The story of Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” revolves around the eponymous item of jewelry, which the heroine obtains but then loses and has to return. Dissatisfied with her position in life, Mathilde dreams of more luxurious circumstances where she would be able to afford more than one servant and mingle with high society regularly. For one night, she is able to live her dream but is put in heavy debt when she loses a diamond necklace and has to buy an expensive replacement. After ten years of hard work, which ruins Mathilde’s beauty, the family pays off the debt, and Mathilde is happy that the struggle is over. However, upon meeting the necklace’s owner, Mathilde learns that the original one was a fake all along, not worth anything near the replacement.
Mathilde’s desire for an imaginary life is the cause of all her woes, as it leads to the party invitation and the ensuing ruin. She has a reliable husband who can afford a house with a servant and saves money away on top of it. With her low-class birth, logically, she should be satisfied with the fact that she does not have to work. However, instead, she thinks that her beauty entitles her to more and is proven correct when she manages to enjoy herself immensely at the party. Then, she comes to know the cost of living such a life after losing the necklace and having to pay it off.
With that said, the point of the story is also that, in large part, luxury is simply a pretense with little to no intrinsic value. The necklace ultimately turns out to be a convincing fake that manages to fool everyone at the party. Even its owner does not notice that the replacement is a necklace with real diamonds instead of replacement stones. For the sake of this imaginary luxury, Mathilde has to go through the shame of returning to her dreary life, which then declines further. Ultimately, Maupassant’s meaning is that the pursuit of the high life is not worthwhile compared to the simpler happiness that can be found in life.
The Last Sentence in “The Story of an Hour”
Louise, the protagonist of the story, is known to suffer from heart disease, which can lead her to have a stroke due to a sudden shock. Despite the best efforts of her family, this very fate befalls her at the end. However, it does not come from the source they expect, the death of her husband, as that is related to her slowly and carefully. Instead, the source of the shock is the reveal that he was alive and unharmed all along. Chopin asserts that she died of “the joy that kills,” which caused a heart attack. In my opinion, this interpretation is only partially correct, as joy was not the sole reason for her death.
The emotion was responsible for putting Louise in a state of affectation that made her highly excitable and prone to having a heart attack. She hated her overbearing husband, who would dominate her for her own good without understanding how it affected her. The prospect of freedom that she could now enjoy while still young and fair filled Louise with elation, and her imagination ran wild. Normally, she would have calmed down over time and proceeded to live with a newborn sense of freedom and strength. However, the events played out differently due to the sudden return of her husband, who turned out not to have been involved in the accident.
Unlike the lead-up, the actual death can be ascribed to both joy and terror. The return of the husband signifies the end of Louise’s newly-hatched dream, which would have brought her down immensely, potentially killing her with dread. However, Chopin also confirms that the emotion Louise felt for her husband was not entirely hatred and that, at times, she loved him. As a result, she was prepared to grieve for him even as she felt joyful in his absence. His return might have made her happy despite herself, truly killing her with joy, as Chopin claims. However, ultimately, the cause was likely a mix of the two contradictory emotions suddenly overwhelming her.
“It’s not Right”
The characters referred to in the quote are Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, the two protagonists of Chekhov’s short story “The Lady with the Pet Dog.” They have just slept together for the first time despite both of them being married. Anna Sergeyevna views the act of adultery as demeaning to herself despite being unable to resist the impulse. As such, she feels that she has sinned and lost her purity, which is central to her self-image. Having been tarnished in this manner, she expects Gurov to lose his interest in her, as well. He, however, does not know how to react, waiting for Anna Sergeyevna to calm down while he thinks.
The moment serves to demonstrate Gurov’s attitude toward the affair and his double life. Initially, he is bored of Moscow society and looks for excitement elsewhere, preferring to engage in affairs with new and interesting women. Anna Sergeyevna is one such woman, but, while originally Gurov is interested in her, over time, he learns about her character and decides that she is “pathetic.” This perception changes after the act of sex, as her response to it is unusual and fills him with confusion and the desire to know more. Gurov expects gratitude, coldness, or fake affection but instead receives naïve self-reflection and the desire for forgiveness.
