Preview

Who Is Mathilde Loisel's Secrets Fulfilled?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3175 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is Mathilde Loisel's Secrets Fulfilled?
Secrets Fulfilled
Richard G. Cox
ENG125 Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Holly Ledcke
October 28, 2013

For their passion so drove them, that the ones that live for them, the ones that would die for them, were callously ignored and given up for as lambs are for the slaughter, without hesitation and without remorse. They are nothing more than an afterthought. As they toil ferociously, tirelessly and ardently, their love’s and lives depended on it. They, the forgotten, are but reflections of the day vows were spoken softly and with such vigor as could move mountains. They mean nothing now, as more pressing feelings and emotions are taking place. One, the need for wealth and riches overcomes her such
…show more content…
He, a lowly clerk at the Ministry of Education, provides Mathilde with a comfortable life, but just not enough for Mathilde. She dreams of more than modesty. Mathilde feels burdened by her poverty and regrets her station in life. She often spends hours daydreaming of extravagance. Even while her husband expressed pleasure at the dinner she prepared for him, she dreams of a fancy feast on china. When her husband presented her with an invitation to a formal party hosted by the Ministry of Education, she was angry, annoyed and irritated, as she had nothing nice to wear. When asked how much a suitable dress would cost, she told him 400 francs might do it. Her husband silently protested, as he was saving that amount to go hunting with friends the following summer, but gave it to her anyways. As the day of the party drew near, Mathilde was clearly upset. When approached by Monsieur Loisel she said she had no jewelry to wear. Monsieur Loisel suggested fresh flowers, but she balked at the idea. Then it dawned on Loisel for Mathilde to ask her friend Mme. Forester. Mme. Forester agreed to lend her some jewels for the party. When Mme. Loisel comes across the diamond necklace and Mme. Forester agrees to lend it to her, Mathilde is overcome with joy at the site of it around her neck in the mirror, kisses her friend and ran off to show her husband. At the party, Mathilde is the most beautiful woman there, and is noticed by everyone and she adores the attention. At 4am she finds her husband sleeping in another room. He drapes her shoulders with her wrap and asks for her to wait inside while he fetches a cab. Mathilde is too embarrassed by her wrap and follows him outside instead. They walk for a while and finally hail a cab. It is not until they arrive home that Mathilde discovers the necklace is no longer around her neck. Panicked, she waits at home as

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The theme of everlasting and all-consuming love is revealed by the writer's message that no matter what happens in life, extreme love is reachable. In this moment, nothing is more important than his love. His message is introduced as a hopeless question, "So what good would living do me?".…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "Thus have I politicly begun my reign,/ And ‘tis my hope to end successfully./ My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,/ And till she stoop she must not be full gorged,/ For then she never looks upon her lure./ Another way I have to man my haggard,/ To make her come and and know her keeper's call,/ That is, to watch her as we watch these kites/ That bate and beat and will not be obedient./ She eat no meat today, nor none shall eat./ Last night she slept not nor, tonight she shall not./ As with the meat, some undeserved fault/ I'll find about the making of the bed,/ And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster,/ This way the coverlet, another way the sheets./ Ay, and amid this hurly I intend/ That all is done in reverent care of her,/ And in conclusion she shall watch all night./ And if she chance to nod I'll rail and brawl/ And with the clamor keep her still awake./ This is a way to kill a wife with kindness,/ And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humor./ He that knows better how to tame a shrew,/ Now let him speak- ‘tis charity to show."…

