Literary Analysis Interpretation The Novel of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant's - Research Paper Example

English Literature December 15, Literary Analysis Interpretation of "The Necklace" Guy de Maupassants Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th century French writer who is also one among the exponents of modern short stories. His short stories were often about simple episodes in life that he witnessed or heard about. He authored about 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books and one volume of verse during the 1880's. Maupassant was of the view that a modern novel aims not at "telling a story or entertaining us or touching our hearts but at forcing us to think and understand the deeper, hidden meaning of events" (Guy De Maupassant (1850-1893) – in Full Henry-Rene-Albert-Guy De Maupassant para. 10). His short stories are known for their comical elements, pessimism, objectivity and a well definitive style. Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is one of his acclaimed works that features the late 19th century France. Similar to Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, ''The Necklace'' also tell us about a young, beautiful woman who is caught in a social situation that she finds distasteful. Like Mme. Bovary, Mme. Loisel also attempt to escape from her real life, but her actions ultimately lead to disaster. The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant tells about the life of a woman in the 19th century France who pretends to be “richer than she is by borrowing a necklace from a rich acquaintance” (Robinson 1). The author introduces a twist in the plot wherein the protagonist loses the necklace and ends up spending a decade doing hard labor to earn money to replace it. The ironic element of this story comes in where it is revealed to the lady that the necklace she borrowed was not real. The thesis statement of this paper is that the story “the Necklace” is a work of social criticism wherein the author conveys the struggle of common middle class to circumvent the class difference. “The Necklace” is set in the in the fashionable glamorous city of Paris. This setting is exceptionally relevant in the plot of the story as it represents that period in history when class systems and class struggles were prevalent. The 19th century France is known for its class system where aristocracy held about 33% of the national income even at the advent of increased wages and improved standard of living of average people. Though the lower classes of the society advanced greatly in their financial position due to the occupational opportunities of the time, the distance between the upper class and working classes remained intact. This is evident from the instance where we get a glimpse of Mme. Forestier’s house that denotes the lifestyle of upper class of this period. “Breton”, the servant of Mme. Forestier, the childhood friend of Mathilde, is introduced in to the story to show the class distinction existed during this period. Some people who belonged to the French middle class achieved prosperity almost equivalent to that of aristocracy but some others maintained their previous low economic state, when compared to the rural peasants. The conflicts that occur in the life of Mathilde Loisel are due to her dissatisfaction with her place in the society. She hails from a poor family and is married to Monsieur Loisel, a clerk, who belongs to the middle class. Middle class, also known as French Bourgeoisie, were involved in a class struggle with the aristocracy for their equal rights in society. It is the existing class struggle of the period that is analyzed in this story. The author says, “She was a simple person, without the money to dress well but she was as unhappy as she had gone through bankruptcy, for women have neither rank nor race” (Kabanica para. 2). She is “distressed at the poverty of her dwelling” and wishes for a “high life" and to be intimate among the rich and fantasizes about expensive luxuries such as the tapestries, "tall lamps of bronze" and "precious bric-a-brac" in "coquettish little rooms" and closets of silk fabrics, silver dinnerware, rich banquets and servants. She wishes to “please, to be envied, to be charming [and] to be sought after ” (1, 2). The late 19th century middle class consistently tried to keep up their image among the other Bourgeoisie families and blindly yearned for aristocratic lifestyle. Mathilde Loisel, instead of appreciating the current lifestyle that she shares with her husband, aspired for the aristocratic lifestyle. The glimpse of the lifestyle, which Mathilde yearns for, is provided at the party at the Ministerial Mansion. Mathilde Loisel is dissatisfied with her identity, her place and current lifestyle in the society. “She grieved incessantly…There’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women” (Maupassant). This grieving, in fact, prevents her from enjoying even the minute valuable moments of her life. Though she shared a good lifestyle with Monsieur Loisel, she could neither appreciate nor notice it. “All these things, which another woman of her class would not even have noticed, gnawed at her and made her furious” (Maupassant). Mathilde Loisel believed that she can earn worth in the society only by achieving a higher lifestyle. We see her happy