The Necklace

The theme of “The Necklace” is that we ought to be grateful for what we have rather than constantly wishing for more. Madame Loisel pities herself immensely because of her lack of wealth and her...

Mathilde's life took a change for the worst after the loss of the necklace. Namely, because instead of swallowing her pride, owning to this fact and confess to her friend, she decides to take...

There are two primary conflicts in Guy De Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," which are the individual versus the self and the individual versus society. Mathilde Loisel's internal and...

When the story opens, Madame Loisel is described as "pretty" and "charming." Despite having a comfortable home, she finds herself endlessly bored, always believing that she deserves more than her...

The moral of "The Necklace" is that we should be grateful for what we have rather than constantly seeking to acquire more. Mathilde Loisel is married to a man with a good job in the Ministry of...

Three character traits that Madame Loisel possesses that are easily apparent when reading the short story "The Necklace" is she is ungrateful, selfish, and greedy. No matter what her poor, loving...

Madame Loisel feels that she was born for luxury. She is a beautiful woman and believes that she should be living an aristocratic life, draped in fine clothes, jewels and furs. She imagines...

Guy de Maupassant's story, "The Necklace" was originally published in the French newspaper La Gaulois, in February 1884. It is set in Paris, in the "contemporary" period of the late nineteenth...

Examples of literary devices used in the story include suspense, irony, alliteration, metaphor, flashback, and plot twist. Irony: The story opens with a description of Mme. Loisel: She was one of...

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author gives the reader a hint of what is to come later in the story. In Guy De Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," he foreshadows Mathilde...

Mathilde Loisel is unhappy with her life at the beginning of "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant because she has been unhappy with her circumstances virtually since she was born. The first lines of...

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant is a cautionary tale about the dangers of trying to live outside of who you are. France, at the time this short story was published, was highly divided by class...

Monsieur Loisel is not described as vividly as his wife Mathilde. In fact, he is not even given a name! Most of the characterization of him is indirect. You can describe him as loving,...

There are essentially only three characters in Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." Of the three, only Mathilde Loisel is a dynamic character. The others, Matilde's husband and Madame...

Alliteration is when words beginning with the same consonant are placed in close proximity. Using alliteration creates a sense of rhythm or cadence. Maupassant's short story was originally written...

Some of the examples of symbolism in "The Necklace" are: The necklace is a symbol of wealth and power for Madame Loisel. This represents a world she longs to be in but will never be...

It is ironic that Mathilde, who prides herself on her beauty and who requires expensive things to feel truly elegant, chooses a cheap imitation diamond necklace to complement her dress—and doesn't...

De Maupassant's "The Necklace" has at least a few messages a reader can take from it. Madame Loisel is a good example of how not to conduct one's life. She has a sense of entitlement based upon...

Madame Loisel borrowed Madame Forestier's imitation necklace to wear to a prestigious ball and was under the impression that Madame Forestier's necklace was authentic. After losing Madame...

In direct characterization, an author simply states the personality traits and appearances of a character, and a reader isn't asked to make any inferences with given information. For example, the...

Short story plots usually have five specific elements: the exposition (which reveals the conflict), the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The falling action of a...

There are a number of examples of personification in "The Necklace." This is a literary technique whereby something that isn't human, such as an animal or an inanimate object, is endowed with human...

Guy de Maupassant's tale of a beautiful, yet petty, young woman who is disconsolate over her social position demonstrates the use of figurative language throughout the narrative. When her husband...

An example of foreshadowing in "The Necklace" has to do with the necklace itself. One day, Mathilde's husband brings home an invitation to "an evening reception at the Ministerial Mansion." Once...

Madame Forestier is a good friend of Mathilde's who has risen above Mathilde in social status. Despite this discrepancy in their wealth, Madame Forestier does not hesitate to help Mathilde when...

Mathilde has several problems in the story, but all of them stem from her dis-contentedness with her station in life. She desires to be wealthy, beautiful, admired, and envied. She believes that...

The author’s purpose in the necklace is to persuade readers to be true to themselves. The author’s purpose is usually to inform, entertain or persuade. In fiction, the author’s purpose is related...

I would say that the moral lesson of "The Necklace" is that deception is often a mistake which has bad results for the deceiver. Mathilde wishes to deceive the people attending the ball by making...

In line with the above answer, it seems only just and reasonable that Madame Forestier should give the Loisels the replacement necklace and that they would sell it in order to have a little...

The story goes back and forth between background narration and dramatic narration of the events surrounding the necklace. The background narration is supplied by an omniscient narrator. This...

In "The Necklace" Madame Loisel's appearance is greatly altered as, in her pride, she refuses to tell her friend that she has lost the borrowed necklace. Instead she and her husband repay the...

Mathilde Loisel is the beautiful but disillusioned protagonist of Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." She lives in a middle class world with her husband, a clerk with the Department of...

Working ten long years to replace the necklace she lost, Madame Loisel has greatly aged. She runs into Madame Forestier and decides to explain why she looks so much older than she used to look:...

Introduced in the beginning of "The Necklace" as a woman who feels that she has been cheated by fate, Madame Loisel is described as ...one of those pretty and charming girls, born, as if by an...

Alliteration is a literary device that can be used to make a text sound more poetic. Unlike rhymes that modern audiences are more familiar with, where the sounds at the ends of the words are the...

Monsieur Loisel wants to please his wife, who he loves, whereas Madame Loisel is self-absorbed and indifferent to her husband. He has married a beautiful wife, who he sees as a prize, whereas she...

Both Mathilde and Della are young, attractive women who occupy the lower-middle class and are married to relatively poor men. Mathilde and Della also experience economic issues and desire to attain...

Losing the necklace saved Mathilde and her husband. Before this she was spoiled and her husband tried to give her what she asked for. She had no appreciation for anything other than materialistic...

I'd suggest that Mathilde in "The Necklace" is human-like, a mixture of positive and negative traits. This is a story the interpretation of which reveals as much about the reader as it does the...

In the first paragraph, the narrator notes that Mathilde is a charming girl and "by a mistake of destiny" was born to a family of clerks. The suggestion is that usually such a charming girl is born...

The third person narrator who relates the story provides so much insight into Mathilde Loisel’s thoughts, emotions and feelings that the reader gets a clear picture of her point of view. However,...

The simple answer is that Madame Loisel is upset that she does not have anything to wear that is worthy of the occasion. More noteworthy still is how she reacts to the invitation, showing complete...

The exposition is usually the first part of the plot (although not always). It is the sum of all the background information and possible details regarding a character, the setting, or the series of...

Social class is one of the critical themes that drives "The Necklace," both in terms of its plot and its characters. In this story focused on class pretensions, its main protagonist, Mathilde...

One of the main external conflicts in the story is between Madame Loisel's and her husband's values. On the whole, Monsieur Loisel seems perfectly happy with life. He may only be a humble...

There are really only three characters seen in "The Necklace": M. Loisel, Mathilde Loisel, and Madame Forestier.In regards to this question, M. Loisel is unimportant. Madame Forestier is a rather...

The first couple of paragraphs offer exposition on Madame Loisel. Exposition is the term for the background information offered by the narrator, typically at the beginning of a story, in order to...

"The Necklace" is probably the most famous short story ever written in any language. It would be hard to think of a story that is better known and more frequently anthologized. Guy de Maupassant...

Madame Loisel, with money that her husband has saved, purchases a new dress to wear to a party. Once she has a new dress, she is unhappy because she doesn't have suitable jewelry to wear. At her...

Mathilde Loisel, the protagonist, in "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant does not like her circumstances. Mathilde is a young, attractive woman who daydreams about living a stylish life. She...