Summary:
Reviews "The Necklace" by French author Guy DeMaupassant. Provides a plot summary. Examines the actions of Matilde and discusses how her behavior leads to her downfall.
"The Necklace", a narrative fiction is recounted, by Guy DeMaupassant in third person (omniscient). DeMaupassant conveys "The Necklace" in chronological order. He starts from the beginning where the story spotlights a middle class women and how she ends up living a lower class life. Mathilde Loisel, the focus of the story is an attractive but very discontented woman. This character often dwells on the outcome of her present life. Daydreaming about being prosperous becomes a constant part of her life. She detested "her grim apartment...threadbare furniture, ugly curtains" (DeMaupassant 3). She felt that she deserved bigger and better and wished that she lived the "expensive and glamorous" lifestyle--the kind of life her friend attained. Matilde, an egocentric and unappreciative person has her middle class life seized from her all because of pride, greed, and deceit.
An invitation to dine with the elite provides her with the opportunity to live out her fantasy. In order for Mathilde to accept the invite, she feels that she must "fit the part" and manipulates her husband into buying her a dress. Still unsatisfied, she borrows a diamond necklace (which she assumes is genuine) from a wealthy friend. To her delight, she played the part well and is the center of attention at the event "she was prettier than anyone else...all the men saw her...the Chancellor himself eyed her" (DeMaupassant 52). As they leave, Matilde's husband thoughtfully tried to protect his wife from the cold weather with a shawl. Embarrassed and ungrateful that she had a shawl instead of a fur draped around her, and probably that she did not have a nice car to take her home causes pride to take over. Matilde hastily runs off to avoid anyone seeing who she really is.
Somehow, Matilde loses the necklace (the necklace was probably lost during the time she thought she would be humiliated if anyone saw her real identity). Since they could not recover it, they resorted to purchasing a diamond necklace in hopes that Mrs. Forrestier would be oblivious to the replacement.
It takes ten years of: hard labor, working extra jobs, downsizing their domicile, haggling and economizing to repay the 36,000 francs--the cost of the genuine diamond necklace. During the ten years Matilde transforms into a new person. She seemed to take on more responsibility and did whatever she had to do in order to pay of the debt. Matilde now cleaned her own home (which was new to her, because she never lifted a finger before), bought her own groceries, wore shoddy clothes, she was uncouth and no longer cared about her appearance--now she was living an even lower class life than what she had lived before.
One day by chance she sees her friend, Mrs. Forrestier, who has aged gracefully unlike Matilde. Matilde confesses and then blames Mrs. Forrestier for the harsh conditions she was dealt because of the diamond necklace that was lost. Mrs. Forrestier who is most likely confused as well as shocked tells Matilde, "Oh...mine was only costume jewelry...worth only five hundred francs" (DeMaupassant 125)! Matilde is filled with shock and bitterness, after discovering that her life was unnecessarily changed during those ten years and the diamond necklace she replaced was not real.
Mr. Loisel, her husband was content with all aspects of his life: he loved his wife dearly, he was employed, they had a roof over their head, food to eat, and clothes on their back--what more could he ask for! On the other hand, Matilde was consumed with so much greed and envy that it blinded her from recognizing the life she had was good and that she was better off than others. If Matilde could have been satisfied with her middle class life, she would have never gotten greedy and borrowed the necklace. Furthermore, if Matilde would have told her friend of the mishap, she could have avoided the life she now lived and loathed.
This is the complete article, containing 653 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
