“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

In “The Necklace”, Guy de Maupassant creates an irony about the Mme. Loisel, who always dreams she would live in a luxury life, which later costs her ten years of working to pay off for what she dreams for. Mme. Mathilde Loisel was born in a poor family, so she dreamed someday she would have a husband who is “rich and distinguish” (194). Unfortunately, she ends up getting married to, as the author describes, a “little clerks” who can’t satisfy her needs (194). Also, because of coming from a poor family, she always dreamed to have beautiful and expensive dresses, jewels, and a house which is aristocratically equipped. Certainly, her husband can not provide her those. There’s one day her husband bring home an invitation to the high-rank official party which requires her to have beautiful dress and jewelry. However, her husband can only afford her the new dress, so she has to borrow the necklace.

Unfortunately, after the party, she loses the necklace on the way home. She and her husband are worried that her friend will accuse them of stealing, so they find any possible ways to buy a new authentic diamond necklace, which value equal her entire property and ten year of working, to give back to her friend. By the time she pays off her debt, she realizes that her friend’s necklace was faked. After reading the story, most of us think that losing the necklace is the appropriate punishment for Mme. Loisel, but, in fact, losing the necklace surprisingly changes her life and her attitude about life.

Before losing the necklace, she is an unhappy and high-demanding woman who always cares for her outside appearance. She always keeps demanding more than what she currently has. Although her husband is not aristocrat, he still gives her a comfortable life; a life in which she doesn’t have to work at all and a life with a servant waiting to serve. However, she doesn’t want this comfortable life, she wants more than that. She wants a luxury life; a life, as she describes, with “the long salons fitted up with ancient silk,” and a life with “delicate priceless furniture” (194). Certainly, her husband can’t give her those. As a result, she suffers “ceaselessly” (194). Besides high demanding, she’s also a jealous woman. She’s always jealous to rich woman, who has what she wants and who she thinks she is supposed to be.

Because of jealousy, she feels tortured, angered, and unhappy, as the author describes, whenever she sees her “poor” house, “worn-out chair,” and the “ugly curtains”, whose images she thinks rich women never have them in their mind (194). Also because of jealousy, she always feels lack of confident and ashamed to confront with rich women, even with her friend. As the consequence, she never feels happy and released in her life. When her husband brings home the invitation from the Minister, instead of feeling happy as a wife of a clerk would feel, she feels painful because she’ll have to meet women who coat in expensive clothing and priceless jewelry. She thinks her life is full of unsatisfactory needs and unhappiness.

However, after losing the necklace, everything changes completely. From the materialist, she now becomes the realistic woman who realizes “the horrible existence of the needy” (199). She realizes that because of her high-demanding it takes her ten years of working to pay off her debt in addition to losing all of her property. Not only does she realize from her high demanding, she actually becomes a responsible women. When she realizes she lost the necklace, she doesn’t even have the nerve to go look for it. Her husband has to do it all. Now, when she realizes that she has, as the author describes, the “dreadful debt” that she has to pay, she faces it by starting to work and dress normally like “a women of people”, both of which she has never done before (199). She no longer feels tortured and angered when she can’t have luxury dresses and jewelry. In addition, she is even more confident.

Before losing the necklace, wearing normal dress to see her friend made her feel ashamed. However, after losing the necklace, she dresses normal clothing daily to meet people and her former rich friend once. She’s also no longer boss woman who’s only pointing finger at servant and waiting to be served. She has to do all servants’ works now such as cleaning, washing, and cooking. She even has to fight for her life daily to get a real little money by “bargaining, insulting, and defending” (199). Although her life is physically worst than in the past, it’s spiritually better now. She feels released after her tired workdays. Better than that, she now smiles with joy.

Losing the necklace turns Mme. Loisel into a better person, but what person would she become if she not lost the necklace? She would be more confirmed to herself that she was born to be, as she thinks, “beauty and charming” because “all of men looked at her, asked her name” when she walked in the party (199). Also, the diamond necklace made her become more attractive in the party; she would think she deserves to wear only luxury items. However, after going home, her reality will come back and tell her that she has nothing. No luxury jewelry, no beautiful expensive dress, and no one look and appreciate her beauty.

She would be disappointed and start to blame her husband, who can’t provide her those luxury items and who doesn’t appreciate her beauty daily. Sooner or later, she would divorce him and find a new husband who can do so. When she finds one, she would not stop demanding. Instead, her demanding would increase infinitely. So, divorcing would happen again. Her life from that on would be full of disappointment and pain because no one would satisfy enough for integrated needs. Fortunately, it will not happen because she actually lost the necklace.

Although losing the necklace costs her plenty of working time and money, it helps her become better person instead. From her experience, we can that we should appreciate what we currently have. We should not over demand. Also, through her character, we should keep in mind that the true happiness can only find through hardworking.