The Internal and External Conflicts of Madame Loisel
In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, he shows various forms of conflict. These conflicts are man vs. self, man vs. man, and man vs. society. All throughout the story Madame Loisel is battling against something from her personal thoughts about herself. To what she thinks the people will say about her appearance. Even arguments with her husband and Madame Forestier.
Madame Loisel always felt that she deserved the most expensive things and that she should be living the most lavish lifestyle. The author states, “Believing that she had been born to enjoy every refinement and luxury, she suffered deeply. She suffered from her wretched apartment, from its dingy walls, worn-out chairs, and ugly upholstery” (Maupassant par.3). She was never happy with herself as a person. There was not a good chance that she would marry into a rich family. Simply because Madame was born into a family of commoners. There was a sense of dissatisfaction with herself about not being the person she so desperately dreamed of becoming. Madame pitied the life as a wife of a commoner living in a tiny apartment. The conflict of man vs. self is portrayed in many ways throughout the story. For example, after she went so far as to trying to rush out of the ball because the cover up of her dress was shabby and “contrasted” with her fancy dress.
In the necklace, Madame Loisel was so worried about what others would think about her appearance. That refused to attend the party because she did not feel as though any of her dresses were fancy enough. She states, “But as I haven’t anything to wear, I can’t attend this party” (Maupassant 21). Her being so worried about what other people had to say was the major conflict in the story. It showed her insecurities as a character but if it was not for the insecurities. The necklace would have never gotten lost. This shines the light on why the conflict of man vs. society is important in the story. Madame craves the acceptance of others so much because she does not fit into their social norms. In the story Madame goes on to say how she just wanted to be envied allured and admired. She d...
