Greed In The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant and Chinua Achebe show their opinions on materialism through the thoughts of their characters in their stories. In “The Necklace”, Mathilde, an avaricious and narcissistic character, believes she possesses “...no dowry, no hopes, not the slightest chance of being appreciated, understood, loved, and married by a rich and distinguished man” (de Maupassant 373). The author, Guy de Maupassant, mocks Mathilde’s attitude towards her life, claiming “...She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers” (de Maupassant 373). By showing Mathilde’s thoughts, the author shows how materialism can cause someone to unappreciate the life that they have, even when it is exceptional compared to

Feeling trapped in a life that she does not want or appreciate because she lacks the finer things already presents the negative impact it has on her. Her life is comfortable, yet the appearance of her walls and furniture is not high-class enough for her, damaging not only her happiness but also her own self worth. Another description of Mathilde states, “She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that. She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after” (1). Mathilde not only wants to have money to selfishly better her own social life but in her dreams of being wealthy, she does not seem to want to do anything more impactful with it. Her focus on the material things such as dresses and jewels traps her in a bubble where she can only be the person she aspires to be if she has items that can be acquired with more money. This will never bring her true happiness or fulfillment because even if she does become incredibly wealthy, she will always want more or to be at a higher class. Mathilde’s dreams become especially impossible to reach when she accidentally loses her upscale friend’s supposed diamond necklace and goes into debt buying an identical one to return back to her friend. Mathilde’s life turns into days full of labor trying to earn back the money and the narrator states, “That dreadful debt must be paid.

Mathilde marries Mr. Loisel, a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education. She becomes unhappy with the way she has to live. "She suffered because of her grim apartment with its drab walls, threadbare furniture, ugly curtains." (paragraph 3). She owns cheap belongings and still dreams of being rich and having gourmet food while her husband likes plain

“Have I mastered the mathematics of a passive disaster, adding my selfish ambition, all the while subtracting what matters?” - Lecrae. In his song “Fear”, Lecrae tells us that a catastrophe is created when we focus only on our “selfish ambitions”. These desires we have often create greed. In The Count of Monte Cristo and “The Necklace”, characters receive consequences due to their avarice. Both authors use diction and imagery to portray the idea that greed brings misfortune.

As Mathilde worked hard to recover the money she owed to the Madame, she finally sees and reflects on the mistakes she made in her previous life. In the process, she internally becomes wiser and truly understands what went on during her former life. After her self-centered and thoughtless behavior vanished over time, she became the woman she always had dreamed of

Mathildas envy and desire to be wealthy and to live a lavish lifestyle becomes a much larger problem, when she can no longer visit her friends because of the suffering and jealousy she would experience afterwards. But when Mathilde asked her wealthy friend to borrow some jewelry, she did not seem to experience any suffering, misery, or even

Greed is a powerful force that has controlled people throughout history. Even with everything you could need, a desire for more remains. When this greed envelops our lives, we become blind to what is truly important. Many authors and poets have been able to capture this essence in their work. The following examples from “The Necklace”, “The Golden Touch”, and “In La Rinconada” demonstrate the power of greed within people and what causes people’s endless desires for more.

Greed is one of the main reasons people feel the need to have material objects, and “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant is an example of just that. Mathilde, the main character, valued luxurious items so that she could seem wealthy to others. When her and her husband get invited to a formal event for work, she wishes to look as elegant as she can. Although Mathilde didn’t have a bad life, she still wanted more. “She had no proper wardrobe, no jewels, nothing. And those were the only things that she loved-she felt she was made for them. She would have so loved to charm, to be envied, to be admired and sought after” (Maupassant 374). This quote relates to how even though Mathilde probably did have a dress that would have been

The dictionary definition for the word greed, is excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions. In many stories, greed plays an important role. Usually when a character is overcome with greed, it leads to a horrendous downfall of some sort. In the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the author acknowledges that the main character Mathilde is very greedy. The author lets the reader compare Mathilde to a foolish person taking life for granted instead of her realizing she already has everything she needs. Mathilde finds herself wanting a fantasy life that she did not have, when in reality her future fades it away. In “The Necklace”, Maupassant is able to show that Mathilde learns a devastating lesson because of her

Living a life filled with greed and conceit may lead a person into living a miserable and devastating life style. In the end there will always be a consequence for avaricious actions. In the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Mathilde Loisel was greedy in the beginning but became dependent and hardworking at the end. Throughout the beginning of the story “The Necklace” Madame Loisel was greedy and conceited.

The seven deadly sins consist of lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride. When reading the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, the presence of greed and envy is prominent. Mathilde Loisel has an infatuation with the upper class and all that comes with that class. Not to mention, Loisel has a dissatisfaction towards the life she lives and the possessions she owns, leading to envying those who have more. Guy de Maupassant enlightens the reader on how the overwhelming desire and greed that one has shows one’s honest intentions.

The short story The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant, is a story about Mrs. Loisel and how she shows the horrible trait of greediness. Mrs. Loisel is a beautiful woman but she is very financially distraught and she is not used to luxury or anything nice, which is strange because she is greedy to a point of disbelief . So one day she receives an invitation in the mail,“Instead of being delighted as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation down and said ‘What do you want me to do with that?”. Mrs. Loisel is so greedy that her own husband thought that she would be happy instead she exceeded her husband's expectations on her high level of greediness and threw down the invitation.

“He who is not contented with what he has. Would not be contented with what he would like to have.” (Socrates) This quote is about the conflicting difference between contentment and desire. The basic premise is if a person is uncontrollably desiring for more wealth, what makes someone think that they will ever find the satisfaction? Especially when greed and envy can lead to self-destruction. The Necklace, written by Guy De Maupassant depicts selfishness and greed conveniently portrayed as instinctive human characteristics; this story reveals an individual’s relation to society, humanity, and moral responsibility. Mathilde Loisel is a middle-aged woman whose greed and ambition had taken over, due to the fact that she is committed to the belief that she will find contentment in a higher economic and social status. Mme. Loisel possessed an easily distinguishable string of character flaws which contributed to the loss of the

“She would have liked so much to please, to be envied to be charming, to be sought after” (5). Mathilde’s character is always striving to have others see her outside of her reality, to have someone think of her to be in a higher class of society. De Maupassant uses the class separation to intensify Mathilde’s desires versus reality. She often refers to not having

Mr. Loisel was obviously excited the day that The Chancellor of Education had invited them to an exquisite dinner. Surely he thought that this was finally a way that he could provide an outlet for Mathilde's deepest desires. Unfortunately, instead of being thrilled as he had predicted, Mathilde acted like a spoiled child, throwing the invitation on the table. "She had no decent dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but these; she believed herself born only for these" (5). She couldn't have been more manipulative than when she began to cry about not having anything to wear. Of course Mr. Loisel suddenly fell into her trap and suddenly decided to give her all of the money in his savings account to buy her a new dress. Most would assume that she'd be satisfied at this point; her husband has just made a huge financial sacrifice for her. However, as time drew near to the night of the party, she became insecure and restless because she thought she would look poor if she didn't have any fancy jewels to wear; she thought she'd look like a beggar. `I'd almost rather not go to the party (30)", she said.