Madame Mathilde Loisel's Husband In The Necklace

After reading The Necklace, by Guy De Maupassant, I came to the conclusion that Madame Mathilde Loisel’s husband is very selfless due to the ways he tries to satisfy his wife. Despite the fact that Monsieur Loisel is very content with his normal lifestyle, he struggles to cope with his wife’s snotty behavior and strives to appease her. For example, Monsieur Loisel reads Mathilde the respectable invite from the Minster of Education— which she initially wanted to turn down— and soon has to attempt to conciliate his rather acrimonious spouse who did not want to attend without fine clothing and jewelry. As a result, he “gives... [her] four hundred francs... to buy a nice dress.” –Pg 162. Putting Madame Loisel’s desires before his own, he sacrifices

the four hundred francs he was going to use “to buy a rifle.” –Pg 162. Unfortunately, Monsieur’s sacrifice could only momentarily please his high-maintenance wife. But this generous gesture is just one example of his benevolence, another example is when he searches and replaces Mathilde’s borrowed necklace. Shortly after leaving the minister of education’s ball, Loisel’s wife misplaces Madame Forestier’s necklace. Being the loving husband he is, Monsieur Loisel— half-dressed— goes back out to retrace their steps. “He went to the police station, to the newspapers… to the cab companies, everywhere the slightest hope drove him.”-pg167 While he was doing everything in his power to find the missing jewelry, Loisel lost valuable slumber to search for the necklace that was obviously his wife responsibility. Taking it upon himself, Mathilde’s husband replaces the supposedly expensive ring. “He went about raising money… he signed notes, made ruinous deals, did business with loan sharks, ran the whole gamut of moneylenders. He compromised the rest of his life,”-pg 167 to pay for the replacement necklace. Even though he knew replacing the necklace would jeopardize his life and honor, Monsieur Loisel was willing to make the sacrifice and lose everything for his wife.