“The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant, is about a middle-class woman who is ambitious but greedy and has a desire to get into the upper-class society through her husband who works as a government clerk and her friend but ends up horribly when she puts her life in vain. Throughout the story, the diamond necklace, the centerpiece of the story, is shown by the author to represent many themes. Maupassant focuses on the false impression on exterior look in “The Necklace”, along with the idea being too ambitious can lead to doom. While it is not explicitly stated, Maupassant wants the reader to think about the deception of appearance and further puts many hints in the story that relates back to his message. Mathilde’s mad fantasy to become the center of attraction proves us that every person will do what it takes to fake out their appearance just to get people’s approval. Mathilde is a middle-class woman who is unsatisfied with her current life. She is unhappy with her shabby house and her current situation disgusts her very much. However, Mathilde finds an opportunity to become something more than she wants to be when she is presented with an invitation to a local prestige ball, which her caring and persistent husband obtained for her. Mathilde also found a way to appear proper, sophisticated and wealthy among the guests at the ball by acquiring a gracious dress using not her own money, but all of her husband’s saving. Not only that, she also borrowed a stunning diamond necklace
In “The Necklace”, Mathilde Loisel is a woman who cannot tolerate her lower-class status, believing “herself born for every delicacy and luxury”(82). Mathilde’s vain materialistic goals, make her bitter and unhappy. The main point of irony in the story is the fact that Mathilde borrows the necklace and looses it. The necklace was very expensive, or so she thought, so she ended up in poverty
The quality of one’s emotional life changes over the years. But the basic instincts and desires, greed and hope, seem to remain constant. In short story “The Necklace” written by Guy de Maupassant is about a woman by the name of Mathilde. She’s described to be average in the physical sense and was married to a clerk by the name of Loisel. The couple get invited to a ball and shortly after, Mathlide complains that her wardrobe was too embarrassing to wear to the ball. Loisel buys his wife a gown and suggests she borrows a necklace from her friend to complete the outfit. Mathlide falls in love with a necklace from the collection. “She threw her arms round her friend's neck, kissed her passionately, then fled with her treasure” (Maupassant 44). The night of the ball Mathlide realized she had lost the necklace. The couple decide to replace the necklace ad work ten years to pay off the debt, finally finds out the original necklace was a fake. This short story created a perspective for who to blame for the outcome of the situation, which in this case is Mathlide.
The Necklace, by Guy De Maupassant, is about a woman, Mathilde, who will only lie because she doesn’t want to lose any of the fame or class that she has. Mathilde is similar to a bully that doesn’t want to show their true self because they are afraid that others will judge them. She is afraid that people will call her a thief, but in that process, she loses her natural beauty along with everything else she had. Even though both Mathilde and bullies are unique and don’t need to fit in, they lie about themselves and hate others instead of appreciating what they already
‘The Necklace’ is a morality tale written by Guy de Maupassant where he portrays the life of a beautiful but dissatisfied girl named Mathilde who desires to live a luxurious life despite being born into a clerk’s family and marrying a clerk too. Mathilde’s discontentment in life instigates her to pretend someone rich that she is not. Moreover, it leads her to severe trouble that caused ten years of hardship to Mathilde and her husband. So, this suffering is a punishment for Mathilde which taught her a lesson and changed her dramatically over the course of the story by making her a person of completely different personality for whom appearances
When her husband gave her the invitation to the ball, which was a perfect place to meet the rich people, Mathilde got mad and cried. It was a shame since she has nothing to wear. Mr Loisel gave his money to Mathilde and she got an elegance dress. But she didn’t stop and wanted to have jewels. Mathilde met her friend, Madame Forestier and chose an gorgeous diamond necklace. Of course, she became the prettiest woman in the ball, with everyone stared at her, as if she was the most attractive woman ever. She felt fascinated, just like her dream came true. But then a tragic came to her. She lost the necklace! Mathilde and her husband tried to find the necklace, but they found nothing. Mathilde lost her hope and had aged five years. The Loisels finally decided to replace the diamonds for 36 000 Francs, spent all of their money and accepted to pay the debts. It was such an unfortunate situation. After Mathilde lost the necklace, she was described as “ 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”. (Maupassant 8). The family was suffering from poverty and have to pay the debts continuously. Mathilde changed immediately and did everything. They have worked so hard to earn every single penny for their life, to survive and pay all those debts. The third person limited
The Necklace, a short story written by Guy de Maupassant, is about a greedy woman in poverty, who learns that being selfish can hurt her and others around her. Her greedy behavior indicates that she has been struggling during her years in poverty. When she scrambled to find out her purpose in life, she portrayed anger and malevolence towards others.
“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.
