Characters Of Madame Loisel, And The Gift Of The Magi By O. Henry

First, Maupassant makes the character, Madame Loisel, seem as though she does not appreciate the things she has in her life. As the narrator states in the story,““She had a rich friend, a schoolmate from the convent which she had

Throughout “The Necklace” the couples have opposite character traits which plays an important role in the story. The husband, Loisel was completely fine with the lifestyle they had and was very grateful. Meanwhile his wife was never satisfied, blames herself for not being married into a wealthy family. Prior to the ball she wanted jewelry to compliment the gown, her

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

Now consider the role of Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace”. She constantly grieves about her simple life and fantasizes about extravagant life style with rich people and food surrounding her. Her husband is a simple man and is satisfied with his life. He appreciates her for the food which is cooked and never complains. Being in the Ministry of Education their lifestyle is modest. Mathilde is not satisfied on the other hand even when her husband proudly announces that they have been invited at a formal party held by the Ministry of Education. The irony in the story is more or less the same with regard to the female characters. Mathilde cries and gets her prize in the form of a dress but she is never satisfied. She wants jewelry as well. The necklace that she borrows from Madame Forestier teaches her a lesson of life. Since she is not familiar with the real jewelry she picks the cheapest one from her collection and wears it to the party why she loses it. Upon not finding the jewelry her husband takes the pain of selling everything out just to purchase an identical necklace worth 40,000 francs which leaves them poverty stricken for the next ten years during which her husband does three jobs and

From a reader’s standpoint, how a character develops throughout a story is one of the most intriguing parts of reading. In Susan Glaspell's A Jury of her Peers, the narrator, Mrs. Hale, obsesses over how Minnie Wright changes since she was a girl. Similarly, in Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the narrator awaits her daughter’s arrival, to find that she is radically different from before. One of the core reasons for these changes in the characters are the relationships they are a part of. The two characters’ significant others each have a unique influence on the returning characters (Wangero and Minnie).

The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi both use incredible diction, tone and plot development to creating a powerful and moving stories. The stories differ greatly in many respects because they are told from different viewpoints; The Scarlet Ibis told from first-person and The Gift of the Magi told from third-person. Both Hurst, the author of The Scarlet Ibis and O’ Henry the author of The Gift of the Magi use varying types of storytelling to create masterpieces. However, they are both similar because they explore the similar theme of not knowing something is good until it is gone. The Scarlet Ibis and The Gift of the Magi differ in many respects because of the way the authors use diction, tone

In this research, I plan to understand the persona’s voice and their period. Due to both author’s creativeness, I hope to find a few symbolisms and ideals that are still being implemented today. Both stories’ personas try to identify themselves as someone worthy of improvement, in social aspects. However, we might be concern that they might not pursue their known agenda and instead used all wordiness as an excuse for their actions

Every story begins and ends with its characters. During the time spent reading the story, you adventure through the journey with the characters; learning their qualities and quirks. We tend to compare and contrast the characters in the story with each other, because it’s common to try and spot what makes the unique and how it makes the story flow and work. But in this essay I’m taking two different characters from two different stories, and I’m going to attempt to describe their differences.

Hidden within one’s action lies the truth about one’s self. In novels, characterization helps unravel a deeper meaning about a person’s motives. Interpreting a trait about a character assists in understanding the reasoning for the character’s actions. Moreover, comparing character portrayal in a novel depicts the similarities and differences between a pair. The main characters, Elena, in “American History” by Judith Cofer and, Waverley, in “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan both have similar and different characterization. Elena is naive while Waverly is wise, but both characters are observant.

Madame Loisel’s pride demands more: “It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on. I shall look like distress” (Maupassant 2). Ironically, it is Monsieur Loisel who suggests that his wife borrow jewelry from Madame Forestier, and subsequently has to spend the next ten years borrowing money to replace it. As May puts it, “Her husband exhausts his meager inheritance and then borrows the rest, mortgaging their life away to buy a replacement for the necklace” (May 7). Monsieur Loisel sacrifices everything to salvage his wife’s pride.

Literature includes characters that share common ground but differ for specific reasons. Two characters that are comparable yet distinguished from one another are Madame Loisel and Della Young. These characters are illustrated along with their similar concerns and unique traits and values. Madame Loisel from “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and Della from “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry are both emotional, however, their dispositions and values contrast.

Mr. Loisel was obviously excited the day that The Chancellor of Education had invited them to an exquisite dinner. Surely he thought that this was finally a way that he could provide an outlet for Mathilde's deepest desires. Unfortunately, instead of being thrilled as he had predicted, Mathilde acted like a spoiled child, throwing the invitation on the table. "She had no decent dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but these; she believed herself born only for these" (5). She couldn't have been more manipulative than when she began to cry about not having anything to wear. Of course Mr. Loisel suddenly fell into her trap and suddenly decided to give her all of the money in his savings account to buy her a new dress. Most would assume that she'd be satisfied at this point; her husband has just made a huge financial sacrifice for her. However, as time drew near to the night of the party, she became insecure and restless because she thought she would look poor if she didn't have any fancy jewels to wear; she thought she'd look like a beggar. `I'd almost rather not go to the party (30)", she said.

Her persistent mindset of wanting and needing more, is how her internal conflict developed. All of Madame Loisel’s issues relate back to her internal fascination with becoming incredibly rich and valued by her peers. The text states, “She had longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after.” (1) Madame Loisel’s mindset was simply set on materialistic things and being respected amongst her peers. Even throughout the years, her idea of ‘perfection’ never changed a bit. The story reads, “But sometimes, when her husband was at the office, she sat down by the window and thought of that evening long ago, of the ball at which she had been so beautiful and so much admired.” (5) Ten hard and stressful years later, Madame Loisel is still under the impression that everything she has must be beautiful and valued. This situation expresses irony because although she is beautiful, she still feels a desire to receive expensive things. The text states, “She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans… She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.” (1) Although she is beautiful

Madame Loisel is a very stuck up character in the beginning of the story. She sees no value to money. She believes she was meant to live a wealthy life, and has high hopes for an elegant and luxurious life. This is shown in story when it says that “She suffered constantly, feeling that all her attributes of a gracious life, even luxury, should have rightfully been hers.”

But he said: ‘Very well. I will give you four hundred francs. And try to have a pretty gown’” (3). This generosity, in consequence, makes Madame Loisel become even more spoiled. Madame Loisel’s unhappiness, in turn, causes Monsieur Loisel to become even more adulating, as he not only pays for her dress, but also allows her to dance with other men while he sleeps in the anteroom instead of his own home. Finally, Monsieur Loisel’s suggestion to lie to Madame Forestier about the necklace causes Madame Loisel to become strong and hard-working in order to pay off their debt, “Thereafter Madame Loisel knew the horrible existence of the needy. She bore her part, however, with sudden heroism. That dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it” (8). These mutual changes in response to the other’s flaws, such as Madame Loisel becoming more hedonistic as her husband becomes more sycophantic and Madame Loisel