This novel at the end of the 19th century was written by a subtle connoisseur of human souls Guy de Maupassant. “Necklace” is a tragic and philosophical work.
His main character, Matilda Luazel, by circumstance, becomes a victim of her pride.
main character
She comes from an official family. Her husband serves in the ministry. Matilda is distinguished by subtle picturesque female beauty. She has a friend - an aristocrat. As a child, they studied with Ms. Forestier at the monastery. Being a dowager, the girl had no chance of a profitable marriage in order to be in a higher caste.
And bureaucratic life, not suggesting excesses, seemed to her to be hated.
About how the main character dreamed of wealth, says Guy de Maupassant ("Necklace"). A summary of the novel must necessarily illuminate its dreams in the style of luxurious French Rococo.
Depressive Dreams of Matilda
She dreamed of aristocracy: huge bright salons decorated with exotic oriental fabrics, carved side tables, precious silver, amber, mother-of-pearl baubles, crystal iridescent chandeliers, porcelain figurines, exquisite receptions, dishes, ancient embroidered tapestries that adorned the walls. The girl imagined herself at a secular dinner with famous and influential people, conducting a casual conversation and at the same time eating a wing of a hazel grouse or pink trout.
The relevance of the philosophical problem posed by the author
The fact that the girl was fixated on everything that is now called one capacious and accurate word “gloss” is described with pain and bitterness by Guy de Maupassant (“Necklace”). The summary of this short story therefore, despite the century and a half history of the work itself, is becoming overly relevant today. The graceful, graceful girl had neither jewelry, nor expensive dresses, nor family privileges. At the same time, she wanted to be a seductive socialite.
After all, Matilda Luazel, when compared to an artist, painted the whole world where she lived with black with a brush of her consciousness: the walls covered with frayed wallpaper, sitting chairs, the only round table covered with a washed tablecloth, a constant, popular menu.
Kind patient patient of the beautiful woman
The husband, Mr. Loiselle, unlike his wife, did not suffer from such a mania of aristocracy. He was grateful to God for the beauty of his wife, for his work, for the cabbage soup that she prepared for him.
In a sad way for Matilda, her internal conflict is resolved, Guy de Maupassant (“Necklace”) tells us. The summary of the novel contains the culmination of the action.
Fateful invitation
The husband of the beautiful woman, wishing to please her, brings home an invitation card from his boss, Minister of Education Georges Ramponno, to a secular ball for officials organized on the Catholic holiday of the Heart of Jesus (January 18). He believes that the opportunity to join the secular will encourage Matilda. However, instead, his wife wept bitterly at the fact that she had absolutely nothing to put on him, and there was nothing to think about jewelry. The girl advised her husband to give their ticket to the employee, "whose wife dresses better."
To the ball!
The description of this man’s tact provided his novella to Maupassant (“Necklace”). A summary of the subsequent development of the plot is predictable. Mr. Loisel asked his wife how much a decent, but inexpensive dress could cost. The answer came immediately: "400 francs." The husband even flinched: exactly as much had just been put off for his purchase of a gun. Mr. Loiselle dreamed, having bought it, to go hunting on Sundays with his comrades. However, as a loving husband and a kind-hearted man, he decided to give them to Matilda to buy her outfit.
The thread of the narrative of the short story Guy de Maupassant is touching and exciting. "Necklace" (summary) contains the episode of buying a dress for the ball. It was to Matilda's face. The beauty at first was even happy, but not for long. After all, the ladies present will be in gold and pearls! Soon, sadness again clouded her face. After all, the girl did not have a single jewel. And to decorate the outfit with fresh flowers seemed to her a shame. But this time, Mr. Loiselle also dispelled her sadness. He reminded the girl of her friend, aristocrat Ms. Forestier, hinting that her husband could borrow the jewelry from her.
The tip worked. Indeed, as soon as the official’s wife asked her friend, she not only agreed, but also offered her choice of jewelry. Ms. Loiselle liked the diamond necklace stored in a black velvet case.
