the necklace critical essay

A Summary and Analysis of Guy de Maupassant’s ‘The Necklace’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Necklace’ is an 1884 short story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant (1850-93), first published in Le Gaulois as ‘La parure’ in February of that year. If you’re unfamiliar with Maupassant’s work, ‘The Necklace’ is his most famous tale, and worth taking the time to read. If you’re a fan of stories with twist endings , you’ll probably love it.

Plot summary

Mathilde Loisel is a pretty woman who is married to a clerk who works in the Ministry of Education. They do not have much money, and Mathilde spends her days fantasising that her life is more glamorous and upmarket than it actually is.

When her husband is invited to a ball hosted by the minister for whom he works, he is keen for them both to attend, but Mathilde tells him she has nothing to wear to such a high-class social occasion. He tells her he will buy her a nice dress, even though it will mean sacrificing his own pleasure.

Then, Mathilde becomes worried that she has no jewels to wear with the dress. Loisel, her husband, suggests she ask her friend, Madame Forestier, if she has something she will lend to Mathilde for the night. Madame Forestier is happy for her friend to borrow whatever she wants, and Mathilde chooses a diamond necklace.

Mathilde enjoys the ball, and especially likes all of the attention she attracts from the men in attendance. When they are due to leave, at four in the morning, they go outside and try to find a cab to take them home. When they arrive home, however, Mathilde is horrified to discover she has lost the necklace!

Loisel retraces their steps but cannot find the lost necklace anywhere. They realise that they will have to replace the necklace, whatever the cost. To buy them some time, they compose a letter to Madame Forestier, claiming that they are having the necklace repaired. They then try to find out where the necklace was made, and have to buy the clasp and the diamonds from separate jewellers.

Loisel racks up thousands of francs in debt, borrowing from friends and from professional moneylenders to raise the cash. They finally have the necklace, which is returned to Madame Forestier, but now they have to pay back the money to all of their creditors.

This takes them ten long years. They dismiss their servant girl and Mathilde has to perform all of the housework, which ages her rapidly. Loisel, meanwhile, takes on a second job, working for a merchant in the evenings. Finally, though, their debts are cleared.

One day, Mathilde bumps into Madame Forestier, who doesn’t recognise her at first because her friend looks so poor and haggard. Now the debt is paid off, Mathilde feels she can tell her friend the truth, and confesses that she lost her friend’s necklace and she and her husband had to buy a replacement.

In a twist, Madame Forestier tells her friend that the necklace she lent Mathilde was made of imitation diamonds, and was virtually worthless. Mathilde and her husband had spent ten years toiling away for no reason.

In ‘The Necklace’, Guy de Maupassant explores the relationship between appearance and reality. The necklace, of course, is the most explicit example of this: it looks like a genuine diamond necklace but is actually an imitation or fake. And this final twist in the tale leads us to think more carefully about the other details of the story.

But ‘The Necklace’ is more specifically about the dangers of not being happy with what one has, and always wanting more. The nineteenth century saw a rise in the prevalance of consumerism, with many middle-class people seeking to improve their lot and keep up with their friends and neighbours in terms of their possessions, clothes, and social status.

Although Maupassant’s story is hardly searing social satire, the fate of the female protagonist does act as a cautionary tale about the dangers of chasing consumerist gratification in order to impress and be admired by others. The Loisels have a perfectly comfortable lower-middle-class life, and Mathilde has one servant to help around the house.

But this isn’t enough. She dreams of having more. Her food is not enough for her and she wants to dine on finer dishes. One would think she was living a life of poverty from how dissatisfied she is.

This constant desire for more is her undoing, of course – and her husband’s. Her insistence that she have some jewels to wear to the ball is what leads her to find out what real poverty is like, when she and her husband have to downsize from a modest flat to a small garret, and Mathilde has to learn how to work as a servant in her own house. She also loses the natural beauty she had as she has to work so hard at scrubbing the floors.

The critic Rachel Mesch, in her book Having It All in the Belle Epoque , has pointed out that ‘The Necklace’, among other stories, is a kind of Cinderella-story gone awry: whereas Cinderella begins by scrubbing floors and ends up going to the ball in all her finery, Mathilde goes to the ball and, as a result of losing her necklace (not her glass slipper), is reduced to a life of scrubbing floors.

Because she longed for more than she had, she ended up with less than she had to begin with. But the delicious ironic twist at the end of the story shows that her reduction to a life of poverty was all for nothing: just like the admiration she was foolishly and vainly chasing, the necklace she was working to replace was, after all, a sham.

Modern consumerism, then, is a con, with anyone able to afford a cheap imitation necklace able to pass themselves off as a member of the upper classes. Maupassant seems to be suggesting that the ‘finer things’ in life which tempt us are often, at their core, hollow and worthless.

At the same time, however, even when she is reduced to a life of grinding poverty, Mathilde still remembers that one night at the ball when she was admired. It is almost as if she thinks it was worth it, despite what happened next. She wonders what would have happened if she’d never lost the necklace.

Of course, at this stage of the narrative she hasn’t learned that the diamonds she was wearing that night were fakes; perhaps that revelation would make her revise her opinion. And yet, knowing they were imitation diamonds raises further ‘what if’ questions.

If they cost five hundred francs at the most, as Madame Forestier reveals at the end, Loisel’s husband could have easily bought her a cheap necklace and nobody – except for the Loisels themselves – would have been any the wiser. After all, Mathilde was admired at the ball even though she was, it turns out, wearing fake diamonds.

‘The Necklace’ is narrated in the third person by an omniscient narrator. The style is broadly realist, with Maupassant’s narrative voice relating the main details of the story in crisp, concise prose. We don’t get – as we would in the work of later modernist writers – detailed insight into the characters’ thoughts and feelings, although we are given occasional details about Mathilde’s feelings towards her situation.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — The Necklace

Essays on The Necklace

Prompt examples for "the necklace" essays, character analysis: mathilde loisel.

Examine the character of Mathilde Loisel in "The Necklace." Describe her personality, motivations, and the choices she makes throughout the story. How does her character change as the narrative unfolds?

Irony in "The Necklace"

Analyze the use of irony in the story. Explore both situational and dramatic irony in "The Necklace" and discuss how these elements contribute to the story's overall impact and message.

Social Class and Aspirations

Discuss the theme of social class and aspirations in the narrative. How does Mathilde's desire for a higher social status affect her decisions and relationships? What commentary does the story offer on the pursuit of wealth and status?

Symbols: The Necklace

Analyze the symbolism of the necklace in the story. What does it represent, and how does it change in significance as the plot unfolds? How does the necklace symbolize Mathilde's dreams and illusions?

The Consequences of Deception

Examine the consequences of Mathilde's deception regarding the lost necklace. How does her choice to replace it lead to a chain of events that change her life and her perception of happiness?

Character Foils: Mathilde and Madame Forestier

Compare and contrast the characters of Mathilde Loisel and Madame Forestier. How do their lives, values, and attitudes differ? How does their relationship exemplify the theme of appearance versus reality?

The Role of Fate

Discuss the role of fate or destiny in "The Necklace." Does the story suggest that Mathilde's misfortunes were predetermined, or were they a result of her choices? How does the concept of fate contribute to the story's message?

Moral Lessons and Themes

Explore the moral lessons and themes conveyed in the story. What messages does "The Necklace" offer about the consequences of dishonesty, the pursuit of materialism, and the value of self-awareness?

Narrative Structure

Examine the narrative structure of "The Necklace." How does the story's structure, including the use of flashback, contribute to the reader's understanding of Mathilde's character and the plot's development?

Modern Relevance

Consider the modern relevance of "The Necklace." How do the themes and moral dilemmas faced by Mathilde Loisel resonate with contemporary society? Are there parallels between her story and contemporary issues?

The Theme of Pride in "The Necklace"

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The Setting and The Characters' Mental Growth in The Necklace and Blue Winds Dancing

Analysis of the necklace short story, greed and loss in the necklace and disabled, a theme of perception in the necklace by guy de maupassant, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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The Moral Lesson of "The Necklace", a Short Story by Guy Maupassant

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Analysis of Guy De Maupassant’s The Necklace Through The Feminist Lens

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February 17,1884

Guy de Maupassant

Short story

Mathilde Loisel, Madame Forestier, Monsieur Loisel

The necklace, coveting

Dichotomy between reality and appearance; the value of honesty.

