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What Is The Theme Of The Necklace

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Guy de Maupassant’s story “The Necklace” is about a woman whose life falls apart after one mistake. It shows us how everything someone knows and has can be gone in a blink of an eye with just one mistake. The mistake is the fault of a woman who would rather be greedy than appreciate all that she has in her life. “The Necklace” is a story letting it be known that people should reflect on their character and better themselves rather than chase after a fantasy and risk losing it all.
People’s lives in 19th century France were dictated by their social class. The social class a person was born in was the class they forever stayed in. Social class was important as it showed someone’s worth and of the lives, they lived on a day to day basis. The lower …show more content…

Loisel just simply asks Forestier if she could borrow the necklace and Forestier hands it over without worry. It’s hard to believe that someone could just lend their friend a diamond necklace especially if that necklace is worth thousands with no apprehension. This is a substantial sign of the true worth of the necklace. Brackett says, “Although the conclusion of “The Necklace” is meant to surprise, de Maupassant inserts foreshadowing that might be noted by an astute reader, such as the facts that Madame Forestier freely loans the necklace and then does not care even to examine the piece that Mathilde returns to her, suggesting its low value” (no page). Madame Loisel herself should’ve questioned why her friend would so carelessly let her borrow a priceless necklace. This clue plants an idea of the necklace not being worth much and how the story might end in the reader’s …show more content…

It looks pretty and deceives the eye from its cheap material just like the main character, Madame Loisel. She looks to be a beautiful perfect housewife, but the inside is completely different. Madame Loisel wants more than she can have and that makes her just like the necklace, a fake. She is not satisfied with her middle-class life and is greedy for more wealth. Another way she is like the necklace her actual real value in society wasn’t much. In those times she didn’t have much worth like the necklace. She was just a simple housewife who would essentially be nothing without her husband. Research says, “Encouraged by social pressure to assume the air and guise of a lady, she pretends to be what she is not. The diamond necklace she wears, a fake, is also not what it appears to be” (Moss and Wilson no page). She shouldn’t have been so concerned with wanting more as to not be blinded by something that she assumed to be worth more than it was because of its

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