University of Southeastern Philippines

College of Education
Obrero, Davao City
Guy De Maupassant Biography
The Necklace and A Piece of String Contrastive
Analysis
Submitted to:
Dr. Velma Labad
Approaches, Methods and Strategies in Teaching English
Submitted by:
Duhaylungsod, Joyce
Guy de Maupassant
A French writer considered as on of the fathers of modern short stories. Henri-
Rene-Albert Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5, !5", near #our$ille-sur-
Ar%ues in &ormandy France where he spent most of his early life. #he oldest child of
wealthy parents who e$entually separated, Maupassant was not allowed to attend
school until he was thirteen years old. 'efore then, the local parish priest acted as his
tutor.
After being e(pelled from a )atholic seminary school, Maupassant finished his
schooling at a Rouen boarding school before studying law at the *ni$ersity of +aris. His
studies were soon interrupted by the !," Franco-+russian -ar, and Maupassant
became a soldier in &ormandy. After the war, Maupassant did not return to the
uni$ersity and instead entered the ci$il ser$ice, wor.ing as a cler. in the &a$al and
/ducation Ministries.
Resigning from the Ministry of /ducation in !!", Maupassant became a full-time
writer. He began by imitating the style of Gusta$e Flaubert, a prominent French no$elist
who had been a close friend of Maupassant0s mother for decades. *nsubstantiated
rumors circulated at the time that Flaubert was Maupassant0s true father1 both parties
always $ehemently denied the allegations. #a.en under Flaubert0s wing, Maupassant
became ac%uainted with some of the most prominent authors of his time, including
/mile 2ola, 3$an #urgene$, and Alphonse 4audet.
Following the publication of his first story, 5'oule de suif00 65ball of fat00 or 5ball of
suet007, in an !!" collection of stories by se$eral authors, Maupassant established
himself as a prominent writer of both short stories and no$els. 4uring the ne(t decade,
he published si( no$els and nearly three hundred short stories, many of them in the
+aris newspapers Gil-Blas and Le Gaulois. He also wrote plays, poetry, tra$el essays,
and newspaper articles. 88#he &ec.lace5 659aparure5 7 appeared in Le Gaulois on
February ,, !!:, and was included in Maupassant0s !!5 collection Stories of Night
and Day (Contes dujour et de la nuit).
4uring the !!"s, Maupassant0s health declined, largely as a result of syphilis,
which he had contracted in the !,"s but which physicians had not diagnosed.
Following an unsuccessful suicide attempt on ;anuary <,!=<, Maupassant was placed
in a sanitarium. He died a year and a half later of complications from the disease.
Reference>
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Contrastive analysis of The Necklace and A Piece of String by Guy e
Maupassant
@#he &ec.laceA was published in !!: in the newspaper Le Gaulois. -hile @A
+iece of Btring was included in the compilation of short stories written by 4e
Maupassant but there were no clear and reliable e$idence when it was published.
#he setting in the short story called 5#he +iece Cf Btring5 is a small town with a
country fla$or. 3t has long roads and a public s%uare. #he setting in this short story is
much different then in 5#he &ec.lace.5 5#he &ec.lace5 mostly too. place inside homes
and buildings such as the protagonist0s flat, then her home it the attic, the friend0s
house, and the Ministry ball. 3n the short story, 5#he +iece Cf Btring,5 the story mostly
too. place outside in a town called, Goder$ille. #he characters in this story went many
places in Goder$ille. #hey went to the Mayor0s Cffice and to the public s%uare, and
many other places li.e the Maitre ;ourdain0s ta$ern. #he setting in this story and in 5#he
&ec.lace5 is $ery different. Cne is more urban and the other is more rural. Howe$er,
both stories are set in the past. 5#he +iece Cf Btring5 is much different than 5#he
&ec.lace.5
@#he &ec.lace,A demonstrate his affinity to both the realist and naturalist
mo$ements. Following the realist tenet, his characters are not types but indi$iduals
whose moti$es are understandable if not always agreeable. 3n the naturalist $ein,
MaupassantDs stories are often attenti$e to the failings of society, demonstrating that
human.indDs inherent instincts do not always conform to social $alues.
4uring the !!"s, as a republican go$ernment solidified following the Franco-
+russian -ar of !,"-,, France entered into a period of e(pansionism. 3n part, their
imperialistic attitude was fueled by a desire to restore the national pride that was
wounded in the war. 4uring this time, a distorted $iew of social 4arwinism too. hold of
many /uropeans, infusing them with the belief that they were naturally superior to
@lesserA races and should therefore rule o$er them. 9oisel attempts to pay for the lost
nec.lace in a $ariety of ways. He borrows money from usurers and incurs enormous
debts in the process. *sury is the practice of charging more than the legal rate of
interest for lending money. Bince the si(teenth century, the practice of usury has been
the subEect of ethical debate, but it is a common practice in /urope.
'oth the stories ha$e a theme that deals with trust. 3n @#he +iece of BtringA
Maitre Hauchecome was accused of ta.ing the wallet e$en though he was pic.ing up a
string. Bince that accusation he was branded as a thief while in @#he &ec.laceA
Madame 9oisel hid the truth to her friend that she lost the nec.lace she borrowed from
her friend.
#he two stories had unfortunate endings. Madame 9oisel from of @#he &ec.laceA
suffered for " years Eust to disco$er that she had suffered for a fa.e Eewelry while
Maitre Hauchecome0s of 5#he +iece of Btring5 was ne$er able to reco$er his innocence
and his reputation until he died of agony trying to pro$e his innocence.
#he main characters of the story had ego to feed. For Madame 9oisel, she
wanted to please the society she belongs to and Maitre Hauchecome .ept on telling
people how innocent he was but nobody belie$es him. 'oth the characters suffered
because of a missing item. Madame 9oisel suffered because of the missing nec.lace
while Maitre Hauchecome suffered for the missing wallet that was lost by an aristocrat.
#he difference between the two characters is that Madame 9oisel it was her fault why
the nec.lace was lost while Maitre Hauchecome was Eust accused of ta.ing the wallet
by Maitre Malandain. Maitre Malandain was the root of the accusation against Maitre
Hauchecome while Monsieur 9oisel helped Madame 9oisel in retrie$ing the nec.lace.