The Necklace
Guy de Maupassant
Everyone has certain traits that set them apart from others. This is proved to be true with Mathilde Loisel a middle class woman who has a supportive husband that pleases her never-ending wishes. This woman grieves over owning little luxuries after hard work her husband is able to get her an invitation to a Ministerial Mansion, a prestigious event, in the beginning she seems satisfied. Her mind quickly changes when she want a new dress which her husband buys. Not satisfied she borrows a necklace from her dear friend, which she later loses and repays. She goes to many hardships due to her traits these involve being finicky, dependent, and self- centered.
Finicky meaning ” being hard to please” is a trait which is the most fatal in the story. Mathilde always turns away her husbands efforts to make her happy. He buys her a new dress when the Ministerial Mansion ball comes up. She isn’t very appreciative of his attempt to please her. Instead, she mopes around complaining she’ll look like a pauper, due to her wearing no jewelry. When he suggests flowers she just makes matter worse. He suggests borrowing a necklace , which she does.
Another trait Mathilde owns is being dependent. I beleive she is very dependent on her husband. She always expects him to please her or buy the items she wants. An example of this would be when she loses the necklace he is the one who spends his inheritance to pay back for her mistakes. Mathilde also depends on him to fix her mistakes , which throughout the story he does so. Because of her actions the story brings hardships to both.
Being self-centered is another trait Mathilde Loisel owns. She never thinks about anyone but herself. At the ball when her husband tries to protect her from the cold. She pushes him away because she doesn’t want to look poor due to her shabby cover. Another way she is self-centered is at the beginning of the story she mopes about how miserable she is because she doesn’t live in a luxurious home. Instead of being thankful for what she has she grieves over not being charming, wealthy or power-stricken.
Threes traits are what made “The Necklace” so understanding. If it weren’t for Mathilde’s actions and traits the moral of the story would have never been learned. Being dependent, finicky, and self- centered are what made Mathilde an example of living in a sad grieving life.
