Mathilde Loisel is "pretty and charming'" but

feels she has been born into a family of

unfavorable economic status. She was married

off to a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education.

who can aford to provide her only with a
modest though not uncomfortable lifestyle.
Mathilde feels the burden of her poverty
intensely. She regrets her lot in life and spends
endless hours imagining a more
extravagant
existence. While her husband expresses his
pleasure at the small, modest supper she has
prepared for him, she dreams of an elaborate
feast served on fancy china and eaten in the
company of wealthy friends. She possesses no

fancy jewels or clothing. yet these are the only

things she lives for. Without them, she feels she
is not desirable. She has one wealthy friend,
Madame Forestier, but refuses to visit
h
because of the heartbreak it
brings her Pravacy- Terms
Mathilde Loisel is a charming and pretty
believed herself
woman who has always
destined for greater things than her life
has brought her. The feeling that she
deserves the luxuries of life and is yet

unable to afford those "delicacies"

causes her to suffer continuous feelings
of jealousy and longing. After marrying a

clerk who works at the Ministry of Public

Instruction, Mathilde settles into a life of
mediocrity, longing for women to envy
her and men to pursue her. Finding these
desires unfulfilled, Mathilde even begins
avoiding her wealthy friend Madame
Forestier, a former schoolmate, because
returning from her friend's house of
opulence causes Mathilde to suffer even
more deeply when she returns to her
own modest abode.
One evening, Mathilde's husband arrives
home with what he believes will be

joyous news for his wife. The couple has

been invited to a grand ball and
celebration at the palace of the Ministry,
and the invitation has been difficult for
Monsieur Loisel to procure. Yet instead
of the delight he expects the invitation
to elicit, his wife responds with scorn,
telling him that she cannot possibly
attend without a proper dress. Trying to
comfort her, Monsieur Loisel asks how
much a simple dress might cost, and
Mathilde estimates that such a dress

would cost around four hundred francs.

Monsieur Loisel has saved just that

amount of money to treat himself toa

gun and a getaway with friends the next

summer, but he gives his wife his savings
so that she can buy the dress she

desires.
gun and a getaway with friends the next
summer, but he gives his wife his savings
so that she can buy the dress she
desires.

As the date of the ball approaches,

Monsieur Loisel senses his wife's
anxieties growing. He asks why she's
been behaving so oddly, and she tells
him that she cannot go to the ball
without having a single jewel to wear
with the dress. He tries to convince her

that "natural flowers [are] very stylish at

this time of the year," but Mathilde
cannot be convinced. Instead, she
worries that she will be
humiliated,
looking "poor among other women who
are rich." Her husband gives Mathilde an
idea that overjoys her: she should simply
ask to borrow some jewelry for the event
from Madame Forestier.
looking "poor among other women who
are rich." Her husband gives Mathilde an
idea that overjoys her: she should simply
ask to borrow some jewelry for the event
from Madame Forestier.

Madame Forestier shows Mathilde many

pieces in her collection, from a pearl
necklace to pieces with precious stones
and "admirable workmanship," but
nothing seems stunning enough to
capture Mathilde's interest. She asks her
friend if she has any more jewelry, and
Madame Forestier produces "a superb
necklace of diamonds." Mathilde places
it around her neck with
trembling hands,
lost in ecstasy at the sight of herself."
She kisses her friend and flees with her
treasure.
When the ball arrives, Mathilde Loisel is
as radiant as she's ever
dreamed. She is
"elegant, gracious, smiling, and crazy
with joy." Men desire to know her and
beg to be introduced to her. The
attachés of the Cabinet desire to waltz
with her, and the minister himself makes
comments about her. Mathilde dances
until four in the morning, made "drunk"
by the pleasure of captivating the

attention of a room, just she's

always
as

desired. Finally, it is time to return home,

and Mathilde finds her husband asleepp
in an anteroom. When Monsieur Loisel
wraps his wife in the "modest wraps of
common life" before they enter the cold,
Mathilde again feels the pains of her
relative poverty in comparison to the
women who wrap up in "costly furs" as

they prepare to leave.