The Necklace

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Recommended: The effects of financial problems in marriages

Relationships are hard enough when both people are in love. Imagine what it would be like if one person was not in love, but only married because it was expected. While most couples have their problems, Mathilde, from the short story “The Necklace”, is responsible for most of theirs. Mathilde destroys their financial future, was the root of their marital problems, and could not be satisfied. Mathilde destroys their financial future in several ways. First, she needs a new dress when she has a perfectly fine dress. Her husband, trying to please her, gets tickets to a fancy event. She complains that she has nothing to wear and that he should just give the tickets away. He complies, and gives her for hundred Frances for a dress. Secondly, she complains she has no jewelry and will look ugly and plain, knowing that she is beautiful without the extravaganza. M. Loisel could not afford such a thing, and told her to borrow from a friend. Because she knew she was beautiful, she danced late into the night. She becomes so high on the attention of all the men; she misplaces the necklace that she borrowed. Upon realizing this, she expects her husband to find it, or fix the situation and he does. He spends all his saved money and goes into debt for ten years. …show more content…

First, Mathilde is unhappy about her place in life; she believes she should be enjoying the finer things. She wishes for better, richer food like quail. She becomes depressed, which is why M. Loisel gets her the tickets. She is unhappy with her marriage and lifestyle. She covets the lifestyle that she believes that someone with her looks should have. Secondly, she covets her rich friend and her life. This is the same friend she borrows jewelry from. Come to find out, she coveted a fake life. The friend was not rich, but only put on a show for everyone

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    In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.

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    It took ten years for Mathilde and her husband to pay off the debt of buying a new necklace. Those ten years were not spent with the luxuries she experienced so many years ago at the party, nor were they filled with the simple things she once owned and despised. She came to know “the horrible existence of the needy. She bore her part, however, with sudden heroism.” When passing her rich friend again in the street, she was barely recognizable. Who she was the day she ran into her friend was not who she was the night she wore that necklace.

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