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Women and Femininity Videos 24 videos

A Farewell to Arms
20538 Views

You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.

As I Lay Dying
20958 Views

A family goes on a quest to bury their family member. Yeah, sounds simple...except it never is. ‘Cause mom’s dead, and people have issues which...

The Color Purple
1322 Views

In The Color Purple, Celie is abused by her father and husband. She leaves her father by marrying Mr. ________, and then leaves Mr. ______, too. Bu...

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The Necklace (Maupassant) 28197 Views


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Description:

How would you feel if you lost a diamond necklace that you borrowed? We don't know your life, but we'd feel pretty crappy about it. In "The Necklace," Matilde borrows a necklace to look rich for a ball—and loses it. She and her husband spiral into debt from the cost of replacing it, only to realize...well, watch the video to find out the rest.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

The Necklace, a la Shmoop: Diamonds Aren’t a Girl’s Best Friend.

00:11

Meet Mathilde . . .

00:12

. . .a woman who just can’t seem to be happy about anything.

00:18

In fact, she spends most of her time. . .

00:20

. . . envying everybody with a sweeter life than

00:23

her own. . .

00:24

. . .which includes just about everybody on the planet.

00:30

Poor Mathilde can’t catch a break. When she finally does get the chance to hang

00:34

out with the rich and famous. . .

00:37

. . .she loses a borrowed necklace. . .

00:39

. . .which makes her life more miserable than ever.

00:43

It sure looks like our author is trying to tell us something. . .

00:46

. . .but what?

00:47

What’s the moral of The Necklace? Is he suggesting that we should be happy with

00:52

what we’ve got? Mathilde didn’t appreciate what she had.

00:57

. .

00:57

. . .and that led to a whole bunch of trouble.

01:00

Is DeMaupassant<<not totally sure on pronunciation – does Deb know?>> saying we should stop

01:03

wanting what we don’t have?

01:07

Or is he just encouraging us to be ourselves? If Mathilde had just slapped on a dress from

01:13

her closet. . .

01:13

. . .and skipped the fancy jewelry. . .

01:16

. . .well, we would have had a different story. Another possible moral to the story. . .

01:20

. . .could be the importance of telling the truth.

01:23

If Mathilde had just told Madame Forestier she had lost the necklace. . .

01:29

. . .she might have lost a friend. . .

01:31

. . .but could have kept her maid. . .

01:33

. . .and a few francs in the bank. So, what do you think is the moral of The

01:37

Necklace? Is it:

01:39

Be happy with what you’ve got. . .

01:41

Don’t try to be anyone but yourself. . .

01:43

or… Tell the truth, even when it’s really, really hard?

01:48

Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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