The Necklace (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A)

Revision Note

Written by: Deb Orrock

Reviewed by: Kate Lee

The Necklace Analysis

Students studying the Pearson Edexcel IGCSE English Language A qualification will study all of the English language poetry and prose texts in Part 2 of the Anthology for Paper 2 (examined) or for Paper 3 (non-examined coursework).

If you are sitting the paper two exam, you will be asked to analyse one of the poems or prose texts, which will be included in the question paper. You will have one question to answer about one of these texts in the exam, and you will be asked to analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects.

The following guide to The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant contains:

The Necklace overview
The Necklace summary
Themes, ideas and perspectives in The Necklace
How does Maupassant present his ideas and perspectives?

The Necklace overview

The Necklace is a short story published in 1884 by French author Guy de Maupassant, set in a time in which Paris was experiencing a period of social, economic and technological change, leading to an unequal, class-based society, which focused on material wealth and consumerism.

As a writer, Maupassant is known for his use of plot twists, and this particular text tells the story of a beautiful but poor young woman, Mathilde Loisel, who believes she has married beneath her and envies the wealth of others. It is a cautionary tale that warns against materialism and the dangers of social ambition.

The Necklace summary

The story opens by introducing Mathilde who, having no dowry and no means of attracting a rich suitor, married a junior clerk in the Ministry of Education. She is unhappy with her circumstances, as she feels she should have a life of refinement and luxury.

Mathilde and her husband are invited to a Ministry ball, which her husband thought she would be pleased about, but Mathilde is distraught as she believes she has nothing to wear. Her husband offers her the money he was saving to buy a gun and go on a hunting trip, but Mathilde is still not satisfied. In the end, she swallows her pride and visits her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, who lends her a diamond necklace. They attend the ball but as they leave, she loses the necklace.

The couple panic, believing the necklace to be worth a fortune, and having tried unsuccessfully to find it, search the shops for a replacement. They borrow the money to buy a replacement and give it to Madame Forestier.

However, for the next ten years, both Mathilde and her husband have to take on extra work to pay off the debt. After ten years, with the debt paid off, Mathilde runs into Madame Forestier again, and feels it safe to reveal the secret. Madame Forestier then reveals that the necklace was a fake, worth hardly any money.

Themes, ideas and perspectives in The Necklace

Paper 2, Question 1 will ask you how the writer has presented a certain theme, idea or perspective in the text by analysing the language and structure the writer has used. Remember to support your answer with close reference to the text, including brief quotations.

What are the key themes in The Necklace?

Theme	Analysis
Materialism, greed and vanity	Maupassant offers a critique of characters who value wealth and material possessions over everything else: Mathilde cares only for material goods and symbols of wealth and prestige, believing she will be “popular, envied, attractive, and in demand” Her happiness is completely dependent on what she possesses, believing that a lack of possessions is the cause of her unhappiness
	It is Mathilde’s greed, vanity and social ambition that are the ultimate cause of her ruin: She fears the higher classes will reject her due to her lack of wealth She is happy at the ball because she was a “success” and “all the men looked at her” She floated metaphorically on “a cloud of happiness composed of the homage, admiration, and desire she evoked” She rushes to leave the ball, fearing social contempt for not wearing “rich furs”, causing her to lose the necklace Maupassant suggests that material possessions cannot guarantee long-lasting happiness
	Maupassant employs irony as despite Mathilde’s obsession with valuable items, she fails to recognise the necklace is fake: She attributes value to things based on superficial ideas about monetary cost The debt that she and her husband take on to replace it is the natural consequence of her greed
	Through Mathilde, Maupassant is criticising the standards of the society in which he lived and their value system: In France at the time, wealth was synonymous with social status
Appearance versus reality	Mathilde attempts to appear richer than she is: She achieves success (having the appearance of wealth at the ball) by borrowing a fake necklace Instead of admitting the reality, that she has lost the necklace, Mathilde keeps up appearances, ruining herself and her husband in order to buy a replacement None of the characters recognise the difference between real and fake
	Throughout the story, Mathilde believes that her appearance and current circumstances do not match her expectations of reality: This makes her constantly unhappy, as she feels trapped in a social class she does not wish to belong to
	The twist at the end of the story suggests that, even for the rich, illusion is just as important in maintaining their social status

How does Maupassant present his ideas and perspectives?

Maupassant uses a variety of language and structural techniques:

Technique	Analysis
Third-person omniscient narrator	The story is an example of French naturalism: The narrator relates the main details of the story in concise prose, without detailed insight into the characters’ thoughts and feelings The efficiency of style makes the plot twist at the end even more abrupt and surprising
Symbolism	The necklace is symbolic of the life Mathilde believes she should have had: However, the necklace is symbolic, a form of pretense, just like Mathilde’s dress and behaviour at the ball Maupassant may be suggesting that materialism is both shallow and worthless
Dramatic irony	At the ball, the reader is aware that Mathilde is pretending to be something she isn’t, but the other characters in the scene are unaware: This emphasises the theme of appearances versus reality, as both Mathilde and her necklace are frauds
Foreshadowing and irony	When the Loisels take the necklace case to the jeweller, the writer foreshadows the story’s twist ending when it is revealed that the jeweller supplied only the case, not the necklace The irony of the whole story is revealed when Mathilde discovers that the necklace was a fake: The ending shatters the illusion — Mathilde’s ten years of poverty were penance for carelessly losing the borrowing necklace Her misery is the result of her duplicity and lies Mathilde’s much prized beauty is ironically destroyed by ten years’ hard labour: Her new life also ironically makes her old one seem luxurious