The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

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In the short story, “The Necklace”, Guy de Maupassant develops the theme that the refusal to accept one’s social status leads to failure to recognize true value, through the symbols: the dress, the house, and the necklace. This theme is evident throughout the story as Mme. Loisel’s obsession with obtaining a higher status resulted in her losing her middle class life to a life where she lives in poverty. M. Loisel knows that his wife loves feeling envied and manages to get an invitation to an exclusive ball hosted by the Minister of Public Instruction and Madame Georges Ramponneau. M Loisel expects his wife to be delighted but she responds with, “...Only i have no gown, and, therefore, i can’t go to this ball…” (Maupasssant 2). M. Loisel works hard to please his wife but instead …show more content…
This statement shows how materialistic Mme. Loisel is; she wants to impress everyone at the ball, but she does not even take the time to thank her husband for the invitation. She does not recognize how thoughtful her husband is; he gave her an invitation to a ball even though she does not try to hide her disdain. In addition, M. Loisel gave her the money to buy the dress from the money he was saving for a gun. Mme. Loisel failed to recognize her dutiful husband while she was longing for better things. The dress symbolizes the value of appreciation and gratitude. Mme. Loisel could have worn her old dress and been appreciative of the simple invitation; her ungratefulness foreshadows the trouble she will have to face. Maussapant uses the symbol of the house to show Mme. Loisel’s obsession for something better ended with something worse. For example, before Mme. Loisel lost the necklace, she “was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling, the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, [and] the ugliness of the curtains” (1) . However, after she lost the necklace, “...they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret under the roof” (7)
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