The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant But shes cooped up in the house all day with nothing to do, and her days are marked with boredom beyond belief. Her only way out of dealing with it is to live in a fantasy world of glamour, wealth, and beautiful people.. And cant we all relate in some way to Mathildes desire to live a more exciting, glamorous life, even if we can only do it in daydreams? You also wont find a more perfect encapsulation in story form of an experience we can certainly all relate to: the if I hadnt lost that one thing! experience. Thats right, if you think losing something once ruined your day, just wait until you see what happens to Mathilde. Its painful to read about, yes, but sometimes its good to have a reminder of just how badly chance can ruin your life. Finally, if you like interesting plots and crafty endings with a twist, they dont get much more classic than this one. At the beginning of the story, we meet Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she were wealthy. Shes got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who marry her to another clerk (M. Loisel) in the Department of Education. Mathilde is so convinced shes meant to be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life shes not having. She envisions footmen, feasts, fancy furniture, and strings of rich young men to seduce. One day M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss, the Minister of Education.. She doesnt have anything nice to wear, and cant possibly go! M. Loisel doesnt know what to do, and offers to buy his wife a dress suggests she go see her friend Mme. Forestier, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. Mathilde is able to borrow a gorgeous diamond necklace. The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone loves her (i.e., lusts after her) and she is absolutely thrilled. Mathilde suddenly dashes outside to avoid being seen in her shabby coat. But once back at home, Mathilde makes a horrifying discovery: the diamond necklace is gone. So he and Mathilde decide they have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new necklace Buying the necklace catapults the Loisels into poverty for the next ten years. They lose their house, their maid, their comfortable lifestyle, and on top of it all Mathilde loses her good looks. After ten years, all the debts are finally paid, and Mathilde she wants to finally tell Mme. Forestier the sad story of the necklace and her ten years of poverty, and she does. At that point, Mme. Forestier, aghast, reveals to Mathilde that the necklace she lost was just a fake. It was worth only five hundred francs Shes charming, attractive, and, believes that she should have been born into a rich family. Instead she wound up in a family of employees and ended up marrying a little clerk in Department of Education (1). Our ordinary girl is convinced that shes meant for the extraordinary life of a fabulously rich girl. She hates her own humble surroundings and spends her time dreaming about fancy tapestries and tall footmen. While her husband slurps his stew she imagines grand banquets. A life of luxury is all the girl wants its what shes made for. But sadly, she doesnt lead the luxurious life of which she dreams. Consequently, she spends all her days weeping and feeling sorry for herself. She tears it open to find that she and her husband M. and Mme. (Monsieur and Madame) Loisel have been invited to a fancy party at the Minister of Educations palace. Her husband cant wait to see her reaction. Mme. Loisel is not happy about this. Shes got nothing to wear. This is enough to send her into tears. M. Loisel feels awful Mathilde stops four hundred francs would probably do it. The date of the party approaches, and Mathilde is in a bad mood again. she doesnt have any to wear over her dress. M. Loisel suggests that Mathilde borrow some jewels from her rich friend Mme. Forestier. Mathilde isnt satisfied with anything she sees, but then Mme. Forestier brings her another box containing a spectacular diamond necklace. Mathilde is beside herself. Its the only thing she wants! Mme The evening of the party arrives, and Mathilde is a smash hit. All the men including the Minister notice her. Shes in heaven. Her husband, meanwhile, has also been having a great time: hes been off dozing in a corner since midnight. M. Loisel brings the coats. But Mathilde is self-conscious: her coat is so shabby compared to the rest of her appearance. So she dashes off into the street to avoid being seen. . Mathilde doesnt want to go back to her ordinary life But the diamond necklace is missing. She screams. Mathilde, meanwhile, spends the day stuck in a chair, too traumatized to do anything. When he returns, M. Loisel has Mathilde write to Mme. Forestier to say that they broke the clasp of the necklace and are having it fixed. They need to buy more time. A week passes, and still no sign of the necklace. M. Loisel, who already looks five years older, decides they have no choice but to replace it. So he takes out enough loans to pay for the necklace and to ensure that his life will be ruined forever and then goes back to the jewelers to buy it. Mathilde takes the replacement necklace to Mme. Forestier, whos miffed that she didnt return her necklace sooner. Mathildes worried shell notice the substitution. Now Mathilde and M. Loisel are poor. They have to dismiss the maid and move into an attic. Mathilde