ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Short Story Videos 17 videos
Guy in a black leotard. In a cage. Not eating. Weird? Yes. Popular? Absolutely. Kafka's short story includes iconic artist-figures: a mouse singer...
What? She gets a rose and we don’t? Who is this Emily person anyway? What’s she done to deserve such a delightful, aromatic gift?
Three scantily clad young girls enter a store. No, this isn’t your grandfather about to tell an inappropriate joke. And no, you’re not watching...
The Necklace (Maupassant) 28197 Views
Share It!
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.
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
Full Transcript
- 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.
Related Videos
This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...