Monday, November 5, 2012

What are some examples of foreshadowing in Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace"?

First off, see the links below for other very good discussions about this same question.


I would say there is very little foreshadowing in this story. To use foreshadowing would eliminate the sense of shock which comes over the reader after the final lines of the story, when Madame Forestier reveals the necklace was really a fake. De Maupassant does, however, hint at the reason for the necklace's loss immediately after Madame Loisel leaves the ball. She has had an incredible time and has been the most popular woman there, invited to dance throughout the night—so much so that her husband ends up sleeping in a sitting room until the ball is finished.


When Monsieur Loisel goes to place the "modest garments of everyday life" around her shoulders, she recoils and rushes away from him. She is so narcissistic that she doesn't want the other women to see her "shabby" coat. De Maupassant writes,











He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought for going home, modest garments of everyday life whose shabbiness clashed with the stylishness of her evening clothes. She felt this and longed to escape, unseen by the other women who were draped in expensive furs.


Loisel held her back.






“Hold on! You’ll catch cold outside. I’ll call a cab.”
But she wouldn’t listen to him and went rapidly down the stairs.



























More than likely, Madame Loisel loses the necklace in her haste to leave the ball and not be revealed as middle class. The same conceit which made her long to be wealthy and admired eventually plunges her into poverty as the necklace is lost in her speedy retreat.













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