Preview

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1138 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant Essay Example
THE WRITER: GUY de MAUPASSANT

· He was born on August 5, 1850, Château de Miromesnil, near Dieppe, France. He died of Syphilis on July 6, 1893 in Paris. It is possible that his disease was congenital.

· He was a French naturalist writer of short stories and novels. He is by generally considered the greatest Frenchshort-story writer.

· Guy received his first education from the church. At age 13, he was sent to a small seminary at Yvetot that took both lay and clerical pupils. He felt a decided dislike for this way of life and intentionally engineered his own expulsion for some trivial offense in 1868.

· His mother asked Gustave Flaubert to keep an eye on him at a point in time. This was the beginning of the apprenticeship that was the making of Maupassant the writer.

· Whenever Flaubert was staying in Paris, he used to invite Maupassant to lunch on Sundays, lecture him on prose style, and correct his youthful literary exercises. He also introduced him to some of the leading writers of the time like Émile Zola, Ivan Turgenev, Edmond Goncourt, and Henry James.

·

· "Maupassant's work is thoroughly realistic. His characters inhabit a world of material desires and sensual appetites in which lust, greed, and ambition are the driving forces, and any higher feelings are either absent or doomed to cruel disappointment."

· The tragic power of many of the stories derives from the fact that Maupassant presents his characters, poor people or rich bourgeois, as the victims of ironic necessity, crushed by a fate that they have dared to defy yet still struggling against it hopelessly.

ABOUT THE NECKLACE

· It was first published in the Paris newspaper Le Gaulois on February 17, 1884, and was subsequently included in his 1885 collection of short stories Tales of Day and Night (Contes dejour et de la nuit).

· It was an instant

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    It is used when there is no standard or interpretation related to the reporting issues under consideration.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Once again he is a very great and well awarded author. Although he isn’t much known everywhere but mostly known in Canada, he should be known because his work is great and will…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cyrano de Bergerac, the Play vs. Roxane, the Movie In an effort to attract the audience of today, the producers of the movie Roxane retold the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rustond in a way that is appropriate and at the same time appealing. In order to give the audience of today a story that they can understand and relate to, the producers have adjusted and manipulated the play itself. As a result, several similarities and differences exist between the play Cyrano de Bergerac and its movie reproduction. The characteristics of a romantic hero in Rustond's time is not equivalent to the characteristics of a romantic hero today. In the play for example, Cyrano, a very ugly, old, yet intellectual man who loved Roxane, his cousin, with all his heart and soul was unable to profess his love for fear that she will have rejected him because of his looks. Enter Christian in the story, a young, average, yet handsome individual who also loved Roxane. The two made a pact with each other to create Roxane's image of a perfect romantic hero—one that was breath-takingly handsome and at the same token, smart in a fun and interesting way. Together they charmed Roxane and she ultimately fell in love with Cyrano's enchanting personality and Christian's captivating appearance. Cyrano is portrayed as a great romantic hero because he died in silence to honor his friendship with Christian. When all the while he could have accumulated enough courage to pronounce his love for Roxane. During his life of silence, Cyrano looked after Roxane when Christian died in the war. Everyday for fifteen years he would go to the convent, where she stayed because of her vow to Christian, and recite to her the local news. In this manner, he has proven himself worthy to the title of a romantic hero during Rustond's time. On the other hand, someone in Cyrano's position in the present would not have necessarily…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A retired professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, Tim Gautreaux is also a novelist and short story writer. His works are very descriptive; the reader is able to visualize what the plot of the story is like. His stories have a typical Louisiana setting and they focus mainly on uneducated, ordinary people of the countryside who succumb to moral or ethical dilemmas. The Kirkus Reviews explains his works as: “A terrific debut collection from a Louisiana writer whose stylish, sympathetic understanding of working-class sensibilities and Cajun culture gives his work a flavor and universality unique among contemporary writers” (Kane 54). In his short stories “The Courtship of Merlin LeBlanc,” “Easy…

    • 1832 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Until this class I would have never recognized the skill that Guy De Maupassant possess. As we read this story after a few times, I asked myself why. Then I started to realize what an amazing writer he is. As we analyzed each paragraph I got deeper and deeper into the story. This essay will give you an insight in what I experienced when reading this piece of work. In the following I will give you examples that changed the way I read. My final point will be why at the end Guy De Maupassant's skill has made us not hate Old Mother Savage for what she had done.…

