THE NECKLACE

The “The Necklace” story was all about a mid-class woman Mathilde who lives with his humble
husband, Victor. Mathilde is the kind of woman who is jealous of all the expensive things, wealthy
women wear and afford while Victor is the total opposite as he is always trying to make Mathilde
appreciate what they have and he always compliments his wife the way she is.

Long ago, In the beautiful country of France, there was a girl and a boy named Mathilde and
Victor. Mathilde is the wife of Victor who cannot be contented in their simple and comfortable life
because of the jealousy that always grows in her whenever she sees a woman wearing things they can
barely afford, she is always asking for more, asking for too much. On the other hand, her husband,
Victor, works as a humble clerk and has a good-paying job. One day she received an invitation from the
Minister, Mathilde wanting to show off to the party made her husband buy 400 Francs worth of dress,
and as expected she was still not contented. She wanted jewelry to pair with the dress, so she borrowed
jewelry from her wealthy friend, Jeanne. Unfortunately, she lost the jewelry and had to lie to Jeanne.
The poor woman and her husband spend the next 10 years of their life trying to pay their debts to
replace the “ 40,000” worth of francs lost jewelry only to find out that the jewelry they borrowed was
fake and only costs under 200 francs. They moved to a smaller apartment, they let go of their maids, and
the beautiful Mathilde was barely recognizable by this time.

The argument in the story was Mathilde’s belief that the exquisitely beautiful necklace she
borrowed was a symbol of wealth when it is totally not. The author highlights the importance of
appreciating what one has and finding fulfillment in simpler pleasures rather than chasing things
beyond our means

In conclusion, Let us practice being happy with what we have because others may not have what
we have, People should stop asking for things beyond our means because it will only lead to us being
broke in the future. Always say the truth, even though you know it’ll hurt, truth hurts indeed.

Maupassant, G. (1884). The Necklace. In The Necklace and Other Short Stories (pp. 1-10).
Publisher.