Journal Entries
The Necklace Guy De Maupassant
Plot The protagonist of this story is revealed as an unsatisfied woman who thinks of herself as a woman of high standard than what she is. She belonged form a family of artisans, at the same time she was unsatisfied with the kind of lifestyle s...
Plot The protagonist of this story is revealed as an unsatisfied woman who
thinks of herself as a woman of high standard than what she is. She
belonged form a family of artisans, at the same time she was unsatisfied
with the kind of lifestyle she had and to her opinion she deserved a
husband who has a better job and she thinks of her husband below her
level. A woman who craves for all the delicacy, luxury and wealth of the
world. On the other hand, her husband, a clerk in profession, is a
supportive character in the story, supported his wife every way possible.
Since Mathilde is a very fancy woman, Mr. Loisel brought her an
invitation card for the ball party. But there again, as Mathilde
complained for not having decent dress, he sacrificed his savings and for
jewelry she went to her friend. She picked a very attractive necklace and
nothing else, with that she looked the best among the women in the
party, receiving all compliments.
The actual story begins when Mathilde loses that necklace after getting
home. And she and her husband they both tries to find that necklace
every possible place. Because the necklace looked very expensive, they
tried to find the same necklace from the shop mentioned in the jewelry
box, but it wasn’t bought from there. After searching much they found
a quite similar looking necklace to the lost one. It was 40000 francs,
which was a lot more than the Loisel’s capability. They reduced it to
36,000 fracs. However, revolving this necklace their life changes. They
gave up everything they had, worked hard, doing odd jobs, giving up
their sober house, life, maid everything. Mathilde and her husband led a
very miserable life. After 10 long years they were finally able to repay
everyone’s debt. In one fine day, when Mathilde went for a walk, she
happened to see Madam Forestier, from whom she had bought the
necklace. After meeting her, Madam Forestier could not recognize her
due to the drastic change she had been through. She pitied Mathilde.
Then she reveals the reason. Ironically when Madam Forestier says that
the necklace, she had lost was just an imitation worth 500 francs
highest. The irony that hit Mathilde, when she smiled after hearing that
Madam Forestier did not even open the box and never knew that it was
an original diamond necklace. The ending with such irony that
reinforces to think, so much effort and sacrifices made for a mere
imitation jewelry. If they had told Madam Forestier that they had lost
the necklace, the whole situation would have been different.
,Characters Mathilde: A Round character. She changes throughout the story. At the
party she was a happy woman for being what she wanted, the most
attractive, beautiful woman. But as the story proceeds, after losing the
necklace the character changes. But she was never satisfied with what
she had.
Mr. Loisel: Mr. Loisel is a static character. Who is very practical and
supportive from the very beginning he has been the practical person but
he did everything he could do to make Mathilde happy. Even in after
losing the necklace he was very responsible, worked harder to pay for
the loan.
Point of View The point of view is Third person limited. Because here, the narrator is
only telling the story from Mathilde’s side. Thus, as readers, we only
have access to what’s happening in Mathilde’s mind. Also, the time
moves in a linear fashion. Everything is happening maintaining a
straight timeline.
Setting The setting is Paris and the year is 1884. Since the currency Francs was
mentioned and it is the currency name of Paris.
Symbolism The Necklace is symbolic to the phrase that “All that glitters is not
gold”.
When Mr. Loisel gives Mathilde his saved 400 francs to buy a
nice dress, it symbolizes that her husband is a considerate man.
“He threw over her shoulders the clothes he had brought for her to go
outside in, the modest clothes of an ordinary life, whose poverty
contrasted sharply with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this and
wanted to run away, so she wouldn't be noticed by the other women
who were wrapping themselves in expensive furs.”
This symbolizes her insecurity about being a lower-class woman that if
someone sees her it would highly criticize her status that she tried to
held so high with the dress and necklace.
“What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace?
Who knows, who knows?”
This is symbolic to the uncertainty of life. It explains that one moment
of desire can soon turn into a lifelong despair.
“"Yes; you didn't notice then? They were very
similar." And she smiled with proud and innocent
pleasure.”
This specific dialogue indicates that Mathilde was pointing at the
sarcasm of fate.
"Oh, my poor Mathilde! Mine was an imitation! It was worth five
, hundred francs at most! ..."
Here the ultimate irony of the story stands. For a mere imitation jewelry,
the couple suffered all these years.
The theme is greed. Mathilde always wanted more and more than what
Theme she had. She was not satisfied with everything she had and ultimately
her greed of availing everything is what turned to be the reason behind
their downfall.
Style The story is written in a casual style. Because things are portrayed as
how they are. As in in the opening Mathilde is seen as a woman who is
very unsatisfied with her life, she wants a luxurious life. Though it starts
with a casual tone but after she loses the necklace the tone becomes very
serious. In the end when she finds out that the necklace that she had to
pay such a higher cost, it reveals that it was just an imitation jewelry.
Then the tone becomes very ironic.
Personal Reaction This short story made my believe stronger that one should be just
happy with what they have and work hard to improve their condition
because human always want to improve their situation. Sometimes for a
little more luxury we lose whatever there was for us. That is what
happened with Mathilde, she was not happy with what she had, she
wanted more and more out of everything. On the other hand, her
husband deserves such compliment that he has been so supportive
towards his wife even during this life wrenching situation. I would like
to conclude with saying that, we do not need much to live a satisfied
life, rather we
should be grateful for everything we have instead of complaining for
what we do not possess.
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