Final Assignment of English Literature Reading BY YANG ZONGYOU, D01 “The False Gems”by the great writer Guy de Maupassant is a miracle that draws a delicate and precise image of France in the late 19th century. Written in an objective view, woven with sarcasm, this little piece of art reflects the truth of the society and humanity in its era without any obvious rhetoric, like a real old gem that shimmers constantly and gorgeously, leaving an ample space of ambiguity for readers to ponder over and over again. “The False Gems” seems to be objective, however, on the contrary, the plot of the story itself is a barrel of irony, in which the author 's opinion and emotion lies deeply — the genuine ones are found fake, while the false ones turn out to be real; knowing everything is not always good. Mrs. Lantin 's before-and-after contrary is ironic. At the very beginning of the story, everyone is convinced that Mrs. Lantin was a virtuous woman. As the story tells, she was born poor, yet beautiful, fascinating, and clever with economy, which makes the founded …show more content…
The title "The False Gems" is significant in symbolism. Literally, “the false gems” refers to the ornaments which belongs to Mrs. Lantin. "The gems" is the core of this story, which irritates the main conflict of the plot, that is, whether Mrs. Lantin was faithful to her husband. The word "false" emphasizes the gems are regarded as fake but are virtually real, which is a kind of irony. "The false gems" also stands for Mrs. Lantin herself. She was considered to be nice and perfect, like a genuine precious jewel, yet with rottenness and betrayal lying inside her soul. The title is such a profound phrase that it successfully pops a question into everyone 's head: what is real, what is false. If something possessed by Mrs. Lantin, a woman that was born poor and virtuous, was real treasure, what can be false? If someone like Mrs. Lantin, a woman that was hailed as the perfect woman, was a false gem, who can be