THE NECKLACE

‘The Necklace’ by Guy De Maupassant was written in the 19th century Literary Realism Period.
It is set against the background of 19th century Paris in France, where society was divided into
strict social classes. Maupassant’s short story demonstrates the strict rules women must abide by
society’s superficial views, and his critical opinion on class divisions.

The title “Necklace’ highlights the main focus of the story. It helps the readers to understand
how the lower class people are burdened by the yoke of social norms. It is also a symbolical
representation of the mental conflict and societal struggles of women in the 19th century. The
imitation necklace symbolizes society’s obsession to put on a facade but also stresses the
importance of honesty.

The character of Madame Loisel simply follows the typical Victorian woman (residing in the
British Bourgeois revolution in the seventeenth century), who was obsessed with how she was
viewed by others, based on looks and her status. Before the ball, Madame Loisel’s character
traits could be described as materialistic, needy, and ungrateful.

The opening of the story focuses on the direct description of the protagonist’s social background
to project the significance of a person’s social background in the 19th century. The adjectives
‘pretty and delightful ‘define the protagonist beauty. Immediately, through the phrase ‘very
minor servant’ the writer points to her place in the societal hierarchy. The intensifier ‘very’
accentuates her social position and indirectly points to the critical judgments of the society in the
19th century. Capitalization of ‘Fate’ shows the power of fate to control lives of downtrodden
people, and their helplessness to surrender to the stereotypical standards of the society. It also
foreshadows the unfortunate turn of events in the story. A sense of hopelessness or limited
dreams of women in the lower strata of the society is commented through a series of negative
phrases or triad. The first paragraph ends with the fact ‘so she went along’ to show that she has
surrendered to “Fate’ by marrying a junior clerk as she has no hope marrying a man she actually
needs.

A sense of desperate tone and detachment to her society is revealed in the second paragraph.
Sibilance in the beginning of the second paragraph ‘she dressed simply’ and the emotive word
‘unhappy’ point to the characters’ dissatisfied/dejected feelings as she is not able to meet the
expectations of the Victorian era. The rule of three or triads or triplets sharply define how the
Victorian society had ranked women. In such an environment the character feels out of place,
this becomes the reasons for her dissatisfaction. Instantly the writer points to the women’s
stereotypical duties and rights ‘do service for birthrights and connections’ which they had to
fulfill in those days. She yearns for luxurious life which is considered as the status marker of the
society. Dysphemism ‘no birth’ illustrates the capitalist views of the dominant society. The
whole paragraph is a contrast between expectations and reality.

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The repetition of emotive word ‘unhappy’ underlines her emotional frustrations at the
helplessness to meet the demands of the society. Her craving for a life of ‘refinement and
luxury’ shows the society’s influence on oppressed women. Asyndeton or vivid visual
imageries help the readers to visualize her pathetic background; further this elaborates the
reasons for her unhappy mind.

Rule of three is utilized in the line ‘peeling…ugly curtains’ emphasizes her middle class rank. It
also brings Madame Loisel’s ungratefulness and dissatisfaction as well as it shows the struggles
to meet the social views and standards.

Repetition of the past tense verb ‘dreamed’ suggests that she is living in an imaginary world
instead of reality; the mental conflict and the regrets of women for being born in a middle class
family is delivered through this striking verb. The listing of alliterative pairs of “two tall
footmen”, “drawing-rooms dressed with old silk”, “fine furniture”, and “pretty little parlours” all
stresses her superficial nature, and provide a drastic juxtaposition to her reality of “run-down
apartment”, “peeling walls”, “battered chairs, and the ugly curtain”, and “three-day-old cloth”,
all of these adjectives imply that she lives in such an impoverished state. This is also ironic as
Maupassant uses these negative semantic fields to foreshadow the fate of the Loisel couple after
losing the necklace. The first half of the third paragraph brings her negative attitude towards her
current life while the second half shows her longing to meet the high standards of women in the
upper class. Listing of the luxurious materials towards the end of paragraph shows her desire to
lead a comfortable and elegant life with a wealthy man. In this paragraph the writer to criticizes,
for any middle class individual, luxury seems necessary, for Mathilde luxury is an absolute
necessity.

Setting of middle class elements is continued to the next paragraph by revealing their dining
room. The beginning of the paragraph ‘three-day old cloth’ contrasts with materialistic life she
dreams. Her husband’s elevated reaction at the sight of stew is shown through exclamatory
words “Ah! Stew! Splendid!’. This is contrasted with Madame Loisel’s pessimistic outlook
towards her life. Supernatural terms used towards the end of the paragraph clearly details she
lives in a delusional world.

The asyndeton/ triad/ anaphora in fifth paragraph points to her self –denial, further through this
the writer brings her downtrodden life. The hyperbolic word ‘nothing’ shows her ungratefulness
to the possessions she had. Her judgmental and materialistic thoughts in the paragraph show her
extreme desire to climb the social ladder.

By introducing her ‘friend, who was rich’ the writer points to root cause of her disappointment
and down fall. It of course foreshadows her friend’s involvement in her unfortunate fate. Her
frustrated feeling at her friend’s success is conveyed through the semantic fields ‘sorrow,
regret, despair and anguish’. This also details how wealth and money elevates and dictates
one’s societal rank.

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The words ‘highly pleased’ and ‘brandished’ paint her husband’s excitement at the ‘splendid
opportunity’. This is contradicted with her reaction ‘tossed the invitation peevishly’, the
adverb ‘peevishly’ shows the depth of her irritable feelings at a middle class life. Her husband is
a direct antithesis of her as he is more practical and realistic, whereas she is more delusional and
vain. This encourages the readers to pity the husband and criticize Madame Loisel.

