The Necklace Critical Essay

Introduction

In his narrative, 'The Necklace', Guy de Maupassant, extensively demonstrates how misfortune can lead to the improvement of self, and hence happiness, through the character Mathilde Loisel, wife to Mr. Loisel. Mathilde Loisel, who is depicted as one who lived the life of a painfully distressed woman, but one who always believed in herself, was one of the most delightful and beautiful young ladies. Nonetheless, although she lived in a beautiful home with everything that she needed, Mrs. Loisel was unhappy with her life, and she feels that she deserves a more materialistic and an expensive life that she already has. To develop this story, the author skilfully employs various literary elements as described in this essay.

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To begin with, the author extensively employs the literary element, symbolism. By definition, symbolism is an artistic and a poetic style of using symbols as representations of ideas or qualities. In the short story, the author uses Mrs.Loisel's flashy and beautiful, but borrowed necklace as a symbol as a representation of wealth, which is false in the end. Mathilde Loisel, who had great value for material things such as jewelry and necklaces lives a miserable life as she only desired to attain more wealth and was not content with what she had. For instance, the author states that; "She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only" (Maupassant). In this regard, the flashy necklace is used as a representation of Mathilde Loisel's great desire to attain wealth and live a more materialistic life that she already has. Therefore, the fact that the necklace is beautiful and expensive but is made of false jewels is an indication of how much Mathilde Loisel is susceptible to being deceived and misled by meretricious things in her fantasy world.

The other literary element that is apparent in the short story, The Necklace, is the main theme of the story, Deceptiveness of appearances. By definition, the deceptiveness of appearance means that something may look appealing on the surface and at the same time be the complete opposite of what it appears like, after giving it a closer look. The author develops this theme through Mathilde's situation as well as the life that she lived. Particularly, the truth about Mathilde Loisel is that she is neither wealthy nor a part of the social class that she strongly feels that she is a deserving member. This being said, she lives in an illusory world and does everything in her ability to try and match her real life with the ideal life that she had in her head. For instance, on the day of the party, Mathilde Loisel believed that the party was a triumph because according to her, her beauty and charm made her worthy of a better life and on this day, for the first time, her appearance matched the reality of her ideal kind of life. This is exemplified in the story where the author states that "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 [...] (Maupassant)."

Besides, to bring out the meaning of the story, the author extensively develops the characters. In a narrative, a character may be classified as either static or dynamic. By definition, dynamic characters are those who substantially change how a story progresses. For instance, Mathilde Loisel, the protagonist of the short story, is developed as a very dynamic character. In particular, throughout the story, her initial moods appear to stay with her longer than others. A majority of the things that she had imagined were often not considered by those women who belonged to a similar social rank as her. For instance, the author substantiates that for Madame Loisel, "worn-out chairs, curtains and having boiled beef for dinner, tortured and filled her with despair (Maupassant)." Besides, Mathilde Loisel was often haunted by feelings and thoughts of wishing she had married better. She felt that she was not able to get herself a well-off husband and that was the reason why she had settled for her current husband who worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Education. With reference to her daily description of the life she lived, the author portrays her as a miserable and an unhappy character who had suffered ceaselessly. In a similar regard, the dynamic character of Mrs. Loisel is exemplified where the author describes her as a person who would continuously visit her rich friend, Mrs. Forrestier, to ease her self-proclaimed suffering of living in a drab house. Therefore, based on this context, the author puts across the point that, Mrs.Loisel's strong desire to belong to a higher status and to possess expensive material things and jewelry was increasingly poisoning her nature.

The author's primary style of narration is yet another literary element exemplified throughout the story. Essentially, the author uses the descriptive, third-person omniscient narrative technique. By definition, the descriptive third-person narration technique is one that allows the reader of the story to know exactly what is going through the characters' minds. Therefore, in this case, the author tells the story in a manner that he refrains from judging the characters of their actions. Notably, the third person omniscient narration is appropriate in this story since, the protagonist of the short story, Mrs. Loisel would not be reliable narrators. Through this narration technique, the readers of the story know the exact thoughts of Mrs. Loisel and how much trapped she felt in her reality. For instance, this technique makes it evident for the reader that Mrs. Loisel is humiliated and embarrassed by her reality and her life situation. In particular, the author states;

"She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, and prepared for the five o'clock chat with the most intimate friends (Maupassant)."

This, in essence, makes the narrative an efficient way of expressing the feelings as well as the thoughts that crossed the characters' minds. Besides, although it is evident that her husband could not afford the kind of life that she desired, the descriptive third-person omniscient technique makes it clear to the reader that Mrs. Loisel is ultimately missing out on what life really is.

Conclusion

In conclusion, symbolism, the theme of the deceptiveness of appearances, the narration technique and the dynamic character of the protagonist are the primary literary elements that that Guy de Maupassant employs in the development of his narrative. Therefore, based on this narrative, it is evident that those people, like Mathilde Loisel, who often think that life is about the little material possessions that they have, are deceivers.

References

Maupassant, G. (2007). The works of Guy de Maupassant. Place of publication not identified: Wildside Press.