我要莫泊桑的项链的英文点评不用太长200-300单词左右

"The Necklace"

by Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant was the child of an unhappy marriage. His mother has been dessccrriibbeedd as neurotic and his father as a man who sought relief from his wife in the arms of other women. Perhaps the collapse of his parents' marriage engendered de Maupassant's pessimism, reflected particularly in his stories about infidelity and failed relationships. It certainly influenced his own attitude toward women, which, in turn, affected his creation of characters in stories such as "The Necklace."

Events in History at the Time of the short story

The purpose of women. De Maupassant's attitude toward women was ambivalent. He was one of few nineteenth-century authors to recognize and celebrate women's sensuality rather than regard it as a sign of corruption. He was also, however, devastatingly cruel to women, whether in his own life or in his fiction. He recommended that the French Academy commission a treatise on how to "break decently, properly, politely, without noise, scene or violence, with a woman who adores you and with whom you are fed up" (de Maupassant in Steegmuller, p. 178). He scoffed at monogamy, insisting that he could not understand how two women could not be better than one, three better than two, and ten better than three.

An Introduction

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 Plot Begins

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

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?. 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.

Masterfully Portrayed

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?. Maupassant continues to explain her reaction and how she becomes ?irritated? and impatient with her husband.

Supposed Poverty

Mathilde does not believe her own possessions to be valuable and believes that people of her social class assume things are only valuable if they are expensive. She fails to realize that objects only have value as long as someone prizes them. 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.

The Use of Irony

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. Maupassant asserts that the people who survive the misfortunes of life are somehow stronger and therefore actually benefit from their adversities.

In Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read my review of Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace". I hope that my review has been both helpful and enjoyable for you to read.

The Necklace Summary | Detailed Summary

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant starts with a description of a young woman, Mrs. Matilda Loisel. She is pretty and charming, but unfortunately she was born into a family of clerks. Because of her family's middle class stature, she has no hopes of becoming rich, famous or distinguished. Therefore, she agrees to marry a clerk in the Board of Education.

Matilda's modest life style makes her miserable. She suffers constantly because she feels that she should have been born into luxury. Everything about her surroundings depresses her, including her furniture and faded linens. Most women of her social stature would not even notice the things she sees as great flaws when surveying her apartment. She thinks about luxurious antechambers, with Oriental tapestries, bronze torches and servants who are made sleepy by decadent heating systems. Matilda longs for expensive bric-a-brac and ornate little rooms where ladies receive attention from well-known, wealthy men.

Her husband seems happy with the very things that depress her, including their meager meals. While she looks at the dirty tablecloth on the dining table, her husband exclaims with joy over simple pleasures and meager meals. She, meanwhile, thinks of all of the gourmet dinners in opulent rooms that she is missing.

"She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted."

Her pain is so great that she cannot visit a rich friend because, upon returning home, she would cry for days over the despair of not having the things she desires.

One night, her husband comes home elated. He has an invitation in his hand for a party at the house of the Minster of Public Instruction. Instead of being happy, she is angry and spiteful, asking what she is supposed to do with it. Her husband says he thought it would make her happy. He went to great lengths to secure the invitation and promises she will see very important people at the event. She tells him she has nothing to wear. When he suggests that she wears the dress she dons when they attend the theater, she weeps. She says that she has no appropriate dress and that he should give the invitation to a colleague whose wife has a better wardrobe.

Matilda's husband asks what it would cost to buy a suitable dress. She decides that it would take about four hundred francs. He is dismayed because that is the exact amount he has saved to buy a gun. He had been hopping to join some hunting parties during the upcoming summer. Nevertheless, he agrees to give her the money.

It is now closer to the day of the ball. Matilda is sad, even though her dress is nearly ready. Her husband asks what is wrong, and she says she does not want to go the ball because she does not have jewelry to wear. He suggests wearing a few flowers, which look chic that season. She refuses, saying, "There is nothing more humiliating than to have a shabby air in the midst of rich women."

Her husband is pleased to come up with a solution to her problem. He suggests she goes to her friend, Mrs. Forestier, to ask her to lend Matilda some jewels. Matilda is thrilled by the suggestion. The next day, she goes to Mrs. Forestier's house and explains the situation. The woman gives her a jewelry case to look through and tells her to pick whatever she likes. At first, she sees some fine jewelry, but nothing seems just right. She asks Mrs. Forestier if she has anything else. Mrs. Forestier tells Matilda to look and see, because she is not sure what Matilda is looking for. Suddenly, Matilda discovers a superb diamond necklace. Her heart beats faster just looking at it. She is blissfully happy. She asks Mrs. Forestier if she can borrow the necklace. When the woman agrees, Matilda is overjoyed and embraces her with passion.

The night of the ball, "Madame" Loisel is a great success. She is the most beautiful, elegant, and joyful woman at the party. All of the men notice her and want to meet her. Even the Minister of Education pays attention to her. For that one night, she is happier than she has ever been.

