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³The Necklace´ Short Story
Summary
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Short Story Summary
TITLE: ³The Necklace´
AUTHOR: Guy de Maupassant
SETTING (Time and Place): 1884Paris, France Loisel¶s apartment,
party at the Ministry of Education¶s
Mansion.
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CHARACTERS (List and describe on
separate lines):
Madame Loisel - selfish (beautiful,charming, middle class, spoiled,
daydreamed)aged quickly, heavy
rough, harsh, shrill voice, poor
Monsieur Loisel- kind, generous,
loyal hard-working, clerk for Ministry
of Education, wants to please wife,
middle class
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Madame Forestier - kind, generous,
wealthy, snobby
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SUMMARY
Madame Loisel is in her apartmentdreaming of a better life. She is
unhappy and dissatisfied with her
social status and mediocresurroundings. Mme & Msr. L receive
an invitation to a party at the Ministry.
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Plot Summary cont¶d
Mme. refuses to attend until she hassomething suitable to wear. She
borrows a diamond necklace from her
friend Mme. F. Mme. L loses the
necklace somewhere on the way
home.
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Summary continued«
They borrow the money from loansharks and are forced to live a life of
poverty for 10 years until their debts
are paid off. Mme. L meets up withMme F and tells her about the lost
necklace, and Mme. F reveals the
necklace is fake.
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POINT OF VIEW:
This short story is told from the
3rd person limited point of view.
The author focuses on Mme.Loisel¶s thoughts and feelings.
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Conflicts:
Internal ±
Mme. Loisel vs. herself: her
excessive pride, materialism and
shallowness cause her emotionaltorture as she feels she¶s been
deprived of luxuries.
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Conflict cont¶d
Ex ternal ±
Mme. Loisel vs. M. different
values (although he is tolerant of her behavior and wants to please
her)
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SYMBOLS:
Necklace = greed/desire for what onecannot have, differences in social
classes, dishonesty, Mme. L¶s
µfakeness¶ or want of material thingsWrap = Mme¶s station in life ±
insecurity- embarrassment
Dress = M. Loisel sacrifice for his
wife
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THEME:
1. People should be happy with whatthey have.
2. Honesty is the best policy.
3. You may pay a terrible price for greed and desire (Mme. L¶s fatal flaw,
her desire for material things, her
µfakeness¶ just like the necklace)
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OTHER LITERARY ELEMENTS
Characterization ± the author shows what Mme. Loisel is like by
concentrating mainly on the way
she views her surroundings(daydreams about expensive
things/lifestyle.
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Other Literary Elements cont¶d
Irony ± Mme. L borrows a
necklace to fit in with the rich
people she envies, but the loss of the necklace results in her being
poorer than she was.
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Other Literary Elements cont¶d
Foreshadowing - Rue deMartyrs the name of the street
and the English word martyr-
martyr means a great or constantsufferer.
Her intense unhappiness cannot
be lifted with one party invitation.
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PLOT DEVELOPMENT CHART
EXPOSITION: We meet Mme. Loisel
in her apartment as she is described
as extremely unhappy and
dissatisfied with her social status
NARRATIVE HOOK: Mme. Loisel
receives an invitation to the party.
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Plot Development Chart cont¶d
RISING ACTION: Mme. Refusesto attend the party without a
suitable dress/borrows a
necklace/loses it/borrows moneyto buy a new one/lives life of
poverty to pay debt.
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Plot Development Chart cont¶d
CLIMAX: 10 years later relieved
of the debt Mme. L. confesses all
to Mme. F. who reveals thenecklace is a fake.
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Quote Interpretation:
Quote ± ³We do not succeed in changing things according to
our desire, but gradually our
desires change.´ ± Marcel Proust
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Quote cont¶d«
In your own words, explain what this quote means to you ±
We cannot always get what we
want when we want it.
Eventually, our priorities
change and what we want
changes at the same time.
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Quote Interpretation cont¶d
How does this quote relate to the story you just read?
Madame Loisel is very self-
centered at the beginning of the story. She is focused on material
possessions. By the end of the
story, her perspective changes.
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Quote cont¶d
Foreshadowing- Madame and Monsieur Loisel live on ³Rue des
Martyrs´ street. A martyr is
someone that suffers a great deal
and never recovers after their loss.
The author foreshadows the
suffering that Madame and
Monsieur Loisel will have.
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Quote cont¶d
Mood- The mood of this story changes as the characters and
their priorities change. In the
beginning, Madame L is disappointed, but then she has a
great time at the party and the
mood shifts to one of excitement
and en joyment.