    • 813 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ned Kelly's Crimes

    • 1863 Words
    • 8 Pages

    This is meant to mean that no matter the severity of the crime committed by a person, it doesn’t automatically mean that they are a bad person. To determine if a criminal is a bad person it involves understanding the motivation that is the cause of the crime committed by the criminal. This is shown in the film Ned Kelly as Ned’s crimes are committed in retaliation for the mistreatment of him by the Victorian Police. This film portrays Ned as heroic figure who is standing up to mistreatment and it portrays the police as villainous scum due to their abuse of power.…

    • 1863 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Philip Schultz

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    learning and had negative impact on his social life. He mentioned the fundamental reason that he became a successful poet and a writer was his tutor Mr. Joyce who expressed a lot of frustration to him. One day his tutor asked him what he imagines to in his life considering the fact that he does not like reading. Philip`s answer surprised him because he told him that his dream is to become a…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Simple Heart

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The orphaned Felicite is treated badly in her youth, first by a cruel master and later by jealous fellow servants. Disappointed in love at age 18, she leaves her neighborhood to become cook and general servant for a widowed mother, Madame Aubain. In that position, she lives a life filled with duty, devotion, and affection. Flaubert tells the story in a simple manner which emphasizes the value of Felicite’s humble life.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Irony In A Simple Heart

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Flaubert does not provide much information on Félicité’s childhood, but he does provide a short upsetting anecdote about her childhood. Giving minimal insight on her parent’s death and the life of poverty she lived afterward Flaubert writes:…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the course Guy de Maupassant’s lifetime he had a lot of experiences that affected his life. Though his life was not easy he still became an excellent short story writer and novelist. Throughout his lifetime he published over 400 stories, two short stories he wrote were The Necklace and The False gems. Maupassant’s Naturalist view in writing is due to his childhood and previous life experiences.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Dress must not hang on the body but follow its lines. When a woman smiles the dress must smile with her.”…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Simple Soul

    • 2123 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Gustave Flaubert’s short story “A Simple Soul” is about a woman of a simple mind yet a devoted heart, named Felicite. Although she suffered from the tremendous loss of her parents early on in her life, she continued to love unconditionally, even until her last breath. When she was 18 years old, she fell in love with a young man that left her for a rich, old woman “in order to escape the conscription…” Following this immense heartbreak, she left the farm she was working at and headed for Pont-l’Eveque where she would meet the widow that she would work over 50 years for. Madame Aubain was no easy woman to work for and treated Felicite badly. But even though she was demeaned, beaten, and unappreciated, Felicite lived a life of servitude and would remain devout to Madame Aubain until the very end. Throughout all the pain and suffering Felicite endured, she was given a parrot that seemed to make all the cruelty she had undergone go away. While the parrot added admiration, love, and comfort to her life, it also caused the decline of her health. Felicite led a life of simplicity and in the end, she was happy with her life. The most interesting elements in “A Simple Soul” were Felicite’s health declining over a parrot, Loulou getting stuffed and worshipped, and her entire life being centered on said parrot. While all of these can be looked at in a negative connotation, in Felicite’s eyes, the power symbol of the parrot was worshipped in a positive light.…

    • 2123 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Facts About Cezanne

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page

    These are some facts about him: ­ He was a diabetic and had a depression problem. ­ He was buried in Aix, the same place he was born. ­…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Necklace

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages

    "We want what we can 't have": This renowned adage has been the cold reply of many parents to their sobbing children as they walk out of the toy store. At the time, the heartbroken children might not fully grasp the words of their parents, but as they grow up they will understand that the well known adage holds true to its meaning. Almost everybody has experienced this feeling, whether it is as young children or as wise adults. Examples of this noted proverb is evident both in print and on screen. Now, since this is the case with most people around the world, it is not difficult to see how this byword applies to Guy de Maupassant 's short story "The Necklace." Its protagonist, Mathilde Loisel, longing for a lavish lifestyle rather than her middle class way of life, falls under the spell of an priceless diamond. Dealing with her fate, some of Mathilde 's strong character traits soon become apparent. Examining these attributes, we discover that Mathilde Loisel definitely has a negative personality.…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though Kerouac’s novel germinates from a romantic seed, it also has a definite modernistic counterpart dwelling within it. A number of critics at the…

    • 12228 Words
    • 34 Pages
    Good Essays