" She dressed simply, being unable to afford anything better, but she was every whit as unhappy as any daughter of a grand family who has come down in the world. " "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that." "She would have given anything to be popular, envied, attractive, and in demand." Life is so strange, so fickle! How little is needed to make or break us. "Oh, my poor Mathilde! But it was only an imitation necklace. It couldn't have been worth much more than 500 francs!"

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“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: A Critical Review

Imagine a simple twist of fate that forever alters your life – this is the captivating premise of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.

Introduction: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Table of Contents

Imagine a simple twist of fate that forever alters your life – this is the captivating premise of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. First published in 1884 within the French newspaper Le Gaulois, this short story later found a home in Maupassant’s broader collection, Boule de Suif . With its focus on the deceptive nature of appearances, the relentless pursuit of social status, and the crushing weight of debt, “The Necklace” continues to enthrall readers. Its themes remain timeless, made even more poignant by Maupassant’s skill as a storyteller: his prose is crisp, his irony sharp, and his iconic twist ending will haunt your thoughts long after you’ve reached the final line

Main Events in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Unhappiness and Longing:

Mathilde’s discontent is clear: “She suffered constantly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (Maupassant, Paragraph 1)
Her dreams of wealth are detailed: “… dainty dinners, with gleaming silverware … tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds flying in fairy forests …” (Maupassant, Paragraph 1)

The Invitation:

The invitation arrives and throws Mathilde into despair. She has nothing suitable to wear for an event of such high society.
Her husband, Monsieur Loisel, sacrifices his savings for a new dress: …”and he gave her four hundred francs.” (Maupassant, Paragraph 9)

The Dress and the Necklace:

Mathilde, still dissatisfied, borrows a diamond necklace from Madame Forestier: “She was overcome with emotion when she saw her own reflection.” (Maupassant, Paragraph 14)
Mathilde’s transformation is complete: “She was prettier than any of them, elegant, gracious, smiling and wild with joy” (Maupassant, Paragraph 18)
She is the envy of the party, reveling in the attention of high-ranking men.
The party ends, and the luxurious facade crumbles: “…and in the street they found one of those ancient night cabs that crawl, only at night…” (Maupassant, Paragraph 22)
Panic sets in as Mathilde discovers the loss of the necklace.

Desperation and Debt:

The Loisels exhaust every possibility of finding the necklace: “…he retraced his steps… they went to the police headquarters, to the newspaper offices… to the cab companies…” (Maupassant, Paragraph 25)
In a desperate act, they purchase an identical necklace with an enormous price tag, plunging them into debt.

A Decade of Hardship:

The years become a blur of hard labor and sacrifice: “…she came to know the hateful work of the kitchen… all the loathsome tasks of a household.” (Maupassant, Paragraph 30)
Mathilde’s youthful charm fades with the burdens: “She became… strong, hard and coarse woman…” (Maupassant, Paragraph 30)

The Shocking Truth:

Ten years later, by chance, Mathilde encounters Madame Forestier, who doesn’t recognize her.
In a heartbreaking twist, Madame Forestier reveals: “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs!” (Maupassant, Last Paragraph)

Literary Devices in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Charact erization in “the necklace” by guy de maupassant, mathilde loisel.

Obsessed with wealth and luxury: “She suffered constantly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (Opening paragraph)
Dreams of fancy dinners, expensive furnishings, and servants.
Values appearances above all else.
Her greatest joy at the party is derived from the attention and envy of others.
Willing to sacrifice everything and endure years of hardship for the facade of wealth.
Doesn’t consider the consequences of borrowing the necklace.
Underestimates the effort required to replace the necklace, assuming they could easily purchase another.
Ten years of labor change her physically: “She had become the strong, hard, and coarse woman…”
May have gained some wisdom and understanding of true value through her suffering.

Monsieur Loisel

Seems satisfied with their modest life.
Sacrifices his own savings for Mathilde’s dress: “…and he gave her four hundred francs.”
Works tirelessly to repay the debt, demonstrating loyalty and love.
Yields to Mathilde’s demands and goes along with her plans, even when he likely sees the potential for trouble.
Less dynamic character than Mathilde, primarily serving to highlight her flaws.

Additional Notes on Characterization:

Maupassant uses indirect characterization: We understand the characters primarily through their actions, dialogue, and thoughts, rather than explicit descriptions.
Madame Forestier remains somewhat enigmatic. This hints at the theme of the deceptiveness of appearances since, even through her kindness, she unwittingly causes Mathilde’s downfall.

Major Themes in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Writing style in “the necklace” by guy de maupassant.

Realism and Simplicity:
Straightforward language: The story progresses without complicated sentence structures or excess verbosity.
Example: “She suffered constantly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (Opening paragraph)
Vivid Descriptions:
Details paint a picture: Descriptions focus on characters, settings, and actions, allowing the reader to visualize the story.
Example: “…the silk-lined walls, with alternating stripes of light and dark velvet… enormous chandeliers blazing…” (Description of the party)
Irony and Social Commentary:
Situational irony drives the plot: The borrowed necklace, a symbol of wealth, turns out to be worthless, highlighting the emptiness of materialism.
Example: “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs!” (Madame Forestier’s revelation)

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Marxist Theory : The story reflects the social and economic inequalities prevalent in the 19th century French society, where the bourgeoisie lived lavish lifestyles while the lower class struggled to make ends meet. Mathilde’s obsession with material possessions and desire to fit in with the upper class can be seen as a criticism of capitalism and its emphasis on material wealth.
Feminist Theory : Mathilde’s character can be viewed through a feminist lens, as she is a victim of gender inequality and the limited opportunities available to women in her time. Her dissatisfaction with her life is a result of the limitations imposed on her as a woman, and the societal pressure for women to conform to a certain standard of beauty and class.
Psychoanalytic Theory : The story can be interpreted through a psychoanalytic lens, where Mathilde’s desire for material possessions can be seen as a manifestation of her unconscious desires and repressed emotions. Her obsession with the necklace and desire to fit in with the upper class can be seen as a reflection of her own insecurities and dissatisfaction with her life.
Reader-Response Theory : The reader’s interpretation of the story is influenced by their own experiences, beliefs, and cultural background. The story can be read in different ways depending on the reader’s own perspective, and the meaning of the story is not fixed but can change depending on the reader’s interpretation.
Formalist Theory : The story can be analyzed in terms of its literary techniques and devices, such as the use of imagery, symbolism, and irony. The author’s use of irony in the ending, where it is revealed that the necklace was a fake, can be seen as a commentary on the superficiality and materialism of society.
Structuralist Theory : The story can be analyzed through a structuralist lens, where it is viewed as a system of signs and symbols that convey meaning. The necklace can be seen as a symbol of material wealth and the social status it represents, while Mathilde’s desire for the necklace can be seen as a reflection of her desire for social status and acceptance.

Questions about “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

How does Guy de Maupassant use irony in “The Necklace” to convey his message?
What role does appearance and social status play in “The Necklace”?
How does the theme of pride affect the main character’s actions in “The Necklace”?
In “The Necklace,” how does the author use symbolism to enhance the story’s themes?
How does “The Necklace” reflect the societal norms and values of the time it was written?
What is the significance of the ending of “The Necklace”?

Thesis Statements of these Questions About “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant explores the theme of the dangers of vanity and the illusion of social status through the character of Mathilde Loisel, who becomes obsessed with material possessions and her desire for social acceptance.
In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the theme of appearance versus reality is portrayed through the necklace that Mathilde borrows, thinking it is a valuable piece of jewelry, only to find out it is a fake.
Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is a story about the power of perception and the consequences of deceit. The theme of appearance versus reality is explored through the character of Mathilde, who tries to present herself as someone she is not.
The short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant examines the consequences of greed and the importance of honesty. Through the character of Mathilde Loisel, the story illustrates that material possessions are not the key to happiness and that honesty is always the best policy.
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant explores the theme of irony and the unexpected twists of fate that can occur in life. The story teaches us that even the smallest lies and deceptions can have long-lasting and devastating consequences.
The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a commentary on the social expectations placed upon women in the late 19th century. Through the character of Mathilde, the story highlights the limitations and constraints imposed on women in terms of their education, opportunities, and social mobility.

