In the Necklace, How does Guy de Maupassant succeed in creating a story which is populated by vivid and intriguing characters?

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How does Guy de Maupassant succeed in creating a story which is populated by vivid and intriguing characters?

The story is set in olden time France when there was a very big difference in the social hierarchy and the activities of people; this had great effect on people’s behaviour and character. Characters of this story are also affected in the same way.

Mathilde Loisel is shown to be unsatisfied about her life, is jealous, greedy and materialistic. On the other hand, Monsieur Loisel is shown to be satisfied with his life (although of course he knows he could improve it, but he doesn’t show that); he is also quite reasonable and caring. As the story progresses both their personalities change, Mathilde starts to become a better person and the husband shows more dominance and loyalty to wife.

Firstly, Mathilde Loisel’s identity is not mentioned until the second page and only referred to as “she” till then. This shows how her identity did not matter as neither did she, this shows how she felt like she was in the society, unknown, and how she wanted a “life of refinement and luxury instead” but was not getting what she wanted, this made her “unhappy all the time”.

She blamed her not being happy with her life and being born in the wrong family (to “very minor civil servants”) due to an “error of fate”. This shows how little respect she has for her parents, how she doesn’t even care for what her parents have done for her, how they have raised her till she was to be married.

The fact that she was not happy with her life and was not getting what she wanted, she doesn’t show respect for her husband either. While she was to be married, “she was every whit as unhappy”, which shows how she doesn’t give any significance to her marriage or her husband. We realise that she might not even like him as “she went along with a proposal made by a junior clerk”. The fact that the husband’s name is not even mentioned shows how he is not given any importance in society or to her as his job is his identity. Also, the fact that she believes that “she has come down in the world” by marrying the husband reinforces the idea of how selfish and cruel she is towards her husband by showing him little care. This is the beginning of us feeling sympathy for the husband.

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Moving on, later on we learn more and more about her life after the marriage. Just by knowing that she cares a lot about appearance by the fact that she is unhappy about some “peeling walls…ugly curtains”, and that she is complaining about things that “any other woman of her station might never even noticed” just shows how she does not appreciate what a comfortable house, the life or the loving husband she has.

We know that she has a loving and caring husband but she doesn’t show him any appreciation or respect when he first came home “looking ...

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