Topic > Review of a short story: The Necklace

“The Necklace”, is a short story by Guy De Maupassant, revolves around a young woman who had the desire to have things she couldn't afford. Mathilide, the protagonist of this story, was invited to a ball, but she didn't have enough money to buy a dress. Her husband spent the little money he had to buy her one. The next thing she needed was a necklace, so she borrowed one from her friend. The necklace she borrowed was an expensive diamond necklace, after which she went to the ball and lost it there. His next move was to purchase an identical necklace, thus putting the couple into debt. At the end of the story Mathilide discovers that the borrowed necklace was fake. The lesson here is that if she wasn't unhappy with what she already had, she wouldn't have borrowed it and lost the necklace. Guy De Maupassant tried to convey the theme “being dissatisfied can lead to problems”. This conflict was portrayed throughout the story and theme. “She suffered intensely, feeling born for every delicacy and even for luxury” (Pg.1). This is an internal conflict because it has to do with feelings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The story also says that she suffered in her life and this made her want luxurious things. Her choices caused her own problems later in the story. This is what the theme supports. Even Matilide didn't have a dress to wear (page 2). Since she didn't have a suitable dress to wear, she absolutely “had” to spend money on a new dress. This conflict is both internal and external because clothes are part of how people look, but she also felt she needed them. Buying the dress in the first place was difficult for them considering the financial problems they have. Her being angry with the dress already made her buy a new, more expensive dress. This is what supports the theme and caused problems due to his ungratefulness. The foreshadowing in the necklace occurs when Mathilide and her husband go to the jewelers. His name was inside the empty case where Madame Forestier's necklace had once been, then he looked in his register and said: “It was not I, madam, who sold the necklace; I simply must have provided the case. This tells us that if the necklace had been such a valuable piece of jewelry, it would not have been sold separately. I personally liked this story by Guy De Maupassant because it contains some valuable lessons. He used several literary devices in his story such as conflict to support the plot. It also included foreshadowing that told us what was going to happen in the story. Works Cited De Maupassant, G. (1884). The Necklace. Retrieved from https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklaceWorton, M. (1998). Critical analysis of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/critical-analysis-of-the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-english-literature-essay.phpLewis, P. (2018). 5 lessons we can learn from "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. Park, J. (2018). The power of objects in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Retrieved from https://the-artifice.com/the-power-of-objects-in-guy-de-maupassants-the-necklace/Hines, G. (2019). A literary analysis of "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. Lai, D. (2020). The Guy de Maupassant Series: summary and analysis. Segal, E. (2019). Short stories: The Guy de Maupassant series. White, J. (2016). Symbolism in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Colombo, A. (2018). “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Beech, H. (2019). Analysis of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: themes and symbols.