If Maupassant’s story “The Necklace” had been poorly written, it could easily have shown Mathilde quickly as only vain and superficial. But all writers must make us feel for their central characters if their stories are to be successful. Analyze Mathilde, her husband and any other secondary characters in the story and develop an argument that explains how Maupassant forces us to care about what happens to Mathilde. Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" tells of a vain, narcissistic middle-class housewife who longed for the aristocratic lifestyle that she believed she deserved. In describing Mathilde's callous self-centeredness in preparing for the party to which she and her husband were invited, as well as her reaction to losing what she thought was an expensive necklace she borrowed, de Maupassant incorporates a tragic irony that makes this story a timeless classic.
Themes Though it is a remarkably short piece of fiction, “The Open Window” explores a number of important themes. Mr. Nuttel comes to the country in an attempt to cure his nervous condition. He pays a visit to the home of Mrs. Sappleton in order to introduce himself, and before he gets to meet the matron of tha house, he is intercepted by her niece, who regales him with an artful piece of fiction that, in the end, only makes his nervous condition worse. Appearances and Reality It is no surprise that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece tells a story that is easy to believe. She begins with an object in plain view, an open window, and proceeds from there.
The Tell-Tale Heart versus The Necklace Two short stories are being discussed in this paper, “The Tell-Tale Heart” written by the famous Edgar Allen Poe, which tells the story of a deluded man trying to convince the readers of his sanity using a rational explanation to explain an irrational behaviour but later proves to the readers how sane he is without still knowing the state of his own mind and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is about a spoiled ungrateful young woman, Mathilde Loisel, who learns her lesson the hard way. She attends a ball and must have an expensive dress and jewelry as well which she loses and her pride keeps her from telling the truth and puts her into debt. When two things are lined up in this manner, there are inevitably going to be some similarities and differences, however, the differences between these short stories vastly outweigh the similarities. This paper is aimed at contrasting these two stories and pointing out a few of the many differences between the two stories using the each author’s perspective on short stories. One of the primary contrasts in these two short stories is the route in which the reader discovers the ending of the stories.
In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, irony plays a main role. The main character, Mathilde Loisel, finds herself the target for this story’s irony. She feels as though she was born into the wrong society and should have been brought up in a higher class. She wishes for nothing more than glitz and glam in her average humble life, but at the end of the story, we find out that what she thought was glamorous and high class, was nothing more than a humble fake. Mathilde Loisel has found herself, “suffered from the poverty of her dwelling” for years.
Gatsby tried to give Daisy the illusion that his house was a luxurious hotel as nick explains “It was a factual imitation of the Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivory, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and Garden.” (pg5) This great illusion that Gatsby created in the way of his house for Daisy leads us to the next illusion Daisy imagines for her daughter. Daisy knows that Tom is having an affair. She really doesn’t love Tom but stays in the marriage just because of the money. When she finds out they are having a girl Daisy was relieved. She was relieved because she doesn’t want her daughter to know that she is bored and unhappy.
Torvald’s insistence on calling Nora by affectionately diminutive names evokes her helplessness and her dependence on him. He does not not only asserts his power over Nora but also dehumanizes her to a degree. When he implies that Nora is comparable to the “little birds that like to fritter money,” Nora is like Torvald’s dol she even decorates his home and pleases him by being a dependent figure with whose emotions he can toy.In addition to being something of a doll to Torvald, Nora is also like a child to him. He shows himself to be competing with Nora’s dead father for Nora’s loyalty. In a sense, by keeping Nora dependent upon and subservient to him, 5.
The Anxiety of Identity Essay #2: Manon Lescaut The novel Manon Lescaut presents us with a multi-layered first-person account of the journey of Chevalier des Grieux and the woman he loves, Manon Lescaut. Chevalier des Grieux comes from a wealthy and noble family, but gives up his fortune to run away with his love. Chevalier is blinded by his love, and although he is betrayed by Manon numerous times, he still profusely declares his love for her. Manon’s need for luxury and pleasure and des Grieux lack of reliable resources after running away get them into trouble time and time again, each time des Grieux being the one who goes free and is forgiven and Manon the one who is imprisoned and kept as a prostitute. Valentini Papadopoulou Brady examined how critics have identified with Manon in her study ‘“Manon Lescaut, c’est lui”: A study of point of view in Prevost’s Manon Lescaut.’ She tells us that up until the mid- to late-twentieth century, Manon has been blamed for the downfall of des Grieux and for the troubles they have been through, and seen has a harlot, or femme fatale.
Discuss madness in relation to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. The ‘revolting’(pg 3) paper is the eponymous metaphor of the novella. The wallpaper has layers, hidden depths and intricacies which can only be seen by close examination and only understood by the narrator by her when her obsessive interrogation of it reaches its disturbing climax. This wallpaper is an allegory which represents the complications of a woman’s position in conventional marriage behind the façade, or outer ‘pattern’(pg 3) of the sanction. Throughout the text, Gilman attempts to uncover the often disturbing truths that lurk beneath the surface of something seemingly innocent with reference to her own socio-economic philosophy; that is the economics of marriage and the nature of the mentally destructive sub-ordination of women within it.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen does not offer a harsh critique, but rather highlights the flaws in society in her opinion, using comparisons. Through these comparisons she states her opinion that the social norms of her time are not always correct. Her critique of the society isn’t biting because she points out the flaws according to her opinion and uses righteous examples to warrant her view. She uses examples of different marriages and personalities to persuade the reader of her viewpoint. From the first sentence in the book, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’, it is known that the novel will be exploring the theme of marriage.
She is jealous of the child (the Governor changes the palace for the son, not for her) and is obsessed with her clothes, unable to comprehend the danger, as she has lived a life of privilege. She treats the servants badly. After the civil war, she tries to get Michael back in order to reclaim the Governor’s estates. The judge Azdak rules against her because she is not as good for the child as Grusha is. She is used to highlight major themes in the play: Justice, Family, Class warefare and Religion.