Situational Irony And Symbolism

In the short stories “Federigo’s Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio, “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant, and “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, the authors all use literary elements in order to enhance the plot of the story. Two elements used in all three stories are irony and symbolism. By using these elements each author improves the quality of the story as well as conveying an overall theme. “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant uses situational irony. The main character, Madame Loisel believes she was born for only the best luxuries in life and nothing less. “She grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living.” When she is invited to a party she will only go if she gets a new dress, however once

Once she arrives at the party she has the time of her life and dances the night away, being adored by everyone around her. At the end of the party she realizes she’s lost the necklace and spends all her husband's money on an almost identical one. This puts her and her husband in an enormous amount of debt which they spend years trying to pay off. At the end of the story she meets Madame Forestier, who tells her the necklace Madame Loisel had lost was made of fake diamonds and worth only a measly five hundred francs. In “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, situational irony is also used when a young Lawyer makes a bet with a Banker. If the Lawyer can spend fifteen years in solitary confinement, then the Banker will pay him two million dollars. At the beginning of the story the Lawyer is guileless and believes that the bet is nothing, and is eager to collect his prize. However by the end of the story, solitary confinement has changed him so much that he no longer wishes to accept the money at all. Finally in “Federigo’s Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio, dramatic irony is used to intensify the plot. Monna Giovanna is a widow with a dying son, who only has one wish, to receive Federigo

The situational irony used in the story helped to elaborate and supplement the plot. The fact that Madame Loisel believed “...that she had been born for all the niceties and luxuries of living” and she ended up with far less than what she used to complain about creditably represented situational irony. The object of symbolism used in the story was the diamond necklace. The theme that it portrayed was that something so small could have such a big affect on someone's life. The necklace was such a small inexpensive item, yet it caused a wad of confusion, as well as leaving the Loisel’s in an enormous amount of debt which they spent ten years trying to recover from. Overall Guy De Maupassant successfully used the literary elements of irony and symbolism to amplify and strengthen the body of his