She receives admiration and attention from not only the men, but also from the women of the party. In just these few hours she feels as if her life is finally as it should be, although she knows deep down that appearance was more of a scheme than it was truth. Her wealth and class was simply a hoax, and she had many people (including herself) deceived. Throughout “The Necklace”, Mathilde proves her cheated personality by looking down on the average life she has, and only looking up to the luxurious lifestyle of the wealthy. She collects a pleasure from being acknowledged by others for the character that she has untruthfully put on. As we learn that the borrowed diamond necklace is fake, we also begin to infer that Mathilde is not any more authentic than the imitation jewelry that she cannot even call her own. Like herself, the necklace is beautiful but worthless.
Guy de Maupassant, a french writer, wrote and published a very detailing short story in February of 1884, known as "The Necklace". The story takes place in the late nineteenth century when the main character gets invited to a formal event. Preparations are made based on the desire of materialistic items to satisfy the main character. The allowance of obtaining a higher image, rather than appreciating her current status may place her in life-long debt.
In the short story ‘the Necklace’ Guy de Maupassant employs the use of literary realism for his readers to understand his view on social hierarchy in France during the 1900s. Maupassant achieves this by making several references to everyday, mundane activities; and the allure of Paris’s aristocracy. Maupassant uses an abundance of linguistic techniques which often make the theme of the Necklace; a contrast between an enchanting lifestyle to a common life of the middle class. Maupassant uses this to make it seem as if the stories of daily life and the struggles that come with it are sometimes more meaningful than grander stories of dragons and princesses. The fact of the matter is that Maupassant adapts his writing for his readers desires. The Necklace was written during the post-romantic era, when common folk wanted to believe, and to read that they weren’t the only ones who yearned for precious, materialistic objects and the acceptance of those above them (the noblemen and aristocrats’). In this essay I shall illustrate how the writer uses literary realism in his short story to manipulate his ideas towards the reader.
If you're greedy you can lose more than you actually gain, and being honest is always the best course of action. “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant shows both of these. You are shown a beautiful woman named Mathilde Loisel who is greedy and thinks she deserves more than she has. Her husband knows this and takes her to an expensive ball. She had borrowed a diamond necklace from her friend only to lose it late in the night. Mathilde Loisel and her husband go deeply into debt to replace the necklace and must work for ten years to pay off the debt. Once the debt is paid Mathilde Loisel tells her friend and learns that the original necklace was sixty eight times cheaper than the replacement. If Mathilde Loisel had been honest with her friend
The nineteenth century French writer, Guy De Maupassant, tells an intriguing story in "The Necklace." He depicts the painful life of a beautiful woman, unhappily born into an average family of clerks. She felt that she was destined to marry into wealth but sadly found herself settling as she married an average copyist. Unlike the women of today, women in the nineteenth century were not fortunate enough to have a career of their own; they were either born into a wealthy family or married a man with money. In "The Necklace", Guy De Maupassant creatively reveals Mathilde Loisel's dreams of a decadent lifestyle. As her struggles start to unravel, it becomes obvious that her heartache is solely
Social classes exists since the years. Some people born rich and their generation stays rich all the time, while other born poor and all their stays poor all the times. However, there are other people who move from one class to another. Sometimes this mutation depends on the individual effort. In the Diamond Necklace, Guy de Maupassant describe the life of Mathilde who born poor and was not happy with her situation. Since she was unable to switch her social class, she tried for all occasion to appear as rich women. In this short story, Maupassant shows in different ways why Mathilde should recognize and accept her social class and live in the level of her class. Maupassant thinks Mathilde should accept her social class because her honor does not depend to her social class. Also, she should accept her class because happiness does not depend on the materials things. Finally Mathilde should accept her social class to avoid the deterioration of her life.
“She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born, as if by an accident into a family of clerks” this is what Guy de Maupassant started “The Necklace” off by saying (Maupassant 221). Also, this helps describe the main character and to give the readers a visual of Mathilde Loisel. “The Necklace” is a short story that Mathilde Loisel, the main female character, wants to be a higher class than she really is. Mathilde’s life drastically changes one night after she loses the necklace. Guy de Maupassant incorporates his use of the social class into the short story.
“The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant, is an interesting tale of a beautiful but spoiled woman called Madame Loisel, who borrows a diamond necklace from a friend for a ball. However, Madame Loisel loses the necklace and, consequently, buys her friend a new one as a replacement. This purchase sends her into debt for ten years, which causes her to become hard-working and less beautiful. At the end of the story, it turns out that the original necklace was a fake, worth a fraction of the one she bought. In “The Necklace”, the author uses friendship and marriage to support the idea that, in any relationship, the flaws and strengths of each individual shape the flaws and strengths of the other.