“The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant Summary In “The Jewelry”, Guy de Maupassant attempts to develop irony using the lives of urban people, especially due to the decline of morals in the society (Bloom 22). Set in Paris, Maupassant’s story revolves around the life of Mr. Latin, a chief clerk at the French Ministry of Interior and his wife, a Mrs. Latin. However, the actual name of the wife remains unknown to the reader throughout the story. At the beginning, the reader is introduced to the first meeting between Mr. Latin and his wife, which took place at the house of a superintendent. Latin immediately falls in love with the young and innocent women. This short story focuses more on Character and irony than it does to other literary techniques. The quote: According to Maupassant, the girl first appears “…very ideal of a pure and good woman to whom every young man can entrust” (Maupassant The Jewelry 634). This quote is one of the most important indications of the wife’s character, and is actually an irony because the woman was not pure but a prostitute in disguise. After the marriage, the couple’s first six years are full of happiness and mutual understanding. However, the wife has a passion for “fake” jewelry and “fake” theatres. Despite this, the wife is a good housekeeper, neat and decent. These characteristics provide Mr. Latin with a luxurious life. In their sixth year of marriage, the wife went out to the opera one cold night, but later came “back home freezing” (Maupassant The Jewelry 635). She got a bad cough and within one week, she died from pneumonia. Mr. Latin’s was unable to touch or change anything owned by his late wife because they reminded him of her and her love for him. Due to inability to meet the domestic, Mr. Latin decides to sell his wife’s jewels, but he is surprised to realize that they were genuine and worth thousands of Francs. The reader concludes that she must have been an immoral woman who was ready to betray his husband to get a decent lifestyle. Mr. Latin decides to sell every jewel owned by the late wife, quits his job and uses the money to fund his life. “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant Literary Elements and Character Analysis From this story, it is clear that Maupassant focuses on character and irony. First, the character of Mrs. Latin is questionable. While she presents as a decent and loving wife, the author provides the reader with a clue that she must have been cheating on the husband. She is possessed with the love for jewelry, decent lifestyle and entertainment. After her death, the husband realizes that his little salary could not support such a life, which prompts him to sell the jewelries. In the jeweler’s store, Mr. Latin realizes that the wife must have had another source of income, yet she was not open to him. He realizes that she must have been practicing prostitution, something that could have made her love going out at night. The character of Mr. Latin is also questionable. For instance, despite spending six years with his wife, he had completely failed to realize or even suspect the other side of his wife. He had not even thought how much the wife was spending to keep the house and purchase her jewelries. In fact, he is presented as a very insensitive but humble person. It would