Short Story : An Analysis Of The Story Of 'Madame Loisel'

When she is given the opportunity to dress in extravagant clothing and act like she is wealthy, she found a “sense of triumph that is so sweet to a woman’s heart” (3). Mathilda Loisel’s change from the exposition of the short story to the rising action is dramatic. The reader’s first impression of the character is that she is unhappy and resentful but at the party she comes off just the opposite. She was joyful and “danced wildly, with passion, drunk on pleasure, forgetting everything in the triumph of her beauty” (3). Mathilda Loisel’s true character starts to reveal itself when the reader sees how much value she puts in possessions.

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

Have you ever want too many things even though your life was already fulfilled and lost yourself? Have you ever ask too much and regret for what you did? Every desire, ambition, selfishness and a bit of extravagant of a human being was carefully portrayed in this story, “The Necklace”. The story is about a young woman named Mathilde Loisel. Born in a family of artisans, she wasn’t rich, but beautiful and glamor. But she never feel satisfied of what she had and never stop dreaming to have more, to live a luxury life with expensive homes and glittering dresses, and eventually paid hard for her nonsense dreams. In “The Necklace”, Guy de Maupassant uses third person limited narration to show how Mathilde Loisel changes in how she

“She so much longed to please, be envied, be fascinating and sought after” (de Maupassant 67). The main character desires to be at the center of attention, she wants to be coveted by others. In his fictional short story titled, “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant writes about how the lusting for more may cause people to be blinded and unable to see/value the treasures they already have. The story begins with an introduction of a lady who daydreams about the happiness that materialistic yearnings can bring her, forgetting her situation and social class. After taking her husband’s recommendation to borrow jewelry, specifically a diamond necklace, from her close friend Madame Forestier to wear alongside her dress at the evening reception, the main character later discovers that she had lost the necklace. Following their failure to find the necklace, Madame and Monsieur Loisel devise a plan to borrow money to replace the necklace with another and in doing so, fall into years of debt. Moreover, Maupassant uses direct characterization, imagery and situational irony to further depict why you should be grateful for what you already have before it’s too late.

No one could find a nicer girl then that,” (Maupassant, 67)This is the common viewpoint of Madam. Which implies that man men my try and impress her with great riches such as jewelry. Instead Mr. Lantin decides to marry her and they love each other very much with only few complications, she enjoys her time at the theater and her taste for fake jewelry. Mr Lantin despises the 2 main thing she loves so he stays away from them. These parts of the story build the exposition because they build up the emotional connection to the characters. The inctiing incident occurs when Madam dies eight days after her last visit to the theater. Mr. Lantin is left alone, while he learns to maintain his house, and manage his basic necessities to survive. “He got a little into debt, like men obliged to live by their wits. At last one morning that he happened to find himself without a cent in his pocket.” (Maupassant, 69) This part of the story is what moves into the rising action. At this point you are wondering how the story may end, will Mr. Lantin die of starvation or find a saving

The internal conflicts established in “The Necklace” were a result of Madame Loisels perception of happiness. Because of her ungrateful and dejected views on life, she didn’t realize nor recognize true merriment. In the text, Guy De Maupassant shows how Madame “..was one of those pretty and charming girls born as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of

One can also only speculate that how Madame Lantin’s insatiable craving for jewels, that her husband cannot afford, is motivated by the socioeconomic condition of the world in which she moves. When Maupassant explains that Madame Lantin is extremely reluctant at first to go out in the evenings without her husband to escort her, he gives the reader one of the only clues about her possible feelings as she makes the transformation from a dutiful and virtuous wife into a woman who is extravagantly showered with expensive gems by other men. (Constantakis 1)

Monsieur Loisel, in contrast, is content with his place in life. He too is proud, but of what he has achieved, not what he desires to be. He does not yearn for dainty dinners but is satisfied with plain cooking: “... her husband, who uncovered the soup-tureen and declared with an enchanted air, ‘Ah, the good pot-au-feu! I dont know anything better than that.’” (Maupassant 1). Monsieur Loisel is happy and shows pride in the simple things in life. He is also proud when he receives the invitation to the ball and cannot understand his wife’s negative reaction to the invitation: “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation on the table with disdain…” (Maupassant 2). He sacrifices money he has saved to buy a gun so that his wife can buy a suitable dress, but she is still not happy.

According to the narrator in “The Necklace,” Madame Loisel has a low middle-class economic status which causes her agony. Madame Loisel focuses on her inability to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. She feels, “that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightfully have been hers” (de Maupassant 333). She cares more about her wants rather than her needs while thinking she deserves a wealthy lifestyle. Madame Loisel’s selfish personality cannot compare to Della’s humble disposition.

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.”

In the first place, Mathilde Loisel from “The Necklace”, a woman who undoubtedly was a victim of her envy and ambition. Mrs. Loisel was a woman who lived in a poor place who never settled with what she had. As a result, her envy led her to lose the little things that she owns. Mrs. Loisel, lost her life in things she thought were more important. Mr. Loisel was confused to believe that luxury and wealth could bring happiness into her life. To which she was wrong and ended up losing her youth and strength, trying to pay something which was fake.

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

In the short story “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant teaches an important lesson warning against placing too much value on social status through the various misfortunes of the Loisels’ lives. In one instance, Monsieur Loisel sacrifices his savings so his wife can purchase a fashionable outfit, but his wife still grieves about her appearance. As Maupassant writes, “Her husband said to her one evening, ‘What’s the matter? You’ve been all out of sorts for three days.’ And she answered, ‘It’s embarrassing not to have a jewel or a gem -- nothing to wear on my dress. I’ll look like a pauper: I’d almost rather not go to that party.” This selection clearly shows just how much emphasis Madame Loisel places on her appearance, only asking for more and