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Adrienne Lesnett
Mrs. Lesnett
Freshman Honors English
September 27, 2012
“The Necklace”
“But sometimes, when her husband was at the office, she sat down by the window and
she thought of that evening long ago, of that ball, where she had been so beautiful and so
admired” (de Maupassant 206). Madame Loisel, the protagonist in Guy de Maupassant’s short
story “The Necklace,” married a man who was a hardworking civil servant. She believed she was
entitled to so much more than her station in life allowed. Her husband managed to procure an
invitation to a ball and Mathilde borrowed a diamond necklace from a friend, Madame Forestier.
After returning home, the Loisels discovered the necklace was missing. After purchasing a
replacement, they worked for ten years to repay their debt, only to learn that the original piece of
jewelry was a fake. In “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant examines the evolution of Madame
Loisel’s love for her husband as she moves from a position of selfishness and dishonesty to one
of open communication.
Opening Paragraph Option #2
According to a May 18, 2011 article published in the Washington Post, “Three in four
couples who married after 1990 celebrated a 10-year anniversary, according to census
statistics…” This statistic indicates that many couples are willing to work at making their
marriages successful. Guy de Maupassant explores the role of marriage in his short story “The
Necklace.” Continue here with the plot, ending with the thesis statement.
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Works Cited
de Maupassant, Guy. The Necklace. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1991. 201206. Print.
Morello, Carol. "Number of Long-Lasting Marriages in U.S. Has Risen, Census Bureau
Reports." Washington Post 18 May 2011, Post Local n. pag. Web. 24 Sep. 2012.
Note: This is only included if you choose option #2 – an outside source.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/number-of-long-lasting-marriages-in-us-has-risen-censusbureau-reports/2011/05/18/AFO8dW6G_story.html