Narcis Celic
Bauer
English I
15 December 2016
Compare/Contrast English I Essay
Mathilde in “The Necklace” is simply unhappy because she doesn't have money but has a rich husband. Della in “Gift of the Magi” is unhappy because she doesn't have money to buy her husband a gift for Christmas so she makes a decision. Let's start with similarities with both of the main characters in “The Necklace” and “Gift of the Magi”. Della and Mathilde are both women who struggle against money. The two women have been blessed with physical beauty, In the first sentence of “The Necklace” the author states “She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans.” (Guy de Maupassant 1). this is stating
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In the second paragraph of the story the author states that she is suffering because she doesn't have the things she wants by saying, “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains.” (Guy de Maupassant 2) “She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved;” (Guy de Maupassant 2) The author included this to let the readers know what kind of “Poverty” Matilde was living in. Mathilde doesn't seem to love her husband as much. He thinks different about her. He treats her like a queen and buys her everything she wants. When she got the invitation to the party, she responded so heavily and he was the complete opposite. The author shows this relationship by saying, “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she flung the invitation petulantly across the table, murmuring: "What do you want me to do with this?" "Why, darling, I thought you'd be pleased. You never go out, and this is a great occasion. I had tremendous trouble to get it. Everyone wants one; it's very select, and very few go to the clerks. You'll see all the really big people there."” (Guy de Maupassant 2) it seems she obviously just wants money and her gifts. She thinks about herself and only herself. Unlike Della from “Gift of the Magi” She is
However, she is poor so she borrows a necklace from a friend. She did this instead of wearing flowers for a cheap 15 francs. Mathilde lost the necklace and had to pay it off over the next 10 years. She did this because she wanted to fit in and no one else would be wearing cheap flowers. The theme is also shown in this story by the fact the Mathilde wanted to wear jewelry.
De Maupassant's “The Necklace” characterizes Mathilde Loisel, the main character, as a beautiful, egotistic woman who desires only wealthy apparel. He emphasizes the negative results of narcissism by blinding Mathilde with that trait
All of the years she has spent being critically poor are for nothing. When Mathilde finally tells Madame Forestier what really happened to her necklace, she says “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs” (8)! Madame Loisel realized then that all of the years she had spent in abject poverty were in vain.
The story introduces the reader to a young lady named Madame Loisel who is a self-absorbed woman who never seems to be satisfied with what she has, no matter how much that may be. This is exhibited when it states in the text, “She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers. ”(Maupassant 333). Not only that but she also has the arrogance to bring her poor husband into the matter by complaining to him whenever the mood strikes her to wish for something she can not have.
'You remember the diamond necklace ... I bought you another one just like it. And for the last ten years we have been paying for it. "'(8) Later Mathilde finds out the necklace she lost was fake and that the one she bought was thirty eight thousand francs unlike the fake which was five hundred francs.
But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs!. . .”’(8). The necklace is fake meaning that Mathilde and her husband did not need to live in poverty for the past 10 years. “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to make the reader feel compassion towards
When Mathilde has completely paid off her debt, she meets Madame Forestier again and tells her of all the troubles she went through to get her necklace back. When Madame Forestier hears this, she exclaims, “Oh my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs!...”(8). Mathilde wasted a decade of her life, her beauty, and her youth on a necklace that was only imitation.
Madame Loisel says that all she wanted was fancy clothes and jewels but she couldn't get that. Also from the text it states, ¨She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean wall, worn chairs, and ugly curtains,¨ (2). This shows how Madame Loisel thinks that she was supposed to be the one with all the luxury items. Instead she is stuck with a poor life and is jealous of all the other high class women.
Madame Loisel and her Husband spent the last ten years to pay for the lost borrowed necklace, only to be told that the necklace cost “five hundred francs.” To add to the irony to the situation Madame Loisel lost her prized possession, her beauty, “She came to know what heavy housework meant... She washed the dishes, using her dainty fingers... she carried the slops down to the street every morning and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every landing. And dressed like a woman of the people...
In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant Mathilde wants to be richer than she is. She borrows Madame Forestier’s necklace for a huge ball that night to pretend to be rich. She then loses the necklace and after going into debt to replace it Mathilde is now poorer that the poor. The narrator says about Mathilde, “Her tastes were simples because she had never been able to afford any other, but she was unhappy as though she had
In the short story “The Necklace” Madame Loisel was a rich women who thought she was poor. She valued having a nice appearance and looking elegant. Madame Loisel borrowed a necklace that she thought was gorgeous, she then lost the necklace but didn’t want to tell the lady she lost it so she went to look for
The protagonist of ‘The Necklace’, Madame Loisel, live a rather steady, ordinary middle-class life in the beginning of the story. However, she views that she is intended for a luxurious life, and, therefore, does not cherish what she has. She takes a step forward to her desires, as she was invited to a ball where all the upper-class women would be, yet she was
Meanwhile, Mathilde suffers because she cannot buy fancy clothing, diamonds and live in a palace (De Maupassant). In addition to that, both of them have husbands that deeply care for them. Della’s husband, Jim, in order to please her wife, sold his only watch to buy her a Christmas present (Henry). In the meantime, Mathilde’s husband used all his father heritage to help pay for the necklace replacement (De Maupassant). It is possible to see through characterization that even though they are characters from different stories Della and Mathilde have a number of
Human nature causes people to desire more than what one already has. However, after desiring material items, people realize the foolishness in their greed. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde Loisel, who lives in France during the 1880s, attempts to transform her ordinary life into one of luxury. She attends a reception with her friend Madame Forestier's diamond necklace, but after losing it, she works to buy a new necklace, only to later discover the necklace she lost is fake. Through this experience, Mathilde learns to be content with what she has, and as a result, she realizes the flaws in her character.
The protagonist of ‘The Necklace’, Madame Loisel, live a rather steady, ordinary middle-class life in the beginning of the story. However, she views that she is intended for a luxurious life, and, therefore, does not cherish what she has. She takes a step forward to her desires, as she was invited to a ball where all the upper-class woman would be, yet she was unhappy with the fact that she does not even have a stone to put on.