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The good life and "the necklac


            
             "The Necklace," by de Maupassant, is a story filled with excessive wants and the repercussions of them. The story revolves around Mathilde Loisel. Mathilde is a woman very unhappy with her lot in life. She daydreams of being admired and wealthy. Her husband comes home one day with an invitation to a ball. She throws it to the ground declaring she has nothing to wear. Her husband gives her money for a new gown. Still this is not good enough. She has no jewels to wear. He suggests she borrow some from a friend. Mathilde agrees and borrows an expensive looking diamond necklace. After having a wonderful time at the ball, she arrives home and finds the necklace gone. After thorough searching, Mathilde and her husband realize it is gone. Instead of admitting to losing the necklace, they borrow a lot of money to buy a new one. Over the next ten years, they live in absolute poverty. She runs into the friend and explains all of this to her. The friend explains the necklace had been imitation. If Mathilde been able to realize just how good a life she had, she never would have faced these obstacles. The story suggests that what one can and cannot change is an important part of life. .
             Mathilde, the protagonist, is both round and dynamic. The narrator paints her as egotistical and self-pitying. "She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury," writes de Maupassant (756). She daydreams of living in a great home with fine furnishings, "vast drawing rooms hung with antique skills - (756). When her husband comes home with an invitation to a ball one would think she would be happy. But her self-pitying side shines through: " I have no evening gown give the invitation to one of your friends whose wife will be better turned out than I" (757). She has a nice life as it is. With a loving husband who gives her all the money he had saved to buy a gown for the evening. Again, this is not good enough.


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