Continuing from her complaints of not having a jeweled accessory, her husband offered an alternative of stylish flowers only to reply with “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich” Mathilde is constantly lusting after a luxurious lifestyle, believing that she was born for the upper class, and refusing to appear any less of it. When Mathilde went to borrow her friend’s jewelry she looked through many different accessories, asking Mine. Forestier is she had more. Out of all the strands she picked the “superb necklace of diamonds” one, arguably one of the most expensive gems, taking it with ” her heart beating in immoderate desire.” After the ball was over, before Mathilde and her husband went home, he threw over her shoulders a modest wrap of common life to keep her warm. Mathilde was not pleased as she “wanted to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women, who were enveloping themselves in costly furs.”, again ungrateful to her husband’s kindness.
The necklace gave her a false perception that if she wears it she will look wealthy even though it had no value. If Mathilde had only swallowed her pride and told Madam Forestier she had lost the necklace, then she wouldn’t be in debt. This would of lead to an entirely different ending. Another example of situational irony is right before this. For example, “Do you remember that diamond necklace…Yes, Well?
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 misplaces the closest thing she has to the life she dreams of and not telling her friend about the mishap, she could have set herself aside from ten years of work.
In “The Necklace” Guy De Maupassant writes a story about a woman and her husband and how a necklace changed their lives. The story begins with Maupassant describing Mathilde Loisel as a woman that was born into the wrong path of life due to her characteristics. Mathilde liked all the aspects of a rich lifestyle but she could not partake in these aspects because she was poor. She spent most of her time visualizing herself with a higher social status and interacting the things that came with it. One day her husband, Mister Loisel, was able to procure for her an invitation to a ball at a palace.
Mathilde had made that mistake by concealments of hiding her status. She always wanted to be rich and finally one night she had chance she nailed it by looking gorgeous at the ball and getting attentions of everyone at the ball. After losing the necklace she didn’t wanted her social status to look horrible as many would have thought that she didn’t lose the necklace instead she just stole it. Mathilde had maintain the status of being rich and had paid the price for her fake status by working and paying of her unwanted debt. As De Maupassant describes Mathilde one more time but not as the person she wanted to be known as.”Madame Loisel looked old now.
Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace, and goes to the party where she was able to live out the luxurious life. She looked exquisite, graceful, and joyful. When she returns home and finds that she lost Mrs. Forrestier's necklace, her joyous night comes to a halt. They look everywhere for it, but neither can find it. In agony, Mathilde and her husband go to the jewelers looking for a replacement.
The narrator of the book wrote, “Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace; her heart began to beat covetously. Her hands trembled as she lifted it. She fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of herself.” (Maupassant 202). Mrs. Loisel has fallen in love with the necklace when she saw it, and didn’t want any other jewelry to wear along with it. Little did she know that the necklace was a fake and she probably would have been able to buy that necklace with the little money that she had.
And the time the debt was paid, when Mme. Loisel came into contact with her friend, she was honest with her friend about the lost necklace and the great expense to replace the necklace. It was revealed by her friend, that the necklace was only costume jewelry and of not value. We do see compassion from the friend as she “took her two hands” to tell her the necklace was a fake. From there the final outcome of the story is not known, but the transformation of Mme.
Her friend, Mine. Forestier is willing to help Madame Loisel with her distress and offers her an assortment of jewelry to choose from (Maupassant, 2). After going through all the choices, she decides on the diamond necklace, seeming to be the most expensive. She does "unnecessary" things in an attempt to prove her
Mathilde Loisel lived the life of a painfully distressed woman, who always believed herself worthy of living in the upper class. Although Mathilde was born into the average middle class family, she spent her time daydreaming of her destiny for more in life... especially when it came to her financial status. Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace”, tells a tale of a vain, narcissistic housewife who longed for the aristocratic lifestyle that she believed she was creditable for. In describing Mathilde’s self-serving, unappreciative, broken and fake human behaviors, de Maupassant incorporates the tragic irony that ultimately concludes in ruining her. Mathilde lives in an illusive world where her desires do not meet up to the reality of her life.