An Analysisi of Guy de Maupassants the Necklace Essay

Guy de Maupassants quot;The Necklacequot; During the course of Guy de Maupassants short story quot;The Necklace,quot; the main character, Matilda Loisel, makes a number of ironic discoveries. In addition, there are other discoveries that the reader makes but Matilda does not. The discovery that forms the storys climax concerns the true nature of the necklace she has borrowed from her friend Mrs. Forestier. But this is perhaps not the most important lesson of this story. As the story opens, Matilda, a young middle-class wife who aspires to join the upper ranks of society, is finally invited to a high-society affair given by her husbands employer. Hoping to impress her guests and thus quot;fit inquot;, she borrows a beautiful†¦show more content†¦Now comes the task of paying back all the money that the Loisels have borrowed. In order to do so, quot;they sent away the maid; they changed their lodgings; they rented some rooms under a mansard roof.quot; A mansard roof is very steeply pitched, so that it is possible to have living quarters beneath it; by implication, living quot;under a mansard roofquot; means they live in the attic. No longer is Matilda able to send her laundry out to be cleaned, or employ someone to wash the dishes and care for the house. Because houses in those days had no running water, she has to haul the water up the stairs to the attic herself. Her husband is forced to take on a second and even a third job. They are consci entious and hard-working, however, and by the end of ten years they have repaid every creditor. But at what a cost! Matilda is no longer lovely and refined; she now looks old, haggard, and common. When she meets Mrs. Forestier in the street, her friend does not even recognize her. The story ends with Mrs. Forestiers revelation that the stones in the original necklace weren’t even really diamonds -- they were