Nevertheless, some optimism is put into the presentation of the novella “Necklace” by Maupassant. A summary of the follow-up action finally reveals a warming relationship between the spouses. The beautiful Matilda awaits the ball, as a man on a train expects light at the end of the tunnel. She wants to believe that fate will finally bestow her with her smile.
Queen of the ball
Indeed, the ball day was a real triumph for Ms. Loiselle. She stood out for her beauty among the women present. Men vied with her for a waltz tour. Officials asked each other, who is this aristocrat? The girl received special attention even of the minister himself.
She danced with delight, as if being shrouded in a cloud of happiness, relishing her obvious female victory in attracting everyone's attention. The girl was in an atmosphere of ball and fun until four in the morning. Her husband at this time even managed to take a nap in the next room. However, only this joyful and vivid plot was reflected in his novel "Necklace" by Maupassant. His composition very quickly, after fleeting sparkling Mozart shades, acquired the features of merciless drama.
The stolen necklace. Search
Finally, the couple, having hardly passed several blocks, found a cabman. When they finally returned home to Martir Street, Matilda found that Mrs. Forestier’s necklace had disappeared. Having searched all the folds of clothes, all the pockets, the unfortunate girl found nothing. At that time, the husband walked with the lantern in the opposite direction, following the ball and returned to seven in the morning with nothing.
All that the spouse could do for the search for jewelry: he advertised in newspapers, he reported to the police prefecture. With sympathy, Maupassant writes about this unfortunate man. The necklace, as decided by the spouse's family council, should have been given to Mrs. Forestier at all costs. To gain time, she was informed of a minor breakdown of the borrowed thing - the lock supposedly broke.
Spouses Luazel fall into debt bondage
On the case left before the ball at home, the name of the jeweler was engraved on the plate. The spouses went to him to determine the cost of the loss. They managed to find the same necklace worth 40 thousand francs in one of the jewelry stores. They managed to bring down the price a little - up to 36 thousand. In addition, Mr. Loiselle agreed with the owner of the store that he would return the purchase for 34 thousand francs if there was a missing jewel.
Guy de Maupassant (The Necklace) writes about the debt bondage of the family of the unfortunate official in his short story. Criticism of the work marks his style as social realism. Mr. Loiselle enslaved himself, it seemed, to the end of his days. He had 18 thousand francs, inherited from his father as an inheritance. The remaining funds had to be borrowed from usurers. Moreover, such a significant amount had to be borrowed in installments: 500 and 1000 francs each, leaving debt receipts to many people.
About the creative method of Guy de Maupassant
On the collapse of the dream of a young woman, he wrote the short story Guy de Maupassant - “Necklace”. An analysis of the author’s creative method by literary scholars identified him as an invaluable realism. The events in their chronology are described in detail, and the reader gives them an assessment. In this style, the writer strongly disagreed with the total naturalism of Emil Zola. Indeed, the psychology of Guy de Maupassant's books is present, as it were, in the second day of the narrative.
Directly in front of the reader, he leaves only the facts of Guy de Maupassant (“Necklace”) that are consistently and spectacularly depicted. An analysis of the work of Maupassant shows that it differs in its structure, say, from the work of Balzac, writing novels. Unlike his colleague, the author of “Necklace” created more concise and concise short novel compositions, filling each of them with realistic and unintended facts familiar to many French people in real life. The creative heritage of Maupassant has more than 300 short stories and only 6 novels.
Spouses
Predictably sets forth a further plot of the novella “Necklace” de Maupassant. An analysis of the scene of the return of the necklace reveals the different mental state of the girlfriends. Matilda fears that Ms. Forestier does not recognize the jewel. The same one did not even glance at him, only absent-mindedly chastising her friend for such a late return.
