Maupassant uses three main symbols to help bring out the core theme: that the preoccupation with appearance is vain and worthless. The main icon within the short story is the necklace itself, which comes to symbolize Matilda's vanity. The true nature of the necklace Matilda has borrowed from Mrs. Forestier reveals just how much pride and vanity mean to her. Although Matilda’s compassionate husband gives her four hundred francs for a “suitable costume” for the ball, that he had saved for his own pleasure, she is still discontented at the lack of “a jewel, not one stone” to embellish herself with (299). Matilda strives for sheer elegance. Refusing to be surpassed superficially, she will settle for nothing less than the “highest quality.” Ironically, as blind as to the artificiality of the necklace, Matilda is blind to the value of simplicity. Too arrogant to show up to the ball without a gemstone, Matilda, at the suggestion of her husband, makes the regretful decision to borrow some jewelry from her friend Mrs. Forestier. There, Matilda had her choice of “some bracelets, …a collar of pearls, …a Venetian cross of gold and jewels,” but instead she chose to take finest looking ornament in her friend’s jewelry box, the diamond necklace (300). Matilda’s choice of this piece reveals to the reader that Matilda not only wants the finest things, but she also wants those that are most lavish and posh. Her vanity led her to seek the necklace to begin with, and her pride pushed her to try to conceal the loss of the necklace from her friend. These two instances play large roles in Matilda’s downfall. She asks herself, “How would it have been if she had not lost the necklace? (303)” All of the debt and problems that she and her husband had faced because of the necklace were avoidable if she had just told her friend of its disappearance earlier, or if she had not chosen to borrow the necklace at all. The thirty-six thousand franc necklace that Matilda had to buy to replace Mrs. Forestier’s’ is the price of Matilda’s vanity for just one night. Another important fact the reader must consider is that before learning that Mrs. Forestier’s diamonds “were false” (303), because of the positive reaction she receives at the ball, Matilda attributes her “great success” (300) to the necklace. Blinded by the favoring faces, Matilda is misled, by her expectations of society and being “one out of her class,” (297) to believe that a person’s value is found within material possessions. However, because the necklace is fake, the reader must question the legitimacy of “high society,” who failed, like Matilda, to distinguish real diamonds from artificial ones.
Maupassant also uses symbols to advance the theme of misconstrued ideas of joy. He conveys this message by the illusion of “masking.” Immersed in a “cloud of happiness” (300) at the ball, Matilda is shrouded by a false sense of riches. This cloud, of which Maupassant speaks, is a mask for Matilda. Although she believes that she truly wants to be like those in the upper ranks of society, she is blinded by her false dreams and aspirations. She allows herself to believe in her inane fantasy, that she had in fact, "fallen from her proper station" (297). The creation of her image for the party fuels her desire to forget what she knows to be the truth, and thus she too becomes blind to her inner most feelings.
Her special dress, which she wore for the fantastic festivity, is also a mask behind which Matilda can hide. Long after the ball has ended, Matilda, wanting to latch onto the image she has made for herself, remains “in her evening gown” (301). Not only does she use her gown to veil her true self from the prosperous people at the party, but she also wants to grasp onto the fantasy, that she, too, is wealthy, for as long as possible. It was not until ten years later that Matilda had come to terms with reality, finally having removed all of the masks, which concealed her genuine self.
