The Roles of Supporting Characters to Mathilde’s Conflicts in Maupassant’s The Necklace

Abstract

Characters in fictions are essential as they relate the readers to the theme, the storyline, and the conflicts in stories. While main character is the center of the story, supporting characters also contribute to the building of the story although they are not as prominent. In Maupassant’s The Necklace, the main character is Mathilde who undergoes an unfortunate event that changes her life. This research aims at revealing the roles of the supporting characters to the conflicts experienced by the main character, Mathilde. This is a descriptive, qualitative research and the data was taken by reading the short story. The analysis was conducted by examining the roles of two supporting characters, Monsieur Loisel and Madame Forestier. The conclusion reveals that the roles of Monsieur Loisel are as a guide and problem solver to the main character’s conflicts, while Madam Forestier is the indirect cause as well as the expositor in this plot-twisted story.