The Necklace - Short Story

The most important symbol in the short story "The Necklace" is the necklace itself. The entire story revolves around it. As we move through the story the necklace takes on different meanings as circumstances change. This is a story about a beautiful woman and a low-class man that sacrifice ten long hard years of their lives for a special night for his spoiled wife. Mr. and Mrs. Loisel were invited to an annual ball held …

…found out that the past ten years of her life were a waste. The "brilliant" necklace that she had borrowed was a cheap imitation!! And so indeed the necklace is the dominant symbol in this story; everything in it is connected to it in some way. And as we may have seen, as the story changes so too does the meaning of the necklace. It is by times a symbol of misery, desperation, and brilliance.