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How Does The Symbol Of The Necklace Change

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Prompt: In “The Necklace” how does the symbol of the necklace change throughout the story?

Leonardo da Vinci states, "The greatest deception men suffer from is their own opinions." In Guy de Maupassant's ” The Necklace”, Mathilde, a middle class woman, and her husband receive an invitation for a ball, however, Mathilde feels that she must not go because she is poor and simple compared to the rest of the invitees. She convinces her husband to buy her a new dress, and she borrows an expensive-looking diamond necklace from her friend, Madame Forestier. Unfortunately, Mathilde misplaces the necklace, which causes her and her husband to buy a costly replicate necklace. This pushes them into a life of poverty, and it is revealed ten years later that Madame Forestier's necklace was simply an imitation. In "The Necklace", …show more content…

First, Mathilde asks to borrow her desired necklace, to which Madame Forestier replies, "Why, yes, certainly" (Maupassant 3). This foreshadows the deception, as nobody would lend a valuable piece of jewelry to a friend, no matter how close the relation. However, Madame Forestier readily lends it to Mathilde, with no hesitation. After losing the necklace and paying for a more expensive copy of the necklace, Mathilde "[becomes] the woman of impoverished households- strong and hard and rough" in order to repay the debt incurred (Maupassant 5). The necklace deceives Mathilde and her husband to find a more expensive copy of the missing jewelry which they fear is as expensive as the original. By purchasing the copy, the necklace fools Mathilde into a life of true poverty. At the end, Mathilde meets up with her friend, and Madame Forestier reveals that her "necklace [is] paste. It [is] worth at most five hundred francs" (Maupassant 6). This is true deception as the necklace fools Mathilde into thinking that it is expensive, when its true worth is inexpensive, and it was simply a cheap

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