"The necklace itself is representative of the theme of appearances versus reality.”(Gale) Guy de Maupassant was a popular French writer who wrote many short stories. One of his most popular works is “The Necklace”. The story is about a girl named Mathilde Loisel who has always dreamed of something she can never have, and just when she gets a chance, she loses her friend’s necklace that makes her life turn for the worse. Maupassant develops his theme of the deception of appearance throughout the story with the use of irony, characterization, and symbolism.
To start off, “The Necklace” goes through ironic situations expressed in the story. “Why, ...view middle of the document...
(Gale) Mathilde Loisel is also characterized to be the complete opposite of her husband. She is desperate, shallow, selfish, and depressed in her life. Whereas her husband sacrifices for her throughout the story for her actions. “He turned a bit pale, for he had set aside just that amount to buy a rifle so that, the following summer, he could join some friends who were getting up a group to shoot larks on the plain near Nanterre.”(Maupassant) He thought to get an invitation for his wife to the ball, and gives his saved up money so she could have fun. Also helps her to search for the necklace and spend a decade of his life to help pay back. The contrasts between these two characters are very explicit in the story.
Symbolism is a key theme in “The Necklace.” The necklace itself is symbolism. It appears of high value to others but in reality is a fake. The necklace falsenesses mirrors the falsenesses of Mathilde Loisel’s dreams of wealth and represents appearance, how only the outside matters. “Why at most, it was worth five hundred francs!”(Maupassant) The necklace is also a symbol of wealth. It is always flashy but false in the end. “The necklace thus represents that which is beyond the means, both financially and socially, of a minor civil servant and his wife. It functions as a sort of admission ticket into the society of the leisure class, that caste exemplified by Madame Forestier and the Ramponneaus.”(Gale) The necklace deceives everyone. The necklace proves that value is dependent on perception. Both, Mathilde Loisel and...
