The Necklace: Analysing Imagery & Other Literary Devices

Guy de Maupassant was a French writer who was born in 1850 and died in 1893 at the age of 43. He came from a middle-class family, and his conflicts with his parents influenced his literary work. His literary work focused on social and psychological themes, mainly describing the life of the French middle classes in the 19th century. His most famous works are the novels "Bel Ami", "Pierre and Jean", and the short story "The Necklace". Guy de Maupassant is considered one of the most famous naturalistic writers.(Britannica, 2019)

                                                  The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
 

"The Necklace" is a short novella that tells the story of a woman, Mathilde Loisel, who dreams of a rich life and when she receives an invitation to the ball, she borrows an expensive necklace to add splendor. After the ball, it turns out that the necklace has been lost. Mathilda and her husband go into debt to pay it back necklace, and later it turns out that the previously lost necklace was a fake. The novella is a description of greed, lost illusions and pride. The author shows how people get into problems and misfortunes because of their love for material things. Guy de Maupassant uses various artistic means, irony, symbolism and a narrative that surprises with a twist when the truth about the necklace is revealed. "And she smiled with a joy which was proud and naïve at once. Mme. Forestier, strongly moved, took her two hands."Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!"  De Maupassant ironically describes the history of the marriage, the appearance of happiness and the tragedies that befell them. Symbolism in the novella is the necklace, which is a symbol of vanity, lust and the desire for wealth. By losing the necklace and discovering that it was a fake, the writer suggests that material possession of things does not bring satisfaction and wealth to the soul. "How life is strange and how changeful! How little a thing is needed for us to be lost or to be saved!" Mathilda's life is a symbol of the change in values ​​and perspectives in life before and after losing the necklace.

In "The Necklace" Guy de Maupassant also uses such artistic means as imagery, alliteration and metaphor, this is intentional, it is intended to provoke a specific impression in the reader.

Imagery. Rich descriptions of Mathilda's surroundings and life after losing the necklace, describing a picture of poverty and misfortune in contrast to her earlier dreams.

"She came to know what heavy housework meant and the odious cares of the kitchen. She washed the dishes, using her rosy nails on the greasy pots and pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts, and the dish−cloths, which she dried upon a line; she carried the slops down to the street every morning, and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every landing. And, dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher, her basket on her arm, bargaining, insulted, defending her miserable money sou by sou."

Alliteration. In "The Necklace" I found repetitions of the same sounds at the beginning of words and syllables, giving rhythm to the text.

"she thought of dainty dinners", "The sight of the little Breton peasant who did her humble housework aroused in her regrets which were despairing, and distracted dreams."

Metaphor. In the text I found a metaphor of a necklace for dreams of prestige associated with wealth.

"She danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure, forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to woman's heart."

In my chapbook I do not use alliteration like Guy de Maupassant, but there is a lot of imagery and metaphors in my poems, just like in the novella "The Necklace". For example, in my poem "Breath of spring" I use metaphors that help evoke images and emotions related to the upcoming spring. 

Metaphor. 

She will paint with a green brush - this is a metaphor for nature that wakes up in spring and turns the landscape into fresh greenery.

She will be like a young girl who is resting in the shade of a tree - here I compare spring to a young girl who is resting in the shade of a tree - it is a metaphor for delicacy and the awakening spring.

Imagery. There is imagery in my poem, I use descriptions and comparisons that are meant to awaken the reader's imagination, to build an atmosphere associated with the arrival of spring. Examples: new stories of change, a new warm morning, Greening the fields, Tired evening time will sit on a tree trunk,  resting in the shade of a tree.  

,Breath of spring'

Spring is coming 
It will bring new stories of change 
About a new warm morning 
It will stay in mysterious field groves 
Greening the fields 
She will paint with a green brush 
It will be a crazy fast dance 
Tired evening time 
will sit on a tree trunk 
She will scrape the moss off this tree with her finger 
She will be like a young girl 
who is resting in the shade of a tree,
looking somewhere far away and waiting 
She will be waiting 
for the first birds singing in the nest 
She will be waiting 
for the evening frogs singing.

References list:

de Maupassant, G. (2001). The Necklace Guy de Maupassant. [online] Available at: http://public-library.uk/ebooks/68/50.pdf [Accessed 25 Apr. 2024].

Turnell, M. (2019). Guy de Maupassant | Biography, Short Stories, Novels, & Facts. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guy-de-Maupassant.