Comparing the Necklace and Cindderella - Essay Example

THE NECKLACE Order No. 234893 No. of pages: 2 Premium 6530 Guy de Maupassant’s short story ‘The Necklace’ is set in the Paris of the late 1800’s, an era when strict social classes made up the society of the day. These classes were the noblemen and rich gentry, who made up the upper classes. The traders and government servants, who constituted the burgeoning middle class, and the lower class, consisted of the domestic help and laborers. This story delves into the psyche of a middle class heroine, Matilde, trapped in the drudgery of her bourgeoisie existence, constantly trying to find ways to reach the zenith of society. The protagonist Matilde was a charming and pretty girl, but as fate would have it, was born into a middle class family of artisans. By no means did she have the chance of becoming famous, loved or even being married away to a man of great wealth or distinction. Hence, when the time came for her to get married, Matilde was given in marriage to an ordinary clerk. Cinderella, on the other hand, is one of the best known fairy tales, and an extremely cherished children’s story, but one that has a deeper understanding. This text reveals that, like all fables, it has an underlying message to deliver. In this case it is the triumph of good over evil and the final victory of goodness over unjust oppression. It is a story to be found in many languages and almost all the cultures of the world and the various renditions end with the brutally oppressed Cinderella, marrying her Prince Charming, because of all her good virtues and beauty. The Necklace is a story replete with irony, which unmasks the greed of Matilde for the good things in life, and how she is ready to even borrow from friends, just so that she can make a favorable impression on others. Matilde is unhappy with her life because she feels that she has married a person much lower to her status. According to Matilde, life had dealt her a harsh blow by getting married to a clerk for she felt that she deserved much better. She suffered badly on this account and hated the poorness of her home with its old and shabby curtains and worn out furniture. Matilde’s mind was constantly tormented by these things and she secretly envisioned sprawling saloons with rich silk and Oriental tapestry work, exquisite furniture that housed priceless ornaments and huge ante- chambers that were perfumed and had comfortable arm- chairs. She longed to have delicate meals from gleaming silver-ware, but all she had now was a simple meal at a small round table. She hated all of this and bided her time for the right opportunity to present itself. This story shows us how greed can wreak havoc in a person’s life and in an ironical twist of fate, we see that the necklace for which Matilde toiled her life away, was not made of real diamonds, but was indeed a fake. The only reality in this story is Matilde’s unfulfilled desires. The story explores the universal sentiments of harking after what we don’t have and in the process not being able to enjoy the various luxuries which we do possess. Matilde is portrayed as an unhappy wife, who instead of being excited at the prospect of going to a party at the palace, wallows in misery and self-pity. She forces her husband to buy a dress for her and borrows the ill-fated necklace from her friend Madam Forestier, which results in her life being turned upside down, when she misplaces it. Cinderella’s story, on the other hand, is a tale of remarkable resilience in the face of all odds. Her mother had passed away and her father had married another woman who was a widow with two daughters. Her step sisters were quite ugly but even so their mother gave them the best of clothes, shoes, shawls, comfortable beds to sleep on and the most delicious food to eat. But, poor Cinderella was given nothing of all these nice things. On the other hand, she was treated like a menial and made to do all the hard work in the house, while both her step sisters spent time trying to beautify themselves and entertaining all their friends. Cinderella is the pliant, uncomplaining heroine, who accepts her life of scouring floors and doing menial jobs, with a grace uncommon in a girl so beautiful and young. She is a paragon of goodness and her vulnerability makes the reader reach out to her in sympathy. Cinderella gets her due reward one night when the fairy godmother appears and asks Cinderella if she wanted to attend a huge ball given by the prince. Cinderella expresses her desire to do so and the fairy Godmother touches her dress with her magic wand and lo! And behold, she is dressed in a breath taking dress with dainty glass slippers to match. She touched some white mice and a pumpkin that she asked Cinderella to bring and these turned into a golden coach with six white horses. Before she left, she kissed Cinderella and asked her to enjoy the ball but to remember to be back home before the strike of 12’O’Clock. This was the reward for Cinderella received from the fairy Godmother for her goodness, inherent virtues of patience and services to others. In stark comparison to this was Guy de Maupassant’s Matilde which is a study in greed and jealousy, of a lady whose life is destroyed, not by an outside force or person, but by the darkness within her own heart. She