starts to do the housework, and run the errands, haggling at stores over every cent. This goes on for ten years, until all the interest on the Loisels loans is paid. Mathilde is now a rough, hard woman, and her looks are ruined. She occasionally thinks of how her life might have been different if she hadnt lost the necklaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One Sunday, Mathilde goes for a stroll on the Champs Elysà ©es (main street of Paris that you see in all the movies), and notices a beautiful young-looking woman walking with her child. Its Mme. Forestier, who hasnt aged one day. Mathilde decides its time to tell her everything that happened. When Mathilde greets Mme. Forestier by her first name, Mme. Forestier does not recognize her former friend, because she looks so different Mathilde explains that shed lost the diamond necklace, but replaced it, and has spent the last ten years paying for the replacement. (Mme. Forestier apparently hadnt noticed the difference) Her diamond necklace, she tells Mathilde, was a fake. It was worth at most five hundred francs. The Necklace Theme of Wealth The Necklace gets its title from the gorgeous piece of diamond jewelry that drives the storys plot. The expensive nature of the necklace is not the only way in which wealth is central to this story. The main character of The Necklace is obsessed with wealth. She wants nothing else than to escape from her shabby middle-class life with a shabby middle-class husband and live the glamorous life for which she was born. Shes so jealous of her one wealthy friend it hurts. When Mathildes given the chance to get decked out in diamonds and go to a ritzy party to mingle with all the beautiful people, it seems like her dreams have finally become a reality. Then she loses the borrowed diamond necklace, gets cast into poverty, and learns what it means to truly live without money. Questions About Wealth Is Mathilde a greedy character? What signs can you find that she is or is not? Why does Mathilde want to live the life of the rich so much? Are her dreams understandable, or do they seem silly and exaggerated? What difference does money make in the lives of the storys characters? Does the story itself have a message about whether wealth is a good thing? Is it shown to be worth pursuing, or not worth pursuing? Chew on This Mathildes greed is revealed in her inability to be satisfied by anything. The Necklace Theme of Women and Femininity Mathilde Loisel, the main character of The Necklace, is a 19th century French version of a desperate housewife. Because shes a woman in a mans world, she has almost no control over her life. She finds herself married to a husband she doesnt care for, and cooped up in a house she despises. What she wants more than anything else is to be desirable to other men. And whats particularly irritating is that she has all the womanly virtues she needs in order to be desirable: shes charming, graceful, beautiful. Shes just doesnt have the necessary wealth. Is she a victim of the patriarchal society in which she lives? Or is she just a shallow and materialistic character? Questions About Women and Femininity In what ways is Mathilde a typical woman according to the story? How are Mathildes desires feminine desires? How might Mathildes being a woman be a cause of her unhappiness? Do you think it is the primary cause of her unhappiness? Why or why not? How are wealth and femininity connected in The Necklace? Where in the story do you see a connection? Chew on This Mathildes desires are feminine, because what most interests her is attracting male attention. Wealth and femininity are intimately bound together in The Necklace. The Necklace Theme of Pride You can read The Necklace as a story about greed, but you can also read it as a story about pride. Mathilde Loisel is a proud woman. She feels far above the humble circumstances (and the husband) shes forced to live with by her common birth. In fact, her current situation disgusts her. Shes a vain one too, completely caught up in her own beauty. It could be that it is also pride that prevents Mathilde and her husband from admitting theyve lost an expensive necklace. After the loss of the necklace makes Mathilde poor, and her beauty fades, she may learn a pride of a different sort: pride in her own work and endurance. Questions About Pride What signs are there at the beginning of the story that Mathilde is a proud woman? In what way is she proud? Of what is she proud? Is it pride which prevents the Loisels from telling Mme. Forestier theyve lost her necklace? If so, whose pride is it? Or is it something else? Does Mathildes experience of poverty humble her? Does it make her proud in a different way? Chew on This Its M. Loisels pride that is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. It is not pride, but the Loisels sense of honor, which is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. The Necklace Theme of Suffering The Necklace is a difficult story to read. If you think about it, its about nonstop suffering, caused by the cruelty of life and chance. At the opening, we meet Mathilde, the classic dissatisfied housewife, who spends her days weeping about how boring and shabby her life is. Mathilde finds one moment of real joy when she goes to a ball, but chance is cruel. Her happiest night becomes her worst nightmare when she loses the diamond necklace she borrowed. Then she and her husband