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The Idealistic Values That Fueled The Violent And Bloody French Revolution Essay

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Liberté, égalité, fraternité. The idealistic values that fueled the violent and bloody French Revolution. Rigid class hierarchy served as one of the factors that beget the turbulence of a war-torn France in the 1800’s—the tumultuous era in which Guy de Maupassant penned his short story, “The Necklace.” The Loisels, the main couple of the story, demonstrate unhappiness with their social structure and the insatiable desire for a higher social standing. Yet instead of seeking such lofty ideals as liberty and equality, they sought tangible wealth. By dehumanizing and demeaning her husband in order to achieve a façade of wealth, yet ultimately achieving nothing but a loss of social and economic status, Mathilde Loisel embodies the superficial mindset that Maupassant vilifies. Depicting Mathilde as a shallow woman who loses everything—while mindlessly striving to have more—and contrasting her with her seemingly more simplistic husband, seems to encourage the denunciation of avaricious, materialistic characteristics and the search for excess in order to prevent future generations from essentially turning into objects themselves and precipitating an inexorable fall of their own. Mathilde Loisel typifies an obsession with wealth, serving as the physical representation of an overpowering desire that is ultimately self-destructive and causes a loss of her social identity. When detailing the appearance of her home, Mathilde “suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the

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