The Necklace

In Guy de Maupassant's, "The Necklace", Madame Loisel's ungrateful, materialistic, and jealous behavior completely shapes her entire life. Her admiration of the glitz and glam of the rich led to her greatest downfall. Because of her desires she is unable to appreciate the life she had and unable to live the full life of a woman which she had always desired Throughout the entire story Madame Loisel's ungrateful behavior is well displayed. During dinner, while her husband was well appreciative of the aroma of the pot-au-few, all Madame Loisel can picture is more. "Shining silverware … dishes served on marvelous plates,” (Paragraph 4) is all she could think of. She does not care that she is not on the streets eating scraps of food but a well prepared stew. Rather, she is dreaming of, “eating the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.”(Paragraph 4) Her ungrateful behavior is also evident when her husband presents the invitation to her. Rather than being thankful that they have received an invite to the grand ball, because, "it is such a fine opportunity,"(Paragraph 15) she could only think of the theater dress that she did not want to wear. Lastly, while looking through Madame Forestier's jewels she continues to ask, "Haven't you anymore?"(Paragraph 46) Instead of being appreciative that her friend is loaning her any jewels to begin with she continues to dig and rummage through the jewelry box, not finding anything to completely satisfy her. Madame Loisel’s materialistic behavior is also well portrayed through-out the short story. She claims she has, “… no dress, no jewels, nothing. And [that] she loved nothing but that. ” (Paragraph 5) She bases her life worth on materialistic possessions, instead of recognizing she has everything, which includes a loving husband and home with a maid. Towards the beginning, she confirms that, “she let herself be married to a little clerk.”(Paragraph 1) She only bases her marriage on materialistic