Introduction
Guy De Maupassant’s story, The Necklace is an example of how a writer uses various characters to develop the plot of the story leaving an everlasting memory on the reader. This essay will focus and determine Mathilde’s character as portrayed in the story The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant. Mathilde is a naïve young woman living in rural France having been born in a family of artisans with no prospects of living a life of wealth and distinction. Married to Loisel, a clerk at the Ministry of Education, she experiences a life full of hardships and poverty. Born pretty with grandiose dreams of being marrying a rich man to enjoy all the luxuries that come with it, she ends up living a hard life like all poor women without caring much about her looks (Roberts and Zweig, 200).
Character analysis
The author portrays Mathilde as a pleasure seeker who likes living a hedonistic lifestyle without regard to her poor background. The poor life left her sulky and frustrated with thoughts of how life would be had she been married among the rich in the society. Her character as a pleasure seeker is seen at the party where she danced without thinking about her husband only enjoying the pleasures offered by the rich and mighty. She believed this was the life she deserved since she was the prettiest woman at the party where everybody including the minister took notice of her (Roberts and Zweig, 202).
Mathilde’s attendance at the party fulfilled her desires and wishes of a life full of elegance, with the desires close to her heart accomplished. In the end, she leaves the party in a huff to avoid other women from seeing her in her modest clothes, a sharp contrast with the beautiful dress she had at the party (Roberts and Zweig, 202). The party reveals how she preferred and enjoyed interacting with the rich much more than living a poor life, even if it was for a few hours. This shows that she believes that pleasure is most important than everything else to an extent that she even forgot about her husband who was present at the party.
Mathilde’s character is portrayed as an introvert who likes keeping her troubles to herself. The author highlights this character when Mathilde refused to visit her rich friend with whom they schooled together. Such visits left her weeping in despair and regret for days believing she deserved a rich lifestyle Madame Forestier lived. The lack of clothes and jewelry left her suffering with regret and despair since these were the only things she loved yet she could not afford them (Roberts and Zweig, 201).
When she lost Madame Forestier’s necklace, she kept to herself thus, working hard for 10 years to pay the debt incurred from replacing the lost necklace. In the end, the loss of Madame Forestier’s necklace transformed her character from an introvert to an outgoing woman. This is seen when she goes and comforts Madame Forestier for losing her necklace. It is due to her change in her character and personality towards Madame Forestier reveals that the diamond necklace was nothing more than a cheap imitation.
The party revealed the character of Mathilde as a self-centered person who cared more about herself than other people. She proved this character when she danced all night long enjoying the pleasures of the rich forgetting all about her husband who was present at the party. Her character is revealed when she remains at home leaving her husband to search for her lost necklace (Roberts and Zweig, 203). The author reveals Mathilde’s character as someone who did not care about her husband leaving him to go and search for the lost necklace. She left him to look for the lost necklace all alone yet her husband was to attend work at 10 o’clock the following day.
Mathilde’s character changed as seen ten years later when she comforts Madam Forestier for her actions. This time, she had transformed from an egocentric person to a remorseful and selfless person. She no longer cared anymore about her appearance proved when she meets Madame Forestier 10 years later. While Madame Forestier looked young and beautiful, she appeared old like all the other poor women (Roberts and Zweig, 205). Her dreams of a better life full of luxury and prestige were replaced by thoughts of the night she attended the party. When she was left at home, she kept on wondering how a party she so admired turned out to ruin her life and what would have happened had she not lost the jewelry. She had transformed from a person wishing for a hedonistic lifestyle to a hard-working person.
Conclusion
In the end, the loss of Madame Forestier’s necklace made Mathilde accept living a poor life thus she became a woman free from prejudice. The Necklace warns the readers to be careful about what they wish for as revealed by Mathilde’s character. Her character highlights the importance of working towards what we want instead of having dreams and the hope of living other people’s lifestyles. Mathilde’s character leaves a lasting impression on the reader’s mind.
Works Cited
Roberts, Edgar V., Zweiq, Robert. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 199-205. Print.