The Necklace

The Necklace

Introduction

“Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs” The imitation symbolizes Loisel herself and her vanity. Like the imitation diamond necklace, she is full of vanity, admiration for fame and beauty, not being able to find happiness within what she has. But the fact is that grace and happiness of its true meaning, represented by the real diamond necklace, can never be borrowed. “A superb diamond necklace”, in a literal sense, represents the luxury that Mathilde Loisel continuously seeks for. But the deeper meaning hidden in the symbol is the happiness that Mathilde Loisel fails to discover in her life, blinded by the matter of wealth. It symbolizes what Mathilde Loisel keeps on seeking for, but does not achieve.

“She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them.” Mathilde Loisel is a character crafted by Maupassant to convey his message, a woman full of admiration for beauty and fame. She is almost an archetype of a woman who is full of vain and pride, unsatisfied with the present. At the party, Mathilde fulfills her dream of appearing wealthy and beautiful. However, after the party reality downs on her and she is reduced to coping with hard life in a bid to replace the necklace. The difficulties that she goes through make her lose her dream of elegance.

Discussion

Generally, this story is quiet a nice story even though some of the language used in the story such as hierarchy, anteroom, ruinous, thunderstruck, odious are hard to understand and ancient. The lines of the story also shows the various old vocabularies used to create dramatic effect of the image and lifestyle on that century.

Guy de Maupassant story 'the necklace' is an interesting story. The narrative starts with a description of Madame Mathilde Loisel. De Maupassant depicts Mathilde as a 'pretty and charming' person. However, she desired a life of leisure, a lifestyle where she would have many servants and a large house yet her life was modest. The twists and the astounding end enable the reader to better understand the earlier hypothesis of the story. The proposition tries to depict how 'strange and changeful' life could be. The writer has incorporated a rounded quality, an excellent plot, unrivaled social observations and comprehensive information makes the story more captivating. De Maupassant uses character, symbolism, and irony to show that greed can end in tragedy. While introducing the story, Maupassant presents minimal information regarding the most significant characters, an aspect which enhances the plot of the story.

Guy de Maupassant wrote the majority of the short story making the audience believe that the necklace was expensive and worth Mathilde Loisel's ten years of hard work. It wasn't until the very last lines of the story that the reader is faced with the irony. Maupassant was able to make the irony more effective by ending his story the way he ...