The Necklace

The Necklace theme and narrative elements in a short story
Robert Rois
English 125
July 9, 2012
Katherine Ness Santana

The Necklace theme and narrative elements in a short story
The story of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant was written during the realism period. The reason why the story was done during the realism period because people wanted reality to be accurate. Realist literature often focused on the middle class lives that stir up the tragic lives of Mathilde and her husband with very little subjectivity and more on the idea of objectivity. The realist side of the story influenced many artists at that time and how they interrupted the art work. The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant had an ironic surprise ending. There is a twist into the story the years it took the main character to purchase the necklace caused an issue that it was worthless. But what was shocking about the ending was that Mathilde borrowed the necklace from Madame Forestier’s to show that she was the better than anyone else which the made the main character look like a fool by losing what she had. The story of the necklace the themes of the story such as deceptiveness of appearances, the danger of martyrdom, the perceived power of objects and how this story was written in third person makes the short story very interesting and also makes the reader focus in what the writer is trying to prove his point about realism.
The first theme that the story called The Necklace the deceptiveness of appearance is the first theme that comes to mine. In the story Mathilde, does appear to be everything that she wants to be in real life. Within the story, Mathilde is a pretty woman but wants more than she can handle. For example, men look at her being pretty. All this becomes an illusion with the class people that is involved with the party are deceived very much. The deceptiveness of appearance becomes an illusion when Madame Forestier’s necklace made of diamonds were fake and it was no more than costume jewelry. Neither side tells the truth about the diamonds in the necklace which was deceiving in the story (Spark Notes Editions, 2007).
The danger of martyrdom is the second theme to this short story. Mathilde’s perception of herself as a martyr leads her to unwise, self-serving actions throughout this short story. Example is, when Mathilde feels that she must suffer through life that is well beneath what she deserves. She is being wasted by her looks and her charm with being unable to appreciate her lifestyle. When during the story that Mathilde loses the necklace, she works hard for about ten years and her looks starts to get worse and her beauty fades away. Her husband in the story gives up a gun so that she can buy a dress as well as using mortgages to replace the necklace, becomes a true martyr because of her selfishness (Spark Notes Editions, 2007).
With the perceive power of objects being the last theme to the story begins with the idea that Mathilde believes that change is possible when she gets the dress as well as the necklace that her happiness occurs at this point. But one problem that Mathilde faces her obsession to wealth that when she loses the necklace that she and dream becomes an illusion. In realism, the power does not lie with the objects but within her. To contrast Mathilde and Madame Forestier, she uses her power very little. But to her the objects are worthless to her; it is just only money being spent. For Madame Forestier, the fake jewels can be just as beautiful and the same as the real diamonds if one sees them as such (Spark Notes Editions, 2007).
The two literary elements that used is the necklace as known as the symbolism and the motif of coveting. First the symbol of the necklace, represents the beauty but worthless. Mathilde isn’t told the truth from the beginning because Madame Forestier wants to create an illusion to see her as being wealthy which that night of the party. Mathilde believes in an illusion that she is wealthy that it will tell people that she got money when she doesn’t. The second literary element that is used in this story is known as the motif known as coveting. This motif coveting throughout the story is so important that when her husband buys her a dress that she gets in her mind that she is wealthier than the other wives. She looks at everything and wants to be somebody that she is not. That is where both the symbolism as well as the motif becomes realism when she loses her mind (Clugston, R. W. 2010).
How does these two elements affect the narrative theme because first off it is made up of third person writing so the reader can engage and see what is going to happen throughout the story instead of being bored. Secondly the elements do affect the narrative theme because when the writer wrote this piece it was about the time when realism came out so that he give hints to his readers that the story affects realism with women at that time wanting more than they should have like Mathilde. Finally, the writer wants us to be aware of people out there that can twist people’s minds as well as deceive others by showing who has power and does not.
In the story The Necklace, the realism of Mathilde comes out and she becomes worse off than she was when she was herself. The three themes represent the period of time when women had some psychological issues and it shows throughout the short story that she falls to become a victim of reasoning. And finally, the two literacy terms can be evidence to prove that realism ties to this ideas of symbolism as well as motif.

References
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey Into Literature. San Diego, Ca. Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Spark Notes Editors. (2007). Spark Note on The Necklace. Retrieved on June 26, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-necklace/

References: Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey Into Literature. San Diego, Ca. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Spark Notes Editors. (2007). Spark Note on The Necklace. Retrieved on June 26, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-necklace/