    • 1370 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the party, Madame Loisel loses the necklace, resulting in tireless work, loans, and night jobs for her and her husband in order to pay back the equivalent of the price. The couple finally succeeds when all the money is paid ten years later, only for Mathilde to discover that the necklace was ironically a fake, and worth a very small percentage of what the couple paid. The theme of this story is that an overemphasis on material wealth can shrink the spirit and leave one open to the changeability of fortune. The situational irony highlights this moral because the Loisels would never have had to exhaust themselves if Madame Loisel wasn’t so obsessed with riches and wealth. From the very beginning of the story, she wastes her time dreaming of luxuries such as fine silks, beautiful furniture, and gourmet feasts. Even when she is at Madam Forestier’s house to try on necklaces to borrow, she is never satisfied until she has seen the very best. Madame Loisel’s preoccupation with appearance clouds her judgment as well. As soon as she realizes that she has lost the necklace, she should simply come clean to Madam Forestier. Instead, she is too concerned with how her reputation will be affected, so she keeps quiet. She later pays the price for this when she discovers that the necklace is “false [and]…worth five hundred francs at most.” The life that she gets instead as punishment during the ten years in debt is even more difficult and meager than her life to begin with, which stresses how fame and fortune is so fleeting and unimportant in the scheme of…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Matilde Loisel was a charming young woman who spent most of her day in her longing thoughts of being rich and desired. One day, her husband brought home an invitation to a ball. Matilde was embarrassed because she had no jewelry or fine clothes. Her husband agrees to give her money to go buy a dress, but that still was not good enough. She also had to borrow a beautiful necklace from her friend. She has the best night of her life at the ball. As she returns home, she notices she has lost the necklace. Little did she know, the next years of her life would be spent paying off the debt that she owes when she buys a new necklace to replace it. At the end, she sees her old friend who let her borrow the necklace and Matilde finds out that the necklace she had originally borrowed was a fake. She went through miserable times trying to pay back the debt. Her hard work and suffering was all for nothing.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The Necklace" tells of a sad and lengthy lesson learned by Mathilde Loisel and her husband. Mathilde is a selfish self-pitying woman who thinks she is too good for her station in life. Mathilde has been blessed with great beauty, a husband who loves…