experience a very different sort of suffering: the suffering of real poverty. And all of this is just the buildup to one devastating endingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Questions About Suffering What is responsible for Mathildes unhappiness? Is it her own fault, or is it the fault of her circumstances? Is Mathildes suffering worse when shes a poor woman? In what ways might it be, and in what ways might it not be? Chew on This Mathilde is responsible for her own suffering; she just refuses to be happy. Mathilde suffers less when shes poor than when she was comfortable but dissatisfied. Quote #1 She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished. (1) The first thing we know about Mathilde is that she seems meant for a life of wealth and luxury, but instead is born into a lowly middle-class family. The conflict between what she wants (which is quite a lot) and what she has is established immediately. Quote #2 She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired. (3) Mathilde spends her time living in a dream world, in which she imagines all the fabulous things shed have if she were rich. The most detail we get in the otherwise sparse story comes in Maupassants descriptions of the fancy stuff Mathilde wants. But being rich also means more than just nice stuff to her: it means having the glamour to attract men. Quote #3 She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. (6) Mathilde wants to be wealthy so badly that shes driven mad with jealousy by the one rich friend she has, Mme. Forestier. She cant bear to see Mme. Forestier, because it brings her within arms reach of the world of wealth she wants so badly, but cant have. Quote #4 She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. (24) It looks like Mathilde is milking her husband for all hes worth here. Was her the crying fit put on so she could seize the opportunity to get a fancy dress from him? Quote #5 It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather not go to this party. (33) OK, so after shes gotten an expensive dress out of her husband, Mathilde refuses to go to the party again. Shes still not satisfied. She needs jewels. Does this mean Mathilde actually expects her husband to get her a piece of jewelry? Quote #6 All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself. (48) Maybe diamonds are a girls best friend. Just seeing and touching something expensive and beautiful drives Mathilde crazy. Shes in ecstasy over a necklace. The necklace may be a symbol for wealth, or glamour in the story. Quote #8 Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms; they took an attic under the roof. (98) After losing the necklace, Mathilde now finds herself actually poor. Though she felt herself poor before, she was fairly comfortable, and middle class. Now her life is much harder. Quote #9 The other did not recognize her, astonished to be hailed thus familiarly by this woman of the people (111-112) Mme. Forestier and Mathilde are now greatly separated by their wealth, which translates into social class. The class difference is so big that it seems improper for Mathilde to even address Mme. Forestier by her first name. Their classes are also immediately apparent from the way they look. Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs! (128) Mme. Forestier reveals that the diamond necklace Mathilde lost was actually a fake. Does the falsehood of the jewels symbolize the falsehood of wealth? Does it change the way we think of Mathildes former dreams? Or, on another note, does it perhaps mean something about Mme. Forestier? If her best piece of jewelry is a fake, maybe shes not quite as wealthy as she initially seems. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Education. (1) Mathildes future prospects are not in her own hands. Shes a woman, which means the quality of her life will basically depend upon her family and her husband. And in both respects, shes out of luck, as far as shes concerned. With so much powerlessness, its no wonder shes frustrated and dissatisfied. She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class; for women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames. (2) The narrator is suggesting that looks and charm make the woman, not wealth or good birth. According to this train of thought, a pretty, charming poor woman can be the equal of the most lofty dame. This is certainly the way Mathilde feels about herself she has the looks and the charm to be better at being a woman than most rich women. Its telling that the two virtues of a woman are the qualities that make them attractive to men. We dont hear anything about intelligence, or kindness, or creativityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Mathilde wants to be desired by men. To some extent, even her desire for wealth is just derivative of that. Her highest wish is to be approved of and wanted by someone else. But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks (20) Mathilde comes across as overly sensitive and emotional. She has to work very hard to control her emotions. Theres a feminine stereotype for you on which Maupassant is playing. No; theres nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women. (37) Wealth and womanhood are intimately bound up in Mathildes mind. She wants to look wealthy so she can compete with the rich women. