In this world, there are people who are always optimistic about what they have, and there are people who do not appreciate what they have. The story The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant is about a French middle class, married woman named Madame Loisel who grieves incessantly about her luxury items. The story displays a melodramatic genre at the beginning and transitions to a comedy-like mood. Due to her selfish personality, she loses a diamond necklace she borrows from a friend and suffers through ten years to repay her debt. The author uses characterization, point of view, and character motivation to show how greed can cause people to be hard to please. When a person is filled with avarice, they are unsatisfied with what they have and extreme
…show more content…
One example of how greed can impact someone and the people around them is Monsieur Loisel's reaction to Madame Loisel’s resistance to attending the party. The third person point of view is displayed after he tells his wife about being invited to an evening reception. Once she heard the news, she reacted greedily saying that she didn’t have an evening dress when she already had one. When she started crying, Monsieur Loisel was dumbstruck at her reaction, “He hadn’t given that a thought. He stammered, ‘Why, the dress you wear when we go to the theater. That looks quite nice, I think’ (Maupassant 60). “He stopped talking, dazed and distracted to see his wife burst out weeping” (Maupassant 60). When Madame Loisel “burst out weeping” it gives the reader a character they can connect with when Madame Loisel reacted suddenly with strong emotions about the invitation. The reader can sympathise with Monsieur Loisel because they are able to identify Madame Loisel’s greediness. By rejecting her only chance of attending a party since she did not have a suitable dress stresses how she is hard to please. In addition, when Monsieur Loisel responds with “hadn’t given that a thought” he is describing how he was shocked because he was oblivious to that side of her. Monsieur Loisel is anticipating for Madame Loisel to be jubilant, but instead he got the opposite of what he …show more content…
Character motivation is shown to put more depth into why Madame Loisel dislikes being a middle class woman. Madame Loisel is born into a family of clerks, meaning that she has no chances of meeting and marrying a male that is in a higher social class than her. For her whole life, she believes that she deserves more even though she couldn’t afford it, “She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as if by an accident of fate, into a family of clerks” (Maupassant 58). “She grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living” (Maupassant 58). We get to understand more why Madame Loisel thought she deserves the life she wants. It shows when she says she “had been born for all the niceties and luxuries of living”. Since she has this concept in her head, she thinks she is worthy enough to receive the high life. Which means she will only accept the finest items given to her, making it difficult to satisfy her. This also means she is greedy since she will not accept anything that does not fit under the category of luxury. When Madame Loisel states “as if by an accident of fate” it gives her more the reason to explain why she is greedy. She will not accept the fact that this is her fate, she is a middle class woman, nothing less, nothing
One example of how greed can impact someone and the people around them is Monsieur Loisel's reaction to Madame Loisel’s resistance to attending the party. The third person point of view is displayed after he tells his wife about being invited to an evening reception. Once she heard the news, she reacted greedily saying that she didn’t have an evening dress when she already had one. When she started crying, Monsieur Loisel was dumbstruck at her reaction, “He hadn’t given that a thought. He stammered, ‘Why, the dress you wear when we go to the theater. That looks quite nice, I think’ (Maupassant 60). “He stopped talking, dazed and distracted to see his wife burst out weeping” (Maupassant 60). When Madame Loisel “burst out weeping” it gives the reader a character they can connect with when Madame Loisel reacted suddenly with strong emotions about the invitation. The reader can sympathise with Monsieur Loisel because they are able to identify Madame Loisel’s greediness. By rejecting her only chance of attending a party since she did not have a suitable dress stresses how she is hard to please. In addition, when Monsieur Loisel responds with “hadn’t given that a thought” he is describing how he was shocked because he was oblivious to that side of her. Monsieur Loisel is anticipating for Madame Loisel to be jubilant, but instead he got the opposite of what he …show more content…
Character motivation is shown to put more depth into why Madame Loisel dislikes being a middle class woman. Madame Loisel is born into a family of clerks, meaning that she has no chances of meeting and marrying a male that is in a higher social class than her. For her whole life, she believes that she deserves more even though she couldn’t afford it, “She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as if by an accident of fate, into a family of clerks” (Maupassant 58). “She grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living” (Maupassant 58). We get to understand more why Madame Loisel thought she deserves the life she wants. It shows when she says she “had been born for all the niceties and luxuries of living”. Since she has this concept in her head, she thinks she is worthy enough to receive the high life. Which means she will only accept the finest items given to her, making it difficult to satisfy her. This also means she is greedy since she will not accept anything that does not fit under the category of luxury. When Madame Loisel states “as if by an accident of fate” it gives her more the reason to explain why she is greedy. She will not accept the fact that this is her fate, she is a middle class woman, nothing less, nothing