The Necklace

Since that is beyond Mathilde’s social reach the only way to escape that status is through marriage. Yet she let herself be married off to a “little clerk in the Ministry of Education”. This developed more of the discontent in her current rank. Despite this, Monsieur Loisel is still tolerant of her behavior and wants to please her. Her excessive pride, materialism and shallowness cause her emotional torture to herself when she feels deprived of luxuries.

In “The Necklace”, Mathilde Loisel is a woman who cannot tolerate her lower-class status, believing “herself born for every delicacy and luxury”(82). Mathilde’s vain materialistic goals, make her bitter and unhappy. The main point of irony in the story is the fact that Mathilde borrows the necklace and looses it. The necklace was very expensive, or so she thought, so she ended up in poverty

Throughout the story, the theme is revealed in Mathilde’s attitude and the final outcome. Always trying to obtain one’s own selfish ambitions can result in a meaningless pursuit of

The necklace serves as a symbol for greed. When Mathilda Loisel loses the necklace that she believed was worth forty thousand francs, she desperately retraces her steps and gets her husband to help her find it as well. It ends up taking ten years to pay off the debt. The ten years were hard on Mathilda Loisel and her husband, and Maupassant told the reader that she “looked old now… with hair half combed, with skirts award, and reddened hands” (6). However, even after the long ten years of manual labor all because she lost the necklace, she “sat down near the window and though of that evening at the ball so long ago, when she has been so beautiful and so admired” (6). The necklace symbolizes that when greed controls emotions and decisions, it never leads to good results.

‘The Necklace’ is a morality tale written by Guy de Maupassant where he portrays the life of a beautiful but dissatisfied girl named Mathilde who desires to live a luxurious life despite being born into a clerk’s family and marrying a clerk too. Mathilde’s discontentment in life instigates her to pretend someone rich that she is not. Moreover, it leads her to severe trouble that caused ten years of hardship to Mathilde and her husband. So, this suffering is a punishment for Mathilde which taught her a lesson and changed her dramatically over the course of the story by making her a person of completely different personality for whom appearances

When her husband gave her the invitation to the ball, which was a perfect place to meet the rich people, Mathilde got mad and cried. It was a shame since she has nothing to wear. Mr Loisel gave his money to Mathilde and she got an elegance dress. But she didn’t stop and wanted to have jewels. Mathilde met her friend, Madame Forestier and chose an gorgeous diamond necklace. Of course, she became the prettiest woman in the ball, with everyone stared at her, as if she was the most attractive woman ever. She felt fascinated, just like her dream came true. But then a tragic came to her. She lost the necklace! Mathilde and her husband tried to find the necklace, but they found nothing. Mathilde lost her hope and had aged five years. The Loisels finally decided to replace the diamonds for 36 000 Francs, spent all of their money and accepted to pay the debts. It was such an unfortunate situation. After Mathilde lost the necklace, she was described as “ And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her money”. (Maupassant 8). The family was suffering from poverty and have to pay the debts continuously. Mathilde changed immediately and did everything. They have worked so hard to earn every single penny for their life, to survive and pay all those debts. The third person limited

Some things are not what they seem. In The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel is not content with her social status or husband. She loses a necklace she borrowed to look rich and must work hard to pay for a replacement. She later finds out it was not authentic and she had wasted her life replacing a cheap object. By using characters and events throughout the passage, Maupassant develops the theme that what appears to be is not necessarily true.

This is because she feels destined for luxuries meaning that she deserves these luxuries though she has never worked for them. She quickly learns that sometimes you have to work for something. Mathilde is forced to work to pay off her debts, “She learned to do the heavy housework, dirty kitchen jobs. She washed the dishes, wearing away her manicured fingernails on greasy pots and encrusted baking dishes. She hand-washed dirty linen, shirts, and dish towels that she hung out on the line to dry.

“The Necklace” Guy de Maupassant, the author of “The Necklace”, describes how Mme. Mathilde Loisel’s attitude, appearance, and perspective on life changes. Her life is drastically changed when she borrows a necklace from a friend and loses it. In the beginning of the story, Mme. Loisel is somewhat snobby.

The Characters who appear in the story “the Necklace” written by Maupassant, are go through many changes. The main character in “The Necklace” is Mathilde Loisel whose life changes because of the necklace. Mathilde Loisel is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the story she is a manipulating lady, but after losing the necklace, she changes; now she is working and collaborating with her husband. The readers meet Mathilde Loisel as a beautiful and unhappy lady: “She was one of those pretty and charming women” (7, par. 1).

To start off, both of the stories characters’ tragic flaw seems to be their pride. This trait alone is what begins to get both of themselves into a hole. Mathilde, on top of her pride, she also has materialistic greed, while mainly caring about her appearance. She wants to have and be the best of the best. Pride is the reason

Mathilde is dejected about the invitation because she thinks she isn’t suited to go to this party due to her lack of wealth. Mathilde goes to an older lady the Loisels’ know, Madame Forestier, to get some jewels to wear. Mathilde finds a beautiful diamond necklace. The couple goes to the party and it is a great time for Mathilde, but on their way home,

She had been taking advantage of her beloved husband. Mathilde was greedy, a

1 In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant the borrowed necklace and Madame Loisel’s dreams of life in high society are the same in a few ways. The necklace was something Madame Loisel could never afford as a lower class person, while a high class person could afford it easily. 2 The main conflict of the story is when Madame Loisel and her husband undertook the task to replace a necklace that Madame Loisel had lost. Conflict is a literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces usually a protagonist and an antagonist. Therefore, when Madame Loisel and her husband had to earn 36,000 francs to pay for the replacement necklace the couple struggled.

“She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born, as if by an accident into a family of clerks” this is what Guy de Maupassant started “The Necklace” off by saying (Maupassant 221). Also, this helps describe the main character and to give the readers a visual of Mathilde Loisel. “The Necklace” is a short story that Mathilde Loisel, the main female character, wants to be a higher class than she really is. Mathilde’s life drastically changes one night after she loses the necklace. Guy de Maupassant incorporates his use of the social class into the short story.