Essay on Guy de Maupassant and Mathilde

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Mathilde Loisel

In Guy de Maupassant's ironic short story, “The Necklace”, Mathilde Loisel has always dreamed of belonging to a higher class and enjoying the luxuries that that status would offer. She's fully aware of how poor she is, but when she's invited to a ball full of wealthy individuals, Mathilde realizes that it is her chance to obtain the luxuries she has always wanted. This opportunity allows her to discover how greedy she can be. The greed causes Mathilde to seek out an old friend for jewelry and runs into a dilemma because of her materialistic mind set.

Although Mathilde “was a pretty and charming girl” (pg. 1) she was born into a life of poverty and was constantly worried about what people thought of her. When Mathilde's husband received an invitation to a ball and asked if she wanted to attend she believed that “there's nothing so humiliating as looking poor in the middle of a lot of rich women” (pg. 3). As the night of the ball came to an end Mathilde returned to reality while she was putting on her “modest everyday clothes” (pg. 4) and “was anxious to hurry away so that she may not be noticed by the other women” (pg. 4) and be ridiculed for her low class.

Due to her obsession with social status, Mathilde constantly longed for more in her life. She wanted to appear and feel rich, wanting items she couldn't afford. When her husband asked how much a suitable dress for the ball would cost, Mathilde thought “how large a sum she could ask without being rejected” (pg. 2). Being selfish and inconsiderate, she requested four hundred francs even though her husband was “saving for a gun” (pg. 3). Purchasing an expensive dress wasn't enough; she desired more to satisfy her need. She “was not convinced” (pg. 3) that simple objects such as flowers could satisfy her ravenous desire for jewels.

Through Mathilde's insatiable craving, she became even more obsessed
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