Essay Comparing The Necklace And The Story Of An Hour

The stories "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, respectively, are comparable in their use of characterization, point of view, and irony.

In the stories, characterization serves as the key element in the development of both female protagonists. In "The Necklace", Madame Mathilde is constructed by the author as a poor woman who feels as if she should be rich. Indeed, even after her husband allows her to buy an expensive dress, she proclaims "It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look like distress. I would almost rather not go to this party" (Maupassant, 33). The author designs her speech in a way that informs the reader of her intense desire to fit in with higher

In "The Necklace", the narrator of the story points out all of the aspects of Madame Mathildes vanity to the reader, allowing for the understanding of her actions and speech. As the narrator explains in very beginning of the story, "[Madame Mathilde] suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury" (Maupassant, 3). With the narrator knowing all the thoughts of Madame Mathilde, it becomes easier for the reader to follow the plot. The narrator in "The Story of an Hour" serves a similar purpose. Instead of merely describing the way Mrs. Mallard sat in her room weeping, the narrator states "She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death, the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome" (Chopin, 13). Again, the author allows the reader to peer inside the mind of the protagonist in so the events later in the story are best