The Mystery of the Jewelry
The short story “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant raises a lot of questions for its readers. It is one of those rare stories that leaves questions in the reader's minds long after it has been put down. Surely one of the most asked questions must be whether or not Madame. Lantin was, in fact, unfaithful to her husband. Logical as the conclusion may be, is there room for doubt? Could Madame Lantin have been wrongly accused? Despite many interesting theories, Madame Lantin must have been unfaithful, because it is the only likely scenario the author allows for.
This story starts out fairly simple. Lantin, the main character, meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman. Her praises are sung by everyone who knows her. Lantin marries her, and his life for six years is utter bliss. Fairly suddenly, though, she catches pneumonia and dies. Her husband is distraught, and he finds that somehow without her he cannot manage on his salary. He eventually decides to sell a piece of her vast collection of false jewelry, which he disapproved of during his wife's life. To his astonishment, the jewelry is not fake. In fact, it is very valuable. Lantin, after mourning not only his wife, but the idea of her, sells the rest of her jewelry and becomes quite rich. He then remarries, unfortunately much less happily this time.
Some would argue, perhaps, that there are other ways that she could have come across the jewelry. One theory is that she already had it, but kept it hidden from her husband. This theory, while possible, is rather unlikely. For one thing, she came to Paris to attempt to get married. She is described as poor, and at the time economy was a large part of marriage. In “Marriage in Crisis: The Individual and the State in Belle Epoque France,”Emily Gilkey discusses matters dealing with marriage and dowry in France during the 1800s. Regarding marriage, she states “from a legal standpoint, marriages were treated primarily as an economic transaction that centered on the bride's dowry” (p. 11). Because wealth was such an important part of marriages at the time, she would have likely tried to make herself more desirable by showing how wealthy she was. This quote from Gilkey concerning dowries is also particularly telling: “the practice was so widespread that few women married without one and some claimed that an "old maid" was synonymous with a woman who had never had a dowry” (p. 10). If she had the jewelry before she married, wouldn't she make certain it was part of her dowry? Aside from all this, though, most of the reason that she was trying to get married was to secure her future. If she was so wealthy, she would not have needed to seek a suitor, especially with her beauty. No reasonable theory explains how she could have already had this kind of money or jewelry.
The clearest reason that Madame Lantin was unfaithful in the story is that it simply is the logical choice. Maupassant makes it the obvious choice in his story: “But then, it must have been a present!...A present from whom, what for?...A horrible suspicion crossed his mind” (par. 42). We also know from the second paragraph of the story that she came from a poor family, so we can conclude these gifts are not from relatives. The jewelry is all highly valuable, so it's not likely to have come from a mere friend. Thus, the most logical conclusion is an extramarital lover, or lovers (the total sum of money, 56 times greater than M. Lantin's yearly salary, points to more than one lover. It seems unlikely, although not impossible, that one person would spend that much money on a mistress).
Finally, perhaps the most important reason is that the author's words must be final. Authors create worlds, and since we cannot explore their worlds, we must use the words they give us. If an author gives us clues or alludes to an event, then who are we to question it? How can we ever expect to know more than the author about his work? Maupassant gives clear hints that Madame Lantin was unfaithful; the natural progression of M. Lantin's thought process after he discovers that the jewelry is real would lead to the conclusion that Madame Lantin had a string of lovers that she received gifts from. He clearly wants the reader to assume that she has had at least one affair. Since we cannot possibly know anything more than what the author tells us, we must assume that he points us in the right direction.
Though the varying theories are certainly intriguing, the most probable conclusion still is that Madame Lantin was unfaithful. The author very carefully guides the reader in that direction, without allowing room for other theories. The genius of the story is that it leaves you guessing, even when there is only one real conclusion. Guy de Maupassant gave us a story that begs to be questioned, even when the only solution is staring us in the face. Even so, it's still enjoyable and interesting to try to find other ways to finish the story.
Works Cited
Gilkey, Emily. Marriage in Crisis: The Individual and the State in Belle Epoque France. Diss. University of Oregon, 2009.
de Maupassant, Guy. "The Jewelry." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 91-95. Print.
