The Necklace Group

Topic: Do you think that Madame Loisel in "The Necklace" has gotten a retribution that she deserves?

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1

She loses her beauty and youth for the same trivial reasons she wanted to dedicate her life to.

2

It is true that she is guilty of pride--hubris, the Greeks called it.  Excessive pride which is the downfall of the hero in the story.  Had she simply admitted to her friend that the necklace was lost, Madame Loisel and her husband would not have spent the next several years toiling away working overtime in order to purchase a genuine diamond necklace as a replacement for the fake one.  Had she simply admitted her fault, her friend most likely would have told her then that the necklace's gemstones were imitation.

While Madame Loisel's lesson was a hard one to learn, I'm not certain she deserved the consequences.  On the other hand, given her character and personality, I'm not certain she would have learned the lesson so effectively had she confessed and simply paid for an imitation necklace replacement. 

3

renkins44

Whether or not she received appropriate retribution for her excessive pride depends on who is judging. Consider not only her desire for material welath but also her more subtle intentions. Her material desire symbolized a want for a different life -- a more significant social status. Remember how she looked at other powerful figures in society and the dreams she had of their courtship. She never dreamed only of those men meeting her excessive material needs and not her emotional needs. Her husband, although poor, cared deeply for her and did everything in his power to make her happy. Nonetheless, she would have seemingly left him for the person who could meet any of her above desires.

Her dreams and desires are not unlike those of many people and it is easy for someone to succomb to the temptations of material wealth and all accompanies it. Thus her retribution could assessed as excessive. However, before she lost the necklace, she had a loving husband and her basic needs were all met. If the reader's ethical stance values marriage and emotioanl well-being, then her retribution can be viewed as light. Clearly, judging whether or not the retribution was just depends on the person.

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