The point of view in which Maupassant writes this story allows the reader to identify lessons that Matilda does not. There is no real evidence that Matilda learns what causes her hardships. As she sits, prematurely aged, before her window, she is not thinking of how vain and silly she had been as a young woman; she is daydreaming about how lovely and glamorous the Minister's party had been, "of that ball where she was so beautiful and so flattered" (303). She is not angry with herself for having been so stupid; she is simply puzzled at the way life works itself out: "How would it have been if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How singular is life, and how full of changes! How small a thing will ruin one! (303)" Matilda does not see her ruination as in any way being her own fault, but considers it a particularly cruel trick of fate. Here is the point where the reader's understanding of the story departs from that of Matilda's. We see very clearly the reason for Matilda's downfall; she does not. Although she does realize that she has suffered, she doesn’t learn the true reason for which these terrible events have been bestowed upon her. We, on the other hand, grasp that her vanity directs her to borrow the necklace, and after that mistake, we see her second fault as her pride leads her to hide the reality from her friend. We see that the loss of Matilda's comfortable existence is due entirely to factors that could have been easily avoided. She does not. All Matilda understands at the end of this story was that life has played a cruel trick on her, and she has suffered ten long years for nothing. We, on the contrary, come to know the depths to which vanity and pride can drive one, and the terrible price one can pay. She dreams of "large silent anterooms, expensive silks and of achievement and fame that would make her the envy of all other women" (300). What she fails to realize is that these daydreams only make her more dissatisfied with her real life. As a result, she becomes more focused on what she does not have rather than what she does have. Maupassant writes this story in the third person to give us these two points of view: that of Matilda, and the one of the reader. This way, the reader can be aware of all of the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of Matilda, and still obtain a “bird’s eye view” of the story.
Above all, Matilda’s character, defining who she really is, leads her to her ultimate downfall. Matilda was a lovely young lady, “born, as if through an error of destiny,” into a poor family. In the beginning of the story, Matilda, although she is married, is not in harmony. Her character is very “opposite her husband”, who is more content than she with his life and finds pleasure in simple matters (298). As she lives her day-to-day life, Matilda finds herself noticing the substantial difference between what she desires and what she possesses. She is married to a man who loves her dearly, however, he cannot afford her “neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things” (298). Her vanity and desire for expensive goods makes her unhappy because she will never be satisfied with the life that her husband provides for her; it is never enough. Her vain disposition costs her all the happiness in her life and in her marriage. Matilda always finds herself to be discontented with everything that she has, always wanting more. Her strong belief that money is the key to social mobility and freedom, demonstrates how materialistic, envious, and self centered she is; in Matilda's eyes, wealth opens the door to freedom.
Matilda’s loving husband, by now through his attempts to please her, knows his proud wife and reacts to her with his good judgment. To save Matilda from embarrassment, he advises her to lie to Mrs. Forestier about the disappearance of her necklace, and to buy a replacement. He knows that the humiliation of having to tell Mrs. Forestier about the necklace and the possibility of the public gossiping about the catastrophe would destroy his wife; out of love, he tries to find an alternative to telling Mrs. Forestier the truth. Matilda’s husband’s actions are used to shed light on her character. Maupassant wants the readers to see what great lengths Matilda’s husband will go, only to fall short of satisfying his wife who he can never please.
Harmony, at the end of the story, finally catches up with Matilda. Even though, to pay back the debts owed on the necklace, Matilda and her husband are forced to work laboriously for ten years, she manages to come out having learned an important lesson. Very quickly, Matilda realized how comfortable her previous lifestyle had been in contrast to her new sufferings. “She learned the heavy cares of a household, the odious work of a kitchen... she took down the refuse... and, clothed like a woman of the people she went to the grocer’s, the butcher’s and the fruiterer’s, with her basket on her arm, shopping, haggling to the last sou her miserable money” (302). But now, after ten years of toil, “she had become a strong, hard woman” (303). Matilda has finally realized her downfall. In the end, although she is a “crude woman of the poor household,” she is finally in harmony as she admits, “I am decently content” (303). For the first time in her life, Matilda has had her fill; she is satisfied. If Matilda had not been so foolish as to attempt to be what she was not: rich, or had she told Mrs. Forestier the truth, she would have saved herself and her husband from the grief and devastation it caused.
Nobody ever wants to feel in adequate in life; however, one’s standing in society is not something that can easily be altered. The lengths to which one may go to acquire a respectful social status are dire. Nevertheless, sometimes trying too hard ultimately separates one from her goal, and in the process, loses all that she knows to be familiar and comfortable. Matilda, at the end of the story, finds herself further away from riches than she has ever been; she should have been content with her position in life, but because she was not, Matilda actually brought all the hardship she faced onto herself because of the vain efforts she made to belong with the wealthy.
