Selfishness in

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Mata

Adrian Mata

Mr. Owen

English 1302 H. South

09 November 2004

Selfishness in “The Necklace”

In Guy de Maupassant’s, “The Necklace” all the characters in the story exhibit similar behavior by showing that they think of themselves rather than of others.  A close look at the behavior of the characters in “The Necklace” reveals more than a story about a spoiled selfish woman, but what we see is a story about a whole society of selfish people.

In “The Necklace” a woman named Mathilde lives a depressed life because she does not live the life style that she desires.  She “was one of those pretty and charming women, born, as if by an error of destiny into a family of clerks and copyists.  She had no dowry, no prospects, no way of getting known, courted, loved, married by a rich and distinguished man.  She finally settled for a marriage with a minor clerk in the Ministry of Education (Maupassant 5).”  She was a very simple person, but she did not have the money to dress with very expensive clothes.  Her husband did not have the social status or job to give her the types of things she wanted like expensive clothes and jewelry.  She felt depressed every time she would go over to her friend, Mrs. Forrestier’s, house because she had a very nice home and wore expensive clothing with very impressive jewelry.  Her husband gets invited to a party, but Mrs. Loisel really doesn’t want to go because she has nothing good to wear.  Mr. Loisel agrees to give her 400 francs to buy a “pretty” dress, but even after that she feels skeptical of going because she has nothing to wear with the new dress.  Mr. Loisel convinces her to borrow some jewelry from her friend and she would return it after the party.  She says okay and borrows a necklace.  She has a great time at the party dancing until four in the morning while her husband slept with some other men in a room.  They leave in a rush because Mathilde doesn’t want the other ladies to her in a “modest, everyday wrap” while they were wearing expensive furs.  When they arrive home they realize the necklace is gone, so they retrace their steps trying to find it.  When they have no luck, they buy the necklace for thirty-six thousand francs borrowing every cent from people.  They spend ten years repaying everything back including interest.  When it is over, Mathilde confesses to her friend and receives the shocking news that the necklace was costume jewelry and only worth a mere 500 francs at most.  

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In “The Necklace,” Mathilde is very selfish throughout the story.  Mathilde shows her selfishness when she longs to be rich and live in a nice home, wear expensive clothing and wear flashy jewelry with her clothes.  “These…show how materialistic Mathilde is and how selfish she is for caring only about gaining these things for herself,” says one critic (Directessays).  Mr. Loisel provides the basic necessities for her to live a good life, but she wants more than just the basic necessities.  She wants wealth and good social status that she does not and can not have.  She feels depressed every ...

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