Black days have come for the official’s family. They lived the life of the poor, paying debt and devastating interest to a host of usurers. The couple changed a comfortable apartment to a tiny attic, fired a maid. Ms. Loiselle's life has changed radically. She began to dress in the clothes of the poor. She led the entire household: buying products on the market, washing, cleaning - everything fell on her shoulders. The girl carried heavy buckets of water from the well daily, broke her nails during washing, and scolded shopkeepers for every sou.
Now the spouses had practically no free time. With merciless realism in the novel Guy de Maupassant (“Necklace”) shows the debt bondage that the official’s family fell into. The spouse's concern was monthly payments on one bill, extending the terms of others. To repay the third had to re-borrow funds. At this time, her husband was working hard. Often he took overtime work, did not sleep at night. Mr. Loisel led accounting for businessmen, rewrote the text at 5 sou per page.
Ten years of such a life fell heavily on the shoulders of the spouses. A graceful girl once turned a little bit sad. She went without a hairstyle, not watching her appearance, in untidy skirts. Even her figure changed: her shoulders sounded, her waist disappeared. Once upon a time gentle hands became rude, untidy. Now the woman did not even think of a high society, of an aristocratic circle. Maupassant tells about how the difficult, poor life affected women from the common people without embellishment. The necklace has changed not only for the better not only the lifestyle of the spouses, but also of themselves.
Sometimes, when the husband went to work, Ms. Luazel, sitting by the window, recalled her only ball. She reflected on the variability of life and the capriciousness of human destiny, capable of destroying dreams and destroying a person.
However, to their credit it should be recognized that they courageously overcame adversity and for ten years of impoverished hopeless life paid off not only the amount of debt, but also all the enslaving interest to ghoul moneylenders.
Unexpected meeting
In a completely unexpected way, Guy de Maupassant ends his novel. “Necklace”, thanks to just such a plot twist, is transformed from a talented biography of the hardships of spouses into high classics. The author's style sounds with all its might, causing a storm of emotions among readers. And with all this, the narrative does not even change the rhythm of presentation! It is in this property that the highlight of Maupassant's creativity lies, his bright talent, beloved by millions of readers.
It is characteristic that everything happens as if by accident. After a terrible ten years, exhausted by work over the past week, Ms. Loiselle went for a walk on the Champs Elysees on a Sunday afternoon . Unexpectedly there, she met Jeanne Forestier, walking with the children.
Guy de Maupassant tells that the aristocrat, because of her ugly appearance, did not even recognize her. The “Necklace” at the same time narrates that Ms. Forestier herself remained a lovely graceful lady. She was struck by the fateful change that happened to her friend who once shone with beauty, exclaiming: “How have you changed!”
The unfortunate Mrs. Loiselle complained to her about the sorrows that fell on her fate due to the loss of the necklace. She spoke about the years of poverty and disaster, that she and her husband had now paid a terrible bonded debt. Hearing this story of soul-tormenting, the aristocrat was dumbfounded, exclaiming: "Poor Matilda!" And then, grabbing her hands in excitement, she informed her that the necklace she lent was fake, and that its real price did not exceed five hundred dollars.
This replica finishes the short story Guy de Maupassant ("Necklace"). Indeed, is it worth continuing? What can you tell about poor Mrs. Loiselle yet? After all, she spent her best years on fighting the phantom that she herself created. She not only forever lost the opportunity to take place as a secular lady, but also deprived herself of the simple joys of a carefree Parisian life for many years.
Of course, such murderous news can break a person. Guy de Maupassant intentionally does not develop the plot further. We don’t know if Matilda managed to gather her strength and just live on without having laid hands on herself.
Conclusion
The uniqueness of the work of Guy de Maupassant is displayed in the short story “Necklace”. An insightful plot that details and impartially describes the life story of the main characters ... However, reading feelings and emotions just boil thanks to the skill of the classic.
This short story can be recommended for reading as a starting point for people who are not familiar with the work of the great Frenchman. For those who like the skill and depth of the image of human destinies and characters with the utmost laconicism of the description, Guy de Maupassant may well become one of his favorite writers.