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Madame Mathilde In The Diamond Necklace

909 Words4 Pages

popular naturalist shorts of its time.
“The Necklace” is an ironic story of the greed of a woman, constantly longing for a life of lavish and luxury. A series of misfortunate events ultimately leads up to a misunderstanding one would have never expected. Madame Mathilde is depicted a beautiful yet selfish young woman, incessant on her need for wealth and status. Despite the modest, accommodating lifestyle provided for her by her husband, Monsieur Loisel—a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education—Madame Mathilde’s wants were never satiated. When one day Madame Mathilde is presented with an invitation to a party by her hopeful husband, he is immediately shot down by her cries, voicing how she is unable to present herself to such a formal party, …show more content…

A life of poverty and struggle, one Madame Mathilde would have never pictured. In order to pay back their debt, 'they sent away the maid; they changed their lodgings; they rented some rooms under a mansard roof. '. In addition to the move, Madame Mathilde now lives a relentless life of constant work. Ten years of this, the Loisels were finally able to pay back their debt. This however, cost Madame Mathilde the beauty she has always taken pride in. Now, Madame Mathilde is old and haggard. No longer the spectacularly beautiful young woman she used to be. Not even Madame Forestier was able to recognize her after all that time, as they had a chance encounter with one another. Madame Mathilde then reveals the truth about the necklace, expecting words of dismay from her friend. However, what Madame Mathilde got as a response was crueler than anything she has expected. The necklace she initially had borrowed for the party turned out to be a fake, and is nothing more than costume jewelry. Like the Aesop fables we have all once read as children, this short story has a moral that is to be considered, as greed ultimately drives a person to their …show more content…

For example, with the character of Madame Mathilde, an seemingly ordinary person in an ordinary setting and draws out her life with themes of human sin, presenting to us the irony of the efforts put into repairing such a mistake. Aside from heeding human greed, another sin Madame Mathilde presents by her actions is deception. Because she hid the truth from her friend about losing the necklace, she had to pay a price huger than anticipated. Another clever use of irony by the author is Madame Mathilde’s dependence and pride in her beauty. In attempt to shed light to the beauty that is hidden behind her plain appearance, she turned to the beauty of the necklace. However, the beauty she cherished dearly disappeared along the years as a result of the labor put into paying back the necklace, which she once thought made her even more

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De Maupassant's “The Necklace” characterizes Mathilde Loisel, the main character, as a beautiful, egotistic woman who desires only wealthy apparel. He emphasizes the negative results of narcissism by blinding Mathilde with that trait

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