The Necklace Story

In the Necklace, the writer uses a variety of techniques to present the theme of sorrow and sadness in the text. At the beginning, the writer uses vivid description “She was one of those pretty, delightful girls…” to describe Madame Loisel as a cheerful person who is loved and is always enlightened, but this is contrasted by the hyperbole used in the next line “…error of fate” which shows that despite the fact that she was a beautiful woman, she was not as happy as the reader would expect her to be.

She wasn’t able to marry the man of her expectations and so she “went along with a proposal made by a junior clerk” which denotes the fact that she did not want this to happen but she had no other choice.

The writer goes on to use strong adjectives “…peeling … battered … ugly” to create sympathy towards Madame Loisel and to understand how difficult her situation is. This is contrasted with the adjectives used after this “…oriental … bronze … pretty” which differentiates the environment that Madame Loisel should have been in from what she is in right now.

Her social class should have enabled her to be filled with elegance, but instead, she is surrounded by poverty and therefore she is in despair because of this.

The writer also uses negative diction “…no fine dresses, no jewellery, nothing.” to show how desperate Madame Loisel was to belong to be at the top of the social hierarchy, but this could not happen because of the state in which she was left as the result of her marriage to a junior clerk in the ministry of education.

The writer uses violent verbs “tore” to express Madame Loisel’s excitement over receiving good news from her husband but this is contrasted again with the reaction she gives next, and the writer uses the verb “tossed” to show how devastated Madame Loisel after finding out that the news she is given is worthless. The reaction she gives to her husband is a result of the pain that she goes through, as she is not where she belongs.

Emotive language has also been used “Give the invite to one of your colleagues with a wife who is better off for close than I am” This conveys the idea of a lack of hope and happiness. Madame Loisel is sad because she doesn’t have expensive clothes to express herself lavishly with, and therefore she would rather stay at home than go out and face the embarrassment from all directions.

There is also a use of a simile “… like a church mouse”. This is used to identify Madame Loisel as poor and the fact that Guy de Maupassant calls her a church mouse reiterates the idea of living off food, that has fallen from other people’s mouths. This element also contributes to the point of Madame Loisel being extremely unhappy.

There has been a wide use of dialogue in the text, and this has been majorly used to denote the feelings that both Madame and Monsieur Loisel have got towards each other. However, this is strongly brought out by the use of ellipsis. For instance, “I… I… Madame Forestier’s necklace … I haven’t got it!” This highlights on the anxiety that Madame Loisel faced after realizing that her necklace was gone. It also portrays her as careless but it also creates tension and leaves the reader questioning her actions and wondering what will happen once Madame Forestier finds out that her necklace is gone. This also shows how stressed Madame Loisel feels and the burden that she has on top of her shoulders of looking for a very valuable necklace.

The writer has used a short, simple sentence “A week later they had lost all hope.” This appeals to the emotions of the reader as he or she feels pity or satisfied (depending on the way the reader looks at the dilemma being experienced by the couple)