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes a huge hit. She gets all the men to pay attention her, including the most important one of all (the minister). This is the best moment of her life. She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a womans heart. (54) The narrator seems to be suggesting here that Mathildes desires to look glamorous and beautiful and be desired by men are more generally womans desires. Thats what makes women happy and pleases their womanly hearts. She went away about four in the morning. Since midnight her husband had been dozing in a little anteroom with three other men whose wives were having a good time. (55) M. Loisel could care less about the party hes just happy to have an opportunity to sleep. And hes not the only man in that situation, either. What does that mean? Maybe being a man he has different desires than his wifes womanly ones. Or maybe hes not interested in scouting out other mens wives because hes already got an attractive and charming wife of his own. Mathilde, on the other hand, doesnt seem to feel the same way about her husband. Mme. Loisel seemed aged now. She had become the robust woman, hard and rough, of a poor household. Badly combed, with her skirts awry and her hands red, her voice was loud, and she washed the floor with splashing water. (104) Once more, we see a connection between wealth and womanhood. According to Maupassant, Mathildes poverty makes her less feminine. Shes less attractive, and less graceful. Instead, shes hard and rough, and older looking. And apparently has a perpetual bad hair day. Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elysà ©es, as a recreation after the labors of the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still seductive. (107) Unlike Mathilde, whos lost her looks and womanly charms to poverty, Mme. Forestier still looks good. All of that even after becoming a mother (another sign of womanhood). This makes us wonder why Mathilde doesnt have a child? She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. (3) Mathilde feels herself to be better than her circumstances. She deserves more than she has, and is angry at the universe because she isnt getting it. Her dissatisfaction seems intimately connected to pride. When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I dont know anything better than that, she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest. (4) Mathildes husband is the opposite of Mathilde: hes happy with what he has. So far as hes concerned, theres nothing better than the good old stew his wife puts on the table every evening. All Mathilde can think of at the same moment is how much better things could be, and how shed rather be elsewhere. It all seems too low to her. Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I. (21) Instead of being happy with the invitation her husband has worked so hard to get, Mathildes first reaction is to be angry about it. If shes going to go, she just has to look the best, and she doesnt have any clothes that are nice enough Is she ever happy? Then again, would you want to go to the one nice party youve been invited to looking shabby? Its hard to tell whether Mathildes vanity, or greed, is making her overreact, or whether she does have nothing nice to wear. She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking: You havent anything else? (45-46) OK, so the jewel situation looks better: Mathildes found a treasure trove of the things. But shes still not satisfied. None of them makes her look as good as she wants to look. Her vanity once again seems to be making her greedy. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes the happiest shes ever been when everyone is admiring her. For once in her life, she can live up to the expectations her vanity has set for itself. Quote #6 He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life, the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. (56) After a successful evening at the ball, Mathildes too proud to let herself be seen wearing her shabby wrap. She needs to keep up the illusion. It could be that her rushing off like this is what causes her to lose the necklace. At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared: We must see how we can replace those jewels. (86-87) Why does it never occur to Mathilde or M. Loisel to tell Mme. Forestier theyve lost the necklace? Instead, once they lose hope of finding it, M. Loisel decides the only solution is to buy a new one. Is he too proud to admit that its been lost? Or is it something else? (See M. Loisels Character Analysis for more of our thoughts on this.) Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. (98) When Mathilde becomes poor, she is forced to work. Getting down to work and paying off the debts seems to make her proud in a new way. She can be proud of her hard work, and of her endurance. Meanwhile, her looks which used to be her pride and joy start to disappear. I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad. (122) Mathilde is proud of all the work and suffering she and her husband have put into repaying for the necklace. It was an honorable and difficult thing to do. But theyve succeeded. Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike? And she smiled with proud and naÃÆ' ¯ve joy. (126-127) Mathilde is even more proud to learn that Mme. Forestier didnt notice the difference between her original necklace and the substitute. It adds extra validation to her work: she did fully make up for losing the necklace. Mathilde Loisel Character Analysis Mathilde Loisel wants to be a glamour girl. Shes obsessed with glamour with fancy, beautiful, expensive things, and the life that accompanies them. Unfortunately for her, she wasnt born into a family with the money to make her dream possible. Instead, she gets married to a little clerk husband and lives with him in an apartment so shabby it brings tears to her eyes (1). Cooped up all day in the house with nothing to do but cry over the chintzy furniture and the fabulous life shes not having, Mathilde hates her life, and probably her husband too. She weeps all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress (6). She dreams day after day about escaping it all. Mathilde the Material Girl When it all comes down to it, Mathildes kind of a material girl. The most obvious thing she wants out of life is: expensive stuff. She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxuryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friendsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) Now why does Mathilde want all of these expensive, material possessions? It doesnt sound like she just wants it because shes money-obsessed. No, for Mathilde, the rich life is attractive because its glamorous, beautiful, exciting, fine, and unlike the dingy apartment in which she lives. The glamorous life has a certain kind of magical allure to it. A lot of the objects Mathilde wants are magical, like the tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest (4). For Mathilde, being wealthy amounts to living in a fairy tale. Being middle class amounts to boredom. She wants the fairy tale. Does her wish to live the fairy tale life make her greedy? Well, you ever notice how throughout the first part of the story, Mathildes never satisfied with anything? When her husband brings her the invitation all she can think about is the dress she wants. When she gets the dress, all she can think about is the jewels she doesnt have. And when she visits Mme. Forestier, shes not really satisfied with any of her jewel collection she keeps on asking, You havent anything else? (46). At least until she sees the most fabulous, expensive looking piece of jewelry, that is: the diamond necklace. So yes, by many standards, Mathilde is probably greedy. But her greeds not the end of the story. Material things arent the only things she wants. And theres also a deeper reason for her greed: dissatisfaction. We cant help but thinking that if she truly were satisfied with her life as it is (i.e., marriage, home, etc.) that she wouldnt be day-dreaming of a life she could never have. Mathilde and Men The other thing Mathilde wants? Men. Rich, attractive, charming, powerful men. That passage we quote above finishes with: the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired (3). Just a little afterwards, were told: She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Whats interesting about Mathildes man-craze is that she seems to be more interested in seducing men than in the men themselves. Thats because what Mathilde really wants is to be wanted. More than being just desired, Mathilde wants to be glamorous gorgeous, charming, graceful, and thoroughly decked out in diamonds. The ultimate measure of being glamorous just happens to be being attractive to glamorous men. It all forms part of one big glamorous, fairy-tale world, the world about which Mathilde fantasizes. Whats particularly frustrating to Mathilde is that she knows shes got the natural looks and charms to be a splash with the rich playboy types she wants to impress. She just needs the outward signs of being wealthy, but cant afford the necessary clothing and jewelry. Mathildes quite vain about her feminine charms. Her vanity may be why shes unwilling to go to the ball unless she looks better than everyone else there. And when she does go to the ball, thats exactly what she is: Her triumph: The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant I could say that Guy de Maupassants stories are just mundane waste of ink. Reading the story you understand things you have never thought about before or, by contrast, have already faced in your daily life. However, what do people think? Did all of them recognize the same the author did? Each of us should answer this question by own. Years passed but plays, novels on the theme, which Maupassant talked about, are still writing, and films are still shooting, why? There are things, which we remember, and things, which we cannot forget. In this work, I will try to describe the story called The Necklace and give full and needed for understanding information. The authors person is going to be talked about. Thus, let me start explaining. Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant The person of Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant is definitely interesting to talk about. Maupassants place of being born is not known in definite; however, it was perhaps the Chà ¢teau de Miromesniel,Dieppe. His biography is obviously worth of attention, but I will notice the most important and interesting facts of Maupassants life in order to understand his stories better. Maupassants relatives were noble. His parents divorced when he was a little boy of 11 years old. Maupassants first embryos appeared when he was studying at the Rouen Lycà ©e. Little Maupassant was gaining knowledge and skills from his friends; he improved his gifts and talents, which helped him in his poetry and writing. Maupassant was a civil servant in the period between 1872 and 1880 years. However, he had never loved working, all his free time Maupassant spent in women pursuit. He had a pseudonym Guy de Valmont, which he used in the articles in the newspapers. The 1880s years were productive and significant in the life of author, because he wrote about 300 short stories and 6 novels, including travel books and even a volume of verse. Unfortunately, Maupassant had a syphilis (he was then only 20 years old) that shortly after led him to the increasing of his mental disability. The author used narcotics, I think trying to be saved from awful and cruel headaches he suffered from. Critics have mentioned that Maupassant describes his diseases in some of his stories, giving main characters and heroes his own painful suffering and struggling. Allan Edgar Poe is one of those, whose stories encouraged Maupassant and made him to go through the same paths as Poe did (in some fiction horror stories). Stephen Kings novel The shining encouraged Maupassant when he was writing The Inn, which is very similar and common to The shining. I am sure it will be appropriately to notice some Maupasants words to understand his nature in full length: Now listen carefully: Marriage, to me, is not a chain but an association. I must be free, entirely unfettered, in all my actions -my coming and my going; I can tolerate neither control, jealousy, nor criticism as to my conduct. I pledge my word, however, never to compromise the name of the man I marry, nor to render him ridiculous in the eyes of the world. But that man must promise to look upon meas an equal, an ally, and not as an inferior, or as an obedient, submissive wife. My ideas, I know, are not like those of other people, but I shall never change them (Liukkonen, 2008, pg 2). The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant However, The Necklace at first was published in the newspaper Le Gaulois in Paris, France on February 17, 1884. It was a part of Maupassants collection of short stories called Tales of Day and Night, which appeared in 1885. She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education with these words we faces in the beginning of the story and meeting a main character Madame Mathilde Loisel. She had a dream common to the American dream. She wants to become rich and have leisure. The story teaches readers many things. The middle-class Matilda discovers many ironic nuances through the story. Talking about the plot of the story, should be noticed that Maupassant is definitely talented, taking in account not much words he needed to illustrate many ideas and problems, which worries the humanity through the centuries. The story tells about middle-class woman Matilda, who wants to impress the society. Matilda Loisel was invited on the high-society affair (because her husband worked there), unfortunately, she understood that she had nothing to wear. A husband, Loisel, gave her money to buy a dress. Being unsatisfied, Matilda borrows a necklace from good friend Madame Forestier. After the affair, Matilda finds out that necklace is lost. Loisels started to find money to buy a new necklace: Loisel possessed eighteen thousand franks, which his father had left him. He borrowed it, asking for a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five louis of this one, and three louis of that one (The Necklace, pg 7). Finally, Loisels bought the same necklace and brought it to Madame Forestier. However, she said to the Matilda, who was proud and happy to give back the necklace, that her necklace was fake and coasted about 500 francs! To give money back Loisels have to have many limitations. Ten years of Matilda’s life have been robbed — and for what? For an evening of vanity and pride (Barthes, 2004, pg 1). Conclusion However, the story is successful among readers. It teaches readers many useful things. It triggers many emotions and feelings, especially sorrow and sadness. I liked how Maupassant said in his The Necklace: How strange life is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin or to save! I agree with these words. The Necklace is worth of attention, undoubtedly! The story is about pride going before the fall. Hardship – is the known word for Matilda, but did she know what were the reasons of it? All money she earned during ten years she paid for one evening! People learn from the story how much one can pay for its pleasure and pride. Thus, Guy de Maupassant brought a lot of significance in the literature of whole world. Moreover, it is going with out saying and any doubt. References 1. Barthes, Roland. TheEiffelTowerand Other Mythologies. Tr. Howard, Richard.Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress. 2004. 2. Clyde K. Hyder, Algernon Swinburne: The Critical Heritage, 1995, p.185. 3. Harriss, Joseph. The Tallest Tower. Unlimited Publishing LLC, 2004, pg 15, 16. 4. James, Henry. Guy de Maupassant, reprinted in his Partial Portraits, Macmillan, 1888, pp. 243-87. 5. Liukkonen, Petri and Personen, Ari. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) – in full Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto, 2008. 6. Matthews, Brander, ed. The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development.New York: American Book Company, 1907; Bartleby.com, 2000. . 7. Maupassant, Guy de. The necklace and other short stories. Courier Dover Publications, 1992.