The Necklace Social Class Analysis

Social classes have already existed since the beginning of human civilization. The society is divided into four classes, which consists of the upper class, the upper middle class, the lower middle class and the lower class. In The Necklace, Mathilde Loisel and her husband used to be in the lower middle class until the event where Mathilde loses the diamond necklace that she borrowed from a friend which they lied about it being in repair instead of telling the truth. That causes them to fall to the lower class as they have to pay the debts for buying a replacement. In The Little Match Girl, the little girl is from a lower middle class. Her father demands her to go out to sell matches on a cold New Year’s Eve night which resulted in her dying

In the later part of the story, Mathilde Loisel and her husband went from being in the lower middle class to the lower class. According to Maupassant (1884), “They dismissed their servant; they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret under a roof” (p.5). When Mathilde loses the diamond necklace that she borrowed from a friend, she and her husband pay a huge debt which took them ten years to settle in order to buy a diamond necklace to replace the lost one. This caused them to live a lower class life and endure the hardships of being poor. However, Mathilde has a friend who is rich. According to Maupassant (1884), “Mine. Forestier went to a wardrobe with a glass door, took out a large jewel-box…”(p.3). Mathilde’s friend, Mine. Forestier is of a higher class who can afford to have many jewelries. This shows the social hierarchy in the society and the contrast between the lifestyle of each social class. In The Little Match Girl, the little girl is from a lower class family. According to Andersen (1845), “In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet” (p.1). This shows the girl is from a poor family where she cannot afford to buy proper