the necklace

Research Paper The stories that caught my attention that I chose to use for my research paper were “The

Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and “The Storm” by Kate Chopin. This both led to

characterization their attitudes and way of being. In both stories they seem to want things in life

that they can’t have and suffer consequences towards the end of the story. Both stories feature

young beautiful women in a social situation that they find distasteful. The life they dream of will

never cross their limits of actually being real and living it. These stories really got me into

wanting to finish reading the story, because if I stopped reading then the thought would be in my

head of what is going to happen next. The similarities of both women personality demonstrate

how they eventually corrupted their own lives. The characters personalities help the reader know

more about the story taking place. The stories take place at a low class situation, but wanting

more in life.

"The Storm" begins by feeling a vague discontent, which they are clueless to explain. In

both cases, these protagonists meet up with an attractive man who stirs their blood. "The Storm"

Chopin’s protagonist, Calixta, integrates a one-night stand into her marriage, and emerges from it

enlivened, invigorated, and actually a better woman than she had been before. The fact that

Calixta is able to resume her married life without guilt -- and without punishment -- after her one-shot affair to be would seem as shocking as Chopin 's descriptions of Calixta’s sexual

encounter. Even today, it seems a bit unrealistic, but it clearly reflects Chopin 's sexually-

liberated views. The metaphor of the storm is clearly intended to mirror Calixta 's vague but

increasingly restless sexual passion longing to burst forth at the first opportunity. Calixta has

been permanently changed by her discovery of her sexual nature, but she no longer needs her

teacher in order to practice it on her own. Kate Chopin gave readers a women’s view of how

repressive and confining marriage can be for a women, both spiritually and sexually

(www.essortment.com). Both women wanted things their way so they always tried work their

way around to find their way out. She was a woman whose feminist viewpoints were far ahead

of her time, which of course garnered her more than her share of criticism. Back in the days

women were supposed to properly be respected. While romance novels today are filled with

steamy passages, Chopin’s time it was rarely acknowledged that women even had any sexual

desires at all. Calixta and Alcee’s willingness to break free from the repressive constraints of

their marriages and their ideals, allow them to explore “without guile or trickery” what true

sexual pleasure is all about (www.essortment.com). Like a storm, Calixta began as quiet, calm

and unthreatening to men.

In the story it tells of the struggles of one woman to find happiness and excitement in her

everyday life. The reader really does not get much information on the relationship at the

beginning of the story, but one can imagine that it was becoming monotonous and boring. The

title itself lets the reader know that this storm is the result of a long chain of events that have

built up over time, like a thunderstorm in the middle of the summer comes after many long days

of intense heat. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the events that lead to the apex of the

'storm, ' the consequences that follow the decisions that are made, and how this short story could

be seen as feministic. The characters in the story were Calixta the wife/mother her spouse

Bobinot and their son Bibi and an old flame Alcee Lavalliere. A sudden storm arrives and her

husband and son were out in the country store so decided to stay meanwhile the storm passed.

So Calixta stayed at home when Alcee arrived and old love of hers. Kate Chopin by hiding the

immoral behavior of her characters behind the fear of bad weather is being ironic

(www.wowessays.com). Calixta was frightened apparently with the lighting and the storm.

Kate uses phrases such as “exclaimed”,” put her to her eyes, and with a cry to gather sympathy

from her readers for Calixta. She makes her readers forget that Calixta and Alcee and doing

something wrong by getting into details of their sexual experience. After Calixta and Alcee had

sex they do not feel guilty or even regretful, instead Kate describes them to be delightful

(www.wowessays.com). In the end she uses irony again “So the storm passed and everyone was

happy” but awareness that comes to the reader is that everyone was happy but they were not

happy with their spouses. She got what she wanted but her marriage was still a wreck and

still was not happy.

In the story “The Necklace” as a sort of mystery story without the traditional trappings of

detectives, criminals, and crimes (www.answers.com). From the outset it is her wants a want of

prestige, of station, of wealth, of material objects that gives the narrative its tension and

suspense. In “The Necklace” the mystery comes into play when the main character’s gaps are

temporarily filled by the ball, the gown, and most importantly Madame Forestier’s jewels.

