Within all literary writings lies a story being told about a common interest or difficult situation that an author is trying to express to his audience. Some matters are in fact so common, that they show up a repetitive amount of times among countless different works. When reading these similar stories, they can often even seem to help explain one another or give a better understanding of what each author is trying to exemplify to his audience. Frequently, comparing two stories with indistinguishable subject matters, teaches the readers the importance of the literary work's message. Alcoholism, troubled childhoods, and unsatisfactory relationships are frequent and current subjects that make an appearance in a variety of these stories. However, there are other matters from the past that make an appearance in the stories that readers take interest in today. An example of such a past issue would be the hardships and assumptions for women during the early nineteen hundreds. "The Necklace" and "Barbie Doll" are both examples of stories that share a similar fascination about the expectations and pressure women feel they have to perform in high society."The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant, is a story about a young woman, Madame Loisel, who has always felt like she deserved better than what she was given in her life. She is a beautiful woman who is married to a measly clerk, Monsieur Loisel, and has always dreamed about being a wealthy woman with expensive dresses and countless jewels. One day, her husband brings her home an invitation, to a high-class ball, that he had a great deal of trouble trying to obtain. At first she is ungrateful, however, he gives her money to buy a dress and convinces her to borrow jewels from one of her wealthy friends, Madame Forestier. When Madame Loisel visits her friend, she borrows a fabulous necklace that she believes is made of authentic diamonds. At the ball, Loisel misplaces the necklace and her husband is forced to borrow money from many different individuals in order to buy a replacement. Madame Loisel returns the necklace to her friend without telling her the truth behind what had happened. At the end of the story, ten years later, Monsieur and Madame Loisel finally have paid off the debts they were placed under by purchasing the necklace, when Madame Loisel runs into Madame Forestier on a walk. Unfortunately, Loisel is informed that the necklace she had lost was an imitation and in fact, was not made of real diamonds. Everything that happened to the Loisel's was a result of the desire for her to fit in at the ball and look like the higher class women during that time period. 

"Barbie Doll," by Marge Piercy, is a story referencing a young girl born like any other child and was brought up to be a typical woman. However, as she goes through the stages of becoming a woman, her body begins to transform. People start to make fun of the girl and claim she has "a great big nose and fat legs." These harmful words affect the child and she consults people to see how she can change. She is told to exercise and eat healthy in order to gain a better image. However, this is advice is not successful, so the young girl decides to cut off her nose and her legs in order for others to view her as beautiful. All of the hurtful words used against her and the desire to look like the other girls in her class drove this young woman to destroy her own body in order to fit in.

The names themselves of both of these stories also give insight into the idea of the need for perfection. "The Necklace" is used as a symbol and reminder in the story of what lust and obligation to flourish in civilization can cause a woman to do. When Madame Loisel is informed by her husband they have been invited to attend an extravagant ball, her reaction is dreadful because she doesn't have the proper attire to wear and believes that the other women will look down on her. She cries that she is "utterly miserable at not having any jewels, not a single stone, to wear. I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party." She would rather turn down an invitation to a grand ball then come off as not being genuinely wealthy in front of the other guests. Towards the end of the story the audience learns that the jewels, specifically the necklace, she felt was such an imperative thing to obtain, was actually the cause of her and her husband being miserable for ten years of their life. "The Necklace" serves as a symbol to the audience that the lengths a woman feels she must go to in order to merge with society may have devastating consequences. 

"Barbie Doll" is also used as a symbol for the expectations of women. After going through puberty, the girl in this story does not look the same as the other girls in her class. She is bullied by her classmates and told that she has an abnormal sized nose and legs. The distress she is placed under to be able to blend in with the other young girls causes her to sever off both of these qualities that make her stand out. Her actions result in her classmates believing she looks more refined or like a "Barbie Doll."

By viewing both "The Necklace" and "Barbie Doll," an individual can acquire a better understanding of the nineties. During the early part of the twentieth century, gender roles played a major factor in civilization. For women, there were specific duties and appearances expected to be upheld by other females, males, and even family members. For instance, women's jobs were believed to be in the household. In "Barbie Doll," at the beginning of the poem, Marge Piercy states that the girl in the story was "presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy." This statement explains that this young child was given toy stoves and irons to play with as a child. In the story, by giving the child fake house equipment, Piercy is suggesting to the audience the role that the majority of women played during this time period. The young girls were brought up to be housewives that cleaned and cooked and didn't have legitimate working jobs outside of their homes. A woman completing household duties was expected from the husband whom would have the working job that brought home revenue. 

"The Necklace" also gives the audience insight to the lives of women during this time period. Guy de Maupassant states that Madame Loisel  "let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education." As a female, she was presumed to do as her parents were told which included being married off to a man of her class. Madame Loisel also goes on to express how she believed herself and other ladies were viewed. She vocalizes that "for women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family." She believes that each of them was viewed as nothing more then a beautiful possession whose outer loveliness was what mattered in their society.

The pressure of a woman to impress or please other women also results in a feeling of obligation to mix with high society. Near the end of the ball Madame Loisel even reveals "she was anxious to hurry away, so that she should not be noticed by the other women putting on their costly furs." Her shamefulness occurs after her husband tries to give her the garments he brought them to go home in. She is humiliated at the idea that the women whom wished to be her at the ball and looked upon her with admiration would now think of her as impoverished and beneath their class. 

The character in "Barbie Doll" contains the same sense of embarrassment as Madame Loisel felt. However, "The Necklace" helps to give a better understanding of why the girl in "Barbie Doll" chopped off pieces of her body. Like in "The Necklace," the young girl did horrible misfortunes in order to impress not only the boys, but also the other girls in her class. She did not want to be viewed as different or below each of them. She wanted to be viewed as just as attractive and appealing as the rest of her classmates.

Uniquely, both stories have dissimilar endings that still contain the same concluding result for the message of their stories. As Maupassant's literary work comes to an end, the audience is shown the irony of Madame Loisel's desires and greediness. Instead of receiving the permanent admiration she so desperately wanted, she was left working ten years of her life off in absolute poverty. The desire to gain wealth and beauty that she believed obtaining the necklace could give to her now stands as the cause of her old and worn out appearance. She lost the dream of becoming a high-class lady the same instance she lost the imitation necklace. 

Unlike Maupassant's more direct conclusion, Piercy uses a type of mockery technique. She expresses to the audience that by the young girl removing the parts of her body that made her distinct from the other children, she was now "pretty." "Barbie Doll" states that the rest of the girl's classmates awe "Doesn't she look pretty?" Then Piercy goes on to say "Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending." By using this tone at the end of the poem, the writer makes the audience feel a sense of sarcasm. Readers hence the ridicule in the author's voice and are able to interpret that going to such lengths to impress society is unnecessary and could potentially lead to unexpected outcomes.

The need for a woman to fit into high society can cause an individual to take drastic measures. The majority of women do feel the responsibility to create a grand appearance of them-selves in order to impress those around them. "The Necklace" and "Barbie Doll" take this feeling of need from a woman and express it into a story. "The Necklace" discusses how responsible a woman can feel to mold into high society and "Barbie Doll" chooses to explain how far that lust can make a woman go in order to gain the image they wish to have. Both of these stories have a similar way of explaining how a specific situation can turn into a larger problem because of the presumption of woman in both past and present society.

