Narcissism & Greed Blinds the Morals of One’s Own in Guy De Maupassant’s
“The Necklace"
The first paragraph of Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" introduces the reader a beautiful young woman named Mathilde Loisel who yearns for wealth and a luxurious lifestyle. At the same the narrator is informing us of the circumstances that revolves around her from the worn-out chairs to the ugliness of her curtains. She is convinced that these conditions are not suitable for her delicacy temperament and correlates these defects to someone more appropriate and mediocre in society. Her husband makes every attempt to satisfy her needs however it is never enough for her standards of living due to her acquisitive impulses. Her characteristics
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However, after she had purchased it her ambition kicked in with the urge of needing more. Eventually she borrowed a necklace from Madame Forestier who happens to be wealthy and is oblivious at the fact that her ambition is pushing her to an extent of disaster. This is an individual who will do anything in her power to reverse the mistake of fate that has descended her into what she distinguishes as an inadequate life. At the night of the party Mathilde is at her peak and she is certain that this is where she belongs surrounding herself with other individuals with the same …show more content…
There is no sign of morality within’ Mathilde and if she ever had the opportunity to adjust her circumstances or reverse fate, evidently she will consider the upper rank as oppose to settling for a mediocre lifestyle with her husband. After the extravagant event Mathilde lost the necklace of Madame Forestier which was assumed to be worth thousands of francs. Eventually Mathilde decided to replace it by purchasing an identical that corresponded to the original. After having purchased it she worked over ten years to pay off the necklace.
At the end of ten years everything was paid off, everything, the usurer's charges and the accumulation of superimposed interest. Madame Loisel looked old now. She had become like all the other strong, hard, coarse women of poor households. Her hair was badly done, her skirts were awry, her hands were red.
Mathilde unfortunately was oblivious at the fact that it took her more energy to pay off the identical necklace than the combine worth of the dress and the original necklace. She did not value her living circumstances with her husband as well as his love for her. She was more focused on the materialistic aspect as well as the upper ranks of society. Towards the end of the short story Madame Forestier states, that the original necklace was only worth five hundred francs and that it was an
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
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
In “The Necklace,” a story by Guy de Maupassant, the author tells you that people should always come clean for what they have done. In the beginning, Mathilde always wants to be better than everyone else. On page 218, the author states, “She would dream of silent chambers, draped with Oriental tapestries and lighted by tall bronze floor lamps, and of two handsome butlers in knee breeches…” This detail by the author tells us that she is unsatisfied with the life she is living. In the story, she loses a diamond necklace, lended to her by Mme.
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 Guy De Maupassant's “the Necklace,” Mr. Loisel supports his wife, Matilda, and her materialistic longing. Throughout the story, readers will find him spending countless amounts of time and money to fulfill her high class living ambition. Despite his wife's greed and pride, his love towards her never fades. De Maupassant reveals the character of Mr. Loisel through Mr. Loisel's commitment, hard work and love towards his wife Matilda.
Mathilde acts very self-centered and egoistic. Likewise, she was not thankful for the invite, her gown, or that her friend had lent her jewelry. Lastly, Mathilde’s character is revealed through her personality. “She had not gowns, no jewels, nothing.
Only after they paid back the debt of 36,000 francs by living the “horrible life of the needy”, did Mathilde finally tell her friend the truth. If they had not lied, they would not have discovered falsity of the necklace, and would not have gone into such
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.
Around the world, values are expressed differently. Some people think that life is about the little things that make them happy. Others feel the opposite way and that expenses are the way to live. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, he develops a character, Madame Loisel, who illustrates her different style of assessments. Madame Loisel, a beautiful woman, lives in a wonderful home with all the necessary supplies needed to live. However, she is very unhappy with her life. She feels she deserves a much more expensive and materialistic life than what she has. After pitying herself for not being the richest of her friends, she goes out and borrows a beautiful necklace from an ally. But as she
Again, I wasn't expecting that ending at all. I really sympathize with Mathilde and her husband because they really didn't deserve to work that hard for just a necklace. Especially the husband, all he really wanted to do was buy a gun so that he can go hunting in the summer. I wouldn't necessarily say that Mathilde deserves those hard-working 10 years she lost to repay the lost necklace mainly because it has always been in Mathilde's nature to want the best and dreams of other luxuries. I do, however, blame her for the misfortune she brought upon her and her husband when she lost the "fake" necklace. If she wasn't so demanding of things and would have settled with simply the dress her husband bought for her in exchange of his gun dream, then for sure their lives would probably have been a whole lot
Mathilde has a temporary change of heart when she gets what she wants. But, she did not truly change until after she went into debt and realized what all she had was lost. Mathilde’s first temporary change of heart is when she went and bought her dress, but it did not last long. “The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed, sad, uneasy, anxious. Her frock was ready, however: Her husband said to her one evening, “What is the matter? Come, you have seemed very queer these last three days.” Mathilde answered, “It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all.” This statement shows just how out of touch Mathilde is with life she has. No poverty-stricken person would be able to afford a 400 francs dress, let alone be invited to a ball. The story does not say how long Mathilde went before she was back to her previous self, but it must not have been long. Mathilde’s second temporary change was after she received the necklace from
Now consider the role of Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace”. She constantly grieves about her simple life and fantasizes about extravagant life style with rich people and food surrounding her. Her husband is a simple man and is satisfied with his life. He appreciates her for the food which is cooked and never complains. Being in the Ministry of Education their lifestyle is modest. Mathilde is not satisfied on the other hand even when her husband proudly announces that they have been invited at a formal party held by the Ministry of Education. The irony in the story is more or less the same with regard to the female characters. Mathilde cries and gets her prize in the form of a dress but she is never satisfied. She wants jewelry as well. The necklace that she borrows from Madame Forestier teaches her a lesson of life. Since she is not familiar with the real jewelry she picks the cheapest one from her collection and wears it to the party why she loses it. Upon not finding the jewelry her husband takes the pain of selling everything out just to purchase an identical necklace worth 40,000 francs which leaves them poverty stricken for the next ten years during which her husband does three jobs and
Selfishness in The Necklace by Maupassant In Guy de Maupassant's, "The Necklace" all the characters in the story exhibit similar behavior by showing that they think of themselves rather than of others. A close look at the behavior of the characters in "The Necklace" reveals more than a story about a spoiled selfish woman, but what we see is a story about a whole society of selfish people. In "The Necklace" a woman named Mathilde lives a depressed life because she does not live the life style that she desires.
The nineteenth century French writer, Guy De Maupassant, tells an intriguing story in "The Necklace." He depicts the painful life of a beautiful woman, unhappily born into an average family of clerks. She felt that she was destined to marry into wealth but sadly found herself settling as she married an average copyist. Unlike the women of today, women in the nineteenth century were not fortunate enough to have a career of their own; they were either born into a wealthy family or married a man with money. In "The Necklace", Guy De Maupassant creatively reveals Mathilde Loisel's dreams of a decadent lifestyle. As her struggles start to unravel, it becomes obvious that her heartache is solely
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