The Diamond Necklace Understanding
1. How does the first paragraph show that women in 19th-century France had
little freedom?

The first paragraph talks about Mrs. Loisel, the main protagonist of the short story. And in that description, the author presents us the scenario of how women were given little to no freedom to do things the way they liked or wanted.

Explanation:

The short story "The Diamond Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant revolves around Mrs. Mathilde Loisel losing a borrowed 'diamond necklace'. To not arouse the suspicion of the necklace's owner, the Loisels used up their savings and much more to replace the necklace, only to realize after a decade that the necklace was a fake and they had replaced it with a real one.

In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator talks of the life of women in France during the 19th century. The statement that "women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family. Their natural delicacy, their instinctive elegance, their nimbleness of wit, are their only mark of rank" shows how little means are available for the female gender. Again, "she let herself be married off to a little clerk" shows how women have o say in their life.

Moreover, the statement about Mrs. Loisel "Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to afford any other" is also another proof of how women were 'inferior' to the men, with little to no freedom to do things on their own or live life the way they actually wanted.