The Proposal and the Necklace

Introduction

Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant wrote, “The Necklace” in the early 1880s. It features on the French society during that time and the roles that husband and wife play in the institution of marriage. It focuses on how greed and lust for wealth puts the character on a long road of misery and sufferings. The tone of the author is serious and serves to underline the importance that wealthy objects acquire in the life of the characters. The author has shown how deceptive appearances can be, and has inferred over the possible dangerous consequences emanating as a result of being discontent with what a person has in life and the desire to gain economic and social rise.

Anton Chekhov wrote, “The Proposal” in 1888-1889. It differs very much from “The Necklace” on account of the tone, and carries a humorous and comic approach in dealing with the characters and the plot. It explores the farcical situation that people of the upper, middle class are exposed to in the process of trying to get married. It is a satire on the way of courtships of the upper, middle class and very much reflects the society that was existent at that time in Russia. The play centers on the struggle of individuals to acquire the social recognition they want to and their desperation to get married in a comical tone.

Discussion

Both the literary works highlight the institution of marriage and the role played by the different genders. While the plot, of “The Necklace” involves a complete, serious tone with a surprising and you could say comic ending, “The Proposal”, on the other hand, dwells on a completely satirical and comic manner to shed light on how marriage was accounted for in the Russian society during the late nineteenth century.

To compare and contrast the role of gender and marriage in these literary works, it would be essential to compare the societies and time in which these respective works were compiled. What role did men and women play as well as how they viewed the institution of marriage at that time. Though, both were written in almost the same era; the necklace written around 1880 and the proposal inked in 1888-1889, much difference in the attitudes of men and women towards marriage did exist on account of the different societies.

The role of a woman up to the nineteenth century comprised of mainly being a housewife. Women as such came out to be the oppressed ones. They did not have legal rights and the society did not accord them a respectable status. After marriage, they were expected to stay at home and keep themselves busy in the housework and look after the children and husband. "It would be very funny, if it was not so sad," a Russian saying explained the situation of the women at that time. The literary works of their time have painted this same picture of women and the marriages they had to enter in an eloquent ...