The Diamond Necklace: Character Analysis Essay Example

Mathilde is a girl who was born in a lower-middle-class family. She never accepted her true position in life, she always lived in denial. In her mind, she belonged to the upper class yet in reality she belonged to a lower middle class family. Mathildes state of mind can be attributed to her physical attractiveness. She gets married to a poorly paid clerk who works at the Ministry of Education and struggles to fend for her and make her happy. Courtesy of Mathildes husbands efforts to make her happy, he successfully requests for her him and Mathilde to be invited to the Ministry of Education party. After her husbands efforts to make her happy by begging for an opportunity to attend the party, Mathilde refuses to attend the party claiming that she does not have a decent dress that would make her comfortable while attending the party. Mathildes husband then decides to give her four hundred francs to buy a descent dress, money he had being saving for a long time in order to buy a rifle. Even after buying the dress, Mathilde still says something is missing. She says she wants jewelry to complement her dress. Her husband suggests that she uses flowers instead of jewelry, she disagrees with his suggestion. At last, Mathilde gathers courage and borrows a diamond necklace from Madam Jean Forestier promising to return it after the party. After attending the party, Mathilde realizes that she has lost the diamond necklace. Losing the diamond necklace imposes a lot of pressure on Mathilde and her husband, they have to take loans and sell everything they own to raise money for the diamond ring which is worthy forty thousand Francs. As a result, Mathilde and her husband fall into debt and they have to escape from people they are indebted into. The quality of their lives plummets and they live in dire, deplorable conditions thereafter.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The tragedy that befell Mathilde did so because of her covetousness and obsession with glamour. Mathildes ungratefulness and insatiable desires contribute to the predicament that befalls her. She does not appreciate efforts and sacrifices that her husband who is lowly paid makes towards making her happy. She is not content with her low life; she wants to live the high life. She keeps admiring the glamorous life lived by aristocrats and she wishes she was one of them.

It could have been different if Mathilde had accepted her true position in society and stop coveting the life of aristocrats such as Madam Jean Forestier. Had she appreciated her husbands efforts to make her happy and had she been happy with her life, things would have turned out differently. Had she been content with her life, the tragedy would never have nefallen her.

If I were in Mathilde's position, I would have accepted my position in life and desisted from coveting the glamorous lived by aristocrats. If I were in Mathildes position, I would have been content with my life but worked hard to improve my living conditions and standard. If I were Mathilde I would have been grateful to the efforts by my husband in trying to make be happy. I were Mathilde, I would have not borrowed the diamond necklace from Madam Jean Forestier to attend the party.

In conclusion, I prefer watching fiction and drama to listening to fiction and drama. I believe that there is a lot a person can learn from watching fiction and drama to listening to the same. Elements of drama such as costume, light, sound and acting can only be experienced better by watching and not listening.

Reference

Maupassant, G. (1992). The necklace. Mankato: Creative Education.