Stories are written to entertain and sometimes to inform. They are often different; however, they can be compared in many aspects. At first glance, Mathilde and Della have many differences and nothing to compare about. However, if you look carefully they have many similarities too. Mathilde and Della are often compared because of their differences; with this in mind their similarities are ignored. Mathilde and Della are not rich and they both want something that they cannot have. Overall Mathilde wants to be rich, but in particular she wants a nice outfit for the ball. For her dressing up like a rich woman is a satisfaction for her desires. Della wants to buy a nice gift for her husband. She thinks that her gift is meaningful for her
Mathilde was being very selfish at the beginning because she complained about not having fine clothes or having enough space in her huge apartment. She wanted to be envied and fascinating even though she was in middle class. Her husband had saved 400 franks in order to buy a rifle so in the summer he can go he can go hunting with his friends. But her selfishness made him give her the money for a new dress for a ball everyone is going too. She be's even more greedy and asks for a necklace
The two greedy parties in stories are characterised in a similar manner. Both stories begin with the women being described as beautiful, unlucky, and dissatisfied. These traits outline a common archetype for women in literature, the maiden of want. This can be used to portray a character positively or negatively, depending on what they want. Abstract wants such as love, adventure, or fulfillment are generally reserved for positive characters but concrete wants such as clothing, sex, or wealth, as is the case in these stories, are generally used to depict unlikable or villainous characters. Both authors make it very clear that both women’s heart’s greatest desire is wealth, already making them seem shallow and greedy. Next, each author adds another trait that could be viewed as despicable. Mathilde is given ungratefulness, “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she flung the invitation petulantly across the table, murmuring: "What do you want me to do with this?"’(Maupassant). She responds to what is supposed to be a sweet surprise like a rude, spoiled child, instantly adding an air of unpleasantness to her character. Hester is given what is regarded as one of the most egregious traits for a
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.
Both are blinded by their thoughts and think it is easy to achieve. While the narrator dreams of the possibility of moving out, she forgets about the struggle of owning property. For this case, it is paying insurance, buying a mortgage, etc. Moving out is a huge step in the independent world and it may have its consequences. It may be positive, as it will help with her organizational skills; however, the negative is the issue of saving money. At the same time, Mathilde is oblivious by her lust for money. Thus, she forgets to notice how much of an effort her husband puts in his job. Indeed, she absent by her thoughts and uses his money to buy clothes, while he was actually “reserving [the money] to buy a gun” (Maupassant 2). Mathilde forgets to process her husband saving money rather than spending it and takes his money for her essentials. Although both character’s minds overpower them to make a decision, their ability to achieve their dreams differentiate. Mathilde attempts to feel wealthy for one night to conclude how it feels as she buys an elegant dress and borrows her friend’s jewelry. Mathilde experiences her long lasting dream as she feels “elegant [and] gracious” (Maupassant 3). On the other hand, the narrator of the poem does not attempt to achieve her dream, as she is scared to confront the landlady. Instead, she keeps quiet, dreams about independence and follows the demands
After Della sells her hair she obtains twenty dollars to purchase Jim's Present, she is ecstatic and fulfilled because now she can buy a Christmas present for Jim. But, when Monsieur Loisel tells Mathilde that they are invited to a high class party, she demonstrates no gratitude; instead, she whines that she doesn't have anything to wear. Monsieur Loisel selflessly gives the money he had kept aside for his rifle to his wife to spend on the dress. Mathilde communicates no thankfulness; rather, she later grumbles that she has no jewelry to wear with the dress. It is clear in "The Necklace" that Mathilde places material belonging above kinship and the adoration and dependability of her husband. Never in the story is there any sign that she demonstrates
Simile will reveal the theme you should be happy with what you have. However, there are two kinds of people, ones who can live with what they have and ones who cannot live with what they have. Simile will display that Mathilde is one of those two kinds of people by providing examples in the story. Mathilde grew up in a family of clerks and considered middle class at her time. She married a minor clerk who does not fit her needs of a wealthy life. Mathilde dreams about the rich life of her own, but in reality is just an ordinary woman. A quote from the narrator states, “She dressed plainly because she could not afford fine clothes, but was as unhappy as a woman who has come down in the world.”(66). The comparison in this quote is Mathilde and an “unhappy woman who has come down in the world”, and the
Strapped for cash and wanting to give her beloved husband the most luxurious gift for Christmas to express her deep passion for him, we are immediately introduced to the initial situation at hand. With only a dollar and some change to spend on Jim, Della is forced into a situation