only at the time when she was at the party, where she felt to be a member of that elusive, wealthy and fashionable part of society. In order to attend such a fleeting moment of her dream world, she had to pretend to be an aristocrat by borrowing an expensive necklace from former schoolmate, Madame Forestier. But after the party, Madame Loisel returns to the real world and she leaves the borrowed necklace in the taxi that the Loisels take to their home. The Loisels replace the necklace, though they cannot afford its cost and spent a decade in debt, in order to repay the replaced necklace. In doing so, the Loisels were forced to move from apartment to garret, from the middle class to the needy class. Only after Madame Loisel's beauty and youth fade and she begins to value her life does the author make her again to speak with Mme Forestier. With a characteristic twist in the plot, Mme. Forestier tells Mme. Loisel that the lost necklace was only glass, and hence, of no value. Maupassant, with his objectivity, highly controlled style and sheer comedy, portrays class struggle in “the Necklace” that has prevailed in the 19th century France. The necklace of this story is the symbol of many things. For Mme. Loisel, the necklace was nothing but a representation of her desire. The author reveals the falseness of the necklace to point out the falseness of the quest for material benefits in life. The necklace is also the representation of image that Matilda so desperately aspires for. Mme Loisel, who is distressed about her own looks, feels beautiful when she wore the necklace to the party. The necklace also helps her to be that person whom she wanted to be. But this necklace also brought bad fate to the Loisels and she was changed from a young, beautiful lady to a coarse old woman. The necklace, though gave Mme. Loisel a life of poverty, she was changed to a responsible and hard working woman. Though Maupassant’s “The Necklace” has a tragic element to it, the story cannot be conceived as a tragedy. In tragedy, the author empathizes with his characters. But, in “The Neckalce” we see the author being cruel to his protagonist by bringing in an element of irony towards the end. But the author tries to analyze the emotional distress of Mme. Loisel through the conflicts she has to face. Mme. Loisel is found to be in conflict with her Self as she cannot accept the person she is. Her desire to change her living conditions and image becomes the cause for her doom. Mme. Loisel, though is in conflict with the middle class society, she willingly submits herself to the aristocratic ideals and makes them her own. Another level of conflict also exists among the Loisels where the wife forces her husband to achieve as well as to pretend to be among the aristocrats for the fulfillment of her desire. But all these conflicts are resolved when Loisels accept the turn of events that the fate has bestowed upon them wherein they struggles for 10 years to pay off the debt and the interest accrued on the money they borrowed to pay for the replacement of the necklace. During this time, Mathilde evolves from a damsel, who lived in the world of dreams with quest for materialism, to become a disciplined and contented old woman, who has learned the values of living within her means. She now lives attuned to her real world and Maupassant compliment that “she did her share, however, completely, heroically” (Kabanica 98). Throughout the story we can see that Mme Loisel was loyal to her true love, the the story gathers more meaning to it. The reader is forced to read between the lines and to know that De Maupassant is pointing towards the overwhelming class system of the late 19th century France. “The Necklace” is a social commentary by Maupassant, who in his stories presents a naturalistic picture of French life from 1870 to 1890. Maupassant points out the wrong path taken by many while circumventing the class difference. He took the subjects for his stories mainly from the Norman asantry, the Franco-Prussian War, the bureaucracy, the fashionable life of Paris and the emotional problems of the different classes. His stories have a pessimistic tone to it which is evident from the twist in the plot of “The Necklace’ that can be found in the end of the story. In “the Necklace” we are introduced to Mme. Loisel who fails to neglect the false image of the upper class and to appreciate the good things in her life. It is her desire to be a part of aristocratic society that throws her in to the lower class of the society. Mme. Loisel thought that the necklace can bridge the difference between her desire and reality. But the necklace became a noose for her that threw her to poverty. The conflict in the story arises with her dissatisfaction with her identity in the society and it is resolved when she becomes one among the needy. Work Cited Guy De Maupassant (1850-1893) – in Full Henry-Rene-Albert-Guy De Maupassant. Books and Writers. n.d. Web. 15, Dec. 2011. Kabanica. Literary Analysis of the Guy De Maupassant’s “Necklace”. Every Author. 2011. Web. 15, Dec. 2011. Maupassant, Guy De. The Necklace. n.d. Web. 15, Dec. 2011. Robinson, J. Discovering Themes in Literature. Douglas College Learning Centre. 2006. Web. 15, Dec. 2011. < http://www.douglas.bc.ca/services/learning-centre/pdf/rs/RS4_20_Discovering_Themes_in_Literature.pdf> Read More