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  • Essay / The setting and mental growth of the characters in The Necklace and the Dance of the Blue Winds

    Guy de Maupassant's “The Necklace” tells the story of a dissatisfied bourgeoisie whose dreams of luxury end in disaster. Mathilde Loisel is what some might call a desperate housewife, she stays at home doing nothing. To escape this boredom, she dreams of what her life would be like if she were rich living in a mansion surrounded by glamorous things and people. The different settings of this story developed the growth of the main character Mathilde. This is also true for the narrator of “Blue Winds Dancing,” but instead of living in a daydream, this narrator can discover who he is and is meant to be by returning home to his family. The narrator goes off to college and experiences a huge culture shock to realize that he belongs with his people in Wisconsin. As each setting is mentioned in both "Blue Winds Dancing" and "The Necklace", the main characters experience mental growth and realize the realities of their lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The setting of “The Necklace” begins in Loisel's small apartment on Martyrs Street. This is where Mathilde Day dreams of what life could be. She spends most of her days complaining about how “dull” her apartment is. She describes how “worn” the furniture is and how “ugly” her curtains are – which she complains about. She has a housekeeper who helps her clean the apartment, but instead of enjoying that, she wishes for more servants to accompany her to her huge "dream mansion." She describes her dream service: She imagined a gourmet dish prepared on the most exquisite trays and served on the most beautiful plates, with murmured gallantries that she heard with a sphinx smile while dining on the pink flesh of a trout or the delicate wing of a quail. Everything in her life makes her unhappy, from the beef stew her husband bought for dinner to her pretty theater dress, which she says is only meant to be worn with the poor and is not is not elegant enough to be seen. by the rich. Her reaction to all the details of her apartment shows that Mathilde does not really understand her reality and how poorly she has adapted to her life. She soon realizes that her desperation to be glamorous will lead to her downfall. Mathilde is invited to attend the Minister of Education's party, which will be filled with many rich and chic people, and to fit in, she uses her husband's savings to find a dress and borrows a necklace from her rich friend. . The necklace looks pretty and full of diamonds, but it's just as fake as Mathilde's daydreams about being a high-class citizen. She is unaware of this and ends up losing the necklace and is forced to find the money to buy a replacement. In doing so, she loses her apartment and then reality hits her in the face. She is soon forced to move to an attic apartment where she works hard to pay for the necklace. I think this change of scenery humiliated Mathilde. There was no more complaining about how miserable her life was, the daydreaming of a luxurious life stopped and she knew the definition of hard work. It took her 10 years but she finally overcame her fantasy life and took a step towards reality. The last setting of “The Necklace” takes place in the streets of the Champs-Elysées, she meets her rich friend and finally has the courage to speak to him. Mathilde has accepted her life after the necklace and confronts her friend about the whole situation. This shows his growth from each context, and his understanding of his.