The short story “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant raises a lot of questions for its readers. It is one of those rare stories that leaves questions in the reader's minds long after it has been put down. Surely one of the most asked questions must be whether or not Madame. Lantin was, in fact, unfaithful to her husband. Logical as the conclusion may be, is there room for doubt? Could Madame Lantin have been wrongly accused? Despite many interesting theories, Madame Lantin must have been unfaithful, because it is the only likely scenario the author allows for.
This story starts out fairly simple. Lantin, the main character, meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman. Her praises are sung by everyone who knows her. Lantin marries her, and his life for six years is utter bliss. Fairly suddenly, though, she catches pneumonia and dies. Her husband is distraught, and he finds that somehow without her he cannot manage on his salary. He eventually decides to sell a piece of her vast collection of false jewelry, which he disapproved of during his wife's life. To his astonishment, the jewelry is not fake. In fact, it is very valuable. Lantin, after mourning not only his wife, but the idea of her, sells the rest of her jewelry and becomes quite rich. He then remarries, unfortunately much less happily this time.
Some would argue, perhaps, that there are other ways that she could have come across the jewelry. One theory is that she already had it, but kept it hidden from her husband. This theory, while possible, is rather unlikely. For one thing, she came to Paris to attempt to get married. She is described as poor, and at the time economy was a large part of marriage. In “Marriage in Crisis: The Individual and the State in Belle Epoque France,”Emily Gilkey discusses matters dealing with marriage and dowry in France during the 1800s. Regarding marriage, she states “from a legal standpoint, marriages were treated primarily as an economic transaction that centered on the bride's dowry” (p. 11). Because wealth was such an important part of marriages at the time, she would have likely tried to make herself more desirable by showing how wealthy she was. This quote from Gilkey concerning dowries is also particularly telling: “the practice was so widespread that few women married without one and some claimed that an "old maid" was synonymous with a woman who had never had a dowry” (p. 10). If she had the jewelry before she married, wouldn't she make certain it was part of her dowry? Aside from all this, though, most of the reason that she was trying to get married was to secure her future. If she was so wealthy, she would not have needed to seek a suitor, especially with her beauty. No reasonable theory explains how she could have already had this kind of money or jewelry.
The clearest reason that Madame Lantin was unfaithful in the story is that it simply is the logical choice. Maupassant makes it the obvious choice in his story: “But then, it must have been a present!...A present from whom, what for?...A horrible suspicion crossed his mind” (par. 42). We also know from the second paragraph of the story that she came from a poor family, so we can conclude these gifts are not from relatives. The jewelry is all highly valuable, so it's not likely to have come from a mere friend. Thus, the most logical conclusion is an extramarital lover, or lovers (the total sum of money, 56 times greater than M. Lantin's yearly salary, points to more than one lover. It seems unlikely, although not impossible, that one person would spend that much money on a mistress).
Finally, perhaps the most important reason is that the author's words must be final. Authors create worlds, and since we cannot explore their worlds, we must use the words they give us. If an author gives us clues or alludes to an event, then who are we to question it? How can we ever expect to know more than the author about his work? Maupassant gives clear hints that Madame Lantin was unfaithful; the natural progression of M. Lantin's thought process after he discovers that the jewelry is real would lead to the conclusion that Madame Lantin had a string of lovers that she received gifts from. He clearly wants the reader to assume that she has had at least one affair. Since we cannot possibly know anything more than what the author tells us, we must assume that he points us in the right direction.
Though the varying theories are certainly intriguing, the most probable conclusion still is that Madame Lantin was unfaithful. The author very carefully guides the reader in that direction, without allowing room for other theories. The genius of the story is that it leaves you guessing, even when there is only one real conclusion. Guy de Maupassant gave us a story that begs to be questioned, even when the only solution is staring us in the face. Even so, it's still enjoyable and interesting to try to find other ways to finish the story.
Works Cited
Gilkey, Emily. Marriage in Crisis: The Individual and the State in Belle Epoque France. Diss. University of Oregon, 2009.
de Maupassant, Guy. "The Jewelry." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 91-95. Print.