“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Summary:

This story is of a woman named Monsieur Loisel who lives in Paris during the 19^th century. She lives with her husband. They are not very wealthy and the wife dressed plainly and cannot afford to buy expensive clothes. One day her husband receives an invitation to a very formal ball. When her husband explains the invitation he received, she gets upset because it is a very fancy ball and she doesn’t have anything to wear. “She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing.” When her husband tries to explain to her that he went through hardships to get the invitation, she is still not satisfied. Her husband ends up using the money he was saving to buy a gun and instead buys her a gown. "It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on.” Her husband then realizes that she has a friend whom she can borrow a necklace from. She borrows what she thinks is an expensive necklace and goes to the ball. Later when she gets home she discovers the necklace has disappeared. Her husband goes out to look for it and has no luck finding it. Her husband ends up using some of the money his father gave him and money he borrowed from people in order to buy a brand new necklace worth forty thousand francs. To pay off their debt, they changed their lifestyle. Madame would become the maid of the house and her husband began to work night and day. “This life lasted ten years.” One day she runs into her friend whom she borrowed the necklace from and wonders if she should say something to her. She goes up to her and explains that she has been paying off the debt of the necklace for 10 years. Suddenly, her friend tells her, “Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste! It was worth at most only five hundred francs!"

This story is told from third person omniscient because it tells the thoughts of characters from the narrator’s point of view.

The conflict in this story include person vs. self

Character Development:

Madame Loisel’s character did change because in the beginning of the story she was always complaining about how she was poor and she never had anything nice to wear including jewelry. "And what do you wish me to put on my back?" "No, there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich." Then at the end of the story she realizes that she was in a better place before she started to compare herself and try to keep up with those who were wealthier than her.

Themes:

· Being content- "No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich." Madame Loisel is frustrated because she feels as if she needs to be as dressed up as the other wealthy women and she has nothing to wear.

· Do not covet- do not want what other people have whether it be material possessions or things such as wealth and happiness. "It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all."

· Irresponsibility- "I have--I have--I've lost Madame Forestier's necklace," she cried. This shows that Madame Loisel is irresponsible for losing the necklace.

· Responsibility- “he went to get the new necklace, laying upon the jeweler's counter thirty-six thousand francs.” In the story, this is when Madame Loisel’s husband replaces the necklace by buying a new one. This wasn’t the greatest thing to have to do since they were poor but they stuck it out and repaid their debt for the next ten years.