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Social Class In Cinderella And Cinderella

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In "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "Cinderella" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, social class is crucial in both stories. In "The Necklace," Mme. Loisel is married to a Ministry clerk and is part of the middle class. Despite this, she hates her middle class life and concludes she should be in the upper class because she is beautiful. In "Cinderella," Cinderella is born into the upper class but is forced to become a lowly servant when her two malicious stepsisters move in. She ends up marrying the prince, which allows her to escape her life of servitude. Although clothes represent social class in both "The Necklace" and "Cinderella," the contrasting attitudes of Mme. Loisel and Cinderella ultimately determines their social classes at the denouement of the story.
To begin, clothes illustrate social class in both stories. In "The Necklace," Mme. Loisel is born into a family of clerks, which places her in the middle class. Given the society she lives in is patriarchal, the social class of her father and husband control Mme. Loisel's social class. However, Mme. Loisel clothes mask her true social class. While Mme. Loisel tries on jewelry at Mme. Forestier's home, she puts on a diamond necklace, "Clasping it [the necklace] around her throat … she stood in ecstasy looking at her reflection" (de Maupassant 212). She dons the necklace to a party meant for the upper the class because she suspects it will mask her true social class of middle class. Her decision to wear the necklace

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