Through de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” the author presents a story of a vain woman Mathilde who desires to enter the elite society and enjoy luxurious life. This story takes place in the late 19th century Paris. Once, her husband got her an invitation to an upper-class reception. She borrowed her friend’s expensive diamond necklace due to vanity. However, she lost it and instead of telling her friend the truth, she and her husband bought a similar necklace as the substitute. Because of that, they lived a miserable life with guilt for the next 10 years. In the end, she found out that, ironically, the original necklace she lost was not made of a natural diamond but of less expensive paste. By using various highly contrasting expressions to distinguish the moods and lives of Mathilde before, during, and after the ball throughout the text, de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” highlights that it is of paramount importance for people to live in the moment and appreciate what they have, not craving for an unrealistic extravagant life.
Before the event, Mathilde’s life was mundane. She lived in a family without much fortune with her “poor” husband. Therefore, she felt depressed or even envious of others. She cannot help but daydreaming about living an extravagant life just like other elite people- joining parties, wearing luxuries, which are unrealistic. This way, the author suggests that the young woman’s mind is constantly overwhelmed with dreams. She thought about being wealthy all day and wanted her life to obsess with possession. It creates a sense of endlessness to run her stream of consciousness and suggests that she is ceaselessly immersed in her daydream and delusions. She desires to have a luscious life with the access to all expensive clothes, jewelry, houses etc.. However, the menial job of her husband could only provide her a modest life. The readers will get the impression that the woman is incredibly dissatisfied with current life.
Her desire and disappointment is further displayed when she is presented to be upset by a description of the poor furniture. The author uses a listing of negative adjectives to describe the furniture in the her home to express that she lives in a poor environment. This is exemplified by “The run-down apartment…the ugly curtains.” (de Maupassant 1). It has a cumulative effect to show that in the woman’s mind, her house is ancient and shabby, so she does not like any of the furniture. This feeling is also conveyed by using the lexical choice of “torture” (de Maupassant 1). Her desired luxurious house and furniture contrasts with her real house and superficial furniture. This reflects as a torture for her, which is a strong word as it means something causes severe pain and distress. The author then conveys, “She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing” (de Maupassant 1). From here, the readers know that the woman feels “nothing” about her life. Meanwhile, the author uses another listing to show her dream life, in the sentence, “She dreams of silent antechamber…heavy heart of stove” (de Maupassant 1). The author emphasizes the luxury of her dream life. The author further states, “she would think of elegant dinners, of shining silver; she thought of the exquisite food served in marvelous dishes” (de Maupassant 1). Here, the author brings forward the fantasy of Mathilde which constitutes her desire to have fancy foods. It builds up a glamorous image, emphasizing her intense desire to achieve this. The writer uses these two different living conditions to strike a stark contrast between her real life and her dream life so the reader can feel the significant disparity between them. With this contrast the author emphasizes the dissatisfaction of Mathilde with her life. However, this dissatisfaction is further contrasted by other women in the neighbor who do not complain but appreciate what they have. This way, the author suggests how Mathilde goes to more suffer later than others.
The vanity of Madame Loisel is further shown by the contrast between her and her husband. The author showcases the modest belief of her husband in the line, “I thought it would make you happy” (de Maupassant 2). He knows how to be happy in what he has, which is reflected in her hope to making his wife happy with the invitation. This way, the author depicts that Madame Loisel’s husband shows a delightful mood when he faces the same life, which Madame Loisel views as a torture. This could be further shown in the use of exclamation marks, exemplified by “Ah! Stew! Splendid!” (de Maupassant 2). Here, the exclamation mark reinforces the excitement of her husband. In contrast, it makes Madame Loisel feel very dissatisfied with the food items served. She always thinks of having fancy foods served beautifully to her. This way, the author contrasts her husband’s optimism with her pessimism. Therefore, the author depicts the modest character of Mathilde’s husband in contrast to the complaining character of her. This way, the author presents an analogy to what should have been Mathilde’s character be like to avoid the miserable life she and her husband go through.
