ENGL 1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Guy De Maupassant, The Necklace, Costume Jewelry
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a fiction story that reveals the dark nature of a greedy
ambitious middle aged women that thirsts for power. Through the help of others such as her
husband and a friend, she climbs up the social ladder to claim her false position as a wealthy and
powerful women. Throughout the story, the author utilizes the diamond necklace, the main
feature of the story, to symbolize many ideas throughout the book, such power along with the
idea that greed can eventually lead to a downfall and the idea that not all glitter is gold.
The story of “The Necklace” highly emphasises the symbolism that is proposed by
describing key points such as power. Although many times we refer jewelry as an object of
beauty or riches, the author instead uses it to portray power. Madame Loisel, who is the main
character, is distressed at the problematic situation she is enclosed in, which is the fear of being
belittled by other people. She believes that she can rid her insecurity by holding the necklace that
represent not just wealth but also power. No matter how magnificent and marvelous her
appearance was, she felt as if she was not complete without the diamond necklace. “"It annoys
me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather
not go to this party." (Maupassant, 9) This is symbolic because she claims that the diamond
necklace is something much more than a piece of jewelry but rather a medium to explain her
status. Sadly, although she can not afford the diamond necklace to begin with, she becomes blind
of greed for more diamonds, which concludes and symbolizes that she was seeking more power.
The story also provides the idea that people are sometimes different from what they are
perceived as or not all glitter is gold. This theme is consistently portrayed and shown with many
various examples. The first example is Madame Loisel herself. She dresses herself up to
appear rich and high class, but in reality, she is neither rich nor is she in the high class society.
“She was prettier than anyone else, stylish, graceful, smiling and wild with joy. All the men saw
her, asked her name, sought to be introduced. All the important administrators stood in line to
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Document Summary
The necklace by guy de maupassant is a fiction story that reveals the dark nature of a greedy ambitious middle aged women that thirsts for power. Through the help of others such as her husband and a friend, she climbs up the social ladder to claim her false position as a wealthy and powerful women. The story of the necklace highly emphasises the symbolism that is proposed by describing key points such as power. Although many times we refer jewelry as an object of beauty or riches, the author instead uses it to portray power. Madame loisel, who is the main character, is distressed at the problematic situation she is enclosed in, which is the fear of being belittled by other people. She believes that she can rid her insecurity by holding the necklace that represent not just wealth but also power.
