Comparing the Female Characters in The Necklace and...

The Use of Female Characters in The Necklace and Recitatif In Guy de Maupassants The Necklace and Toni Morrisons Recitatif, materialism and the desire to be envied are vital ingredients in the themes of the stories. Both authors enhance their themes through the manipulation of plot and the use of women as their central characters. Maupassant and Morrison prove the notion that women are effective characters in depicting themes that deal with the social issue of craving material wealth. The theme of these stories can be determined through an analysis of the narrators attitude toward the characters in each story. The narrator in The Necklace reflects a disapproving opinion of Mathilde. He believes that†¦show more content†¦Rather than being excited about seeing such a good friend, Roberta simply remarks, Sure. Hey. Wow (15). Here Roberta is portrayed by the narrator as having an apathetic attitude about the reunion. As Roberta grows older and wealthier, her materialism becomes more apparent in her encounters with Twyla. In their third rendezvous, Roberta exposes her wealth by continually mentioning items such as her limousine, her two servants, and her husbands success in his occupation. The narrators convey the themes of the two stories through their attitudes and develop these themes through the manipulation of plot. The theme of The Necklace deals with the universal desire to be envied and is presented through the desires within Mathilde: She danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure, forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to a womans heart (69). Similarly, the theme of Recitatif addresses a universal preoccupation with materialistic longings and is shown through Robertas tendencies to flaunt her possessions to her friend. Although Robertas and Mathildes desires for social acceptance and material goods is itself corrupt, the