Biography of guy de maupassant the necklace

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Analysis of “Guy de Maupassant, The Necklace” BZM 1
Esra Minniti

Western Governors University

A. Analyze the historical Context

Realism overlapped with the Romantic Period from around the 19th century to the early 20th century. The major events of the Realism were Darwinism, Industrialization and Marxism, and Individualism.

Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” (1859) was a major publication that was written to prove that every species, including human, went through natural selection, where the dominant genes that were needed for survival were given to the next generation. With the industrial Revolution and “technological advances such as steam locomotives, electricity, and steel processing”, urbanization occurred. Also the development of social classes of upper and lower classes developed. Karl Marx was the one who criticized that the gap between the worker class and upper class will eventually lead to revolution. He represented this idea in his work “Communist Manifesto” written in 1848.

John Stuart Mill developed “Utilitarianism”, the idea of what is morally right according to what is best for the community. Another important subject of the “Realism” time was Individualism. In the center of this idea was portraying realistic people during that time, most importantly, the worker class. One of the major innovations was the development of photography, which realism artists used to portray detailed reflections of everyday humans. Another important innovation was tube colors. With these artists were able to paint outside of their homes and were able to capture their art on site.

Later in the 19th century artist were importing Japans art of wood painting and incorporating this tool into their own artistic creations.

Exploration of a Particular Theme or Style

Guy de Maupassant and his work “The Necklace” shows how a woman from a lower class in society is trying to become part of the upper class, rich women. She borrows a necklace to go to a gathering at the palace that is held by the Minister and his wife. This work is a good example of the “realism” subject of portraying the contemporary life of the people during that time. It emphasises on the different societal classes. The main idea of this work is the importance of your societal class and how every woman is trying to be part of something better. Every woman wants to feel beautiful, beloved and wanted. ( “She would so have liked to be please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after”. ) (Maupassant,1884)

It also refers to the struggle of the working class of the society because it shows us how just for that one necklace they had to work 10 years to pay off their debt. That is a way of pointing out the struggles of the working class. The elevation of the societal class is represented by how every woman wants to be “with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire” (Maupassannt, 1884).

Contribution to the Humanities

Guy de Maupassannt contributed to the humanities with his short stories. He was considered a “master of this literature form and wrote more than 300 short stories” (Gaylor). He “detailed many aspects of French Lives in the 19th century, which is one of the major themes of realism. He made a huge impact on modern literacy. Some of the best known artists for whom Maupassant was an inspiration include W.Somerset Maugham , O. Henry and Henry James. (Lombardi 2019).

He was very interested in Psychology maybe because he suffered from Syphilis, like his brother, who died at an early age from this disease, which caused him to have a mental disorder. Like his brother Maupassant also suffered from a Mental disorder after he was diagnosed with syphilis. His mental disorder was also seen in his works like the horror fiction “The INN”. Even so he only wrote 39 stories during this time it had significant importance to like Steven Spielberg's Novel “The Shining” (Lombardi, 2019)

Resources :

Lombardi, Esther. (2019). Biography of Guy de Maupassant, The Father of Short Stories. Retrived from https://www.thoughco.com/guy-de-maupassant-biography-740701

Maupassant, Guy de (1884). The Necklace.

Gaylor, Annie Laurie. Guy de Maupassant.

Retrieved from https://ffrf.org/news/day/dayitems/item/14495-guy-de-maupassant

MindEdge Inc. (2014). Introduction to the humanities. Waltham, MA: MindEdge, Inc.