However, when the couple was invited to the ball, all of Mathilde’s negative moods faded away. She was entirely attracted by the gorgeous and glamorous place, which was flooded with people from higher classes. In her mind, having the chance to get to know these people is precious. The author suggests that her presence in the ball makes her feel important or a part of an elite social structure. She quickly immersed herself into the ball and forgot about who she was. The reception night is described as full of attention and admiration for Mathilde: “She was the prettiest woman here, elegant, radiant, and wonderfully happy” (de Maupassant 3). Mathilde started to live this life, although for a short moment, she always desired for. She didn’t want to pay attention to anyone but to live with vanity and pride. Also, it seems important that part of her beauty relies on her borrowing a necklace from someone else. Therefore, her appearance is kind of a deception. The author suggests, “all the men looked at her, enquired who she was, and asked to be introduced. All the cabinet secretaries and under-secretaries wanted to waltz with her.” (de Maupassant 3). Mathilde is confident and charming, fulfilling everything she constantly desires. Reception for Mathilde is defiantly successful, she is the center of the ball, and her ambition and concern with social status are fulfilled, which makes her feel indulged and delighted. Maupassant also suggests what it would have been like if her dream came true. On a different note, the author does not mention about her necklace, which suggests her temporary happiness. It might be worth noting that, even though she wanted to wear this necklace to the ball, and the necklace is a crucial element in the story, the author doesn’t mention it when describing the scene of her at the ball.
Mathilde’s experience at the ball was the turning point in her life. After showcasing vanity and pride at the ball, Mathilde realized she had lost the necklace. Subsequently, instead of telling the truth to her friend, she and her husband pursued to buy a new necklace and continues to plunge into poverty. The anxiousness Mathilde had due to poverty is evident in the line, “the grim poverty which stood ready to pounce” (de Maupassant 4). Here, the writer used metaphor to compare poverty to a predator swooping and attacking them suddenly, suggesting that they would fall prey to poverty and be overwhelmed by it. It could also be shown in the string of verbs, “mortgaged, signed, …” (de Maupassant 4). Here, the string of verbs shows Mathilde’s desperation as she was trying everything and doing whatever it took to borrow the money to pay for the necklace. Mathilde’s life after losing the necklace was tough and filled with tiredness. Readers can see her changes in the description of her physical appearance, “Her hair was badly done, her skirts were awry, and her hands were red” (de Maupassant 5). This line reflects the imagery of a vulnerable woman who had lost her well-maintained life after craving for more luxurious and luscious life and having vanity and pride. Mathilde’s life changed from mundane to rather vulnerable in pursuit of insubstantial admirations and praises. In this regard, the ultimate vulnerability is a moral lesson on Mathilde’s excessive vanity and pride in her life.
In conclusion, this short story highlights the inner activities of Mathilde in chronological order. At first, when she was at her own house, utterly disappointed about her current situation, wishing to escape from her life. Hence, when she had the chance to go to the ball, she did not hesitate. During her time at the ball, she temporarily forgot about who she really was, enjoying this unrealistic world. However, in the end, she was thrown back into reality when she discovered the necklace went missing. She was frightened. To sum up, this article uses Mathilde’s story to emphasize the danger of having too much vanity and pride. This story is set in late-nineteenth century Paris when people’s life is all depend on their social classes. The upper-class people used to dominate the wealth of society, leaving little for the people belonging to the lower class. The vanity and pride of Mathilde is reflected the luxurious desires of people of lower class in the contemporary society.
Works Cited
de Maupassant, Guy. “The Necklace.” American Literature, 8 Apr. 2022. https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace. Originaly published in Le Gauloi, 17 Feb. 1884.
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant – Audio Version”. YouTube, uploaded by Tyler Rablin, 18 Sept. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUTecRTZ4k&t=3s
“The Necklace Part 1 (English Subs)”. YouTube, uploaded by Edilberto Pineda, 26 Spet. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_TeJW0n3j4
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