Guy de Maupassant's short stories: A comparative analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to comparatively analyze the two popular short stories -- The Necklace and The False Gems authored by Guy De Maupassant. Both stories are drama and lesson packed stories filled with interesting themes, diverse characters, and clever forms of symbolism that are all rich in the plot. Content analysis was used in this study to identify and analyze the plot, structure, themes, characters and symbolism of the stories. The New Historicism approach towards this study was used for analysis because the sub-units of analysis of the author: plot, structure, themes, characters, and symbolism have significant similarities. A researcher-made graphing sheet validated by experts in literature was used to analyse the data for this study. The graphing sheet was divided into two columns: the first column contains The Necklace; the second contains The False Gems. Each column contain a row where the researcher compares the characters, setting, themes, motifs, symbolism, plot, tone, conflicts, figures of speech and insights of The Necklace and The False Gems. Each similar moment in the story was pierced together so that the reader maybe aware with the influence of the author in the stories. Although the stories are fictional, they draw references from real and historical events and do present the possibility that regular people in society could reach the same state portrayed in the story.