Theme and Characters of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

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Table of Contents

Theme
Character Analysis
Works Cited

Theme

“The Necklace” is a tale that Guy de Maupassant wrote in 1884 to demonstrate how the desire to have more in life can ruin one’s life. The central theme of the story is the dangers of pride. Mathilde believes she is too pretty to live a simple life. When her spouse surprises her with an invitation to the Ministry’s celebration, she is displeased because she does not have an expensive dress to wear. “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she flung the invitation petulantly across the table…” (2). She borrows a necklace that seems so expensive from Madame Forestier. The piece gets lost at the party, and the family encounters hardships in replacing the jewelry. Mathilde feeds her pride for a night but pays for the consequences for about ten years with difficulty. Pride also makes Madame Forestier fail to acknowledge that the necklace is fake and does not cost that much money.

The theme of this story can be likened to the need to establish identity, portrayed in the “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” story. The main character, Connie, has the challenge of establishing an identity (MindTap Literature 3). The problem is brought about by her obsession with how she looks, how others perceive her, and the group mentality behind acting, talking, and dressing alike. As a result, she and her friends separate themselves from others who seem boring or uncool because of pride.

Character Analysis

Mathilde is a proud, sophisticated, and dissatisfied woman. She is unhappy with her current lifestyle and constantly dreams of the riches and glamour that she feels her beauty deserves. According to the text, “she imagined delicate food served in marvelous dishes, murmured gallantries, listened to with an inscrutable smile as one trifled with the rosy flesh of trout or wings of asparagus chicken” (1). She has sophisticated taste in clothes, jewelry, and food. Mathilde is proud of her beauty, which prompts her to feel that she deserves a high-class life. She is not satisfied with her life because “She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them” (2). As a result, she develops greedy desires and loses them all.

Works Cited

Maupassant, Guy. “The Necklace.” Le Gaulois, 1884, pp. 1-10. Web.

MindTap Literature 2.0. Cengage Learning, 2019.

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Theme and Characters of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

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