Summary:
Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" tells of a vain, narcissistic middle-class housewife who longed for the aristocratic lifestyle that she believed she deserved. In describing Mathilde's callous self-centeredness in preparing for the party to which she and her husband were invited, as well as her reaction to losing what she thought was an expensive necklace she borrowed, de Maupassant incorporates a tragic irony that makes this story a timeless classic.
An author writes to convey an idea, to drive home a point, and the voice his or her beliefs. Like art and music, writing is a form of expression that can move the readers, persuade them, affect them, and change them. Guy de Maupassant uses "The Necklace" as a literary dagger. Its sharp message is cutting, caustic and tragic. His characters are memorable and the irony of the story is impossible to overlook.
"She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born, as if by an accident of fate, into a family of clerks." From most aspects, Mathilde should have been content with her life. She had a loving husband, youth, beauty, and a comfortable lifestyle. However, in her mind, she had suffered from the moment she had been born into.....
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