While initially, the protagonist responds to this new development with irritation and boredom, over time, his attitude changes. After concluding the affair, he returns to Moscow but cannot forget about Anna Sergeyevna despite his expectations to the contrary. Unable to express himself, he comes to hate Moscow with its low and base happenings compared to the high flights of his soul. In the end, Gurov seeks Anna Sergeyevna out again and confesses his desire for her, which she returns. The affair continues, taking place once every two or three months, when she would invent an excuse to come to Moscow. The story ends with Gurov having found true love despite starting out simply to enjoy himself while visiting another city.
The Protagonist of “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The speaker in the line given is the protagonist and narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” He has murdered his benefactor and given himself over to the police, claiming that he is not mad. However, his story would suggest otherwise, as he seems to have hallucinated or otherwise imagined an incomprehensible reason for the murder. The narrator’s claim hinges on the argument that he worked cautiously and with great foresight. However, it is not necessarily the case that mad people would act irrationally in the pursuit of their goal, however deranged it was. Still, the narrator can be described as mostly reliable despite his warped perspective influencing many of his actions and perceptions.
As the protagonist himself describes, he does not know how the idea of destroying the old man’s eye came upon him. However, he describes it as special because of the film covering it, which makes it look like a vulture’s to him. It is possible that the benefactor had some sort of eye condition, making the claim factually accurate. The narrator would then choose it as an object on which he would fixate. His description of the actions he took afterward also appears to give little reason for doubt, as the actions were simple and entirely possible. The hour that he spent without moving may be exaggerated, but otherwise, the actions until the opening of the lantern are probably relayed accurately.
Once the protagonist sees the eye, he starts hallucinating the sounds of the old man’s heart. At first, he may have heard the beating, assuming it was agitated and his senses were sharpened. However, it is also possible that he imagined it, especially considering the events that take place later. Regardless, once the beating stops, the narration returns to presumably reliable as the protagonist conceals the body and greets the officers. Finally, once he starts hearing the beating again, the narration becomes presumably not entirely reliable, but throughout the entire story, the protagonist is likely correct about the factual events and his feelings.
The Birthmark and the Present
The passage is taken from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark.” It is the concluding line of the work, referring to the protagonist, Aylmer’s, ultimate success but also his failure. Aylmer sought perfection in his extremely beautiful wife, whose appearance was only marred by a birthmark on her face. Over time, he grows obsessed and disgusted with it, returning to his scientific pursuits after initially abandoning them to pursue love. As he treats Georgiana, his wife, it is revealed that Aylmer had pursued perfection in science for most of his life, trying to achieve many different things and achieving spectacular feats in the process but always proving inadequate to reach the ultimate goal.
Ultimately, Aylmer succeeds in eliminating the birthmark, achieving physical perfection in his view. The author implies that the removal was a detriment rather than a benefit, comparing the disappearance of the birthmark to the rainbow fading out of the sky. Regardless, the protagonist is ecstatic until Georgiana reveals that she is dying due to the birthmark’s removal. She claims that she is really an angel who cannot exist in the mortal world unless tied to it by some imperfection. With the lifeline gone, Georgiana returns to Heaven, leaving Aylmer behind to regret his actions. Regardless, she does not admonish him but rather congratulates him for triumphing at last as Aminadab laughs.
The point of the story is that, despite Aylmer’s obsession, Georgiana was already perfect as a partner, at least in Hawthorne’s view. She was loyal and supportive, willing to do anything for his sake, even drink poison, as she explained earlier in the story. However, instead of living happily with her, he became obsessed with the earthly phenomenon of the birthmark instead of recognizing Georgiana’s spiritual nobility. With her beauty, she was already as close to perfection as possible, but Aylmer failed to see that and focused on the unachievable. Overwhelmed by his obsession, he sacrificed his chance at lifelong happiness for a moment of triumph followed by regret, hence the concluding phrase.