The Necklace (Guy de Maupassant)
THE NECKLACE
GUY DE MAUPASSANT
AUTHOR'S BIOGRAPHY
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant, French; ( 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a French writer, and a representative of the naturalist school of writers, who depicted human lives and destinies and social forces in disillusioned often pessimistic terms.
His stories are characterized by economy of style and efficiency. The Franco Prussian war broke out soon after his graduation from college in 1870; he enlisted as a volunteer. In 1871, he left Normandy and moved to Paris.During this time his only recreation and relaxation were boating on the Seine on Sundays and holidays.
Gustave Flaubert took him under his protection and acted as a kind of literary guardian to him, guiding his debut in journalism and literature.
He wrote and played himself in a comedy in 1875 (with the benediction of Flaubert), "A la Feuille de rose, Maison Turque.
In 1878, he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instruction and became a contributing editor to several leading newspapers such as "Le Figaro", "Gil Blas", "Le Gaulois and I'Echo de Paris". He devoted his spare time to writing novels and short stories.
In 1880 he published what is considered his first masterpiece, "Boule de Suif", which met with instant and tremendous success. Flaubert characterized it as "a masterpiece that will endure." This was Maupassant's first piece of short fiction set during the Franco-Prussian War, and was followed by short stories such as "Deux Amis", "Mother Savage" and "Mademoiselle Fifi".
The decade from 1880 to 1891 was the most fertile period of Maupassant's life. Made famous by his first short story, he worked methodically and produced two or sometimes four volumes annually. His talent and practical business sense made him wealthy.
“The Necklace,” or “La Parure” in French, first appeared in the Parisian Newspaper Le Gaulois in 1884. The story was an immediate success, and Maupassant later included it in his short-story collection Tales of Day and Night (1885).
He traveled extensively during this time and often produced his best writing on the road, writing newspaper articles, essays, and travelogues in addition to fiction.
In 1881 he published his first volume of short stories under the title of "La Maison Tellier"; it reached its twelfth edition within two years.
In 1883 he finished his first novel, "Une Vie" (translated into English as "A Woman's Life"), 25,000 copies of which were sold in less than a year. His second novel "Bel Ami", which came out in 1885, had thirty-seven printings in four months.
He also wrote under several pseudonyms such as Joseph Prunier, Guy de Valmont, and Maufrigneuse, which he used from 1881 to 1885.
He developed a constant desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation and a fear of death and paranoia of persecution caused by syphilis he had contracted in his youth.
He tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat, was committed to the private asylum of Espirit Blanche in Paris, where he died, ( July6, 1893). He penned his own epitaph: "I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing". He is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
He became close with Gustave Flaubert, a friend of his mother’s and the author of Madame Bovary (1857). Flaubert introduced him to several other prominent writers and spurred Maupassant to focus on his writing. As a result, Maupassant began producing a fair amount of short fiction on his own.
I think this will be a romantic story. The necklace is an important and vital piece in it. The story is around it. It will have suspense and love. The main character must be a pretty young lady involved with a guy. The necklace should have a story or must be a sign of something special. Maybe is a sing or royalty or around it is a fortune.
ANALYSIS OR CONNECTION BETWEEN LITERARY WORK AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The connection is his own life, the story is written with unexpected twists, the characters which anyone might not think about, symbols that many seem to miss, and principles that few understand, but can see the life and ways of a person, every word has a significance.
Maupassant sought to explore the deeper meanings of everyday events, and his writing style has influenced other literary greats such as Anton Chekhov and O. Henry
LITERARY MOVEMENT
Naturalism is a literary movement that emphasizes observation and scientific method in the fictional portrayal of reality.Novelists writing in the naturalist mode include Emile Zola (its founder) Thomas Hardy, Theodore Dreiser, Stephen Crane and Guy de Maupassant.
Maupassant, like his mentor, Flaubert, believed that fiction should convey reality with as much accuracy as possible. He strived for objectivity rather than psychological exploration or romantic descriptions, preferring to structure his stories and novels around clearly defined plot lines and specific, observable details.
COUNTRY
The story was written in Paris, France. In the time in which the social classes were really marked.
GENRE/TYPE
Maupassant was a student of the great French author Flaubert, who was a founding figure of "Realism" as a literary genre.Realism meant often meant writing about "average" people – not super-rich, or famous, or holy, or good, or even happy people. Not terribly exciting people either.
Usually, the "average" person meant a middle-class person, and particularly the bored, unhappy middle-class person who longs to live the more exciting life of the rich and famous.
"The Necklace" has a clear moral message, which is a simple work meant to illustrate a "moral." You might not think the story has an obvious moral. It. is a short story
DID YOU CONFIRM YOUR PREDICTIONS?
My predictions were wrong. The story isn´t as I thought, it is like a parable, where you can find a moral occulting in it.
It is a love story, between the couple, because the man did everything he can for the happiness of his woman. He used his savings, he borrowed money, he worked extra hours to pay the money.
The necklace was the thing around the story happens because it was the center of the story.
They thought the necklace was a real diamond one, that is why they were so worried about it, but at least it was just an imitation.
References
Biografias y vidas
La enciclopedia biográfica en línea
https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/m/maupassant.htmThe Literature network
http://www.online-literature.com/periods/naturalism.php
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