    • 1804 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The plot of most short stories is condensed in length and of a more simplistic nature relative to novels. Guy de Maupassant’s, “The Necklace” is no exception. Starting with the exposition, the story has only three main characters, Madame and Monsieur Loisel––both very simple, “economical” characters that are among the lower-rank of society’s hierarchal ladder, and Madame Forestier, Mathilde Loisel’s affluent friend. A combination of 19th century language and lifestyle, as well as the life span of the author, dually suggest that the story’s setting takes place not only during the 19th century, but as many famous locations of Paris are mentioned in the story, Paris, France. In order to set the plot in motion, the inciting incident introduces the conflict. In “The Necklace,” the inciting incident is when the husband brings forth an invitation to a “select” event at the “palace of the Ministry.” Although, originally flustered by the idea, Mathilde eventually decides to go, but only under the condition that she looks like a proper lady; elegant and exquisitely dressed. Thus, the continually manifest conflict for the “poverty-stricken” couple, the inability to purchase such expensive items, develops the plot further. “It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on.” Mathilde’s lack of finances and her irritation with the situation provides both an external and internal element towards the conflict. When proceeding events in the rising action, like purchasing the sophisticated gown, and, most significantly, acquiring the diamond necklace transpire, Mathilde’s lack of income, the conflict, becomes even more apparent physically and emotionally. “The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious.” Suspense building, Mathilde and her husband attend the ball. “Madame Loisel was a great success. She was prettier than any other woman present, elegant, graceful, smiling and wild with joy.” Unfortunately, from…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This story is not only extremely ironic but it also has so much depth and symbolism involved. “The Necklace” begins by focusing on a woman that has no ability to accept her situation. She is overly materialistic to a point that is almost annoying. “She suffered constantly, feeling herself destined for all delicacies and luxuries”. At first she even seems like a spoiled women who is downright unrealistic. Guy De’ Maupassant is very clear in expressing how dissatisfied she is with her existing life, and how she believes that she is practically royalty yet unfortunately dealt the wrong hand. “She was one of those pretty and charming women, born, as if by an error of destiny into a family of clerks and copyists”. At first, the opinion of her is casted in a negative light. However, it is not until reading the entire story that we realize that Mathilde Loisel is in fact just like any other woman today. By the end of the story we realize that not only the moral of her character increases but so does her strength. In the beginning of the story, Maupaussant focuses tremendously on painting a perfect picture of exactly how upset Mathilde is with her life. He also focuses on the fact that Mathilde is not content with her husband at all. The way she speaks to him comes off very distasteful and leaves a sour feeling. Yet, not until we analyze further do we realize that her husband is as just as weak a character as herself. When he brings home the invitation to the ball her reaction is heart wrenching; “She looked at him angrily and stated impatiently, what do you want me to wear to go there?” Here we see what’s important to her. Not the kind thought and invitation to the ball, but how she’s going to appear to the others there and what she’s going to wear. This, in my opinion is the first clue to how selfish this character truly initially is. Eventually we see the story unfold as we learn after her husband gives her all of his savings for a dress, she is still not satisfied and…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are three main characters in "The Necklace," Mr. Loisel, Mathilde Loisel and Jeanne Forrestier. Mr. Loisel is the personification of a real man. He likes to hunt and shoot birds for sport. However, Mr. Loisel is also a simple man. When he sat at the dinner table with his wife Mathilde, he exclaimed "good old boiled beef" (Maupassant 5). Mathilde, unfortunately, does not share his enthusiasm. Throughout most of the story, Mathilde dreams of fancy banquets and parties and delicate, expensive tapestries and decorations. Though Mathilde changes from a middle-class dainty woman to a lower-class pauper, she still fantasizes about being pretty and admired (11). Mathilde can accurately describe what a wealthy woman would be like because Madame Forrestier is wealthy. Madame Forrestier is a dainty, elegant woman who owns jewelry and lovely dresses, unlike Mathilde. At the end of the story, Madame Forrestier is reintroduced. After ten years, Mathilde describes Madame Forrestier as "still youthful, still beautiful, still attractive" (11). It seems as though Madame Forrestier has moved forward with her life while Mathilde has been stuck in a working-class rut for the last ten years.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although both of the character are different some ways, They like eachother some ways. These woman was fond of pinning jewelry, tonning out and dressed well. Wealthy and looking elegant is important for them,so the jewelry was crucial for them because it is the symbol of being weathy and looking elegant. Both of them are dutiful wife but they are dissatisfied and selfish woman because their husbands worked hard all day. While their husbands worked all day, their aims thinking of wealthy things. Mrs. Lantin always went to theatre and he want to be as the other woman. Others have lots of jewelry or weathy things. Similarly, Matilde Loisel want to go ball that is arranged for the rich people.…

    • 714 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diamond Necklace

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    She suffered ceaselessly because she would dream of antechambers with an Oriental tapestry, big armchairs with a bronze candelabra and long reception halls with ancient silk, etc. She thought of reception rooms for chatting at five o’clock with intimate friends and with famous men that are sought after and envied. When Mathilde realizes that her dwelling is none of what she dreams of, and that she is not able to have beautiful gowns or jewelry like those of rich folks, it would torture and distress her. Looking at her bare walls, shabby chairs, and ugly curtains made her angry. Although Mathilde had a peasant boy who would do her housework, she still was not satisfied with her life and wanted to have more. She wanted elegance, riches, and status. Mathilde wanted to be envied, charming, and sought after by others.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mathilde Loisel was a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she were wealthy. She's got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who marry her to another clerk in the Department of Education. One day M. Loisel got an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss. M. Loisel has gone to a lot of trouble to get the invitation, but Mathilde's first reaction is to throw a fit. She doesn't have anything nice to wear, and can't possibly go! Mathilde asks for 400 francs, and his husband agrees. But because Mathilde doesn’t have any jewels, she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend Mme. Foreister, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone loves her and she is absolutely thrilled. At 4am she and her husband return home, and discover the necklace is missing. M. Loisel spends all of the next day, and even the next week, searching the city for the necklace, but finds nothing. So he and Mathilde decide they have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new necklace. They visit one jewelry store after another until at last they find a necklace that looks just the same as the one they lost. Unfortunately, it's 36 thousand francs, which is exactly twice the amount of all the money M. Loisel has to his name. So M. Loisel goes massively into debt and buys the necklace, and Mathilde returns it to Mme. Forestier, who doesn't notice the substitution. The Loisels fall into poverty and spend ten years paying off their debts. After ten years, all the debts are finally paid, and Mathilde is out for a jaunt on the Champs Elysées. There she comes across Mme. Forestier, rich and beautiful as ever. Now that all the debts are paid off, Mathilde decides she wants to finally tell Mme. Forestier the sad story of the necklace and her ten years of poverty, and she does.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Necklace

