Maupassant describes Madame Loisel as somewhat miserable due to her ordinary standard of living: "She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class...She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury" (Par. 3). Madame Loisel complains about her husband and his common profession, feeling as though she should be "married by a man rich and distinguished" (Par. 1). She knows that her husband can not provide the luxuries which she so desperately desires.
Madame Mathilde Loisel, a charming but selfish lady, never feel satisfied with her wants. Before she lost the necklace, Mathilde thoughts are described as , “ She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.” (Maupassant 1). At first, Mathilde was unhappy and disappointed of her life. She was a beautiful woman, and ought to live a magnificent life. But she was the daughter of an artisan, and then married a clerk in the Ministry of Education, which broke her heart.
Mathilde lives in an illusive world where her desires do not meet up to the reality of her life. She yearns for the status of being upper class, and she believes that her beauty and charm are worthy of much more. Mathilde spends her life doing everything in her power to create the dream life she has always imagined, to be beautiful, rich, and admired. Her husband provided her with a well-off lifestyle that she neglected and treated poorly due to her selfishness and greediness, and took advantage of his hard work at the first chance possible. When presented with the invitation to the party, she immediately rejects the request due to her fear of others judging her “middle class appearance”.
Mathilda associate her own husband as being the essence of lower life because he does not make the lots of money to feed her inner desires. Since this is the case Mathilda associates the best she can with her friend Madame Forestier. Forestier is the lady Mathilda would like to be, beautiful and rich. By befriending Madame Forestier, Mathilda thinks she can get closer to becoming a lady of stature, grace, and riches. Madame Forestier has box and boxes of jewelry and is where Mathilda barrows the necklace from.
The imagery shows how she was once a very beautiful women that grew ragged with hard work. The text is trying to teach us that being greedy can often give you what you fear the most. Mathilde feared being poor and wanted to be wealthy so she took the necklace that symbolized wealth and lost it. She ended up having to spend all of her family’s money in order to replace the missing jewelry and thus had to be poor. The entire story is irony because she desired to be wealthy and she ended up being
She is not a very wealthy person, and is married to a clerk. Mathilde is very unhappy with her life, and wishes she could have more luxuries. The author says : She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station, since with women there is neither caste nor rank: and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of family and birth. Natural fitness, instinct for what is elegant, suppleness of wit are the sole hierarchy, and make from women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies. (Guy De Maupassant 160) Mathilde is completely materialistic and ungrateful for her blessings.
The Necklace Guy De Maupassant The author Guy De Maupassant ,in his story “The Neckalce”, has described beautifully how greed and deception can turn one’s life upside down. It has mainly depicted the uncertainty of human life Mathilda, a character built with rage, jealousy, dissatisfied with life but blessed with utmost physical beauty, had the constant pain of not having the lavish life like other pretty women. She thought of it as a mistake of destiny and blamed her fate. Although she had a loving husband, a comfortable home she was not content with it. Her desiration for wealth, status has jeopardized her life but in the end, it managed to put her into realization that wealth and beauty is not the source of true happiness.
Self-absorption is creates the misplacement her priorities. Having the most in materials, being the envy of every woman, and the attraction of every man, are her objectives for life. As for her dissatisfied disposition, she is missing the wonderful life that she has and even when her middle class life is gone, she still does not look back fondly at the memories, which is all she now has from her former life. Most importantly, she continues to miss the love and care her husband gives her and continues to resent her parents for not having first class connections and having to settle in marring her husband, Mr. Loisel, because he is not a rich, well-known
She had no dowry, no prospects, no way of getting known, courted, loved, married by a rich and distinguished man. She finally settled for a marriage with a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education (Maupassant 5)." She was a very simple person, but she did not have the money to dress with very expensive clothes. Her husband did not have the social status or job to give her the types of things she wanted like expensive clothes and jewelry. She felt depressed every time she would go over to her friend, Mrs. Forrestier's, house because she had a very nice home and wore expensive clothing with very impressive jewelry.
The only way Mathilde Loisel can be satisfied with herself and be content is by having expensive objects in her possession. Unfortunately for her she does not have the opportunity or the availability to buy luxurious items for self and becomes frustrated. Without the things that she desires she can not feel happy about how she is living and can not appreciate what she has. Her strong need for the expensive things makes her sad and sorrowful because she lives a normal life with her husband. Attending to typical housewife duties like cooking and cleaning, when she rather be wearing lavish clothes and fancy jewelry.