The Necklace Analysis

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• Societal Condition

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Reflects the rigid class structure of 19th-century France, shaping Mathilde’s discontent and limited mobility.

• Excerpt: "She suffered endlessly, feeling she was entitled to all the delicacies and luxuries of life. She suffered because of the poorness of her house as she looked at the dirty walls, the worn-out chairs and the ugly curtains."

• Relevance: Highlights her torment from societal expectations of wealth and status.

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War Influence

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The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) aftermath adds economic strain, mirrored in the Loisels’ debt and hardship.

• Excerpt: "At the end of ten years they had paid everything, everything, with the rates of usury and the accumulations of the compound interest."

• Relevance: Reflects post-war financial struggles influencing the story’s tone.

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Gender Roles

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Women’s value is tied to beauty and marriage, limiting Mathilde’s agency in a patriarchal society.

• Excerpt: Opening lines: "She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as if by an error of fate, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of becoming known, understood, loved or wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and so she let herself be married to a minor official at the Ministry of Education."

• Relevance: Emphasizes her focus on feminine ideals over personal growth.

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Class and Gender

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Mathilde’s status depends on her husband’s class, with the necklace offering a temporary false rise.

• Excerpt: "She danced with intoxication, with passion… in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success."

• Relevance: Her ball success is a gender- and class-dependent illusion.

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Class and Gender- Was it a big deal in 19th-century France for women?

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"She dressed plainly because she had never been able to afford anything better, but she was as unhappy as if she had once been wealthy. Women don't belong to a caste or class; their beauty, grace, and natural charm take the place of birth and family. Natural delicacy, instinctive elegance and a quick wit determine their place in society and make the daughters of commoners the equals of the very finest ladies."

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Illusion of Wealth

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Mathilde’s belief in wealth’s transformative power leads to ruin with the fake necklace.

• Excerpt: "She fastened it around her throat… and was lost in ecstasy at the sight of herself."

• Relevance: Symbolizes her deceptive pursuit of a luxurious identity.

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Irony

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The necklace’s worthlessness after years of debt creates dramatic irony, critiquing vanity.

• Excerpt: "You say that it was worth five hundred francs at the most! … Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste!"

• Relevance: Contrasts expectation with reality, driving the story’s twist.

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Foreshadowing

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Hints of trouble build tension before the necklace’s loss.

• Excerpt: "She danced with intoxication… forgetting all."

• Relevance: Her excessive joy foreshadows the impending hardship.

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• Symbolism

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• The necklace represents false wealth; her hands signify lost beauty.

• • Excerpt: "She washed the dishes, wearing down her pretty hands on the coarse pottery."

  • Relevance: Shows the physical cost of her vanity.

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Let's reflect! What is Pride? and What is Vanity?

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