Mathilde's Greed In 'The Necklace'

Fallout of Greed

Mathilde always thought she deserved more than life offered her. She believed she was made to live an upper class lifestyle, but that is essentially her downfall in the story, “The Necklace.” Mathilde acts very greedy making conflict with her husband who has to sacrifice in order to give Mathilde what she wants. Accordingly, there are many examples of Mathilde’s greed in the passages. Mathilde lived a middle class life in my opinion. There is evidence that she had a maid and many people do not even have that luxury. Still Mathilde was unhappy and the following passage shows that. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station; since with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and birth”(Maupassant). In the sentence above it illustrates how unhappy Madam Loisel acts. It shows that she really wants something more than she can have instead of being grateful for the life she has been given. That phrase paints the picture of how greedy Mathilde really is.

She has already purchased a dress that her husband had to sacrifice for her to obtain. Mathilde was still not satisfied with herself and wanted jewelry to wear. "It annoys me not have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty stricken. I would almost not go at all”(Maupassant). This piece of evidence shows us that even though she has been given a chance to attend a ball and wear an expensive dress, Madam Loisel still desired more. It shows that a greedy person will always want more and more. Furthermore, greed is still relevant in the