CONTEMPORARY, POPULAR, AND EMERGENT LITERATURE

THE NECKLACE
by Guy de Maupassant

PREPARED BY: RIO AMOR B. PRIMA

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant 
• August 05, 1850 – July 06, 1893

• Father of Modern Short Story

• Genre: Naturalism

• The author of famous short story

“The Necklace” (La Parure)
SUMMARY
The Necklace is a work of fiction written by Guy de
Maupassant in 1884. It is a story with an ironic ending but with
hallmarks of the adverse effects of grievance and materialism.
A story that revolves around a woman identified as Madame
Loisel who lives in a simple abode with her husband, who
labors as a clerk in the Ministry of Education. At any moment,
she imagines herself indulging in an exquisite and luxurious
life. However, she merely has an embellished depiction of life
where nothing is to be desired or sought. For that reason, she
buried jealousy in her heart towards her affluent friend,
Madame Forestier, who has a magnificent palace and precious
stones.
 One evening, her husband came home holding an invitation
to a grand ball. With great excitement, he handed it to his beautiful
wife. Unfortunately, it did not please her, and she did express her
thoughts furiously about having nothing to wear to the special
event. As a result, her loving husband decides to give her four
hundred francs for a suitable dress. Little did she know that it was
a sacrifice from his husband, because he had also been saving for
a gun worth four hundred francs. As the party draws near,
Madame Loisel becomes more anxious and unhappier. Her
husband asks her why, and she eagerly grumbles, telling him she
has no jewelry to wear with her beautiful dress .
 Her husband then suggests borrowing jewelry from her
well-off friend, Madame Forestier. And so she did, choosing the
sparkling diamond necklace. The most-awaited party arrived,
and she was excited to dance, drink, and be beautiful. Finally,
they came home after the party and had to change their clothes.
From there, she realized the necklace she had been wearing
was missing. They wonder if it fell off in the carriage or on the
streets, but it is nowhere to be found. Madame Loisel writes a
letter to her friend, telling her she broke the clasp and is having it
fixed. But the truth is, they will have to buy another necklace to
replace it, which is worth thirty-six thousand francs.
 Luckily, her husband inherited eighteen thousand francs from
his father and needs to borrow the rest of the money and also sign
petty agreements to have that certain amount. With that, they
entered poverty, living in a smaller flat, dismissing all their servants,
and doing all her household chores instead. Her husband also had
to work multiple jobs to pay back all the money they borrowed. After
ten years, the money is finally fully paid back. One day, she sees
Madame Forestier walking on the street. She decides to tell her that
she lost her necklace after the event and proudly bought it just like it
and had to pay for ten years. Madame Forestier was taken aback.
She then confesses that the necklace she borrowed was fake and
its worth is no more than five hundred francs.
THE ELEMENTS OF FICTION USED IN THE
STORY
CHARACTERS
Mathilde Loisel/Madame Loisel (main character, beautiful but not affluent)

Monsieur Loisel (Mathilde’s husband)

Jeanne Forester (Mathilde’s wealthy friend)

Mathilde Loisel Monsieur Loisel Jeanne Forestier

PLOT
Exposition- Mathilde desires to become an aristocrat and live a comfortable and well-off life.
Unfortunately, she only belongs to middle-class society.

Rising Action- Monsieur Loisel, her husband, receives an invitation to a gala party. Mathilde
was so upset because she had nothing to wear. But his husband gave her four hundred
francs to buy a suitable dress. However, she is still anxious because she has no fine jewelry
to wear. She then borrows a diamond necklace from her friend Jeanne Forestier.

Climax- Mathilde attends the party where she dances beautifully and later realizes that she
lost the necklace somewhere and it is nowhere to be seen.

Falling Action- They made a decision to buy a new replacement for the missing necklace,
which led them to enter poverty for ten years to pay off all their debts.

Resolution- One fine day, Loisel catches her old but still beautiful friend Jeanne and decides
to tell her what happened. The resolution reveals that the necklace is fake and worth no more
than five hundred francs.
IRONIES PRESENTED IN THE STORY
Situational irony

A literary technique in which an expected result does not happen. According to

Parvathi (2020), situational irony is a linear process where the author sets up a scene
one way and the opposite of what the reader expects actually happens. In the case of
the story, the readers do not know that the necklace they have been paying for ten
years is truthfully fake. Thus, the reader's expectations are not met, but this is exactly
the result that the author wants to achieve.

Verbal irony

The contrast between what the characters say and what they really want to imply.
One great example is when Mathilde furiously refuses to attend a party since she does
not have a dress to wear, while the reader knows how much she has desired such an
offer for a long time.
SETTING, POINT-OF-VIEW,
AND THE AUTHOR’S LITERARY STYLE

The story is set in Paris, France, in 1880 written in a third-person

narration. The struggles of ordinary people in French society and their
aspirations to thrive, frequently with unpleasant outcomes, are also
central to the author's literary style. Although he appears to understand
the realities of the middle class, he never questioned their decisions to
enter the stream of materialistic happiness that led to unfortunate fates.
This means the judgment will be on the reader, not the author.
SYMBOL
The Necklace

Although it is beautiful and has diamond

shimmers, it may be worthless as it might only be a
form of imitation. It is indeed like the character of
Mathilde, who is beautiful but has a sickening
dissatisfaction that led her to a miserable situation.
The element also represents materialism. Her
complete belief in her borrowed diamonds allows her
to convey an impression of wealth to others, as well
as the perception that wealth and possessions can
increase social standing.
THEMES: Discontentment and Materialism

INTERPRETATION & REFLECTION

Materialism and the tendency to flaunt material possessions consume a
significant part of today's society. According to psychological research, the
psychology of materialism is defined as the value system that is preoccupied with
possessions and the social image they project. This explains the behavior of
Madame Loisel in the story. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best luxuries
in life. But we can always remember the sad fate of Madame Loisel because of her
grievances and materialism. Do not allow ourselves to be consumed by worldly
things.

SENTENCE THEME
The fullness of joy is not found in material possessions; it is complete in Christ
Jesus.
REFERENCES
Bauer, M., Wilkie, J. W., Kim, J. H., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2012). Cuing Consumerism.
Psychological Science, 23(5), 517–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611429579
Parvathi, V. (2020, June 18). Irony and Coincidence in the Selected Stories of O’ Henry.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3630145
Nurmalasari, U. (2018, July 13). A Study of Social Stratification In France In 19th Century
as Portrayed in `The Necklace ‘La Parure’` Short Story by Guy De Maupassant.
Nurmalasari | English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC)
Proceedings. https://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/ellic/article/view/3570
Taylor, S., PhD. (2019, October 25). The Madness of Materialism. Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201203/the-madness-
materialism?
Thank you for listening. Au Revoir!