Short Questions andAnswers about “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

What is the irony in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant?
The irony in “The Necklace” is that Mathilde Loisel spends her life trying to appear wealthy and high-class, but her desire for material possessions leads to her downfall. She borrows a diamond necklace from a friend to wear to a party and loses it. Instead of telling her friend, she and her husband go into debt to replace it. After ten years of hard work to pay off the debt, Mathilde finds out the necklace was a fake, which renders all of her struggles meaningless.
What is the significance of the title “The Necklace”?
The title “The Necklace” refers to the diamond necklace that Mathilde Loisel borrows from her friend Madame Forestier to wear to the party. The necklace represents the allure of material possessions and the desire for social status. It is the catalyst for Mathilde’s downward spiral, as it leads to her and her husband’s financial ruin.
What is the moral of “The Necklace”?
The moral of “The Necklace” is that being obsessed with material possessions and social status can lead to misery and despair. Mathilde Loisel spends her life trying to appear wealthy and high-class, but her desire for material possessions ultimately leads to her downfall. The story warns against the dangers of coveting what one cannot afford, and the importance of being content with one’s own circumstances.
What is the conflict in “The Necklace”?
The main conflict in “The Necklace” is between Mathilde Loisel and her own desires. Mathilde is unhappy with her simple life and longs to be wealthy and high-class. When she gets the opportunity to attend a fancy party, she borrows a diamond necklace to fit in, but loses it. The conflict comes when she and her husband go into debt to replace the necklace, leading to years of hardship and misery. The conflict is ultimately resolved when Mathilde finds out the necklace was a fake, realizing that all of her struggles were for nothing.

Literary Works Similar to “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

“ The Gift of the Magi ” by O. Henry: This beloved short story revolves around a young couple who sacrifice their most prized possessions to buy gifts for each other on Christmas Eve, highlighting themes of love, sacrifice, and the true meaning of wealth.
“ The Lady, or the Tiger ?” by Frank R. Stockton: In this short story, a princess must decide the fate of her lover who is put on trial in an arena, raising questions about choice, consequence, and the nature of justice.
“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst: This poignant short story tells the tale of a young boy with physical disabilities and his brother’s efforts to help him, exploring themes of love, pride, and the consequences of pushing someone beyond their limits.
“The Bet” by Anton Chekhov: In this short story, a banker and a young lawyer make a bet regarding the value of life imprisonment versus capital punishment, delving into themes of human nature, morality, and the pursuit of wealth and power.
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs: This classic horror short story revolves around a magical monkey’s paw that grants its owner three wishes, but with unforeseen and tragic consequences, exploring themes of greed, fate, and the dangers of tampering with destiny.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe: In this chilling tale, an unnamed narrator becomes increasingly disturbed by the eye of an old man and resolves to murder him, only to be haunted by guilt and paranoia, delving into themes of guilt, madness, and the human psyche.
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: This Gothic short story explores themes of obsession, pride, and the consequences of meddling with nature through the tragic tale of a young woman who becomes poisonous to the touch due to her father’s experiments.
“The Lottery Ticket” by Anton Chekhov: This short story follows a couple who experience a surge of excitement after winning a small lottery prize, leading them to imagine the possibilities of wealth and the changes it could bring to their lives, touching on themes of greed, desire, and the illusion of happiness.

The Necklace

Guy de maupassant, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Necklace: Introduction

The necklace: plot summary, the necklace: detailed summary & analysis, the necklace: themes, the necklace: quotes, the necklace: characters, the necklace: symbols, the necklace: literary devices, the necklace: quiz, the necklace: theme wheel, brief biography of guy de maupassant.

Historical Context of The Necklace

Other books related to the necklace.

Full Title: The Necklace
When Written: 1884
Where Written: Paris
When Published: 1884
Literary Period: Literary realism
Genre: Realism
Setting: Paris
Climax: The lost necklace that Mathilde Loisel spends ten years trying to pay for is revealed to be a fake.
Antagonist: Social ambition, greed, and false appearances
Point of View: Third person

Extra Credit for The Necklace

Name Change: Although both of Maupassant’s parents were wealthy, neither one of them was an aristocrat. It was Maupassant’s mother who urged her husband to obtain the right to use the nobiliary particle, so that their name changed from “Maupassant” to “de Maupassant.”

Epitaph: Maupassant wrote his own epitaph: “I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.”

“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: Analyzing a Theme of the Insecurity Essay (Critical Writing)

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The focal point of the paper is to analyze the theme of insecurity in the short story ‘The Necklace’ by Guy De Maupassant and translated by Marjorie Laurie. It is true that economic inequalities in society are a curse and is reminiscent of the imbalance of the society and has given rise to a sense of insecurity on the individual level. The possible argument presented in this context would be that of Maupassant because he indicated the faults of the society with hard proof whereas the others simply approached the issue in a philosophic manner. However, it should also be stated that the economic inequalities of society, and the cause of the insecurity, are basically a need in a way. This is because the nature of wealth is to constantly accumulate. The moment there is forceful equality of economic wealth would start to accumulate in one way or the other resulting in minute economic inequalities in the initial stages and distinctive and gigantic economic inequalities in the end. Thus, it could be stated that economic inequality is inevitable, if not essential, for any society as long as it is within the boundaries and parameters that society is able to sustain but simultaneously it gives rise to social and personal insecurity that is evident in the short story ‘The Necklace’ (Kar, pp. 177-9).

Insecurity, or social insecurity, plays a fundamental part in the story. It is the social norms of wealth that the protagonists are trying to protect and sustain their position in late nineteenth-century Paris. The protagonists are lacking in economic equality with their acquaintances. However, they are always afraid of losing their faces due to it. They are insecure and they are opting for any and every method of saving their social face. The husband, M. Loisel, is trying to buy a gun for 400 francs in order to “ treat himself to a little shooting next summer ” so that he can accompany “ with several friends, who went to shoot larks ” (Maupassant, p. 60). That 400 franc is worth a lot to him but he is willing to part with it as he would be socially insecure if he fails to be at par with his friends.

The same insecurity becomes evident when we find that he is willing to give away the amount kept for the gun so that she can buy a necklace for the invitation because “ there is nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich ”(Maupassant, 60). This is the same insecurity feeling of being left alone in the social norms. However, the most debatable issue of this story among literary scholars and enthusiasts remains until date about the conclusion or end part of the story. Here it is seen that the Loisels are found to be wanting in the context of social norms of riches. The focal point of this debate remains in the possibility of the purpose of the redemption of the necklace. There are various interpretations related to the basic existence of the necklace altogether. In other words, the basic reason for the writer to bring in the necklace is very interesting indeed. The disappearance of the necklace in the middle phase is also very interesting reading in the sense that it is not very common for a story of the author’s era in Paris to complete as a story almost with unfinished settlements but mostly with awe. This is the reason literature critics feel or believe that in the story the necklace of Loisel hardly exists. According to them, the ornament is just another stroke of genius by the author when he presented the necklace not so much as a social or an intellectual metaphor but simply as a parody to mock the existing social convention that creates more insecurity among individuals than stability (Kar, p.181).

However, a regret of the loss of the necklace and the redemption of it through extreme hardships can well be seen as an act of revenge against social oppression by the upper class towards the unprivileged. Here the Loisels climbed down the economic ladder in order to save their faces in front of their known economic levels of social mode. It was their insecurity of being outclassed by their friends and acquaintances that made them work hard to recover the money lost. This oppression of social-economic class could well be enumerated as a reversal of power within France in days to come. But then again, a different interpretation can be presented with the return of the necklace the Loisel’s remained to the society and it can well be a symbolic gesture by which the author shows the remorse of the prevailing society in the most collective sense. This remorse may well be a suggestive measure by the society that failed to accept and treat Loisels with more compassion and well-being-without making them insecure. This insecurity had taken a huge toll on the couple and at the end of the story; we find the woman was the most suffered character. Mme. Loisel “ looked old now. She had become the woman of impoverished households- strong and hard and rough .” (Maupassant, p. 65). In simple terms, the social insecurity brought to the Loisels what they tried hard to avoid and were positively afraid of- poverty and social degradation.

The basic theme of the story presents a profound essence of humane values or better to say the writer indicates towards a civilization that is developed in all sense but in human values that deals in the social norms of economic inequalities and its members to suffer in the feeling of insecurity. The result was pitiful, they worked and worked, and “ this life lasted for ten years ” (Maupassant, p.65). This concept could have been regarded as an act of initial socialism but with Maupassant, the approach does not merely is confined within the framework of social justice but evokes a sense of love and compassion whereby it makes the reader possible to love this characters of a couple to its interiority. They are common to the core and they know it very well in their hearts. The sense of consumerism is virtually overwhelming in them but it is the maintaining status and insecurity of losing it that comes out as the most instrumental determinant (Lamb, p. 227).

