Guy de maupassant the necklace theme

Gender plays a large role in this short story, as it did in 19th-century French society. In the story, Madame Loisel is a woman dissatisfied with her social class, but, as a woman, she can do nothing to change this position besides marrying someone of higher class.

On this topic, Maupassant writes, "women belong to no caste, no race; their grace, their beauty, and their charm serving them in the place of birth and family."(p) Once married, she and her husband have very different goals that map across their gender roles; for example, at one point Mathilde’s weeping convinces M.

Loisel to give her money for a new dress that he had planned to spend on a gun. When M. and Mme. Loisel are both forced to work due to their financial strain, they take on gendered jobs: she does housework and washes the clothes of others, and he takes on additional bookkeeping duties.

Works of Literary Realism often focus on the theme of social class, and "The Necklace" is certainly an example of this. Mme.