Madame Forestier was a school friend of Mathilde and she was the one that lend her the necklace

to wear to the ball. Madame Loisel’s desire to be part of the upper class which sets the stories

events in motion. She was beautiful women who feels herself “born for every delicacy and

luxury” (www.answers.com). She believes that superficial things a ball gown, better furniture, a

large house that will make her happy. She gets invited to a ball a makes her life miserable

because it remind her of her dowdy wardrobe and lacks of jewels. Madame Loisel’s was married

to a man from the Ministry of Education a very fine man and respectful. Her and her spouse get

invited but then she has no jewels but then she borrows some from a friend of hers. She had no

dress then her husband had the little money he had saved he handed it to her to buy herself a

dress for the ball. She walks looking like beauty and royalty something she had always wanted.

Whereas Madame Loisel dreams of magnificent multi-course meals, her husband is satisfied

with simple fare.

Mathilde husband is attentive to his wife’s desires, however, procuring tickets to a ball

so that she can “all the big people” (www.answers.com). They attend the ball with joy feeling as

if they were the upper class level but forgot about reality that they were the same people as

they were before they got to the ball. After losing the borrowed necklace, she is not able to

admit the error to the friend who lent it to her. While spending many years in poverty, toiling to

repay the debt of replacing the necklace, Madame Loisel prematurely loses her physical beauty

(www.answers.com). As a result of this ethical stumble, the Loisels must learn to cope with

hardship and true poverty to a degree that they had never known before. The formerly beautiful

Madame Loisel becomes “like all the other strong, hard, coarse women of poor households. It is

important to understand, however, that the trick ending was not commonly associated with

Mauspassant during his lifetime nor was Maupassant it originator. Facing the embarrassment of

telling Madame Forestier that her jewels have been lost, Madame Loisel is persuaded by her

husband to lie to her old friend to tell her that clasp has been broken and is being mended so that

they will have time to look for the necklace. But not only did they know they had to pay back a

hard life of suffering. Mathilde faces a similar story of “The Storm” a passion of love and

excitement ends up leading to lust and pain. “The Necklace” as a mystery story, then the true

trick is not the fact that the diamonds are actually paste but that the mystery with which the story

is concerned is itself a deception (www.answers.com). The effects in Madame Loisel of

Madame Forestier’s jewels and her experiences at the ball are irrelevant. The reader is led to

believe that the story’s central conflict is based on Madame Loisel’s social situation and her

desire to become a member of a higher class. In fact, however, that conflict is only the basis for

the story’s true conflict the disparity between appearances and reality.

In this research as I mentioned that the “The Necklace” and “The Storm” really caught

my attention. They both were really intrusting stories with great characters. Just that the women

in the stories both wanted things there way and at times it can’t always be a certain way. They

both accomplished what they wanted but then they ran into struggles and sufferment. In both

stories they both lead to ending with an amazing shock that you stay stunned of how it ended.

You never think of how your life and experiences can change from one minute to another. In

both stories at a moment both women were happy because they felt they had happiness and joy,

but in a snap it all ended. In reality it ended up to true realism and live what you can be able to

afford and live life to the fullest. Not everyone lives with diamonds and pearls.

Work Cited Mauspassant, Guy De. "Structural and Textural Irony Essay by Guy de Maupassant | Student Essays

Summary." BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides. 28 Apr. 2009

. "The Necklace (Characters): Information from Answers.com." Answers.com - Online Dictionary,

Encyclopedia and much more. 28 Apr. 2009 .

"The Necklace (Criticism): Information from Answers.com." Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more. 28 Apr. 2009 . Story Reviews, Freelance Editing, Writing Help. 28 Apr. 2009

http://www.storybites.com/Chopinstorm.2htm>. "WowEssays.com -." Book Reports, Free Essays, Cliff Notes. 28 April. 2009

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Cited: Encyclopedia and much more. 28 Apr. 2009 . Story Reviews, Freelance Editing, Writing Help. 28 Apr. 2009 http://www.storybites.com/Chopinstorm.2htm>.