Works Cited

Maupassant, Guy De; The Necklace; trans. Marjorie Laurie; pp. 59-65; 1934
Kar, P; Consumer Market in Literature ( Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee 2005) p. 145
Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization; ( Wellington: National Book Trust . 2004)
Ideas in "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
Social Status in "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
Identity in Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and Alvi’s “An Unknown Girl”
Identity in "Petrolio" Novel by Pasolini
Emile Zola's "Ladies Delight" Analysis
Language of Henry V and King Lear by W. Shakespeare
How Does Jules Verne Show Science as Religion
Positive Hero in "On Social Realism" and "The Trial Begins"
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IvyPanda. (2021, October 9). “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: Analyzing a Theme of the Insecurity. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-analyzing-a-theme-of-the-insecurity/

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IvyPanda . 2021. "“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: Analyzing a Theme of the Insecurity." October 9, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-analyzing-a-theme-of-the-insecurity/.

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IvyPanda . "“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: Analyzing a Theme of the Insecurity." October 9, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-analyzing-a-theme-of-the-insecurity/.

Literary Analysis of The Necklace: Essay Example

The necklace: introduction of the essay, the necklace by guy de maupassant: characterization, the necklace essay: conflict and narration, the necklace by guy de maupassant: setting and atmosphere, the necklace essay: tone, language, and major theme, the necklace essay: critical perspective, the necklace: conclusion of the essay.

The Necklace (La Parure) is one of the most famous short stories by Guy De Maupassant. It tells a story about a middle-class French couple in the 19th century. The wife is longing for a luxurious life, unappreciative of her husband, and a relatively happy life the couple is leading. Madame Loisel spends her time dreaming about all the luxuries they cannot afford to purchase while experiencing a feeling of shame for their actual life. The events described in the story reveal the features of the character of the heroine, which eventually leads her to live a life far poorer than she used to lead. An unexpected and ironic outcome provides a complex moral lesson that the readers are supposed to learn along with Madame Loisel. In the end, she learns that her image of high society was not real; the lack of appreciation for her moderate but sufficient fortune led to a disastrous outcome, and her husband’s efforts to provide for her went undeservingly unnoticed. The deceptiveness of appearances is the major theme of the story.

The main heroine, Madame Loisel, comes from a family of clerks. With no dowry and no hopes of being married to a wealthy man, she becomes the wife of a clerk from the Ministry of Education. Mathilde does not enjoy her life, as it is far too modest. She believes she was born to lead a lavish lifestyle and spends her time imagining the rich and luxurious surroundings she deserves (Maupassant 789). The emotions she experiences because of her poor lifestyle are rather strong, as she regards it as a misfortune and even an insult. Mathilde does not appreciate her husband’s efforts to provide for her at all costs. Upon receiving an invitation to a high society soirée, she is miserable due to the lack of clothing and jewelry worthy of a well-off and distinguished person.

Monsieur Loisel is a generous and loving husband. To please his wife, he denies himself the pleasure of buying a gun, giving up the money for Mathilde’s gown for the ball. Monsieur Loisel is attentive to his wife’s changing moods and gives her valuable advice on how to get the jewelry they cannot afford. During the soirée, he does not attempt to tarnish his wife’s delight at being appreciated and admired and sleeps in a waiting room until four o’clock in the morning, even though he must be at work four hours later. Monsieur Loisel displays the qualities of a loving and attentive husband, striving to please his wife. Madame Loisel, however, does not appreciate his attention, as she regards him as an unimportant figure in society, unable to afford to lead a luxurious lifestyle.

There is a third-person narration in the story, with an omniscient point of view, providing us with the innermost thoughts and feelings of the main characters. The conflict described by Maupassant in this short story revolves around Mathilde and the lost necklace. Striving to fit in with the members of high society, Madame Loisel is willing to borrow a diamond necklace from a friend, which she loses after the soirée. Due to her pride, she is unable to tell the truth. She is ashamed that they cannot afford to replace such expensive jewelry. Therefore, the conflict of the story is tied to the lost necklace and the couple’s desperate struggles to repay the debt, which leads them, in the end, to life in poverty, a complete opposite of what Mathilde has always wanted.

The Necklace is set in 19th-century Paris, the Belle Époque. It includes descriptions of middle-class interiors, as well as of high society’s lavish lifestyle. Material things are described through Mathilde’s daydreaming about the luxurious life she was meant to lead. Her actual surroundings are described as ugly and poor, making her suffer greatly. The atmosphere of the story could be seen as dynamic since it changes as the plot evolves. Before losing the necklace, the atmosphere seems rather light and ironic. The reader follows Mathilde’s “sorrows” with a hint of a smile, perceiving her capriciousness and the lack of appreciation for her husband’s affection as typical qualities in a vain young wife. However, after the necklace is lost, there is a substantial shift in the atmosphere. Superficial vanity gives way to the pride that drives the couple to the brink of poverty. The light atmosphere of the first part is followed by the gloomy atmosphere of the last part, with an ironic twist at the end, meant to stress the moral lesson.

The tone is the attitude the author conveys by presenting the events and characters in a certain way. Some aspects of linguistic features indicate the author’s ironic attitude towards the main heroine. For instance, his use of the words “suffer,” “insult,” “torment,” “despair,” and “misery” shows Mathilde’s vainness and her inability to appreciate her life. The husband’s rhetorical question at dinner, “What could be better?” contrasts with her dreams about a luxurious lifestyle. The second part of the story, where the couple is forced to work hard to pay off their debt, indicates the pride of the main heroine: “She played her part heroically” (Maupassant 793).

Aside from irony, Maupassant uses symbolism as a way to convey the central theme of the story. The necklace symbolizes the high society Mathilde is so eager to join. However, as the necklace turns out to be a mere imitation, it symbolizes the superficial nature of the upper class’ appeal. The fake necklace symbolizes the illusion that Madame Loisel is captivated by, eventually leading to a disastrous outcome. Thus, the story’s major theme lies in the idea that notions such as beauty, wealth, poorness, and happiness depend on an individual’s perception. The appearances of upper-class lifestyles were deceptive, just like Mathilde’s appearance at the soirée, where she was such a success. However, neither the necklace nor Mathilde’s seemingly luxurious appearance was genuine. This leads us to believe that Maupassant wanted to stress the importance of the illusory nature of appearances, in which the 19th-century French bourgeoisie was so immersed.

From a sociological/Marxist criticism standpoint, Madame Loisel is a member of the middle class, an aspiring member of the upper class, and, ultimately, a lower-class member. The inability to accept her position in society and a constant yearning for a wealthier life lead the couple to find themselves at the bottom of the social structure. The amount of expensive material possessions indicates the class the people belong to, as well as their social status. Mathilde is deceived by the superficial signs of wealth, leading to her becoming a servant class member.

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant tells the story of a woman preoccupied with her desire to be wealthy and to belong to the upper class. The ironic twist at the end of the story renders her perception inconsistent with reality. As the plot unravels, the deceptiveness of appearances turns out to be the main reason for the disastrous outcome. 

Maupassant, Guy De. “The Necklace.” Short Fiction. Classic and Contemporary. Ed. Charles Bohner and Lyman Grant. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006. 789-795. Print.

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“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Essay Example

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Oppression plays a large role in the brilliant short story by Guy de Maupassant entitled “The Necklace”. In it, a middle-class woman, Matilda Loisel, who dreams of a luxurious life, is able to have one, glorious night at a ball, wearing a borrowed necklace of diamonds from her childhood friend. Sometime during the night of the ball, the necklace is lost. She and her husband go into great debt to buy a replacement, living a life of great poverty for a decade to pay off the debt they incurred to do this. Years later, the woman meets her old friend by chance in the park and brags of how much she and her husband went through to replace the necklace, only to be told that the necklace was made only costume jewelry and “were not worth five hundred francs”.

The oppression that de Maupassant writes about in this story is two-fold. The first kind of oppression, in the first section of the short story, comes from within Matilda herself because of her unrealistic dreams and expectations for her life. The second kind of oppression, more concrete, comes in the second part of the story, where Matilda and her husband both have to give up what comforts they had to begin with in order to pay off the debt that they owe for the necklace. Both kinds of oppression take their toll are Matilda (though in different ways) and both will be analyzed at length in this paper.

