The Necklace
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 04/28/2016 08:08 PM
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The Necklace
In the nineteenth century, women were expected to live their lives at home. They were in charge of the cooking, cleaning and care taking of their children, if they weren’t wealthy enough to afford a maid. Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” portrays the different gender roles appointed in the nineteenth century, where the men worked as much as they can to keep their needy wives satisfied. De Maupassant mirrors the main idea of deception in society in his short story “The Necklace” through the use of symbols, characterization and irony.
The necklace was used as a symbol to illustrate that beauty is not only identified with ones physical appearance. Mathilde Loisel was a beautiful woman with a single wish to be rich. She wanted to have jewels and expensive clothes, however she was stuck with a mediocre lifestyle. As she approached the opportunity to live the lifestyle of the rich for one night, she felt the need to overdo it. Her husband gave her every last penny of his savings to buy her an amazing dress however that was not enough for her. She then went to ask her wealthiest friend for some jewels, when she spotted exactly what she was looking for; “suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace; her heart began to beat covetously. Her hands trembled as she lifted it. She fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of herself” (1023). Madame Loisel was in awe of this beautiful diamond necklace because of the illusion that her rich friend, only had expensive jewellery. When she lost the necklace, her life turned upside down, taking her ten years to pay off the debt. As it turns out, the necklace was actually fake, and as this item goes from worthless to priceless without recognition, it just comes to prove that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Mathilde Loisel has a very strong character as she is very opinionated about the life that she is supposed to live. She lives in...
In the nineteenth century, women were expected to live their lives at home. They were in charge of the cooking, cleaning and care taking of their children, if they weren’t wealthy enough to afford a maid. Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” portrays the different gender roles appointed in the nineteenth century, where the men worked as much as they can to keep their needy wives satisfied. De Maupassant mirrors the main idea of deception in society in his short story “The Necklace” through the use of symbols, characterization and irony.
The necklace was used as a symbol to illustrate that beauty is not only identified with ones physical appearance. Mathilde Loisel was a beautiful woman with a single wish to be rich. She wanted to have jewels and expensive clothes, however she was stuck with a mediocre lifestyle. As she approached the opportunity to live the lifestyle of the rich for one night, she felt the need to overdo it. Her husband gave her every last penny of his savings to buy her an amazing dress however that was not enough for her. She then went to ask her wealthiest friend for some jewels, when she spotted exactly what she was looking for; “suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace; her heart began to beat covetously. Her hands trembled as she lifted it. She fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of herself” (1023). Madame Loisel was in awe of this beautiful diamond necklace because of the illusion that her rich friend, only had expensive jewellery. When she lost the necklace, her life turned upside down, taking her ten years to pay off the debt. As it turns out, the necklace was actually fake, and as this item goes from worthless to priceless without recognition, it just comes to prove that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Mathilde Loisel has a very strong character as she is very opinionated about the life that she is supposed to live. She lives in...