“But one Sunday, having gone to take a walk in the Champs Elysees to refresh herself from the labors of the week…”. This sentence, at the conclusion of The Necklace, gives the reader an insight into Paris in 1884 — insight that cannot go unmentioned in a literary analysis of the short story, The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant cleverly blends the modernization of Paris, the subsequent advent of the Realism movement, and the newly introduced Darwinian theory into this short story. (Trumbull) While the concepts of greed, selfishness and pride reflect, albeit superficially, the themes of The Necklace, the underlying theme is that of a transformed Paris — a city with sights and vistas open to every class of citizen. This transformation
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By definition, Realism “applies specifically to the tendency to create detailed, probing analyses of the way things really are…the inclusion of in-depth psychological traits for characters and an attempt to create a literary facsimile of human existence unclouded by convention or cliché” (Wheeler). In The Necklace, Maupassant focuses on Mathilde Loisel and her husband Monsieur Loisel, two people with no ties to noble lineage or wealth, and concentrates on the simplest aspects of their life in true Realism form. Following a short and depressing description of the Loisel home, Maupassant goes into great detail on what Mathilde feels she is lacking – Oriental tapestries, bronze candelabras, footmen, hot air stoves, ancient silks, delicate furniture, priceless curiosities, perfumed boudoirs, and desirable companions. The contrast between the two classes of society could not be made any …show more content…
At the beginning of the story, Maupassant shows Mathilde Loisel lamenting her hereditary failings as “she suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” Throughout the short story, Mathilde makes self-centered decisions. In the final act of self-centeredness, Mathilde informs Jeanne Forestier that “Yes, I have had days hard enough, since I have seen you, days wretched enough—and that because of you!” This admission does not appear as a desire to cleanse her soul, but rather a selfish desire to place the blame onto Mme. Forestier. Mathilde Loisel fits perfectly into Darwin’s world through her perceived hereditary failings and self-centered emotions. With the theory of Darwinism in mind, Maupassant wrote The Necklace as representation of the class struggle so evident in France in the mid-19th century. However, the very fact that Mathilde could even allow herself the luxury of dreaming of a better position in society shows the progression of the societal class revolution occurring in Paris at the time. Perhaps Guy de Maupassant saw through the thin veil of Darwinism, when, at the end of the story, he allows Mathilde Loisel to realize that the perfect world of the upper class was as transparent as the
By definition, Realism “applies specifically to the tendency to create detailed, probing analyses of the way things really are…the inclusion of in-depth psychological traits for characters and an attempt to create a literary facsimile of human existence unclouded by convention or cliché” (Wheeler). In The Necklace, Maupassant focuses on Mathilde Loisel and her husband Monsieur Loisel, two people with no ties to noble lineage or wealth, and concentrates on the simplest aspects of their life in true Realism form. Following a short and depressing description of the Loisel home, Maupassant goes into great detail on what Mathilde feels she is lacking – Oriental tapestries, bronze candelabras, footmen, hot air stoves, ancient silks, delicate furniture, priceless curiosities, perfumed boudoirs, and desirable companions. The contrast between the two classes of society could not be made any …show more content…
At the beginning of the story, Maupassant shows Mathilde Loisel lamenting her hereditary failings as “she suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” Throughout the short story, Mathilde makes self-centered decisions. In the final act of self-centeredness, Mathilde informs Jeanne Forestier that “Yes, I have had days hard enough, since I have seen you, days wretched enough—and that because of you!” This admission does not appear as a desire to cleanse her soul, but rather a selfish desire to place the blame onto Mme. Forestier. Mathilde Loisel fits perfectly into Darwin’s world through her perceived hereditary failings and self-centered emotions. With the theory of Darwinism in mind, Maupassant wrote The Necklace as representation of the class struggle so evident in France in the mid-19th century. However, the very fact that Mathilde could even allow herself the luxury of dreaming of a better position in society shows the progression of the societal class revolution occurring in Paris at the time. Perhaps Guy de Maupassant saw through the thin veil of Darwinism, when, at the end of the story, he allows Mathilde Loisel to realize that the perfect world of the upper class was as transparent as the