Inner Oppression: The Burden of Fantasy

Guy de Maupassant begins to discuss the theme of Matilda’s inner oppression (or self-oppression) in the first paragraph of the story, introducing her as “one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born….into a family of clerks” (de Maupassant 31), showing the reader from the start that there is a huge divide between Matilda’s life as it is and Matilda’s life the way she wants it to be. It is obvious that Matilda’s middle class life, married to a clerk from the Board of Education (a worthy but not perhaps very romantic job) is very distressing for her, and she is forever fantasizing unrealistically about what her life might have been like if she had married someone “either rich or distinguished” (31). While she sits in her apartment of “the shabby walls, the worn chairs, the faded stuffs” (31), she dreams only of “large drawing-rooms, hung in old silks, of graceful pieces of furniture carrying bric-a-brac of inestimable value” (32).

These beginning paragraphs are important to the story because they show from the very first that Matilda is a woman whose oppression comes from within herself: she oppresses herself by longing for a life that she cannot have; she oppresses herself by being unhappy and discontented with the life that she does have. The frustration that she feels with her life is palpable in the beginning of the story and it is important because it sets the stage for, and gives impetus to, what is going to happen: i.e. the fateful night of the ball, a night which is to forever change the course of Matilda’s life.

When Matilda’s husband comes home with an invitation for the ball at the home of the Minister of Public Instruction, it seems that Matilda’s fantasies might become reality for her, but instead of jumping at the chance to live the kind of life (if only for one evening) that she always dreamed of, she shrinks away at first, asking her husband irritably, “What do you suppose I have to wear to such a thing as that?” (33) and promptly bursts into tears; she is not so distraught, though, that she cannot make a quick and shrewd estimate of how much money she can get out of her husband for a new outfit: “She reflected for some seconds, making estimates and thinking of a sum that she could ask for without bringing with it an immediate refusal…from the economical clerk” (33). And to make her fantasy life complete, she borrows what she thinks is a fabulous necklace from her childhood friend Mrs. Forestier.

Matilda is freed from her self-oppression for one night, the night of the ball, where she gets to live her fantasy in a way that she always wanted to, and de Maupassant notes that she “was a great success. She was the prettiest of all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and full of joy” (34). But at the end of the evening, reality comes back in full force, and Matilda feels oppressed once again when she and her husband wrap up in “modest garments of everyday wear, whose poverty clashed with the elegance of the ball costume” (34) and Matilda wishes to get away quickly, as she feels oppressed again by “the other women wrapping themselves in rich furs” (34). In her haste, she and her husband wind up on a bit of misadventure going home and when they arrive back at their apartment, they find that Matilda has lost the necklace. De Maupassant is well aware of what is in store for Matilda when he writes that “she removed the wraps from her shoulders before the glass, for a final view of herself in her glory” This will, indeed, be the “final view” for Matilda, for a second later, she realizes that the necklace in missing, and with that missing necklace comes the second, outer form of oppression in this story: the oppression of poverty.

Outer Oppression: The Burden of Poverty

In the fall-out from the loss of the necklace, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel replace the piece of jewelry at a tremendous cost to their middle-class household: thirty-six thousand francs, which they beg and borrow and use up their inheritance to purchase. Whether she realized it and appreciated it or not, Matilda’s life was one of middle-class comfort before, but all that is to change with the loss of the necklace. And now the real, outer oppression, the oppression of poverty, takes hold of Matilda’s life. De Maupassant tells the reader that Matilda “now knew the horrible life of necessity” (36), and a lot of their modest middle-class trappings have to go: “they sent away the maid; they changed their lodgings; they rented some rooms under a mansard roof” (36). So now, the poor life that Matilda has always imagined that she led has become a poor life indeed. Without a maid to take care of these things for her, she is forced to shoulder, “the heavy cares of a household, the odious work of a kitchen” (36) but with great sacrifice, she and her husband pay off the debt that they incurred to replace the necklace, a debt which takes them a decade to pay off.

The oppression of poverty has a terrible affect upon Matilda. De Maupassant describes her, after this decade of economic oppression, as “a strong, hard woman, the crude woman of a poor household. Her hair was badly dressed, her skirts awry, her hands red” (37). This is no longer the bored middle class woman with a maid who fantasized about a life of wealth, although, even in the difficulty of her poverty, she “would seat herself before the window and think of that evening party of former times, of that ball when she had been so beautiful and so flattered” (37). The fantasy seems different now: in the first part of the story, the fantasy is the vehicle of for Matilda’s self-oppression, the way in which she tortures herself for not having the kind of life she dreams of; by the end of the story, the fantasy has becomes a means of escape from the real, outer oppression of her poverty. The image of Matilda, resting for a while from her work and thinking for a few minutes about the one night of her life when she was free from the oppressions of her discontent – the night of her life which was also her downfall and led to the oppression of her new life of poverty – is one of the most poignant scenes in the story.

If the story ended there, it would still be tragic, but De Maupassant is not yet done twisting his knife. In the final scene of the story, the old, hard Matilda, walking in the Champs Elysee “to rid herself of the cares of the week” (38), runs into her old friend Madame Forestier, “still young, still pretty, still attractive” (38), in contrast to Matilda herself. Matilda cannot help but brag to Mrs. Forestier of the diamond necklace she replaced at such a tremendous cost, only to have Forestier exclaim that the necklace was cheap costume jewelry and that Matilda has ruined her life for nothing.

To conclude, this is a poignant story about the life of a woman who is at first oppressed by the unattainable fantasies that she has for herself, and then is oppressed by the poverty which results when she tries to make her fantasies into reality. Both the oppression of her fantasies (the oppression that comes from within herself) and the oppression of poverty (the oppression that comes from the circumstance of her life) exact a toll on her. De Maupassant, in this story, seems to be exploring the ways in which someone’s character flaws (in this case, Matilda’s unrealistic expectations for her life) can bring about a tragic end for them. It is Matilda’s ravenous need to act out her fantasies that leads her to borrow the necklace to begin with, then hurry away from the party because she is ashamed of her wrap and lose the necklace in the process, and thus condemn herself to ten years of pointless poverty. She is, truly, both a victim of her own oppression and of the oppression which life lays down upon her, and the second form of oppression is a direct result of the first. One reason why this story is such a classic, why it can be read even so long after it was written by people in a very different society, is because of De Maupassant’s understanding of the ways in which people do indeed oppress themselves and of the ways in which the circumstances of their life can oppress them as well. Both are equally tragic and seem equally difficult to combat.

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World Literature

Tuesday, december 1, 2009.

The Necklace (Critical Analysis)

The Necklace (La Parure) is a short story by Guy de Maupassant. By the time "The Necklace" was first published, Maupassant had already established his reputation as one of France 's foremost short story writers. The Necklace was first published in 1884 in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. The story has become one of Maupassant's most popular works and is well known for its twist ending.

The Necklace tells the story of a nineteenth-century middle class French couple, Monsieur and Madame Mathilde Loisel. One day, Monsieur Loisel was given an invitation to ball. Madame Loisel did not want to go because she has no suitable dress or jewelry for the dance. The clerk sacrifices his savings to buy her a dress, and suggests that she borrow some jewelry from her old friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier. Accordingly, Madame Loisel borrows a beautiful diamond necklace from her. At the dance, the pretty Madame Loisel is the center of attraction, with even senior officials admiring her beauty and grace. She has a wonderful time until the early hours of the morning. When the couple returns home, they discover thatthe necklace is missing.

Unable to bear the shame of informing Madame Forestier, Monsieur and Madame Loisel decided to buy an identical diamond necklace from the Palais Royal as a replacement. But, the necklace is really expensive and they end up paying thirty-four thousand francs. Both Monsieur and Madame Loisel are forced to takes on extra jobs and live in poverty. At the end of the ten years, Madame Loisel, now older, tougher, more worn, and less graceful from years of hard manual labor has an opportunity to tell her old friend of the lost necklace. MadameForestier is shocked and informs Madame Loisel that her original necklace was, in fact, an imitation, "...not worth over five hundred francs!"

For me, the title is not that catchy but it’s alright because it fits the selection. Another thing that I noticed is that the sequencing of ideas was really in order. The beginning of the story was really boring but as the story goes, you will start to realize that the story is really interesting. One thing that I just don’t like with the work is it has so many words which are hard to understand. But, if you read between the lines, you will get the true and real meaning of those words.

This story is a story cleverly planned and superbly executed. I like the way the writer, Guy de Maupassant, gave and presented the detail in the story. The plot has a throbbing quality, a sequenced rise and fall which successfully retain the attention of the readers until the end. And, the reader will be surprised once he finished reading it because it is unexpected that the ending will be like that. The ending was really surprising and it is perfect. Also, you will realize some things in life by reading this. In general, the story was really a good and interesting one.

