Characteristics Of Mathidle In Guy De Maupassant's The Necklace

In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” Mathidle is unhappy with the life she currently has. Furthermore, Mathidle is always striving to be like her “rich” friends. Even though Mathidle’s husband tries extremely hard to please Mathidle, Mathidle is always unsatisfied with her materialistic wealth in the beginning of her life. Likewise, Mathidle is an object-oriented idealist who momentarily escapes reality only to experience a tragic loss and eventually finds happiness through her journey. One of the first characteristics readers see of Mathidle is her longing for a wealthy lifestyle. Since she did not marry a “…rich and distinguished man…,” she regrets marrying her small town man; however, her husband tries to do everything in his power

De Maupassant describes Mathidle as follows: Mathidle “…danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure, forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in sort of a cloud of happiness composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to a women’s heart” (pg 70). Once more De Maupassant reveals more of Mathidle’s character by announcing, “He threw over her shoulders the wraps which he had brought, modest wrap of common life, whose poverty contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress” (70). This description of Mathidle shows her passion for wealth and living this type of lifestyle. As she dances the night away, the night began to end. Maupassant states, “she removed the wraps which covered her shoulders…so as once more to see herself in all her glory” (pg 71). Once again, this shows how confident she feels in this “new” body. Once they leave the dance, she and her husband take a cab home. Arriving at the house, Mathidle realizes that she has lost the diamond necklace, and Mathidle becomes frantic. The husband agrees to stay out and retrace every step they made tonight with hopes of finding the necklace intact. With no luck, he returns home. De Maupassant declares, “The next day they went took the box which had contained it, and they went to the jeweler whose name was found within”

Since the very day of her birth, Mathidle has constantly chased after the affluent existence as she fantasizes that women like her friend, Madam Forestier, relish. Through her husband’s invitation to the minister’s gala, she adorns herself in a fine dress and a priceless diamond necklace, and transforms her into a beautiful envied person far from her usual impoverished disposition. However, after she loses the necklace, replaces it, and repays the debts, she finds pleasure within her “new” life as a lower class woman, which is who she was destined to