Mathilde In Guy De Maupassant's The Necklace

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Pages: 3

“What’s the point in them being happy if they’re going to be sad later? The answer is, because they’re going to be sad later” This is a quote from BBC’s “Doctor Who”, this quote may have an affect on some people to ignore all the negatives in their lives right now in case you’re going to be sad later. If you think about it Mathilde Loisel from Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” probably hasn’t heard of this quote. “The Necklace” is a short story written in 1884 about a middle-class woman whose soul aches to be wealthy and part of the upper class and is very bitter and unhappy about what she does possess. Mathilde is a very realistic character and is full of negative traits. This woman is a horrible concoction of self-pity, vanity, and materialistic tendencies.

Saying that Mathilde is vain is like saying summers are hot; you may a different opinion depending on your perspective, but the general consensus remains. The reader’s first glimpse at this is when Mathilde compares herself to the highest ladies in the land in terms of beauty, grace, and wit. However, since the audience doesn’t really see Mathilde being particularly graceful or witty it should be safe to assume that Mathilde was speaking a little too
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Our Mathilde has not recognized it, but she shows them off like a queen would her crown. Occurring instances of this is when she whines about not having dresses, jewels, and other things that the wealthy have. Another example is that she didn’t focus on the food that was on her table but the bare room the table was set in and the three day old table cloth the food was on. A trend that Mathilde also follows is daydreaming about having the things the wealthy have and becoming extremely bitter when she is yanked out of this fantasy and thrown back into the not-so-horrible conditions her reality is set