---------------------------------

The Irony in Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace”

Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace” weaves a tale about Madame Mathilde Loisel who dreams of the finer things of life and is not content with her secure, middle class lifestyle. The price she pays for a single evening of elegance turns into years of drudgery and despair. This is a story that has stood the test of time and is as relevant today as when Maupassant wrote it in the late nineteenth century. The moral lesson to be learned from “The Necklace” is that a person will pay dearly for coveting false values, and a person’s preoccupation with appearances and materialism is fruitless and vain.

The plot begins with a description of the protagonist, Mathilde, a young lady born into a family with little means, and who marries a gentleman who is employed as a clerk. The setting of this story is late nineteenth century France. Maupassant employs the limited omniscient narrative perspective and utilizes third-person narration in this short story that allows his readers an intimate look into Mathilde’s life. Utilizing this point of view enables his readers to appreciate the changes that take place in her character. The narrator’s tone in this piece is unsympathetic towards the protagonist.

Mathilde’s life consists of simple clothes and a plain household filled with functional things. She has a single servant and her husband holds a steady job. Their lifestyle is better than those held by much of the population where they reside, but Mathilde is unhappy with her lot in life. She is portrayed as someone who believes she deserves a better life than the one she has; she wants to “please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after” (1, 2). Mathilde’s idea of the wealthy lifestyle is very romanticized; she spends her days dreaming of a home filled with expensive luxuries, closets of fine dresses and jewels, servants, and rich banquets. Mathilde simply fails to appreciate the good lifestyle her and her husband share. The “sight of the Breton peasant” who does her housework is enough to stir regret within her (3). The shame that she feels about her own financial and social status is something that many people can understand. The difference is that most people are unwilling to make the sacrifices made by Mathilde and her husband for one night of pleasure.

Maupassant masterfully portrays the depth of emotion of this character throughout this story especially in the scene when her husband comes home with an invitation to the ball. Instead of “being delighted” with the invitation, she throws it on the table “muttering” (2). Maupassant continues to explain her reaction and how she becomes “irritated” and impatient with her husband. When her husband suggests she wear her theater gown to the ball she begins to “weep”. And then “by a violent effort” she is able to muster up the strength to “conquer her grief” and replies to her husband in a “calm voice” (2). In describing Mathilde’s reaction to her husband, Maupassant expertly portrays Mathilde as a woman who is disgusted that she would have to wear an old dress to the ball. In doing so, Maupassant actually raises the level of disgust from his reader towards this character.

Mathilde does not believe her own possessions to be valuable and is even “distressed at the poverty of her dwelling” (1). She believes that people of her social class assume things are only valuable if they are expensive. She mistakenly assumes that the necklace she borrows from her friend is made of real diamonds simply because her friend is wealthy. Owning a piece of costume jewelry simply because her friend likes the piece is a foreign concept to Mathilde. She fails to realize that objects only have value as long as someone prizes them. Mathilde believes that since her friend is financially well off that she only buys the best, and nothing she owns would be costume jewelry. She spends so much time convincing herself that possessions only have value if they are expensive that she loses sight of the real value of things. This turns out to be a serious error on her part.

In her quest for materialism Mathilde ends up losing the good lifestyle her and her husband share before the ball. Mathilde must now live a life of toil and sacrifice to pay off the debt for the necklace, and that is the cost of her preoccupation with vanity. Not only does she make life hard for herself, but she also puts her husband through ten years of unnecessary hardship to pay the debt, a direct result of her foolish pride. Instead of being honest and admitting to her friend that she lost the necklace, her and her husband replace it with one they assume is worthy of the one they lost. Mathilde could have had an easier life if she had told the truth about losing the necklace, but she was too proud to admit to her mistake. By refusing to admit the truth about the necklace, Mathilde creates a situation that brings misfortune to both her and her husband.

The years of hard work, physical, and emotional stress take a toll on Mathilde’s appearance. A positive sign that this unfortunate situation changes her for the better is when she approaches Madame Forestier years later in the park. By allowing the character of Mathilde to approach her friend in this haggard condition, Maupassant is sending the message that Mathilde is much less concerned with appearances, a real sign of maturity. Only when her friend tells her the necklace was “paste” does Mathilde realize her grave error (8). This is the one place that Maupassant employs symbolism in his short story. The necklace that Mathilde associates with wealth turns out to be worthless. If she had been honest up front, her husband could have paid her friend the five hundred francs that the necklace was worth and then they would not have had such a hard life.

Maupassant masterfully uses irony to produce a surprise ending in this short story. In doing so, he attempts to teach his readers several different moral lessons. He shows his readers that Mathilde learns to operate within the restraints of poverty and not once does she complain. Maupassant asserts that the people who survive the misfortunes of life are somehow stronger and therefore actually benefit from their adversities. One lesson for Mathilde to learn is that vanity is worthless and people should be proud of who they are. Mathilde also needs to learn to be happy with what she has; the irony is that she lost what she has because she was not content with it.

9 comments:

This is really great and very informative. I am doing a paper on this right now and reading this has helped out a lot.

A good review.

Thanks for such informative statement, it really helpful

Thanks for that it's helpful to some of us who are working at it.

Really very helpful... For a student like me.The way of Translating the story is good.

Everything else is wonderful. The tone of the story is not one though.

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Literary Analysis Interpretation The Novel of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant's

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An antenna pole reaches skyward from a clearing surrounded by thick stands of trees.

The Internet’s Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes

Elon Musk’s Starlink has connected an isolated tribe to the outside world — and divided it from within.

A Starlink satellite internet antenna in the Manakieaway village of the Marubo Indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon. Credit...

Supported by

By Jack Nicas

Photographs by Victor Moriyama

Jack Nicas and Victor Moriyama hiked more than 50 miles through the Amazon to reach remote Marubo villages.

June 2, 2024

As the speeches dragged on, eyes drifted to screens. Teenagers scrolled Instagram. One man texted his girlfriend. And men crowded around a phone streaming a soccer match while the group’s first female leader spoke.

Just about anywhere, a scene like this would be mundane. But this was happening in a remote Indigenous village in one of the most isolated stretches of the planet.

The Marubo people have long lived in communal huts scattered hundreds of miles along the Ituí River deep in the Amazon rainforest. They speak their own language, take ayahuasca to connect with forest spirits and trap spider monkeys to make soup or keep as pets.

They have preserved this way of life for hundreds of years through isolation — some villages can take a week to reach. But since September, the Marubo have had high-speed internet thanks to Elon Musk.

The 2,000-member tribe is one of hundreds across Brazil that are suddenly logging on with Starlink, the satellite-internet service from Space X, Mr. Musk’s private space company. Since its entry into Brazil in 2022, Starlink has swept across the world’s largest rainforest, bringing the web to one of the last offline places on Earth.

The New York Times traveled deep into the Amazon to visit Marubo villages to understand what happens when a tiny, closed civilization suddenly opens to the world.

Four girls looking at the screen of a phone with a pink exterior.

“When it arrived, everyone was happy,” said Tsainama Marubo, 73, sitting on the dirt floor of her village’s maloca, a 50-foot-tall hut where the Marubo sleep, cook and eat together. The internet brought clear benefits, like video chats with faraway loved ones and calls for help in emergencies. “But now, things have gotten worse,” she said.

She was kneading jenipapo berries to make a black body paint and wearing ropes of jewelry made from snail shells. Lately, the youth had become less interested in making such dyes and jewelry, she said. “Young people have gotten lazy because of the internet,” she said. “They’re learning the ways of the white people.”

Then she paused and added, “But please don’t take our internet away.”

The Marubo are struggling with the internet’s fundamental dilemma: It has become essential — at a cost.

After only nine months with Starlink, the Marubo are already grappling with the same challenges that have racked American households for years: teenagers glued to phones; group chats full of gossip; addictive social networks; online strangers; violent video games; scams; misinformation; and minors watching pornography.

Modern society has dealt with these issues over decades as the internet continued its relentless march. The Marubo and other Indigenous tribes, who have resisted modernity for generations, are now confronting the internet’s potential and peril all at once, while debating what it will mean for their identity and culture.

That debate has arrived now because of Starlink, which has quickly dominated the satellite-internet market worldwide by providing service once unthinkable in such remote areas. SpaceX has done so by launching 6,000 low-orbiting Starlink satellites — roughly 60 percent of all active spacecraft — to deliver speeds faster than many home internet connections to just about anywhere on Earth, including the Sahara, the Mongolian grasslands and tiny Pacific islands.

