After reading Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace, I do not think I can ever agree with the saying, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” This story is about a woman, Mathilde, who dreams of living lavishly. Though there is nothing wrong with wanting to dream about such a thing, she is wrong in going about it. The story begins with a character analysis of Mathilde, a poor woman who, at the beginning, is pretty, charming, and born of a family of clerks as if it were a mistake by destiny. She desires the fame, the riches, the expensive clothes, the alluring jewelry, the list goes on and on. It goes on because she is never content with what she has. For example, she has a loving husband, M. Loisel, who acquires an invitation to a ball for the sole purpose of wanting her dreams to come true - for her to have a day that makes her feels special and extravagant. When she opens the invitation, she throws the invitation and comments that she is not equipped with the means to go. Instead of thanking her husband, she asks for more. Of course, being the good-hearted husband he is, he makes sure she she gets what she wants from the dress to the jewelry. Mathilde buys a dress using the money M. Loisel had saved to buy a gun and treat himself with. For her jewelry, she borrows from Mme. Frostier, with whom she finds a breathtaking necklace of diamonds that makes her heart skip a beat. Finally, she is ready to go to the ball.
Mathilde captures the attention of the people of the ball with her elegance, grace, beauty, and smile. She dances the night away with her husband sleeping in another room - most likely tired from working day and night for her. Her night ends when it is time to go home and her wrap of common life must be put back on. Once she arrives home, she realizes she has lost the necklace. Her husband goes back to the ball by foot to retrace their steps in an attempt to find the necklace, but without any luck it cannot be found. Mathilde and M. Loisel find a replica of the necklace except it is much more costly than the first - thirty six francs to be exact. They buy it with the help of their savings and other loans also buying a lifetime of hard work and regret along with it. They lie to Mme. Frostier and give her the replica. After this experience, Mathilde grows old both physically and emotionally. She ages from the never-ending work so much so Mme. Frostier cannot recognize her when Mathilde sees her in the streets ten years later. Mathilde finally tells her the truth only to be told the original necklace was fake and cost no more than five hundred francs.
Throughout the short story, I do not believe I found one thing Mathilde did right. Her character analysis in the beginning of the story sets her up to be one who feels superior, arrogant, and ungrateful for what she has. She feels that because she is pretty and charming, it is her world and everyone else is simply living in it. This character flaw sets her up for a tragic fall in which not only her, but also her husband suffer through. She is materialistic and the way heart skips a beat when she sees the necklace in the gorgeous, sleek, black satin box proves her to be so. The necklace itself symbolizes riches and luxury - both of which she wishes to have at the palm of her hand. Instead of working her way up to fame, she sits in misery and envy waiting for it to happen on its own. She did not do the right thing when she lied to Mme. Frostier about losing the necklace. Telling the truth at the time could have ended in two ways. Mme. Frostier could have told her the necklace was real and she would still have to work the rest of her life to repay it or she could have found out the necklace was fake and paid less. I understand the fear of confrontation and consequence when telling the truth, but in the end the lie truly was not worth the trouble - more so for her husband. She is not wrong for dreaming. She is wrong for dreaming at the expense of others and never being grateful for those who do what they can to make her dream come true even just for a night. In other words, nobody else should suffer for her dreams with the exception of herself. Mathilde comes off as this charming, confident woman, but I feel if she loved herself more rather than the riches she wishes for she would more secure with herself and her financial situation. One does not need materialism in her life to be one of the greatest. All one needs is honesty with herself and others.
