The Selfish Woman

1382 Words6 Pages
The Selfishness of Mathilde Loisel” In this essay, I will show how the author, Guy De Maupassant, characterizes Mathilde Loisel as a selfish, greedy, and manipulative person who thought only of herself. I will also show how her selfishness affected other characters in the story. My first example of Mathilde Loisel’s selfishness is “She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them.” (p.133). these sentences show how materialistic Mathilde is and how selfish she is for caring only about gaining these things for herself. She didn’t show any care for her husband who despite their humble living, seemed to be a caring and loving husband who kept a positive attitude about things. She held her love for materialistic objects so high that it consumed her and occupied her mind. My second example of Mathilde’s selfishness is “Nothing. Only I haven’t a dress and so I can’t go to this party. Give your invitation to some friend whose wife will be turned out better than I shall” (p.134). Mathilde turns down an invitation that Loisel had gotten to an elegant party just because she feels that she does not have a fancy, expensive dress to wear. She totally ignores the fact that Loisel went through a lot of trouble to get that invitation and he did so to make her happy. She acted as if his efforts for a waste and that his thoughtfulness was of no use. She is selfishly thinking only of herself and not considering the feelings and efforts of her husband who is selfless. My third example of Mathilde’s selfishness is “She thought for several seconds, reckoning up prices and also wondering how large a sum she could ask without bringing upon herself an immediate refusal and an exclamation of horror from the prudent clerk. Finally she replied with some hesitation: I don’t know exactly but I think I could do it for
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