamug our English Teacher to Mrs. Jocelyn Ligsay the librarian in allowing the researcher to use the library in full accommodation. Second, I would like to thank to Mr. Isabelo V. Agpalza Jr. and Ms. Marissa V. Agpalza to read my Research Paper and to provide valuable advices. Finally, I sincerely thank to my parents, family, and friends, who provide the advice and financial support. The product of this research paper would not be possible without all of them. And I would like also to thank to our Almighty God. The researcher II DEDICATION This Research Paper is lovingly dedicated to our respective parents who have been our constant source of inspiration. They have given us the drive and discipline to tackle any task with enthusiasm and determination. Without their love and support this project would not have been made possible. The researcher III Table of Contents I. Title Page-----------------------------------------------------------I II. Acknowledgement-----------------------------------------------II III. Dedication---------------------------------------------------------III ...
Words: 6130 - Pages: 25
...The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant the social satire. Mathilde Loisel was a pretty woman born to be marrying a man of wealth. Mathilde in time married a little clerk who worked in the Ministry Of Education, sometimes things don’t go as planned or expected. The author does a very good job in describing the good and bad physical, moral, and emotional conflicts brought by Mathilda when she barrow the necklace from Madame Forestier. The only thing that Mathilde didn't knew was that the gorgeous necklace was an imitation. Madame Loisel receive the necklace and she felt younger and beautiful as described in the story, she already had this characteristics but never realize that beauty is something that the eyes cant see , that the hands cant touch....
Words: 1538 - Pages: 7
...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...
Words: 113589 - Pages: 455
