Draft Two~
Eileen Chen
2007-5-22
Draft two
What is the major cause of Losiel’s tragedy?
Introduction:
“The Necklace”, as one of the most famous representative work of Guy de Maupassant, tells a story that happened in late nineteenth-century with a social background of strict hierarchy system... Mathilde Losiel is the main character in the story that is of relatively humble birth at that period and the story is about Losiel’s mistake of loosing a gorgeous necklace she borrowed from her friend after a party in which she “made a great success” by her perfect appearance. Although at the end of the story, that necklace turned out to be a fake one, Losiel and her husband paid heavy price---they worked day and night for 10 years to pay back all the debt. The story seemed to be like a tragedy for Losiel and people always blame her with her vanity to be a shinning star at that upper-class ball which, in their minds, does not belong to her, or to say, her class. They think what she did make the result reasonable. However, personally, I still have doubt on that. I cannot help sprouting a question: Is Losiel’s vanity really the major cause of her tragedy? As to it, basically, I will not hesitate to say “no”.
After browsing “The Necklace”, written by Guy de Maupassant, it is common that most readers will form such a view---Greed and a total lack of rational faculty should be regarded as the major cause leading to Losiel’s harsh tragedy. However, to some extend, I insist that we should go deeper into the story and actually, from my point of view, I firmly believe that class distinctions, instead of Losiel’s vanity must be the responsible reason for her misery. In order to make it clearer, I would like to list some evidence below:
First and foremost, we can begin with the background of the story. “‘The necklace’, is set in late nineteenth-century Paris, where society was organized on a class basis.” “It was extremely difficult for people to change or move from the class into which they were born.” That unique social background plays a vital role in the formation of Losiel’s character. That means although we cannot deny that Losiel’s vanity should be responsible for the tragedy, yet I think, that is only a superficial way to judge the cause. As it is described in the story, “She (Losiel) was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks”. “She suffered from the poverty……”. So if trying to think it over and over again, we can easily find out that ,in reality, it is the class distinction that forces Losiel to do so but not her own character. From other perspective, maybe we can say Losiel herself is also the victim of that curial and severe class system. Pretty is her nature gift from God, blue blooded is a dream inside every pretty girl’s and Losiel is no exception. Regarded to this, how can we blame her anymore for such a normal desire? She was not willing to bother anyone or to pursue anything evil. Instead, from my eyes, she was just a poor girl who kept trying to realize a dream of being Cinderella. What deservers to be blamed?
Secondly, from the background of the story we can also find out that the class distinctions have a great affluence on not only Losiel’s character but also the atmosphere of the whole society. That, I think, makes what Losiel did more understandable. We can see it from the invitation of the party, “it is very select, everyone wants to go”, “I had awful trouble to get it”, “they are not giving many invitations to clerks”. From that we can see that people at that time were tied closely to the strict hierarchy system, trying every means to get rid of the humble birth. They were in pursuit of the approval by upper-class, even in superficial way like equipping them with luxury articles. From what is stated above, we may change the previous view and consider that living in such a society upholding wealth, Losiel’s choice is natural and reasonable. Even we can say that it is the trend of the society that eventually result in the tragedy and the trend, I think, origins from the class distinctions at that time.
Last but by no means the least, I have positive attitude towards this lady. I think hidden inside every girl is a fantasy to become graceful, adorable lady with a wealthy background, it’s really something that we should not blame to. What causes the sad ending is, I think, the class system in that cruel society instead of Motile herself. She is, to some extend, a slave of the rich flamboyant upper-class. She is a common girl and has the same dream like other girls at her age. “She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, and to be sought after.” She tried to make some changes confronting to the harsh reality, the humble background, the precise hierarchy at that special time. From my side, that’s nothing we should criticize and I’d rather regard her as a symbol of honest, brave, adorable people rather than a coward or a thief. She took lessons and made compensation with 10-yearrs hard-working. However, she failed in that merciless society. So I cannot agree the idea that considers Losiel’s vanity as the major cause of the misery.
All in all, every evidence stated above points out an undeniable conclusion that it is the class distinction but not Losiel’s vanity that should shoulders the responsibility for the tragedy.
