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Maupassant The Necklace

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Originating in France, ‘The Necklace’ is a short story written by French writer Guy de Maupassant in the late nineteenth century; the period where literary movements realism and naturalism dominated French fiction. Maupassant played a significant role in both the realist and the naturalist movement through his depiction of the setting as well as the main character’s motivation of life. The short story reflects upon the rigid patriarchal society during the late nineteenth century, demonstrating how the wealth of a person can lead to their generosity and greed; thus affecting their lifestyles. Through ‘The Necklace’, Maupassant aims to depict the conflicts between the upper-class and the lower class and how their inner desires vary. This essay …show more content…

When Maupassant conveys Madame Loisel’s dream he narrates, “She dreamed of great drawing rooms dressed with old silk” The premodifier “great” once again refers to the theme of greed, shown throughout the story. Although she is living in a steady life, Madame Loisel always desires for better. Maupassant can be seen as a misogynist here as Madame Loisel is portrayed as a greedy woman who does not know how to cherish what she currently has. She continues to complain on her plain and ordinary lifestyle even though there are many more underprivileged people living in the society. Women continue to be characterized negatively through Madame Loisel’s expectations on her meals. Instead of appreciating her husband’s effort in cooking the meal, “she dreamed of elegant dinners, gleaming silverware” The repetition of the verb phrase “she dreamed” moreover suggests Madame Loisel’s desperation to achieve her endless desires for luxury. The dependent clause shows her depreciation of her husband’s hard work, suggesting that she puts wealth and fortune over her relationship with one of her closest family members. Maupassant can be seen to be misogynistic by conveying Madame Loisel as an antagonist whose greed does not purely affect her thoughts towards her ordinary lifestyle; but also her neglection towards her family

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The prejudice that the author brings forward strongly is the notion of feminism. The author’s main purpose of writing this novel is to examine the role of women played around

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De Maupassant's “The Necklace” characterizes Mathilde Loisel, the main character, as a beautiful, egotistic woman who desires only wealthy apparel. He emphasizes the negative results of narcissism by blinding Mathilde with that trait

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Madame Ratignolle cares for her family and sacrifices independence for their good. “Her name was Adèle Ratignolle. There are no words to describe her save the old ones that have served so often to picture the bygone heroine of romance and the fair lady of our dreams” (10-11). Madame is revered for her personality and is the ideal woman of the Victorian era. Unlike Adele, Mademoiselle Reisz projects individualism.

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In the short story “The Necklace” Madame Loisel was a rich women who thought she was poor. She valued having a nice appearance and looking elegant. Madame Loisel borrowed a necklace that she thought was gorgeous, she then lost the necklace but didn’t want to tell the lady she lost it so she went to look for

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Mme. Loisel is jealous of the beautiful women who live lavishly and have many jewels. Lyrics from the song “Wait For It’’ can be related to Mme. Loisel’s envy for the upper-class.

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Madame Loisel changes from the beginning to the end of the story with the way she sees everything. The story has implied that she has changed for the better because in paragraph 93 and 94, it states how Mathilde realized what it meant to do labor. This shows how Mathilde changed from someone who whined and imagined about the luxuries and riches, to someone that worked and understood the life of the needy. This also shows how work Mathilde and her husband suffered to pay off the 18,000 debt they borrowed. In addition, Mathilde looked and dressed up differently when she still had money.

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Human nature causes people to desire more than what one already has. However, after desiring material items, people realize the foolishness in their greed. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde Loisel, who lives in France during the 1880s, attempts to transform her ordinary life into one of luxury. She attends a reception with her friend Madame Forestier's diamond necklace, but after losing it, she works to buy a new necklace, only to later discover the necklace she lost is fake. Through this experience, Mathilde learns to be content with what she has, and as a result, she realizes the flaws in her character.

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Originating in France, ‘The Necklace’ is a short story written by French writer Guy de Maupassant in the late nineteenth century, the period where literary movements realism and naturalism dominated French fiction. Maupassant played an important role in both the realist movement and the naturalist movement through his depiction of the setting as well as the character’s decision. The short story reflects upon the rigid patriarchal society during the late nineteenth century, demonstrating how the wealth of a person can lead to their generosity and greed; thus affecting their lifestyles. Through ‘The Necklace’, Maupassant aims to depict the conflicts between the upper-class and the lower class, how their inner desires vary. This essay will analyze ‘The Necklace’ and how Maupassant uses the social context, characters and literary devices in the short story to illustrate his misogynistic viewpoints towards women.

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