Throughout history, women have relentlessly searched for new methods to make them appear beautiful. In ancient China, women bound their feet into miniscule sizes. A hundred years ago in Europe, it was customary to wear a constricting corset to shrink the appearance of the waist. Today, many women undergo painful elective surgery to enhance other body parts. Despite the tremendous variation in their procedures, all women have the same principle, if they can achieve the societal standard for beauty, they will finally be happy. However, oftentimes more basic elements bring this sought after state of contentment. In “The Necklace,” a short story set in 19th century France, the author Guy de Maupassant employs simple writing techniques to illustrate
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Throughout “The Necklace,” Mathilde’s husband remains a kind, generous, and loving man. He works hard to please her and not once complains about discomfort he may be experiencing. Mine. Loisel obtains the invitation for the ball, sacrifices his savings so she may purchase a new dress, and then allows Mathilde to have her fun at the ball while he sleeps in an anterior room. Even after he surrenders both his evening and money for her contentment, it is he who searches for the lost necklace and orchestrates the borrowing necessary to purchase a replacement, never once cursing his birth into a family of clerks like Mathilde. However, when Mathilde realizes the severity of their circumstances, “[she] … knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover, all on a sudden, with heroism. [The] dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it” (Maupassant 181-182). While they are settling their dues, Mathilde works hard, learns gratitude, and continually reminisces about her one night spent in the world she once believed her birthright. After ten years of hard work have hardened her, she once again encounters Madame Forestier, the woman she borrowed the diamond necklace from. Madame Forestier has remained young and beautiful, unburdened by debts and manual labor. Her explanation of the necklace’s true nature introduces the key ingredient to Maupassant’s tale: irony. Along with the obvious irony of the ten years spent laboring relentlessly to pay off a now unnecessary debt, the irony manifests in another form. The necklace, which causes so much grief, transforms her from a vain, selfish, and petty girl into a woman that loves and lives within her
Throughout “The Necklace,” Mathilde’s husband remains a kind, generous, and loving man. He works hard to please her and not once complains about discomfort he may be experiencing. Mine. Loisel obtains the invitation for the ball, sacrifices his savings so she may purchase a new dress, and then allows Mathilde to have her fun at the ball while he sleeps in an anterior room. Even after he surrenders both his evening and money for her contentment, it is he who searches for the lost necklace and orchestrates the borrowing necessary to purchase a replacement, never once cursing his birth into a family of clerks like Mathilde. However, when Mathilde realizes the severity of their circumstances, “[she] … knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover, all on a sudden, with heroism. [The] dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it” (Maupassant 181-182). While they are settling their dues, Mathilde works hard, learns gratitude, and continually reminisces about her one night spent in the world she once believed her birthright. After ten years of hard work have hardened her, she once again encounters Madame Forestier, the woman she borrowed the diamond necklace from. Madame Forestier has remained young and beautiful, unburdened by debts and manual labor. Her explanation of the necklace’s true nature introduces the key ingredient to Maupassant’s tale: irony. Along with the obvious irony of the ten years spent laboring relentlessly to pay off a now unnecessary debt, the irony manifests in another form. The necklace, which causes so much grief, transforms her from a vain, selfish, and petty girl into a woman that loves and lives within her