Business is soaring. Mr. Musk recently announced that Starlink had surpassed three million customers across 99 countries. Analysts estimate that annual sales are up roughly 80 percent from last year, to about $6.6 billion .

Starlink’s rise has given Mr. Musk control of a technology that has become critical infrastructure in many parts of the globe. It is being used by troops in Ukraine , paramilitary forces in Sudan , Houthi rebels in Yemen , a hospital in Gaza and emergency responders across the world.

But perhaps Starlink’s most transformative effect is in areas once largely out of the internet’s reach, like the Amazon. There are now 66,000 active contracts in the Brazilian Amazon, touching 93 percent of the region’s legal municipalities. That has opened new job and education opportunities for those who live in the forest. It has also given illegal loggers and miners in the Amazon a new tool to communicate and evade authorities.

One Marubo leader, Enoque Marubo (all Marubo use the same surname), 40, said he immediately saw Starlink’s potential. After spending years outside the forest, he said he believed the internet could give his people new autonomy. With it, they could communicate better, inform themselves and tell their own stories.

Last year, he and a Brazilian activist recorded a 50-second video seeking help getting Starlink from potential benefactors. He wore his traditional Marubo headdress and sat in the maloca. A toddler wearing a necklace of animal teeth sat nearby.

They sent it off. Days later, they heard back from a woman in Oklahoma.

The Javari Valley Indigenous Territory is one of the most isolated places on Earth, a dense stretch of rainforest the size of Portugal with no roads and a maze of waterways. Nineteen of the 26 tribes in the Javari Valley live in full isolation, the highest concentration in the world.

The Marubo were once uncontacted, too, roaming the forest for hundreds of years, until rubber tappers arrived near the end of the 19th century. That led to decades of violence and disease — and the arrival of new customs and technology. The Marubo began wearing clothes. Some learned Portuguese. They swapped bows for firearms to hunt wild boar, and machetes for chain saws to clear plots for cassava.

One family in particular pushed this change. In the 1960s, Sebastião Marubo was one of the first Marubo to live outside the forest. When he returned, he brought another new technology: the boat motor. It cut trips from weeks to days.

His son Enoque emerged as a leader of the next generation, eager to pull his tribe into the future. Enoque has split his life between the forest and the city, working at one point as a graphic designer for Coca-Cola. So when Marubo leaders became interested in getting internet connections, they went to him to ask how.

Enoque got his answer when Mr. Musk came to Brazil. In 2022, the SpaceX owner and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president at the time, announced Starlink’s arrival in front of a screen that said, “Connecting the Amazon.”

Enoque and Flora Dutra, a Brazilian activist who works with Indigenous tribes, sent letters to more than 100 members of Congress asking for Starlink. None responded.

Then early last year, Ms. Dutra saw an American woman speak at a space conference. Ms. Dutra checked the woman’s Facebook page and saw her posing outside SpaceX’s headquarters. “I knew she was the one,” she said.

The Benefactor

Allyson Reneau’s LinkedIn page describes her as a space consultant, keynote speaker, author, pilot, equestrian, humanitarian, chief executive, board director and mother of 11 biological children. In person, she says she makes most of her money coaching gymnastics and renting houses near Norman, Okla.

Her story is ripe for the “Today Show” — and, indeed, she has told it there . She enrolled in college at 47, got a master’s degree from Harvard Extension School at 55 and then became a traveling motivational speaker . Her social media shows her with children in Rwanda, on television in Pakistan and at conferences in South Africa.

The attention she has attracted has not always been well received. In 2021, she was interviewed on CNN and Fox News for “rescuing” an all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover. But days later, lawyers for the robotics team told Ms. Reneau to stop taking credit for a rescue she had little to do with.

Ms. Reneau said she did not try to help people for fame. “Otherwise, I’d be telling you about all the projects I do all over the world,” she said in an interview. “It’s the look on the face, it’s the hope in the eyes. That’s the trophy.”

She said she had that perspective when she received a video from a stranger last year asking to help connect a remote Amazon tribe.

She had never been to Brazil but thought the return on investment was high. Enoque was asking for 20 Starlink antennas, which would cost roughly $15,000, to transform life for his tribe.

“Do you remember Charlie Wilson?” Ms. Reneau asked me. She was referring to the Texas congressman who secured Stinger missiles that helped the Afghan mujahedeen defeat the Soviets in the 1980s — but that critics say also unintentionally gave rise to the Taliban.

Mr. Wilson changed that war with one weapon, she said. “I could see that this was similar,” she said. “One tool would change everything in their life. Health care, education, communication, protection of the forest.”

Ms. Reneau said she bought the antennas with her own money and donations from her children. Then she booked a flight to go help deliver them.

The Connection

The internet arrived on the backs of men. They trudged miles through the forest, barefoot or in flip-flops, carrying two antennas each.

Just behind were Enoque, Ms. Dutra, Ms. Reneau and a cameraman documenting her journey.

In the villages, they nailed the antennas to the tops of poles and plugged them into solar panels. The antennas then began connecting Starlink satellites to villagers’ phones. (Some Marubo already had phones, often bought with government welfare checks, to take photographs and communicate when in a city.)

The internet was an immediate sensation. “It changed the routine so much that it was detrimental,” Enoque admitted. “In the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, you don’t eat.”

Leaders realized they needed limits. The internet would be switched on for only two hours in the morning, five hours in the evening, and all day Sunday.

During those windows, many Marubo are crouched over or reclined in hammocks on their phones. They spend lots of time on WhatsApp. There, leaders coordinate between villages and alert the authorities to health issues and environmental destruction. Marubo teachers share lessons with students in different villages. And everyone is in much closer contact with faraway family and friends.

To Enoque, the biggest benefit has been in emergencies. A venomous snake bite can require swift rescue by helicopter. Before the internet, the Marubo used amateur radio, relaying a message between several villages to reach the authorities. The internet made such calls instantaneous. “It’s already saved lives,” he said.

In April, seven months after Starlink’s arrival, more than 200 Marubo gathered in a village for meetings.

Enoque brought a projector to show a video about bringing Starlink to the villages. As proceedings began, some leaders in the back of the audience spoke up. The internet should be turned off for the meetings, they said. “I don’t want people posting in the groups, taking my words out of context,” another said.

During the meetings, teenagers swiped through Kwai, a Chinese-owned social network. Young boys watched videos of the Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. And two 15-year-old girls said they chatted with strangers on Instagram. One said she now dreamed of traveling the world, while the other wants to be a dentist in São Paulo.

This new window to the outside world had left many in the tribe feeling torn.

“Some young people maintain our traditions,” said TamaSay Marubo, 42, the tribe’s first woman leader. “Others just want to spend the whole afternoon on their phones.”

Kâipa Marubo, a father of three, said he was happy that the internet was helping educate his children. But he also was concerned about the first-person-shooter video games his two sons play. “I’m worried that they’re suddenly going to want to mimic them,” he said. He tried to delete the games, but believed his sons had other hidden apps.

Alfredo Marubo, leader of a Marubo association of villages, has emerged as the tribe’s most vocal critic of the internet. The Marubo pass down their history and culture orally, and he worries that knowledge will be lost. “Everyone is so connected that sometimes they don’t even talk to their own family,” he said.

He is most unsettled by the pornography. He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public. “We’re worried young people are going to want to try it,” he said of the graphic sex depicted in the videos. He said some leaders had told him they had already observed more aggressive sexual behavior from young men.

Alfredo and Enoque, as the heads of dueling Marubo associations, were already political rivals, but their disagreement over the internet has created a bitter dispute. After Ms. Dutra and Ms. Reneau delivered the antennas, Alfredo reported them for lacking proper permission from federal authorities to enter protected Indigenous territory. In turn, Ms. Dutra criticized Alfredo in interviews and Enoque said he was not welcome at the tribal meetings.

Ms. Dutra now has a goal to bring Starlink to hundreds more Indigenous groups across the Amazon, including Brazil’s largest remote tribe, the Yanomami .

Some Brazilian government officials and nongovernmental agencies said they worried that the internet was being rolled out to tribes too quickly, often without training on the dangers.

Ms. Dutra said Indigenous groups wanted and deserved connections. The criticism, she said, was part of a long tradition of outsiders telling the Indigenous how to live. “This is called ethnocentrism — the white man thinking they know what’s best,” she said.

Enoque and Ms. Dutra said they planned to provide internet training. No Marubo interviewed said they had yet received it.

In April, Ms. Reneau traveled back to the forest. At Enoque’s request, she bought four more antennas. Two were headed to the Korubo, a tribe of less than 150 people that was first contacted in 1996 and still has some members in full isolation.

