It is the material world that has created Madame Loisel and it is the material world that destroys her. Her desire for expensive objects and the circles where they are found generated by the capitalistic system she lives in rather than by any character flaw, lead her to make a foolish request of a friend. When she loses the "diamond" necklace, she too is lost. Her relationship with her friend, as well as any hope for a return to the glittering world of the reception, is shattered. She is destroyed not by spiritual failure but by an economic system that has created a superstructure that will not allow her a better life. She is trapped by material circumstances, and the final revelation about the false jewels deepens her sense of alienation and powerlessness. In Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," we are given a clear picture of a society that has unequally distributed its goods or even the means to achieve them. Madame Loisel has no commodity or skills to sell, only her youth and beauty to be used to attract a husband. Without access to those circles where she can find a man with wealth and charm, she is doomed to stay in a powerless situation with no way to approach the elegant lifestyle that she desires. The material circumstances of her society have relegated her to a dreary existence from which she can find no exit. Her husband is so conditioned to accept the situation that he does not understand her hunger to be a part of a more glamorous and elegant world.
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
Socrates once wrote, “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” The quote above shows how envy is able to take a toll on a person’s soul and is relevant to the story “The Necklace.” When Madame Loisel is invited to a prestigious party, she borrows a seemingly priceless necklace. Mathilde misplaces the incomparable necklace; thus Madame’s envy for the fame of the party and the accessory she desires causes her to plummet into deep poverty. She works and sacrifices for 10 years, suffering to pay off the immense the debt she dug for herself. Within the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel presents many negative characteristics including greed, the importance of status, and insecurity through her desire to look wealthy and prestigious. She offers all she has to please those traits within her, to mute and cover the echoing voices that come from within.
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
In The Necklace, the setting of Paris in the late 19th century is a world of elegance and wealth. If not born into a wealthy family, one would have two options: marry into a wealthy family, or stay in their social class. That is just the case for Mathilde Loisel, who is endowed with beauty but born into a family of clerks. She was born free and could have had a plentiful life because of her beauty. However, she was held back by the chains of her social status and forced to marry her wealthy husband Monsieur Loisel. Together they have an awkward relationship consisting only of their need for marriage.
Her pursuit to obtain this apparent life style is what left her empty at the end. After ten years of hard work and misery to pay a replacement diamond necklace, she informs her high class friend, Mme. Forestier, she lost the original necklace the night of the ball. To her surprise she discovers the necklace was fake and not worth the money they spent ten year working to pay. In this story, we observe that Madame Loisel does not notice the sacrificing love her husband has for her and simply sees him as a clerk and nothing more.
“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.
In Guy De Maupassant's “the Necklace,” Mr. Loisel supports his wife, Matilda, and her materialistic longing. Throughout the story, readers will find him spending countless amounts of time and money to fulfill her high class living ambition. Despite his wife's greed and pride, his love towards her never fades. De Maupassant reveals the character of Mr. Loisel through Mr. Loisel's commitment, hard work and love towards his wife Matilda.
If one is not thankful for what they have, their life will be about nothing but regret. When life is all about regret, it is pointless to live. In The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, a lower class woman named Madame Loisel is always focused on her status, money, and popularity. When she gets invited to a dance, her and her husband do whatever they can to make her happy with her appearance. To do so, Madame Loisel asks her upper-class friend Madame Forestier to borrow an astonishing necklace like no other.
The Necklace illustrate be careful what you wish for. First of all, O. Henry describes Madame Loisel: “she dressed plainly, and she was unhappy about that she couldn’t afford fine clothes. She daydreams about being rich” (80). Also mention about her beauty by “All the men turned to see her. They asked who she was and begged to meet her.” (O.Henry 82) Yet, she lost the necklace and she has to replace back so
Madame Loisel is provided with a necklace from Madame Foresteir for the event, since she does not own any jewelry. Wearing the necklace exemplifies that Madame Loisel is disguising her true wealth status, so that she appears to be an upper class person. Furthermore, tangible and extortionate items make her feel happy. When she takes hold of the “superb diamond necklace, her heart started beating with an overwhelming desire. Her hands trembled as she picked it up….She
Guy de Maupassant writes a short story about an 1884 Parisian couple. In his story, The Necklace, he gives the reader the main character of the beautiful Mrs. Mathilde Loisel who is described to born into the wrong social class. He uses literary elements to strengthen the themes he has set throughout the story. Maupassant gives small themes such as desire, manipulation, and deception that tie into the main motif of pride.
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.
Money and wealth isn't everything. Madame Loisel from The Necklace by Guy Maupassant has to learn that the hard way. Madame Loisel is a woman who feels entitled to a lavish lifestyle. She is a character who is dissatisfied with her current lifestyle even though she has a caring husband who provides her with everything he can. Madame Loisel is invited to an elaborate party in which she feels she needs a beautiful gown and a diamond necklace. In order for Madame Loisel to attend the party her husband gives her 500 Francs and she borrows a very expensive diamond necklace. After the Loisels attend the party they realize that they have lost the necklace and now their lifestyle must change dramatically so that they can pay to replace the necklace. The Loisels both work very hard for the next ten years to pay back the money they borrowed to replace the necklace. Madame Loisel realizes what a comfortable life she had and how her greed got the best of her. Leading her to a life of misery and hard labor to replace the diamond necklace. Madame Loisel is a complex character because she is both round and dynamic.