The False Appearance of Wealth in the Necklace

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looking to her.

The diamond necklace represents Mathilde’s true idea and perception of what being wealthy looks like

– glamorous. Her attempts of trying to live beyond her means will eventually lead her to her inevitable

poverty.

During the party, Mathilde’s true ungraciousness is shown. Mathilde, “danced madly,

ecstatically, drunk with pleasure, with no thought for anything” (5,1). This statement foreshadows the

idea that something may happen because she has “no thought for anything.” After the party, Mathilde

discovers that her necklace is gone. After searching high and low for this necklace, they fail to find it.

They then come to the conclusion that they have to replace the diamond necklace. After finding the

necklace in a store, they learn that the necklace costs more than what Mathilde’s husband actually

makes. Because of Mathilde’s carelessness for the necklace, her husband once again has to make more

sacrifices in order to fix her mistake. Mathilde’s inconsideration for others and her wanting for wealth,

ultimately causes her to lose the decent lifestyle she had before the party. Because she was so blinded

by greed, she now has to suffer by living through ten years of debt and poverty. Her pride as well gets

in the way as she does not tell her friend what really happened and instead chooses the path that leads

to her and her husband’s misfortune. In the end, ten years later when she sees Madame Forestier, and

tells the truth of what really happened to the necklace, she learns that it was fake from the very

beginning.

In “The Necklace,” the idea of greed, wealth and pride, ends up leading an individual to their

ultimate downfall. Mathilde’s idea of wealth was not what it seemed to be because even though the

necklace seemed glamorous and expensive, she learned in the end that it was indeed fake. Her

inconsideration for her husband, the necklace, and her financial means in the end leads her to a long life

of poverty. Maupassant shows that one should appreciate the things they have and need to live by their

means in order to be truly satisfied. The false appearance of wealth in “The Necklace,” indeed blinds

Mathilde when she believes that this diamond necklace truly was real and made her look wealthy. In

the end, the thing that she wanted most ended up destroying her.