always envied others because she did not have the good clothes or jewels she loved and craved for. She waited for the right time to strike and get what she wanted. Matilde, unlike the sweet Cinderella, is an unsympathetic heroine, whose envy and greed cloud her judgment and who daydreams “of achievements and fame that would make her the envy of all other women.” It is this clouded perception of her own self which makes her unable to see the reality of her life. It is not a lavish life but is by no means as uncomfortable as she makes it out to be. Perrault’s Cinderella, a fairy tale character faces up to the realities of her life, not once cribbing about her work or envying the extravagant lifestyle of her sisters. Matilde is one of those women, who is resentful to others, unaware that her failure in life is the result of her own unhappiness. She has a rich friend, Madame Forestier, who had studied with her in school, but refused visiting her because when she came back she suffered miserably with pangs of jealousy, despair, regret and misery. More than friendship, she disliked her friend because she possessed all that Matilde wanted. The quality of self-fulfillment is missing in her person and it is the absence of this virtue, which is at the root of all her vices. Her discordant character is fuelled by her insatiable greed, which leads her on to destroy her life. Her rose-tinted notion of herself that she was “destined for all delicacies and luxuries” prevented her from enjoying the luxuries which her middle class husband provided for her. The greatest irony of all though, was to repay a debt which would not have been hers, if only she had told the truth to her friend. Madame Forestier, Matilde’s friend was a generous person and as soon as Matilde asked her for some jewels to wear for the party she took a huge box from her dressing table and asked her to choose what she wanted. Matilde’s eyes shone with greed as she saw beautiful bracelets, a Venetian cross encrusted with gems, pearl necklaces and so many exquisite pieces of jewelry. Finally her eye caught sight of a breath- taking piece of diamond jewelry that lay in a black satin case. She wore it around her neck and admired herself in the mirror. She was ecstatic at the beauty of it. Her friend readily agreed when she asked if she could take and Matilde flung her arms around her friend’s neck and embraced her. She forgot for a moment that this was the same friend she refused to even visit. She was the Prima Donna of the party with everyone trying to get noticed or introduced to her. She was the star of the show, ever smiling and graceful because everyone were admiring her. She had enjoyed herself to the fullest with all the men at the party, but when she got home she realized that the necklace was missing. She gave a cry of astonishment as the whole gravity of the situation presented itself. The necklace that had brought her so much joy was now the center of her misery. To replace the necklace they needed thirty-six thousand francs – an unheard of amount for their status. Her husband Loisel was left eighteen thousand francs by his father and they decided to borrow the rest. Dark misery fell about them as they borrowed from every single source they knew and even mortgaged his years of existence. Matilde led a life of abject poverty and haggled for every penny because of the bills they had to pay. She had become old and feeble with the heavy burden around her. Had Matilde spoken the truth in the first place, she would have saved herself a lot of trouble. When finally she gathered up courage to tell her friend, she was shocked to hear that the diamond necklace that she spent years of her life trying to replace was after a fake! Her pride had overcome her as she kept the loss of the necklace a well guarded secret. She recalled the struggle that she had gone through for the last ten years, when after all the necklace that Madame Forestier gave her was only 500 francs. Trying to hide the truth only made her more miserable as she lost her zest for life. In the story of Cinderella, we find that being innocent and truthful had gained her so much in life. Both these stories are so unlike each other and gives a clear picture to the reader of what is right and wrong and what is acceptable and what is not. People who are good will be blessed with good things and that’s what Cinderella’s story conveys, while the opposite holds true for the greedy Matilde. When we examine the fable of Cinderella at a deeper level, it is almost allegorical. Cinderella is the manifestation of the goodness which is inherent in all of us. All that we desire resides within us, and can be manifested externally by virtuous thoughts and deeds. The fairy Godmother is the spirit which all of us have and its ability to make things happen. As the moral of the story postulates – “that little gift called grace” is what touches the hearts of all around us. References The Necklace – Guy de Maupassant (1850 – 1893) www.classicshorts.com/stories/necklace.html Greed in the Necklace http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/31061.html Cinderella http://www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Ft/cinderella.html A Cinderella Story: How Fairy Tales Evolve. http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/17153.html Read More