Comparing The Necklace And The Story Of An Hour
The social class of women and the difficulties they confront are being explored in this essay. In the two stories — “The Necklace” and “The Story of an Hour”, both female protagonists are trapped by strict order of society depriving their freedom and status.
Social status and family background are important to women because that is the only way they can gain respect and get their desires. However, in “The Necklace”, women had neither rank nor class in the late 1800s in France. Their beauty and charm is their only way to be a part of the higher society. Madame Loisel in this story was born with no status and her birth was an “error of fate”. Her wants were never fulfilled and she was never satisfied, this reflects the lack of gender equality and women’s social status during the 19th centuries in France. Madame Loisel lives in her own fantasy, where she believes that her beauty and charm are worth more. During the party, her appearance matches the illusion of her life for the first time. She was admired and demanded, but that is not the reality, proving that beauty can’t change her status. “He helped her on with her coat which he had fetched when it was time to go, a modest, everyday coat, a commonplace coat violently at odds with the elegance of her dress.” The “everyday coat” …show more content…
She had given up on a marriage with love, but only marrying someone that can get her into a higher class. Therefore losing Madame Forestier’s necklace ruined her future as they will have to pay a huge amount of money, which they can’t afford. Madame Loisel gave up her family and future just to maintain her reputation in front of the others. Her pride stopped her from telling the truth, ending up with ten years of hard work for an imitation
Social status and family background are important to women because that is the only way they can gain respect and get their desires. However, in “The Necklace”, women had neither rank nor class in the late 1800s in France. Their beauty and charm is their only way to be a part of the higher society. Madame Loisel in this story was born with no status and her birth was an “error of fate”. Her wants were never fulfilled and she was never satisfied, this reflects the lack of gender equality and women’s social status during the 19th centuries in France. Madame Loisel lives in her own fantasy, where she believes that her beauty and charm are worth more. During the party, her appearance matches the illusion of her life for the first time. She was admired and demanded, but that is not the reality, proving that beauty can’t change her status. “He helped her on with her coat which he had fetched when it was time to go, a modest, everyday coat, a commonplace coat violently at odds with the elegance of her dress.” The “everyday coat” …show more content…
She had given up on a marriage with love, but only marrying someone that can get her into a higher class. Therefore losing Madame Forestier’s necklace ruined her future as they will have to pay a huge amount of money, which they can’t afford. Madame Loisel gave up her family and future just to maintain her reputation in front of the others. Her pride stopped her from telling the truth, ending up with ten years of hard work for an imitation