The idiom ‘dickens of a job’ brings forth the husband’s effort to get the formal invitation.
Moreover, it shows the racist attitude of the society towards a ‘junior clerk’.

‘Two large tears rolled down’ shows her overdramatic reaction for trivial matters, shows how
she is obsessed with appearance. Through this emotional reaction, she exploits her husband’s
kindness and manipulates him to sympathize with her.

The husband’s dialogue ‘wear a posy’’ emphasizes the husband’s middle-class lifestyle as he is
only aware of the trends in his social circle.

Her frustrated dialogues show that she prioritizes her appearance and social views over her
financial stability.

The night of the reception shows Madame Loisel’s personality change as she transitions from
being distressed to being a “success”. Her beauty equates to her happiness. Extensive use of
adjectives “prettiest… elegant, graceful, radiant and wonderfully happy” are ironic as she
becomes miserable in the end just as she was from the beginning. The short sentence of “she was
even noticed by the minister himself” gives the importance of how she is trying to lure in
important men.

The euphoric dictions in “ecstatically, wildly, intoxicated with pleasure”, “floating on a cloud
nine of happiness” give drunken-state imagery as she is now living her dreams, which will be
short-lived once she sobers up to reality. This sobering action is shown when her husband hands
her a “modest everyday coat” which “violently” opposes her elegant figure, as a way to protect
her from the cold air. However, she dismisses this act of kindness and childishly runs down the
street, for she feels “ashamed to parade their poverty” out in public.

Ever since the loss of the necklace, Madame Loisel’s character begins to change: “she wrote to
his dictation” contrasts to her previous dismissive attitude towards her husband as she
desperately follows his orders in hopes they will resolve it. Their relationship begins to change as
the repetition of the pronoun “they” indicates their unity and efforts to find the necklace and pay
off the debt. She begins to view her husband as equal and partner, no longer a source of bare
income. The presence of the semantic debt and listing of Monsieur Loisel’s efforts: “borrowed
… exorbitant rates of interest … moneylenders. He mortgaged the rest of his life”, mirrors
the relentless grinding and suffering that the husband has to go through to pay off the debts, due
to his selfish wife. This is emphasized by the intensifier “grindingly horrible”.

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The personification of poverty “grim poverty which stood ready to pounce”, explicitly
portrays that their lives are being destroyed by this debt. Though seemingly insignificant,
financial mentions of “eighteen thousand francs”, show the importance of perspective as they
were not as poor as Madame Loisel felt she was.

Exclamatory sentences or epiphany ‘Life is so strange, so fickle!” is an aphorism. Here, the

character realizes how life is unpredictable and learns that it is better to appreciate what she has
than to desire the possessions of others.

OR

Epiphany ‘Life is so strange, so fickle’’ depicts Madame Loisel’s self-realization of the

unpredictability of life. Further, she generalizes her life due to her tragic state. Through this
character, the writer conveys moral lessons to the readers to that worldly possession are
momentary.

Maupassant presents Monsieur as supportive and indulgent ‘mortgaged the rest of his life’,
shows his sheer sacrifice to please his wife, he is the real victim of the necklace.

Rhetorical questions “What would she… thought? “What should she….said’ remind as the
proverb ‘Honesty is the best policy’. If Mathilde has honestly told her friend the truth about the
necklace, she would have learned that the necklace isn't made of real diamonds and that would
have saved her from living a miserable life for ten years.

The loss of the necklace leaves the couple in disbelief and horror. Exclamation marks reflect the
complete shock of Madame Loisel, while fragments of speech, along with ellipsis, “I … I …
Madame Forestier’s necklace … I haven’t got it!” portray her incredulity. The dialogue
between Madame Loisel and her husband depicts the difference of thought process: here,
Madame Loisel is frantic, but her husband helps her out by asking rationally about the necklace’s
whereabouts.

The single line paragraph ‘They live like this for ten years’ paints the severity of her struggle
caused by her greed, and also her reluctance to reveal the truth.

Madame Loisel’s character begins to develop, as she “heroically” responds to her financial crisis.
The short sentence of “She was determined to pay. They dismissed the maid.” shows that she
is resolute with her decision to change and help her husband. The long-complex and simple
sentence, and the listing of Madame Loisel’s “heavy domestic work” and “ghastly kitchen
chores” contrasts her dreams, and has realized that she has to put her head down and get on with
it. The temporal marker of “Each month..” shows the relentless poverty they had to face, and
finally, after “ten years” they manage to repay their debt. Ironically, it is through misery that she
becomes “heroic”.

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Rule of three ‘battling, hard, uncouth’ helps the reader to visualize her miserable life. This
contrasts with Madame Loisel’s life in the beginning of the story.

Anaphora ‘still young, still beautiful, and still attractive’ describes Madame Forestier and how
she looks still beautiful regardless of the immense time that has passed by. It also points to the
contrast between a woman who has led a contented life and the one who has led a discontented
life. Her youthful appearance contrasts with Madame Loisel as she has changed incredibly over
the past ‘ten years’. In addition, it brings the struggle of housewife who rules working- class
homes.

Madame Loisel’s character growth is once again shown when she no longer feels so embarrassed
about being in a poor state and approaches Madame Forestier with the intention to reveal that
they had replaced her lost necklace and the sufferings they had to endure. “She smiled a proud,
innocent smile”, shows that her pride no longer derives from vanity, but from her hard work.
“Innocent” also hints at her naivety, as it is revealed that the necklace was an imitation one.

The ending of the story shows a situational irony. The plot twist of the story stresses on the
notion to not be superficial and be content with our livelihood. It encourages the audience to be
more honest and makes them realize that things aren’t often how they are seen.

The story ends in giving a universal message to the readers that we should find happiness and
peace in our living circumstances.

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