preview

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

Satisfactory Essays

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.

Get Access