is when
words beginning with the same consonant are placed in close proximity. Using alliteration
creates a sense of rhythm or cadence.
Maupassant's short story was originally
written in French, so when we look for alliterations, we are dealing with translations. However,
most translations include alliteration in order to capture the cadence of the French story.
Maupassant's original text employs alliteration, though not always in the same spots as in
English. One place, however, from the French (which is captured in the English, as we will see
below), is "forªt de f©erie," which translates alliteratively into English as
"fairy forest."
Two examples, the second with a series of three
alliterations, are below:
carrying priceless curiosities,
and of the coquettish...dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of... birds
flying in the midst of a fairy forest
Interestingly, the
alliterations tend to cluster around Madame Loisel's dreams of the high life of a rich and
fabulous lady, underscoring the poetry and fantasy of her imaginings. What she wishes for really
can't be obtained in the real world. They also cluster around moments of emotional intensity,
drawing attention to those places in the story.
Madame Loisel's fantastic
imaginings foreshadow how she will be taken in by a diamond necklace that turns out to be
nothing more than a fake. Madame Loisel lives in the false world of her imagination, sadly
unable to discern what is truly worthy in life from what is cheap and
superficial.
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