She goes home at four o'clock in the morning. Her husband has been ready to go since midnight and has been half-asleep in a little salon with three other men whose wives were having a good time. They prepare to leave, but her modest coat embarrasses her. Her husband tells her to wait inside while he finds a cab, but she runs outside because she does not want the women wearing furs to see her everyday coat.

They do not find a cab and must walk in the cold for a while. They finally find a ride to their home. They walk wearily into their apartment. Her night is over, and he must be at the office in just a few hours. In a moment of horror, she realizes the necklace is no longer around her neck. Her husband retraces their steps. At seven o'clock, he returns empty-handed. The next morning, he goes to the police and cab offices and advertises in the newspapers, but the necklace does not turn up. He tells Matilda to write to Mrs. Forestier and tell her that she has broken the clasp on the necklace and must have it repaired. They hope it will buy them some time.

However, at the end of the week, the necklace is still missing. Mr. Loisel says that they must replace the jewelry. They go from jeweler to jeweler, looking for a necklace like the one Matilda lost. Finally, they find one that looks right. Even at a discount, it will cost them thirty-six thousand francs. Loisel only has eighteen thousand francs he inherited from his father. He borrows the rest from multiple sources, risking his whole future without knowing if he can ever repay the enormous debt. Matilda returns the necklace to Mrs. Forestier, who is angry that she did not get it back sooner.

Matilda now learns what it is like to live in real poverty. The couple gets rid of the maid and moves into smaller, attic rooms. Matilda must work endlessly doing even the most menial chores she once paid others to perform. Her husband works evenings doing copying and accounting. This miserable poverty lasts for ten years until they can repay the loans.

Now Mrs. Loisel seems old and weathered. She is no longer beautiful. Her hair, skin and nails are wrecked. However, sometimes when her husband is at work, she sits in the window and remembers that wonderful night when she was pretty and sought after. She thinks how her life would have been different if she had not lost the necklace.

One Sunday, while taking a walk, Matilda sees Mrs. Forestier. The woman is still young and pretty. Matilda says hello, but at first, her friend does not recognize the rough woman in front of her. When Matilda reveals her identity, Mrs. Forestier is astonished. Matilda tells Mrs. Forestier the truth about the necklace. She says it was very difficult, but the debt is repaid and she is now content with her life. She is pleased Mrs. Forestier never noticed the diamonds had been switched.

Mrs. Forestier is shocked and takes her hands. She tells Matilda that the diamond necklace she borrowed was fake and not worth more than five hundred francs.

A pretty woman of low social status feels unsatisfied with her husband and her life. She gets the opportunity to attend a ball of sorts, and feels that she must look "high class" so she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend. She goes to the ball, and relishes in feeling special. When she gets home, however, she finds that the necklace is missing. She and her husband search desperately for it, but cannot find it. They go to a shop, and see that the same necklace is being sold for a huge amount of money. They purchase it, vowing to pay off the debt. It takes them years, but after working ceaselessly, the pay off all the debt. By that time, the woman has completely lost her beauty. She bumps into the old friend on the street, and confesses to her that she had lost her original necklace, and had just paid off the debt on the one that she had been given to replace it. The friend is in shock, and tells her that the necklace that she had given her was a fake, and cost almost nothing.

Plot Summary

"The Necklace" begins with a description of Madame Mathilde Loisel. Though she is "pretty and charming," she and her husband, a clerk in the Ministry of Education, are not well off financially. She has always dreamed of a life of leisure, with attentive servants and a large home, but her lifestyle is decidedly more modest. Ashamed of her social standing, she no longer visits Madame Forestier, an old school friend who has become rich.

When the Loisels are invited to a ball, Madame Loisel becomes very upset, insisting that she has nothing appropriate to wear to such an event. Hoping to make his wife feel better, Monsieur Loisel offers to buy her a new dress. As the ball approaches, Madame Loisel again becomes anxious because she has no jewels to wear.

以上都是老外写的

之后再给你介绍几个网站：

/essay/The_Necklace

看一下这个，上面有多篇student写的关于the necklace的essay,大多是从不同角度分析的。比如说：The Effect of Social Environment on One's Character in Literature

当然上面文章不是每篇都可以免费看全文的（人家版权保护的好啊），有free字样的可以，premium的就不可以，但是可以看到很大一部分的节选，比如Character Comparisons。我想这对做charaterization多少还是有点帮助的。

另外还有几篇关于写作手法和文章分析的：

/viewpaper/6495.html

这篇主要讲symbolism在文章中的运用

/essay/002502.html

这篇是讲irony的运用

/essay.php?t=28499

这个是通篇的分析

understanding fiction貌似保护的比较好，要想免费看估计比较困难，不过个人觉得网上的资料已经足够了，要真想看图书馆借或许。。。