Answer:
it states real historical facts or something that can be proven and that has evidence
Explanation:
The moral of Guy de Maupassant’s “The False Gems” (“Les Bijoux” in French, 1883) sharply questions the hypocrisy of its male protagonist, Monsieur Lantin. Lantin is passionately in love with his young wife, whom he sees as the embodiment of beauty and virtue. His wife is perfect in every aspect, except for her love of imitation jewelry and the theater. Being of a puritanical bent of mind, Lantin finds both of his wife’s interests showy and improper. Clearly, such interests do not fit his worldview of what a well-brought-up, modest woman should be enjoying. At one point he remonstrates her ostentatious tastes, saying:
My dear, as you cannot afford to buy real diamonds, you ought to appear adorned with your beauty and modesty alone, which are the rarest ornaments of your sex.
Clearly, it is not the fact that she wears jewelry which bothers Lantin, but the fact that these gems are false. Despite having such fixed notions about real and fake, truth and deception, Lantin is ironically oblivious to how his wife manages to eke out their lavish lifestyle on his modest salary of 3,500 francs. After his wife dies of a lung infection, Lantin is heartbroken. But soon the heartbreak is replaced by financial hardship: left to manage his income by himself, Lantin struggles for even his next meal. Here, he commits his first act of impropriety, attempting to sell off his beloved wife’s imitation jewelry. Thus, the text begins to reveal his hypocrisy.
When a jeweler’s appraisal shockingly reveals that the ornaments are not fake at all, but real and precious, Lantin’s hypocrisy sparkles as well. At first, he falls into a “dead faint” at the implication of the jewelry's actual worth. His modest, virtuous wife was clearly leading a double life, being gifted gems from her many admirers. It was this double life that funded the extravagant lifestyle of the Lantins.
But Lantin’s state of shock at his wife’s “betrayal” does not last long and gives way to something else quickly enough. Instead of shunning the income, which should be deemed dubious by his strict standards, he sells off all the jewelry, resigns from his job, and settles into a life of leisure. In this, the story exposes Lantin’s hypocrisy completely. His love for his wife perishes with her “deception,” but he is not above enjoying the fruits of her lies. He even discovers a love for the theater, for which he harshly judged his late wife. And soon enough he remarries, but in a cunning twist, the effect is not what he had hoped.
Six months afterward he married again. His second wife was a very virtuous woman, with a violent temper. She caused him much sorrow.
As we see, the story challenges Lantin’s definitions of truth, happiness, and virtue in a wife; and he gets his just desserts for his double standards. The wife he considered “impure” was the one he was truly happy with, while the truly virtuous woman causes him “much sorrow,” as he deserves.
Sometimes the people that frustrate us the most actually share the same characteristics. In this lesson, we will analyze the characters Antigone and Creon, focusing on their similarities and how these traits cause conflict in the play.Why Can't We Be Friends?
Have you ever struggled to get along with someone, and you couldn't figure out why? Sometimes people can be so similar that it ends up harming instead of helping their relationship. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, we meet two characters so similar they willingly fight to the death because of their personalities and beliefs. To provide some context for the comparisons in this lesson, let's review the conflicts of the play that the characters Antigone and Creon face.
Character Conflicts
Antigone's father exiled himself from Thebes, leaving her brothers Polyneices and Eteocles to share the throne. When Eteocles refuses to give up his time in power, Polyneices is forced to leave the city. He returns years later with an army, but unfortunately, both brothers die in battle, leaving Antigone and her sister Ismene to fend for themselves.
The next male in line to take the throne is their Uncle Creon. Creon's first order names Polyneices a traitor and prohibits a proper burial. Anyone that buries the body shall be punished by death. The thought of Polyneices' body rotting in a field pushes Antigone over the edge. She goes against Creon's orders and buries her brother, leaving Creon with a difficult choice to make.
Should Creon punish Antigone and make himself look weak in his new role as king? Or should he do right by his family and remove the charge? Not to mention Antigone is engaged to Creon's son Haemon. Let's look at their similarities and differences and determine how their personalities affect the outcome of the play.
Similarities and DifferencesFighting for Justice
Even though Antigone and Creon are fighting for different reasons, they both feel deeply and passionately that their reasons are justified. While this difference in opinion causes conflict and death, it binds them together as two very determined individuals who are confident, maybe too much so, in their own beliefs.
Pride
Creon and Antigone are set in their ways, and their pride brings about their downfalls. Antigone refuses to acknowledge that she broke the law and would rather die than apologize or acknowledge her wrongdoing. Creon is the same way. He would rather kill a family member and ruin his son's future to stay true to his word and keep command over the people before he would admit defeat and misjudgment. Their pride manifests in different ways, but this stubbornness plays a negative role in both of their lives.
Loyalty
Antigone is loyal to her brother, promising him a proper burial at all costs. She risks her life to fulfill his wishes, remaining loyal to both her culture and the gods with this act. Creon feels his actions reveal his loyalty to Thebes. Antigone's brother fought against Thebes, which makes Creon feel his punishment is just. Going against one's home is a big no-no in Greek culture, so he also feels his action of denying the burial is honorable. While these two characters are on opposite ends of the spectrum regarding their reasons for being loyal, this trait is the reason for their conflict.
