Introduction
Every woman wants to be graceful and refined, beautiful and elegant, admirable and fascinating. Though the appearances can be deceptive, it is natural for people to pretend to be what they really want to be. Women are considered to be more deceptive than men because they use their natural charm and beauty to seem successful, “to be envied, to be seductive and sought after” (Maupassant 5). It is natural for people to pretend but it is necessary to consider all possible consequences.
Mathilde Loisel Character Analysis
The main character of the story The Necklace written by Guy de Maupassant is a young woman Mathilde Loisel who wants to live a happy life. The only thing that does not go with her wishes is her real life which is not as rich and luxurious as she wanted it to be. Mathilde dreams about beautiful things she cannot afford, she wants to live with “the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace” (Maupassant 3). However, her husband is an ordinary clerk whose cherry on the cake is a “a gun [which is necessary to]… treat himself to a little shooting, the next summer, on the plain of Nanterre, with some friends who used to shoot larks there on Sundays” (Maupassant 27). This is the source of the conflict; Mathilde thinks her husband is not able to seek for something more than an ordinary life of a clerk. However, when her husband gets an invitation to a ball, she does not seem to be happy at all.
The thing is that she cannot go to a ball without an appropriate outfit and jewels. She resembles a child that wants a doll but do not want an ordinary one. Mathilde turns out to be spoilt, capricious, and self-willed as the story progresses and the readers can see an egoistic young woman who does not think about anyone but herself. The ball brings her into the world of her dreams and she feels at ease while dancing and enjoying the evening; the main character unwillingly leaves the luxurious rooms.
Her arrival at home was darkened with the fact that the necklace she had lent for the ball was missing. Mathilde and her husband made everything possible but did not find the jewels and had to borrow money from all they knew and did not know to buy the necklace which looked the same as the one she had lent from her friend. This act can be considered an honorable one because it had changed their life for ten years. She stopped to think about a luxurious life but every spare minute she thought of that single ball where she had been “so beautiful and so admired” (Maupassant 105). Moreover, “Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy” (Maupassant 98); she found strength to overcome all obstacles and to pay off debts. After ten years, she was worn out and exhausted; she had decided to tell everything to her friend who was the owner of the necklace. The end of the story makes readers feel pity for Mathilde because it turned out that the ball have not been worth it.
Conclusion
The main character that seems to be capricious and egoistic appears to be a strong personality and an honest friend. Her dreams happened to be very expensive in terms of the life lived by the family of an ordinary clerk.
Works Cited
Maupassant, Guy de. “The Necklace.” The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development. Ed. Brander Matthews. New York: American Book Company, 1907. Web.