Sitting on a log, eating dried beef and boiled cassava served on the maloca’s dirt floor, Ms. Reneau said she recognized the internet was “a double-edged sword.” So when she posts on Facebook about bringing the Marubo internet, she said, she always stresses that a leader requested it.

“I don’t want people to think I’m bringing this in to force it on them,” she said. She added that she hoped they could “preserve the purity of this incredible culture because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Later at that same meal, Enoque’s father, Sebastião, said the tribe’s journey with the internet had been foretold.

Decades ago, the most respected Marubo shaman had visions of a hand-held device that could connect with the entire world. “It would be for the good of the people,” he said. “But in the end, it wouldn’t be.”

“In the end,” he added, “there would be war.”

His son sat on the log across from him, listening. “I think the internet will bring us much more benefit than harm,” Enoque said, “at least for now.”

Regardless, he added, going back was no longer an option.

“The leaders have been clear,” he said. “We can’t live without the internet.”

Flávia Milhorance and Lis Moriconi contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.

Jack Nicas is the Brazil bureau chief for The Times, based in Rio de Janeiro, where he leads coverage of much of South America. More about Jack Nicas

Assessing Trump’s Presidency: a Critical Examination of Leadership and Legacy

This essay about Donald Trump’s presidency critically examines his unconventional leadership style, policy initiatives, and lasting impact on the nation and the world. It highlights his unorthodox governance, bold policy decisions, and divisive rhetoric, as well as the controversies, chaos, and constitutional crises that marked his tenure. The essay explores Trump’s domestic and foreign policies, his management style, and the societal divisions exacerbated during his presidency, culminating in the Capitol insurrection. It concludes by emphasizing the ongoing debate over Trump’s legacy and his profound impact on American democracy and global politics.

How it works

In the annals of American history, few presidencies have evoked as much controversy, polarization, and scrutiny as that of Donald J. Trump. From the moment he descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for the highest office in the land, Trump’s presidency was marked by unconventional leadership, unprecedented policy shifts, and a relentless media spotlight. As his tenure in the Oval Office draws to a close, it is imperative to undertake a critical examination of his leadership and legacy, evaluating both the highs and lows of his presidency and their lasting impact on the nation and the world.

One of the defining features of Trump’s presidency was his unorthodox approach to governance. A political outsider with a background in business and reality television, Trump eschewed traditional norms and protocols, often governing by impulse rather than strategy. His bombastic rhetoric and combative style of communication set the tone for his administration, fueling both adoration and outrage among his supporters and detractors alike. While his unconventional methods endeared him to a segment of the electorate hungry for change, they also alienated many within his own party and strained relations with political opponents, foreign leaders, and the media.

From a policy standpoint, the Trump presidency was characterized by a series of bold initiatives and controversial decisions. On the domestic front, Trump’s administration delivered significant tax cuts, rolled back environmental regulations, and appointed a record number of conservative judges to the federal judiciary. His administration also pursued efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, though ultimately unsuccessful. Trump’s signature legislative achievement came in the form of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which slashed corporate tax rates and provided temporary relief for middle-class taxpayers.

In the realm of foreign affairs, Trump pursued an “America First” agenda that upended decades of bipartisan consensus on issues such as trade, immigration, and international alliances. His administration renegotiated trade deals, imposed tariffs on foreign goods, and sought to curb illegal immigration through measures such as the construction of a border wall with Mexico. Trump’s approach to diplomacy was characterized by a transactional mindset, prioritizing bilateral agreements and personal relationships over multilateral institutions and long-standing alliances. His meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and outreach to adversaries such as Russia raised hopes for breakthroughs in longstanding conflicts but yielded mixed results.

However, Trump’s presidency was also marred by controversy, chaos, and constitutional crises. His administration was plagued by high turnover rates, with key positions in the White House and executive agencies often left vacant or filled by temporary appointees. Trump’s management style, marked by impulsiveness and infighting among advisors, led to a series of policy reversals, abrupt firings, and public feuds that undermined confidence in his leadership. The specter of scandal loomed large over the Trump presidency, with investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, allegations of obstruction of justice, and revelations of hush money payments to silence women alleging affairs with Trump casting a shadow over his administration.

Moreover, Trump’s presidency exacerbated divisions within American society, exacerbating racial tensions, stoking populist grievances, and undermining democratic norms and institutions. His inflammatory rhetoric and willingness to traffic in conspiracy theories emboldened extremist elements within the political landscape, culminating in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The events of that day laid bare the fragility of American democracy and the dangers of unchecked demagoguery, leaving a stain on Trump’s legacy that will endure for generations to come.

As the Trump presidency recedes into history, its full impact on the nation and the world remains subject to interpretation and debate. While his supporters laud his efforts to shake up the political establishment and deliver on campaign promises, his critics decry his divisiveness, incompetence, and disregard for democratic norms. The true measure of Trump’s leadership and legacy will be assessed by historians in the years to come, as they weigh the lasting consequences of his actions on the trajectory of American democracy and its standing in the world. In the end, the verdict on Trump’s presidency may well be as polarized as the man himself, reflecting the deep-seated divisions and divergent visions that continue to shape the American political landscape.

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With its emphasis on Parisian class structure, "The Necklace" is a prime candidate for application of Marxist criticism. Mathilde is born into a family of clerks, lacks a dowry, is unable to ...
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The Necklace. The necklace serves as a symbol of the negative impact that materialism and a desire for social standing can have on a person's life. Mathilde's fixation with the necklace prompts her to borrow it to look elegant and luxurious, reflecting her obsession with appearances. The necklace's loss and the subsequent hardships Mathilde and ...
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Analysis. In 'The Necklace', Guy de Maupassant explores the relationship between appearance and reality. The necklace, of course, is the most explicit example of this: it looks like a genuine diamond necklace but is actually an imitation or fake. And this final twist in the tale leads us to think more carefully about the other details of ...
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Analysis. Mathilde Loisel is a pretty and charming woman who was born, "as if through some blunder of fate," into a middle-class family. Without a dowry or a point of entry into high society, she is unable to find a wealthy husband, and so she marries M. Loisel, a clerk who works for the Ministry of Education.
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3 pages / 1181 words. In the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, the class a person is born into is everything. The class you hold controls your life, your actions, and even your career. In this story, a beautiful woman named Mathilde Loisel is born into a... The Necklace Social Class.
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The Necklace: Analysis of the Story's Ending. By using Mathilde as the protagonist in the story, Maupassant is able to create an ironic ending that the readers do not expect. Several moral lessons can also be learnt when one reads of the calamity that befalls Mathilde and the husband. The character of Mathilde has changed drastically at the ...
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Imagine a simple twist of fate that forever alters your life - this is the captivating premise of "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. First published in 1884 within the French newspaper Le Gaulois, this short story later found a home in Maupassant's broader collection, Boule de Suif.With its focus on the deceptive nature of appearances, the relentless pursuit of social status, and the ...
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The Necklace: Introduction. Written by Guy de Maupassant in 1881, The Necklace is a captivating short story that ends in a surprise. It is the most eye-catching work of Maupassant with all words contributing to the events that the narrative unfolds. It has garnered him a lot of acknowledgment.
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In addition, "The Necklace" takes place in late-nineteenth century Paris, a highly unequal and class-based society. The upper classes were populated by wealthy and powerful capitalists, leaving very little room for the rest of the population. "The Necklace" faithfully depicts this extreme inequality as Mathilde Loisel moves between the ...
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Oppression plays a large role in the brilliant short story by Guy de Maupassant entitled "The Necklace". In it, a middle-class woman, Matilda Loisel, who dreams of a luxurious life, is able to have one, glorious night at a ball, wearing a borrowed necklace of diamonds from her childhood friend. Sometime during the night of the ball, the ...
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The Necklace (La Parure) is a short story by Guy de Maupassant. By the time "The Necklace" was first published, Maupassant had already established his reputation as one of France 's foremost short story writers. The Necklace was first published in 1884 in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. The story has become one of Maupassant's most popular ...
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the necklace -critical essay- quotes and analysis (characterisation q) paragraph 1 - she was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. Click the card to flip 👆. Maupassant starts the story off by introducing the main character- Mathilde. He mentions that she was born pretty ...
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In the annals of American history, few presidencies have evoked as much controversy, polarization, and scrutiny as that of Donald J. Trump. From the moment he descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for the highest office in the land, Trump's presidency was marked by unconventional leadership, unprecedented policy shifts, and a relentless media spotlight.