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Necklace is a short story by Guy de Maupassant. It begins with a explanation of Madame Mathilde Loisel. Though she is young and pretty, she and her husband are not well off financially. Her husband is only a clerk in the ministry of education. Mathilde is a very worldly person who is never content with anything in her life. Her husband is not a rich man, but he brings home enough to get by. Mathilde has always dreamed of the rich life, with servants and a large house, but her lifestyle is decidedly more reserved. Her selfish attitude is apparent in her need for materialistic things in her home and in the rude manner she treats her husband. Madame Forestier an old friend who has become wealthy. Mathilde no longer visits her because their social status is not the same. One evening Mathilde’s husband brings home an invitation to a fancy dinner party. He is certain that Mathilde will be excited. However, she becomes very upset, saying she has nothing suitable to wear to such an event. Hoping to make her happy, Monsieur Loisel offers to buy her a new 400 pound dress with the money he was saving for a new gun. As the ball approaches, Madame Loisel again becomes anxious because she has no jewelry to wear to accent her new dress. When her husband suggests she borrow jewels from Madame Forestier Mathilde pays her old friend a visit. Her friend tells her to borrow any piece of jewelry that she wishes. Mathilde chooses only a beautiful diamond necklace. Madame Loisel enjoys herself greatly at the ball and many men notice her. Although her husband is asleep in another room, she dances until 4:00 in the morning. Not until they are back in their humble house does she realize that she is no longer wearing the diamond necklace. Monsieur Loisel spends several hours retracing their steps but finds nothing. They decide to buy another necklace without telling Madame Forestier the original was…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mathilde solves the first problem when her husband gives her money for a dress. But then she runs into a second problem: she's needs to have some jewels. Luckily, her friend Mme. Forestier is able to provide her with a fabulous diamond necklace. But now Mathilde's been entrusted with something expensive that belongs to someone else and we have the potential for disaster. It's true that the complication is often when things "get worse," and that doesn't really happen here (for that, we have to wait for the climax). In fact, after borrowing the necklace, Mathilde has the time of her life. But it's when she borrows the necklace that the possibility opens up for something really bad to happen…and it does.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Necklace

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Mathilde Loisel is “pretty and charming” but feels she has been born into a family of unfavorable economic status. She was married off to a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education, who can afford to provide her only with a modest though not uncomfortable lifestyle. Mathilde feels the burden of her poverty intensely. She regrets her lot in life and spends endless hours imagining a more extravagant existence. While her husband expresses his pleasure at the small, modest supper she has prepared for him, she dreams of an elaborate feast served on fancy china and eaten in the company of wealthy friends. She possesses no fancy jewels or clothing, yet these are the only things she lives for. Without them, she feels she is not desirable. She has one wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, but refuses to visit her because of the heartbreak it brings her.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    voice tape

    • 885 Words
    • 5 Pages

    the party and last Mrs.Forester, friend of Mathilde, lend her the diamond necklace. The part of the story…

    • 885 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays