Frances M.

Ganotisi BSE II-C THE NECKLACE By Guy de Maupassant

Setting a) Place in Paris b) Time- sometime in the 18th century c) Weather conditions - good d) Social Conditions- Mathilde Loisel and her husband were poor e) Mood or Atmosphere Mathilde is not contented of her poor life. When she loses the borrowed diamond necklace, she and her husband become anxious. Then they buy a new one to replace the lost one, and they live a stressful life in order to pay their debts incurred to buy such necklace. Point of View The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us. Point of View The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us. Characters Mathilde: Pretty young woman born into a common, middle-class family. She yearns for the wealth, privileges, and fashions of highborn young ladies. Monsieur Loisel: Government clerk whom Mathilde married. Madame Jeanne Forestier: Friend of Mathilde. She allows Mathilde to borrow a necklace to wear to a gala social event. Housemaid: Girl from Brittany who does the Loisels' housework. Her presence reminds Mathilde of her own status as a commoner. Jeweler: Dealer who provides a replacement necklace. Monsieur and Madame Georges Rampouneau: Minister of Education and his wife, who invite the Loisels to a party. Plot a) Introduction Mathilde, the main woman character in this short story, is being described as unhappy because of her and her husbands being poor. b) Rising Action The complication starts when she and her husband are invited to a rich peoples ball. She buys a new gown, and to go with it, she borrows an elegant diamond necklace from her friend Madame Forestier. c) Climax The peak of this short story iswhen Mathilde discovers that she lost the diamond necklace. d) Falling action To replace the lost diamond necklace, Mathilde and her husband buy another one exactly the same, for thirty-four thousand francs, from its original price of forty francs, such a very big amount of money for the couple. The eighteen thousand francs was inherited by her husband from his father, and the rest of the amount he borrows from various sources. e) Denouement The problem resolves itself, though in a negative manner, when Mathilde and Madame Forestier meet again after ten years, and the latter tells the former that the diamond necklace she borrowed was fake. Theme Do not aspire for more than what you have, it will ruin you. Be content with what you have and find happiness in it. Honesty can bring rewards. Accept who you are and be true to yourself. Things are not always as they seem to be. Summary A young woman named Mathilde Loisel is married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Education. They live a poor life, which Mathilde hates. One day, they are invited to a grand ball where the rich people will be. Mathilde buys a new gown from her husbands savings intended to buy him a gun for shooting larks, for his hobby. To go with that very elegant gown, she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend Madame Forestier. At the ball, Mathilde is prettier than any woman there. When they arrive home after that ball, she discovers that the borrowed necklace is gone. She and her husband try to find it, but are not able to, so they buy another one exactly the same, for thirty-four thousand francs, from its original price of forty francs; such a very big amount of money for the couple. They use up Mathildes husband's inheritance, borrowed from usurers, and they work odd jobs for ten years just to make up for that amount. After a decade, Mathilde sees Madame Forestier by chance, and after those years, finally confesses that the necklace she returned was a replacement. Madame Forestier is shocked, and tells her that the necklace she lent her was fake, worth at most five hundred francs.