Selfishness in The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

Selfishness in The Necklace by Maupassant

In Guy de Maupassant's, "The Necklace" all the characters in the story

exhibit similar behavior by showing that they think of themselves

rather than of others. A close look at the behavior of the characters

in "The Necklace" reveals more than a story about a spoiled selfish

woman, but what we see is a story about a whole society of selfish

people.

In "The Necklace" a woman named Mathilde lives a depressed life

because she does not live the life style that she desires. She "was

one of those pretty and charming women, born, as if by an error of

destiny into a family of clerks and copyists. She had no dowry, no

prospects, no way of getting known, courted, loved, married by a rich

and distinguished man. She finally settled for a marriage with a minor

clerk in the Ministry of Education (Maupassant 5)." She was a very

simple person, but she did not have the money to dress with very

expensive clothes. Her husband did not have the social status or job

to give her the types of things she wanted like expensive clothes and

jewelry. She felt depressed every time she would go over to her

friend, Mrs. Forrestier's, house because she had a very nice home and

wore expensive clothing with very impressive jewelry. Her husband gets

invited to a party, but Mrs. Loisel really doesn't want to go because

she has nothing good to wear. Mr. Loisel agrees to give her 400 francs

to buy a "pretty" dress, but even after that she feels skeptical of

going because she has nothing to wear with the new dress. Mr. Loisel

convinces her to borrow some jewelry from her friend and she would

return it after the party. She says ...

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"modest, everyday wrap (Maupassant 8)." The group of women and men

were just as selfish as Mrs. Forrestier, the Chancellor, and Mr. and

Mrs. Loisel.

In conclusion, Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" does not only tell

the story of a spoiled selfish woman, it tells the story of a whole

society of selfish people. Besides Mathilde in the story, her husband,

Mrs. Forrestier, the Chancellor, and the groups of men and woman at

the party were all very selfish thinking about themselves and less

caring of others.

Works Cited

Maupassant, Guy de. "The Necklace" Literature: An Introduction to

Readingand Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs.

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. 5-12.

Directessays.com. "The Necklace." (2004). 09 Nov. 2004 <http://www.directessay.com/

viewpaper/46208.html>.