If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it,” the prominent businessman of his time, John D. Rockefeller once said. This is a truth that readers learn from reading Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace.” In this short story, a woman named Mathilde Loisel’s humility is abused by pride and greed but changed and improved as the story went along. Mathilde’s nature towards her husband and others was ungrateful and unappreciative. To begin with, Mathilde was a “pretty and charming” woman that was married to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education. The story says, “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. 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. “Mathilde was not happy with the things she had in her class. Even though she had the basics and was not lacking things she needed to survive, she was still unhappy with it. Mathilde’s fantasies made her and others miserable. As the story progresses, Mathilde’s husband brought home an envelope that was an invite to a great occasion, where many important …show more content…
She was not willing to own up to her mistakes. At the end of the story, Mathilde had an encounter with Madame Forestier, the rich friend, that loaned her the expensive diamond necklace and said, “...I've had some hard times since I saw you last; and many sorrows . . . and all on your account.” Mathilde says the last part like she was jealous and still upset and believed that the hard times she endured was Madame Forestier’s fault, when in fact it was her fault. If she was not so greedy, she would not have had a necklace to lose in the first place. If her pride was not too big, she would not have wasted ten years of her life repaying a debt, that could have been
De Maupassant's “The Necklace” characterizes Mathilde Loisel, the main character, as a beautiful, egotistic woman who desires only wealthy apparel. He emphasizes the negative results of narcissism by blinding Mathilde with that trait
This is all shown very well and nicely put in the story “The Necklace”. In “The Necklace” Mathilde, the main character thought that she deserved the best, she should have been a rich women. Mathilde never got that, she married a man who could still provide her with a nice life, with a home, and food, but that was not good enough for her, she needed the perfect life. It was never going to happen, her husband did not have a good enough job to make that kind of money.
She married an ordinary man despite her beauty because she lacked a dowry. Mathilde got the opportunity to go to an evening reception and borrowed a diamond necklace from a rich friend, Mme. Forestier. However, she lost the necklace. She
Mathilde discusses a woman’s search for love, atonement, and redemption.” (Melville 1). She later passed of brain cancer on February 1,
Three examples of greed and its effects are shown in the stories of “The Necklace”, “Civil Peace”, and “The Golden Touch”. The short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant tells the story of a woman, named Mathilde, who borrows a very expensive necklace, ends up losing it, and spends 10 years of her life repaying the debt it took to buy a new one, only to find out the original was fake and not expensive at all. This alone states the extent at which we will go to replace materialistic items. The lady had been part of the middle class, living comfortably, and even had a maid and a cook.
After Mathilde buys a dress with the money that Mr.Loisel gives to her, she still is not satisfied with what she is given, she wants more. Mathilde’s greediness is shown when she demands expensive jewelry to wear to the party even though Mr.Loisel invests his saving for Mathilde’s dress. She does not appreciate Mr. Loisel actions and instead complains about not having an aristocratic showcase. Mathilde does not acknowledge the sacrifice her husband has made for, she deceitfully expects more. This relates to Gatsby when he expects more from Daisy than mere love.
Three examples of greed and its effects are shown in the stories of “The Necklace”, “Civil Peace”, and “The Golden Touch”. The short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant tells the story of a woman, named Mathilde, who borrows a very expensive necklace, ends up losing it, and spends 10 years of her life repaying the debt it took to buy a new one, only to find out the original was fake and not expensive at all. This alone states the extent at which we will go to replace materialistic items. The lady had been part of the middle class, living comfortably,
In briefly this story, it described story of Mathilde Loisel who is gorgeous woman and she has her own mind to be rich and extravagance. After she got married she could not get all those wonderful jewels that she had ever dreamt about due to lack of financial .Even her husband’s love and caring attitude cannot comfort and make her feel happiness. Moreover, she is blind with her desire and does not notice anything else.
But, Mathilde Loisel acts in utter disdain. Mathilde Loisel says, “It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on” (965). Mathilde Loisel seems to be greedy in the short story; she can never be satisfied with what she has. Towards the end of the story de
Furthermore, family-wise, there are not many similarities between these two characters. Roger has no family to support him and he needs to provide for himself. Mathilde however, has a loving and doting husband, wanting to please her with fancy dresses and invitations to parties. Her husband may love her, but in the story “The Necklace”, he told her to lie about losing the necklace and instead say that they broke the clasp and had to replace it. In saying this, her husband basically got them into this whole “I’m poor, woe is me” mess.
M. Lantin turned to his late wife’s jewelry collection; he knew that it was fake jewelry but he was desperate and was in need of money. He took the jewelry to a jewelry store expecting to receive only a few francs but then he was told he was receiving thousands of francs. M. Lantin was in shock and could not believe that the entire time it was real jewelry and not fake; he became a very wealthy man and resigned from his job, eventually marrying another woman who made his wife miserable. M. Lantin’s first wife had a big impact on his life; however, his selfish actions lead to what he deserved ending up with a wife that made him miserable. M. Lantin’s first wife was a young beautiful woman who he fell deeply in love with, she was the ideal woman that any of the men would want in their life.
She borrows a piece of pricey jewelry from a wealthy friend to wear to a party out of her desire for money and status, but when she loses it, her family's finances are destroyed. In her examination of "The Necklace," French literature expert Sarah Capitanio points out that Mathilde's fixation with worldly items causes "her downfall and moral corruption" (Capitanio, 2018). Mathilde's ambition for power and status causes her to put other people's opinions above her own, which ultimately leads to her suffering as a result of her actions.
Meanwhile, Mathilde suffers because she cannot buy fancy clothing, diamonds and live in a palace (De Maupassant). In addition to that, both of them have husbands that deeply care for them. Della’s husband, Jim, in order to please her wife, sold his only watch to buy her a Christmas present (Henry). In the meantime, Mathilde’s husband used all his father heritage to help pay for the necklace replacement (De Maupassant). It is possible to see through characterization that even though they are characters from different stories Della and Mathilde have a number of
Human nature causes people to desire more than what one already has. However, after desiring material items, people realize the foolishness in their greed. In “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde Loisel, who lives in France during the 1880s, attempts to transform her ordinary life into one of luxury. She attends a reception with her friend Madame Forestier's diamond necklace, but after losing it, she works to buy a new necklace, only to later discover the necklace she lost is fake. Through this experience, Mathilde learns to be content with what she has, and as a result, she realizes the flaws in her character.
The protagonist of ‘The Necklace’, Madame Loisel, live a rather steady, ordinary middle-class life in the beginning of the story. However, she views that she is intended for a luxurious life, and, therefore, does not cherish what she has. She takes a step forward to her desires, as she was invited to a ball where all the upper-class woman would be, yet she was unhappy with the fact that she does not even have a stone to put on.