The Drawbacks of Craving Wealth in The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant

“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a story about a woman, Madame Loisel, who throughout her entire life has always felt as if she deserved more than she had. Mathilde is so convinced she’s meant to be wealthy that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life she’s not having, when one day she loses what she thought to be an expensive diamond necklace, leaving her and her husband in poverty. Guy de Maupassant uses characters such as Mathilde to show that characters evolve as a result of their experiences and interactions with others. Universal ideas such as greed, fear of perception, and maturity are significant in the transformation of Mathilde’s circumstances from a pretty and charming middle-class woman, to an unrecognizable woman living in abject poverty.

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.

She panicked as Monsieur tried looking for it, they fail and try to think of what to do. So they think of replacing the necklace with a similar looking one, but the replica, cost 36,000 francs, same amount in U.S dollars, but can't buy up front, what do they do, paying it once in a while. The dept lasted 10 harsh years for Monsieur and Madame, they risked their lives, shot the self in the foot basically and when finished. Madame confest to her friend that they have lost the necklace and replaced it, also how hard it was for them. What does her friend say, oh darling that was simply a knockoff, at least 500 francs? “The Necklace” written by  Guy de Maupassant (1884).

It is seen throughout the story that the main character Madame Mathilde Loisel is thought to be way above the lifestyle she had been born into. The novel depicts her as a very beautiful women, who has a passion for a life filled with luxuries. The problem comes from her being born into a world without such luxuries. She lived her life angry and lost without these luxuries she believed she deserved. The life of Madame Loisel is where the very prevalent theme of greed is shown.

In the short story, “The Necklace,” a greedy and selfish woman brings financial ruin upon herself and her husband. They go from a comfortable lifestyle in a slightly shabby apartment to an impoverished existence in an attic apartment. Mathilde Loisel was born to a lower middle class French family, but she wished that she could have of noble birth. Her longing for a better life caused her great grief. When she could have been happy with her situation in life, instead she would dream of a grand home and wealthy, dignified friends. When she borrowed a diamond necklace from a friend and lost it at an elegant party, she brought downfall to her husband and herself. Not only does Guy de Maupassant use the

19th century France was a period of time when citizens were defined by their social caste; some of its members were dissatisfied by the castes they were born into and struggled to overcome them. The French version of the caste system was one that promoted materialism, as all of the happiest, richest of people also possessed the most. Henri Frederic Amiel said “Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false.” This idea is epitomized by the character Madame Loisel in “The Necklace”. The main character of the story, Madame Loisel, is noted by the author for the beauty, but by the end of the story, as her materialism took control of her life, she had become an aged, harsh woman. In Guy de Maupassant’s

The Necklace is a short story about learning to value for the things you have. A short story written in 1884 by Guy De Maupassant is about a woman who does not value anything she has. Unhappy with what she has and unhappy with her life she envies the wealthy. With a nice twist at the ending the story unfolds with an ironic ending and a valuable life lesson everybody should learn.

Last night I read a story called The Necklace and in the story Madame Lucy a middle-class women long to live like the rich and then one day her husband brought home and invention from them to attend a fancy ball and she despair for she has no fine clothes and then her husband gave her money to buy Super Bowl dressed and then however is Joy was short-lived for she had then you're on

Mathilde Loisel typifies an obsession with wealth, serving as the physical representation of an overpowering desire that is ultimately self-destructive and causes a loss of her social identity. When detailing the appearance of her home, Mathilde “suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the

Plot Analysis - The plot analysis of (Exposition) “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, take places in the late 1800s when Mathilde Loisel and her husband decides to go to a ball. The importance of the place is so you can get the whole catch of how royal Mathilde is supposed to be at the ball and i'll tell you she pulled it off for she was the only most beautiful woman there but surprisingly it wasn't all of the necklace that made her shine that night she already had beauty on her all she needed was a splendid dress to wear, gorgeous shoes to wear, and of course her hair all pretty up for the ball.The main character in “The Necklace” is considered round character, she was one of those pretty and charming girls, born as if by an accident of fate, into a family of clerks. Really this is all saying that Mathilde is to gorgeous to not have jewels or a rich hot clothes or even a big extraordinary house. The main character is also dynamic: “Her friend gave a cry, “oh poor Mathilde, how you’ve changed!”

In the story “The Necklace” by Guy Maupassant, Mathilde Loisel is envious of anyone who is rich. Mathilde thought she should have been born above her station which is a clerk. She dreams of grandeur. She receives an invite to the Department of Education ball and thinks she has nothing to wear. Her husband makes a sacrifice to give her money to buy her a dress. When she wants jewelry to go with the dress, he suggests asking her seemly rich friend to borrow some jewelry. When she picks out what she thinks is the most beautiful and expensive necklace to wear to the ball, she loses it by rushing out of the ball so that the other rich ladies do not see her modest cape. After searching high and low, her husband borrows money to replace

The necklace is a short story written by Maupassant to present the mentality of people in France during its golden ages. He did that through the use of more familiar characters to the reader who have positives and negatives, following the guidelines of literary realism to give the reader a closer perspective on the life during those days. It is based on a middle-class woman who married to a junior clerk in the Ministry of Education. She had an honorable life but always felt that ‘’she was intended for a life of refinement and luxury ‘’ Maupassant is trying to portray human nature, of always striving for more than what they have and are never pleased with what’s between their hands.

In today’s world, there is always going to be some new product or service that will replace outdated ones, or someone who is always going to want to live above their means. Because of the way that society has put an impression on consumers, they are always persuaded to purchase the “next big thing”. Or the way that society put actors, actresses, or well-known rich people on a pedestal, an average class person would probably aspire to be in their shoes. “The Necklace” or “La Parure”, written by Guy de Maupassant and published in 1884, can be a relatable short story in regards to today’s world.

Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and luxuries. She was depressed at the poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, ugliness of the curtains. Mathilde believes she should be rich with a big dowry and a wealthy husband. In her own world she thinks that way she is living is a mistake. She believes everything she owns should be nice, expensive, and beautiful. She is ungrateful for everything she has, and does not stop to think if anything could be worse.

In this tragic tale of lust and loss, a beautiful woman named Mathilde, born into a family of wealth, seems to let her need to feel important get over her head and cause misery for the future years to come. Mathilde was a very pretty lady, but with no hopes of marrying a wealth handsome man she allowed herself to be married to a clerk in the ministry of education. This seemed to eat at her as she lived on with this man. She believed she deserved luxury and a life full of riches. However, this notion wasn’t possible with the man she was with. The spare time she had was always spent thinking about what she could have done with her life. She dreamed of “silent antechambers, heavy with Oriental tapestries, lit by torches in lofty bronze sockets.” She knew this lifestyle wouldn’t ever be hers though.