The Story of an Hour and the Necklace
RUNNING HEAD: THE STORY OF AN HOUR & THE NECKLACE 1
The Story of an Hour & The Necklace Cindy Rohwer ENG 125 Douglas Goss September 8, 2012
THE STORY OF AN HOUR & THE NECKLACE 2 How little a thing is needed for us to be saved? Both short stories, Maupassant’s “The
Necklace” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” portray two different but alike women, who refuse to accept their destiny and deny the life of women of their class. They are both lost, looking to be saved and they find themselves in big trouble, when they think they have finally succeeded in their search. Nature plays a major role in both lives. They both struggle to find their independence and the ending of their stories end up being triumphant, tragic and ironic. “The Necklace” weaves a tale about Madame Loisel who has always dreamed of the finer things in life and is discontented with her middle class lifestyle. The price she pays for one single evening at the ball, turns into 10 years of drudgery and despair in her life. Most good stories start with a fundamental list of things that help in the working of the story such as the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and then the conclusion. At the beginning of “The Necklace”, not much happens. The narrator’s just interested in giving you a little information on the woman of the house, as we do not know her by name, as of yet. We hear how miserable she is with her meeker life. By knowing that Louise Mallard had heart trouble and that she should be told calmly
The Story of an Hour & The Necklace Cindy Rohwer ENG 125 Douglas Goss September 8, 2012
THE STORY OF AN HOUR & THE NECKLACE 2 How little a thing is needed for us to be saved? Both short stories, Maupassant’s “The
Necklace” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” portray two different but alike women, who refuse to accept their destiny and deny the life of women of their class. They are both lost, looking to be saved and they find themselves in big trouble, when they think they have finally succeeded in their search. Nature plays a major role in both lives. They both struggle to find their independence and the ending of their stories end up being triumphant, tragic and ironic. “The Necklace” weaves a tale about Madame Loisel who has always dreamed of the finer things in life and is discontented with her middle class lifestyle. The price she pays for one single evening at the ball, turns into 10 years of drudgery and despair in her life. Most good stories start with a fundamental list of things that help in the working of the story such as the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and then the conclusion. At the beginning of “The Necklace”, not much happens. The narrator’s just interested in giving you a little information on the woman of the house, as we do not know her by name, as of yet. We hear how miserable she is with her meeker life. By knowing that Louise Mallard had heart trouble and that she should be told calmly
References: Berkove, L.T, (2000) “Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’ American Literary Realism 32 (2) 152-158 Clugston, R.W. (2010) Journey Into Literature San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc. de Maupassant, G. (2002) “The Necklace” Storyworks: 10 26-31 Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213415577?accountid=32521 Jamil, S.S. (2009) Emotions in the Story of an Hour Explicator 67 (3) 215-220 Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/literature/docview/216778527?accountid=32521