Mathilde's 'Change In' The Necklace

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 author characterizes the lady as a self-centered one. Frequently, Mathilde complains that she does not have the things she wants, for she was “feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury…” as if she was in the high class. She plunges herself too far into the depths of comparison to the upper class to the point greed is able to blind her away from

Mathilde wanted to be rich and live a luxurious life. She did not just want to be rich but she thought that she deserved to be rich. Before she got married she was living a decent lifestyle,she even had a maid for the house “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born every delicacy and luxury.” (1). One night Mathilde and her husband got invited to go to a fancy ball. But she did not have any jewelry to wear so she borrowed a necklace from her friend. After the party she realized that the necklace was gone. She and her husband had to go out and buy the same necklace but for thirty six thousand francs. They had to be in debt for more than ten years. One day she decided to tell the woman that she borrowed the necklace from that she lost her original one and this is another one. ‘“Oh my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at very most five hundred francs!...”’(8). Mathilde and her husband were in debt for most of their lives and lived in poverty. The irony in the story is Mathilde wanted to be very rich but ended up the poorest of the poor and the necklace she lost was imitation and she ended up paying so much more money to replace it than she actually

Mathilde constantly longs for a luxurious life and a higher status. “ She would dream of great reception halls... men whose attention every woman envies and longs to attract” (Applebee, 28). This quote depicts how she is not happy with what she has but instead wants more. She dreams of a grand life and for people to notice her whenever she walks into the room.

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

This financial pressure Hester brought upon herself is also sensed throughout the family, explaining the constant whispers of “we need more money”. In comparison to “The Necklace”, the circumstances described through the setting of Mathilde’s life is very similar. Mathilde has a very comfortable life- always having food on the table and having her own servant. However, like Hester, she is not content with what she has and desires more, always comparing herself to others’ financial state. Guy de Maupassant describes Mathilde’s situation to be neither wealthy nor part of social class. She feels as though she deserves to be a member of the more lavish society. Thus, does everything in her power to create a wealthier lifestyle for herself as “she was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees” (Maupassant, pg.1).This shows Mathilde’s confidence in herself to believe she was born to be wealthy. However, “She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished” (Maupassant, pg.1). In the first couple of lines of the story, Guy De Maupassant introduces Mathilde, whom internally believes is destined for a wealthy and luxurious life. Yet, Mathilde was born in a middle class family and is unsatisfied with her lifestyle

Mathilde finds herself dissatisfied with her life. She craves for riches and glamour. Instead of appreciating what she has, Mathilde craves for jewels and high class commodities. One day, her husband receives an invitation to a formal party, which would give Mathilde a chance to experience the luxuries of high society. However, she seems upset because she does not own a formal dress to wear to the ball. Mathilde’s husband feels compassion for her and gives her his savings to buy a new and elegant dress. The night before the ball, we noticed Mathilde’s greed when she complains that she has no ornament to put on. She arrogantly tells her husband, “It's so mortifying to look poverty-stricken among women who are rich” (Maupassant). For this reason, he then advises her to borrow some jewelry from her friend, Madam Forestier. Blinded by greed, Mathilde follows her husband’s advice and borrows what looks like a diamond necklace. At the ball, she has a great time. However, when she and her husband get home, she realizes she has lost the diamond necklace. Worried by the consequences of losing a diamond necklace, Mathilde’s husband decides to buy a new necklace by using his inheritance, getting loans, and borrowing money from acquaintances. They return the necklace to Madam Forestier and focus on paying their debt. After 10 years of hard labor and misery, they eventually pay all their debts. At the end of the short story, Mathilde finds out that the diamond necklace she borrowed was fake. Ultimately, we see how greed drove Mathilde to misery and

A piece from the story is, “She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her” (deMaupassant 2). This shows how unhappy Mathilde is with her life and how she wishes she was among the wealthy women who have probably never even thought about being poor or struggling to pay for

Thereafter, by learning a lesson from her doings there was a great transformation in Mathilde’s character from beginning to end of the story. After giving the diamond necklace to Forrestier she knew they have to live a “horrible” (5) life “of the needy.” (5) . Thus “with sudden heroism” (5) she decided to repay the debt taken for that necklace and “dismissed their servant, changed their lodgings and rented a garret under the roof.” (5) The woman who valued her youth and beauty the most lost it and became the woman of “impoverished household-strong and hard and rough.” (5) But sometimes she

In addition to being dishonest and full of pride, Mathilde was also a very greedy person. Greed is a terrible trait to have; it makes life much more difficult for the person possessing the trait, as well as the people who are close to them. An example of a person affected by Mathilde’s greed would be her husband, M. Loisel, who loved Mathilde and tried to give her everything she wanted, such as the invitation to the minister’s party. Even though he was merely a clerk, M. Loisel worked hard to get the invitation, thinking Mathilde would love the opportunity to socialize with the aristocrats. He even gave Mathilde the money to buy a fancy dress, instead of spending the dress money for himself, and had the idea for Mathilde to borrow jewels from Madame Forestier.

She was always dreaming and seeing things as if it was fantasy. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born with all the delicacies and all the luxuries” (Maupassant). The author allows the reader to foreshadow that her ways brings her into a devastation. She had everything she needed: a husband, a nice income, and she even had the looks. She just wanted more. Mathilde didn’t understand how with such great looks why she couldn’t have riches. Even though her husband bought the both of them tickets to a ball, Mathilde still refused to go because she had not one thing to wear. However, when she easily convinces her husband into buying a dress that cost four-hundred francs, even though her husband had other plans to do for the money. Now, she had a dress, but, with greed, she still demanded she needed something else. “It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look like distress. I would almost rather not go to this party” (Maupassant). Maupassant clarified that even though her husband went and bought her a dress, she still wanted something

her to be the talk of the night. To be admired and asked about. She was truly glorious; until she

If she would've been proud of her inner beauty and not so focused on wealth and status, then her life would have been so much more rewarding. She learned the incredibly tough consequence of not Madame Forester about losing the necklace. Her decision cost herself time and money but more importantly, cost Mathilde her pride.

Many of the characters we studied in this summer had a very difficult situation caused by themselves. Undoubtedly, each person has their own defects, however this does not mean we have to be slaves of our weaknesses and fears. Pitifully, some fears can become so strong that they can turn a person's life miserable. In addition, people who are victims of their own fear and sins can commit insane things to the people who are around them. Some clear examples of this type of people are Mathilde Loisel, Mrs. Mallard and the Narrator of the Black Cat.

Mathilde, believing that fate is unjust to her, attempts to impersonate a woman of higher class. However her foolish act ensures that the Loisel’s will face distress and debt. While pondering their new lives, she realizes how one self-centered decision was enough “to ruin or to save” (84) them. Mathilde is becoming self-aware of the effect her egocentric deeds are having on herself and Loisel. She recognizes that her pride alone is enough to bring about grief and poverty to her home.