The Necklace is Symbolic The short story “The Necklace”, written by Guy de Maupassant, is set in France during the 1800’s. It’s about a selfish, unhappy woman named Mme. Loisel who is unsatisfied with the social position she holds in life. Her husband, as an attempt to make her happy, gets her invited to a ball, but she does not have the clothes to attend so she goes to her husband for the money for a new gown. To finish the ensemble, she borrows an expensive necklace from a friend, Mme.
Title x2: “Pathedy of Manners” is about a woman who seems to have a perfect life, but the woman is wrapped in society’s “pathedy” (pathetic tragedy) of manners (expectations), and is too concerned with what is expected of her. From the title, I can infer that at first the woman’s happiness depended on living up to the expectations of society. However, in the last few stanzas of the poem she realizes that there is more in life than wealth and living in high society, and she regrets the decisions she made on how to live her life because they were purely made from the societal expectations. Theme: The theme of “Pathedy of Manners” is remorse and the importance of self-worth. If you get too caught up on society’s expectations of you, you loose
She was married to Monsieur Loisel who could only provide her a not so comfortable lifestyle. She is unsatisfied of what she have that she became nearly unaware of almost everything around her but the wealth she does not have. She keeps on imagining an extravagant existence: an elaborate feast, fancy jewels and clothing. She has a wealthy friend Madame Forestier. Mathilde is jealous of her and she will do anything in her power to reverse the mistake of destiny that made her poor.
“The Necklace”: Conflict In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde belongs to the middle class and her inner conflict is that she wants to be accepted into the upper class. She is therefore always consumed with the way she looks and her dreams to be just like the ladies of upper society; “She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction”,(609). Mathilde spends her husband's savings on a robe and borrows what she believes to be a diamond-jeweled necklace of “great” worth. She is wanted and loved and she experiences a fabulous evening; “She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman’s heart”(611). Then, in her haste to leave the ball she looses the diamond necklace.
It seems as if women are plentiful and men are rare. The man has freedom and the option to choose any girl that he wants, while the women are desperate and fight for whichever man they can get. Jane Austen points this out and shows how dependent the woman is on a man in her English society. This dependence is viewed as a necessary part of upper class England by most and was not criticized. If Jane Austen had written a book simply about English society, these sentiments would not have showed up.
Mr and Mrs Bennet are the parents of Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia, Kitty and Mary and have a significant role in raising their five daughters to supposedly be well mannered and to eventually marry a wealthy man who will look after them. Their financial position is not extravagant but they lead comfortable lives. Both of whom are from the upper middle class but admire superior rank to themselves, especially Mrs Bennet, who hopes that one day her daughters will all marry rich bachelors. Their characters are completely different and Austen makes this clear in the novel. Mrs Bennet is a ‘woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper’ compared to her husband who is ‘a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve and caprice’, which could be argued that they are not a good match for each other.
Looks can be deceiving and I believe this statement plays a great role in this story. The main character, Mathilde, encounters a situation where she feels as though she belongs in a higher class based off her beautiful looks. She is neither wealthy nor comes from a family of wealth but feels as though she deserves as much because of her appearance. Unsatisfied with her lifestyle, Mathilde noticeably expresses her dilemma by complaining to her husband, Monsieur Loisel that she doesn’t want to attend the special event because she has nothing of higher class to wear. Mathilde then borrowed her rich friend Madame Forestier’s necklace, and at that moment, I could already foreshadow something bad to happen.
The story starts off right away describing Madame Loisel beauty and charm but unfortunately she was born into the wrong class. She isn’t happy with the life that she has. She dreams of a life with parties and elegant dresses and jewels. Madame Loisel is so envious of a rich, old school friend who lives a different life that she actually refuses to go and visit because she feels worse about her life when she returns home. Her friend doesn’t appear to be proud of boastful in the story and doesn’t seem to care that Madame Loisel is poorer than her.
"(faculty.unlv.edu, The Victorian Period) throughout my research about the victorian period it seemed to be that marriage was of people protecting their own resources and to be keep their unacceptable impulses under control. I noticed that in The Importance of Being Earnest, when they show a different type of social class they presented Lady Bracknell, that is a very "wealthy person". her major concerns where class and money. She did not like Jack because he didnt know who his parents where making him not to know his social class. LAdy Bracknell: Her major concerns where class and money.
Context to era Marriage was the primary way that women were able to achieve stability. Contrary to the social-norms of the Regency era, Austen portrayed love in marriage to be more important than wealth. Example of what the author does Elizabeth initially rejects Darcy and will not marry him until she comes to love him. Similarly Forster in "A Room With A View" shows Lucy rejecting Cecil Example of what the author does using characters and his wealth in order to marry a man of lower social class and limited financial security in the name of Love. Austen and Forster both show that marrying for love does not make for a successful marriage without the element of wealth.