Mathilde is an example of any individual that is the situation of having hopeless dreams in their mind that transform a person into somebody else. Like, Mathilde is an example of a woman who dreams of wealth and of being envied by other women. She believes that she deserves the whole world for her. A world that having luxury is significant for a person in order to get attention from other people. Materialistic stuff that keeps happiness and confidence to the people. The envy is the worst thing that a human could do, there are people that have done awful things because of the need of the t. We all want to have the life of a king or queen; some just born lucky and live that dream without doing anything about it. Mathilde is not the option, she was born in the Third Estate class; the French social class was determined by one's birth. She is already imagining the life of a queen in a poor apartment. Regardless, She has envy for not having what others have, but she does not do anything in order to get the type of life full of luxury. Marcia Reynolds states that "Envy on the other hand is about coveting something you don't have. The person you envy has what you want. The more unfair you think the situation is, the more you will find ways to demean the person you envy. Then instead of working to achieve more, you justify the reasons for staying in an inferior
Guy de Maupassant had suggested clearly through the line of the story the difference between greed and dreams. Dreaming is pursuing and chasing a goal with passion, hopes, and huge efforts; while greed is a desire to acquire more than what one needs with a no effort. Mathilde could bring her dreams to reality by finding a job instead of deciding to stay home day dreaming of her thoughts. As the author had illustrated in many parts of the story Mathidle was never satisfied with her assets for example, when her husband offered her all of his saving to buy her a dress she asked for jewelries and when she had the chance to borrow some. She did not get contended with Madame Forestier’s jewelries, but she kept asking her to show her more until she noticed the most wonderful necklace of Madame Forestier’s jewelries. After losing the necklace, Mathidle social class was lower, but she seemed happier.
The common ground that Madame Loisel and Della share is that they are very emotional when reminded of their wealth status. In “The Necklace” Madame Loisel starts to tear up at the sight of M. and Mme. Ramponneau’s invitation to an evening reception. Madame Loisel is troubled because she does not have anything glamorous to wear to the wealthy coworker’s event. Opposite of her husband’s assumption, Madame Loisel feels distraught. To his disbelief, “his wife started crying. Two big tears escaped from the corners of her eyes and rolled slowly toward the corners of her mouth” (de Maupassant 335). Of course, the first thing on Madame Loisel’s mind is that she cannot go simply because she cannot afford to have the most exquisite gown at the event. Similar to Madame Loisel, Della wails over her minimal savings towards Jim’s Christmas gift. With a miniscule amount of $1.87, it is almost impossible to purchase a gift for Jim. Their impoverishment reminds Della that there is “clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating” (Henry 261). Della’s constant crying is the result of how little she and her husband have. Clearly, the chance of affording a Christmas present for Jim with only $1.87 is highly unlikely. Not only does Madame Loisel and Della cry excessively, they become very emotional over their wealth status. If they did have jobs, then it would be less likely to have financial instability. In addition, Madame Loisel and Della spend much of their time perseverating
Firstly, Madame Loisel shows greed throughout the story because she has a comfortable life, she has a servant and food on the table, but she desires more delicate meals. She is not happy with what she has. Although Madame Loisel doesn’t have a lot of money, she is still evidently greedy. Even though she is a lovely woman, she feels she isn’t worth anything simply because she has no nice jewelry. Mathilde constantly suffers due to the fact that she has nothing luxurious in her life, dissatisfying her. Even though Mathilde dresses up and looks beautiful, she still believes she isn’t all of that. She is pretty and charming but wishes for the finer things in life. Madame Loisel’s husband works hard for what they have but she still doesn’t appreciate what she has and always wants more. When going to the ball, she refuses to wear any of her beautiful dresses and as a result, she ends up getting a dress with the money her husband was saving up for a gun. She believed that if she didn’t look elegant than she shouldn’t go to the ball.
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.
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
Mathilde is a pretty and charming woman, born of simple roots and humble beginnings, relished with both the love and warmth of a family though not well-off financially yet considerably contemporary to the families in the middle of the hierarchy. She was married to Monsieur Loisel, a government clerk who works round-the-clock at the Ministry of Education. She has always dreamt of a life of luxury and leisure, with attentive maidservants, a large home decorated with coveted linens, expensive jewels and fancy silverware. Mortified of the humiliating state she’s in, she no longer visits Madame Forestier, an old friend of hers.
In the short stories, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry both Mathilde and Della are different and alike in many ways. Mathilde is a very selfish character and does not have a lot of money. In despite of this, she still desires for a wealthy status. However, Della is the complete opposite. She is selfless and does not have a lot of money. She gives up her valuables or prized possessions just to get her husband a Christmas gift. Mathilde from “The Necklace” and Della from “The Gift of the Magi” have some similarities, but also have differences; both are poor yet Della is giving and cherishes her money while Mathilde