The story starts off right away describing Madame Loisel beauty and charm but unfortunately she was born into the wrong class. She isn’t happy with the life that she has. She dreams of a life with parties and elegant dresses and jewels. Madame Loisel is so envious of a rich, old school friend who lives a different life that she actually refuses to go and visit because she feels worse about her life when she returns home. Her friend doesn’t appear to be proud of boastful in the story and doesn’t seem to care that Madame Loisel is poorer than her.
Why I like the Story “The Necklace” There are many reasons for liking this story of “The Necklace” and every person will intake different morals from its story line. To me, it is important not to have greed in your life for it alone is strong enough to destroy the most important thing you have, your career and life. In this story Mathilde dreams of a better life. These dreams cause her to partially leave reality, then return greedy for things that she does not have, or can afford. The greed is a sign of her most inner weakness, a weakness for beauty and riches.
Mathilde shows that she is immensely dissatisfied with her station in life, but particularly that of her modest means. She has this false impression that she deserves an aristocratic station in life, not by her hard work, but attained by her beauty and heredity. She speaks of suffering carelessly, that she feels herself born for all the delicacies, and is deserving of all the luxuries the other woman have of her rank. “Mathilde thoughts are filled with large dwellings hung with oriental tapestries lit by tall bronze candelabra.” (130) “With lots of silk filled rooms filled with delicate furniture surrounded by prices curiosities made for the likes of the women, she envies.” (130). Mathilde is overpowered with discontent of her situation and society.
She states, “She had a fine person, many brilliant attainments; but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature” (Brontë 1.239). She describes Miss Ingram as beautiful but a shallow person with no depth. Along with Jane, Mr. Rochester seems to see this and her true aspiration of only marrying him for his money. On the other hand, Jane’s wittiness and sharp responses to Mr. Rochester confusing comments enraptures Mr. Rochester. Mrs. Reed and her children had always treated Jane with disrespect; but when Mrs. Reed is dying Jane forgets her harsh treatment and stays with her until she died.
Mathilde obsesses over things that most other women never notice or care about. Fantasies of wealth and social status plague her thoughts and suck her into a delusional black hole until she is forced to downgrade her simple lifestyle to a poverty stricken status. Mathilde and her husband live a simple lifestyle. They have a modest apartment with accessories that fit their surroundings. Her marriage was an arranged marriage and the young man was a clerk working for the Minister of Education.
She shows off more than she has. “Mme loisel” knows she is not rich, and cannot accept to be around with her friend “Mme forester”. Her hunger for beauty and glamour results in the borrowing of the necklace. This becomes the bane of her life. “Some say the root of all evil is money”.
Blanche is also shown to avoid bright because of her “delicate beauty” [15]. The audience has created an image of Blanche as a wealthy woman with high pretensions, but that image is doubted when Blanche reveals more about her life, thus creating more tension. After she describes how she “stayed and struggled” through “all of [the] deaths” of their relatives and how Belle Reve “slipped through [her] fingers” [27], the audience learns that Blanche had difficulties in her past, making her
She was married to Monsieur Loisel who could only provide her a not so comfortable lifestyle. She is unsatisfied of what she have that she became nearly unaware of almost everything around her but the wealth she does not have. She keeps on imagining an extravagant existence: an elaborate feast, fancy jewels and clothing. She has a wealthy friend Madame Forestier. Mathilde is jealous of her and she will do anything in her power to reverse the mistake of destiny that made her poor.
Looks can be deceiving and I believe this statement plays a great role in this story. The main character, Mathilde, encounters a situation where she feels as though she belongs in a higher class based off her beautiful looks. She is neither wealthy nor comes from a family of wealth but feels as though she deserves as much because of her appearance. Unsatisfied with her lifestyle, Mathilde noticeably expresses her dilemma by complaining to her husband, Monsieur Loisel that she doesn’t want to attend the special event because she has nothing of higher class to wear. Mathilde then borrowed her rich friend Madame Forestier’s necklace, and at that moment, I could already foreshadow something bad to happen.
In this prose from Slyvia Plath’s autobiography Plath feels she has no control over her life. Plath outlines many reasons as to why she is so unhappy. She feels as though her lilfe is out of her control. On the surface, Plath lives an extremly glamorous lifestyle, she has fancy dresses, she works for a fashion magazine and she attends the top parties. Yet underneath all the glamour, Plath lives a very superficial and fake lifestyle, and she feels there is more to life than writing for a fashion magazine, or attending the elitest parties.