The Necklace

The Necklace

Throughout the story of The Necklace, there seems to be one main theme or purpose to the story. Mathilde Loisel is never happy with what she has in her life. She believed that since she was a beautiful and charming woman that she should be very wealthy and live among royalty. In some ways, the reader could classify Mathilde as being a very selfish individual. The way she treats her husband as if he is nothing and as if his lifestyle is not good enough for her. She treats him like a slave and it seems he exists for the sole purpose of being blamed for things gone wrong in her life. She orders him around and doesn’t give him any love, praise, or thanks for any of the sacrifices he makes for her.

A prime example would be when her husband had money saved up to purchase a new shotgun. He wanted to give her a beautiful new dress and gave her the money with no questions asked. Another example of the selfish way that Mathilde treats her husband is when her husband brings home the invitation to the party. Even though her husband is ecstatic at the thought of going to this wonderful dinner, Mathilde rejects it and is only concerned about her own self. She responds to her husband “Only I have no dress and therefore I can’t go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I”(Maupassant 57). She does not worry about her husband, his feelings

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regarding the invitation, or how much fun they may have at the dinner party. She only worries about how she will look and what other people will think of her. Mathilde is so self-centered that she would make her husband, who wants to go to this party so badly, give up the invitation because she has nothing to wear.

She again displays her selfish ways when, after the party, she discovers that she has lost the expensive necklace and makes her husband go out at four o’clock in the morning to look for it. He looks for hours and finds nothing, but doesn’t give up there. He goes to the police and contacts the cab services still having hope of finding the necklace. Mathilde “waited all day, in the same condition of mad fear before this terrible calamity”(Maupassant 60). She does nothing while her husband is doing everything he possibly can to free her from the situation. After all he did for Mathilde, she offers not one bit of thanks or praise to her husband.

This shows very much her selfishness and materialistic view of life and even to some degree, her irresponsibility. She was given the necklace by an old friend she knew, who happened to be very wealthy and had many expensive