MOTIVATI

ON

Mechanics

WHAT
IS A
SHORT
STORY?

Short Story
usually concerned with a single effect
conveyed in only one or a few significant
episodes or scenes. The form encourages
economy of setting, concise narrative, and the
omission of a complexplot;characteris
disclosed in action and dramatic encounter
but is seldom fully developed. Despite its
relatively limited scope, though, a short story
is often judged by its ability to provide a
complete or satisfying treatment of its
characters and subject.

Unfamiliar Words

WHO IS GUY DE
MAUPASSANT?

Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant(Aug 5,

1850 - Jul 6, 1893) was a popular French
author who wrote under the pen nameGuy de
Maupassant. He is considered one of the
fathers of the modern short story as well
as one of its finest practitioners. His prolific
and deeply admired body of work influenced a
great number of writers includingSomerset
Maugham,O. Henry,Anton Chekhov, and
Henry James.

Video

Skit

SUMMARY

Elements of a
Short Story

Characte
rs

Mathilde Loisel- The protagonist of the story. Mathilde

has been blessed with physical beauty but not with the
affluent lifestyle she yearns for, and she feels deeply
discontented with her lot in life. When she prepares to attend
a fancy party, she borrows a diamond necklace from her
friend Madame Forestier, then loses the necklace and must
work for ten years to pay off a replacement. Her one night of
radiance cost her and Monsieur Loisel any chance for future
Monsieur Loisel- Mathildes husband. Monsieur Loisel is
happiness.
content with the small pleasures of his life but does his best to
appease Mathildes demands and assuage her complaints. He
loves Mathilde immensely but does not truly understand her,
and he seems to underestimate the depth of her unhappiness.
When Mathilde loses the necklace, Monsieur Loisel sacrifices
his own future to help her repay the debt. He pays dearly for
something he had never wanted in the first place.

Characte
rs
Madame Forestier- Mathildes wealthy friend. Madame
Forestier treats Mathilde kindly, but Mathilde is bitterly jealous
of Madame Forestiers wealth, and the kindness pains her.
Madame Forestier lends Mathilde the necklace for the party
and does not inspect it when Mathilde returns it. She is
horrified to realize that Mathilde has wasted her life trying to
pay for a replacement necklace, when the original necklace
had actually been worth nothing.

Plot
A.) Introduction

Mathilde, the main woman character in this short story, is

being described as unhappy because of her and her
husbands being poor.

B) Rising Action

The complication starts when she and her husband are

invited to a rich peoples ball. She buys a new gown, and to
go with it, she borrows an elegant diamond necklace from her
friend Madame Forestier.

Plot
C.) Climax

The peak of this short story iswhen Mathilde discovers that

she lost the diamond necklace.
D.) Falling action

To replace the lost diamond necklace, Mathilde and her

husband buy another one exactly the same, for thirty-four
thousand francs, from its original price of forty francs, such a
very big amount of money for the couple. The eighteen
thousand francs was inherited by her husband from his
father, and the rest of the amount he borrows from various
sources.

Plot
E.) Denouement

The problem resolves itself, though in a negative

manner, when Mathilde and Madame Forestier meet again
after ten years, and the latter tells the former that the
diamond necklace she borrowed was fake.

Conflict

The conflict here are of Man vs. Himself,

and Man vs. SocietyMathilde has been
struggling as a poor woman because of her
desire to fit in the society.

Symbolis
m
The necklace symbolizes wealth and high social status.
The fake necklace symbolizes desire for what one cannot
have, Mme. Ls fakeness and want of material things.
The short glamorous appearance of Mme. Loisel during
the ball that is fake, like the necklace

QUIZ
1/2
Crosswise