The Necklace

Guy de Maupassant’s The Diamond Necklace is a short story focused on the lives of Mathilde and her husband. While her husband is hard working and wants nothing but to make his wife happy, Mathilde on the other hand, is a dreamy woman who wants to be part of the elite class. She would always dream of eating the most scrumptious cuisines while wearing the most beautiful clothes. But of course, her husband, being just a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education, would never be able to give all these luxuries to her. This angered Mathilde very much and envious of others who were not as unlucky as she.

Mathilde’s husband knew how his wife dreamed of being one of the rich and distinguished. One night, he gave her an invitation to a grand ball which will be attended by the most important and richest guests there is. Instead of being happy, Mathilde wept as she does not have anything good to wear. And so her husband offered her to buy a new dress for herself for 400 francs, even though he was actually saving the money to buy himself a gun.

However, Mathilde thought that the new and expensive dress was not good enough for the ball as she has to be adorned with jewelry as well. Her husband insisted on buying flowers instead of stone jewels that they could not afford. Because of Mathilde’s stubbornness, her husband thought of borrowing stone jewels from their friend who owns a jewelry store named Madame Jeanne Forestier.

In the story, Madame Jeanne Forestier is a kind lady but cautious. It is evident when Madame Jeanne Forestier shows kindness to Madame Mathilde Loisel. Actually, Madame Jeanne Forestier even let Mathilde borrow one of her jewelry –the necklace. But despite of the kindness shows by Madame Jeanne Forestier, Mathilde is bitterly jealous of her friend’s wealth. And in my opinion, because of Mathilde’s bitterness Madame Jeanne Forestier never trusted her. It seems that is the reason why Madame Jeanne Forestier lend her fake diamond necklace and not an expensive one.

Upon seeing the diamond necklace, Mathilde knew the jewelry was the right piece for the ball. That night, Mathilde was the most beautiful and elegant woman in the ball. Everyone wanted to know her and dance with her. Mathilde did have a wonderful time that night. Upon getting home, she found out that she had lost the diamond necklace. She and her husband had searched all over, reported the lost necklace to the police and advertised on the newspaper but to no avail. However, they found a necklace exactly like the one they lost. But the necklace was very, very expensive. Mathilde then sent a letter to her friend and told her that the necklace’s clasp was broken and she has to have it fixed. Meanwhile, the couple work as hard to get the identical necklace. Mathilde worked like she never did before, to the point that she has grown so poor, tired and ugly. When they were able to get enough money to buy the necklace, Mathilde gave the replacement to Madame Jeanne Forestier only to find out that the necklace she borrowed was only a fake jewelry and the one they bought was the real one.

The setting of Guy de Maupassant’s “The Diamond Necklace” commanded wealth as its top priority which was symbolises by Madame Jeanne Forestier. Rank or class is imperative to have a place in the society. In the case of women, the ordeal is even harder as they only have physical appearances and their husbands as indicator of class. Thus, it was understandable for Mathilde to feel so much sorrow for her position in the society and jealous to Madame Jeanne Forestier. Mathilde is pretty and charming, good enough to deceive anyone that she is of the elite class. But Mathilde is blinded by the glitter and glamour she could have if not for her husband’s status. When she did had the chance to change it all, she didn’t realize how much it will cost her, to the point of changing her life forever.

After losing the diamond necklace of Madame Jeanne Forestier, Mathilde sunk lower to the lowest depths of society and became a poor working woman. The irony of this event is that Mathilde didn’t even notice her own share of wealth by being blessed with a loving husband, a simple apartment home and basic financial security she needs to live comfortably and happily. The concept of naturalism could be seen as Mathilde was placed back to her real character through the change of her surroundings. She learned reality the hard way but it changed her for the better. She learned to value and be proud of what she has. This perhaps is the most valuable lesson of the story.