September 21, 2011
Nothing But A Fantasy
Oh, the joys of the grand and luxurious life. Some people are born into such a world while others work there entire lifetimes and never quite reach it. It is something we would all enjoy to experience but, we are all guilty of fantasying about such a carefree lifestyle. In the short story The Necklace translated by Edgar V. Roberts the character of Mathilde Loisel takes her fantasy of having such a luxurious lifestyle to another level. We can see through her thoughts the dangers of living your life in a fantasy constructed by your mind and thoughts. She goes through the everyday actions of her life in an auto-pilot sort of mode. She does not appreciate what she has in her life and how fortunate she really is. Mathilde Loisel character development throughout the short story is important to the theme that the author is attempting to express, which is one can never truly understand how fortunate they are until they lose what they have and only then can they be appreciative of what they have. The reason why Mathilde Loisel character is important to the theme of story is because she strengthens the theme of the story. We can see through her life what might happen when you live in a fantasy. She had a modest life with no worries or hardships and sacrificed all that security to experience one night of pleasure, excitement, and fun.
At the beginning of the story Madam Mathilde Loisel was craving a life of luxury, a life that she felt that she rightfully deserved. Her current modest life was unbearable and she felt that it was mistake that she was born, as if by an error of destiny, into a family of clerks and copyists (Howe 250). At this point in the short story we know for a fact that she has a stable life. She does not have the luxury of being able to dress in a fancy fashion and this burdens her. She is convinced that she is meant for much more. Mathildes fantasy of such a life is controlling that she even stopped seeing a rich friend simply due to the fact that upon returning from her visits she would return home and be filled with misery, regret, and sorrow. She viewed where she lived as a, grim apartment with its drab walls, threadbare furniture, ugly curtains (250). The reader can see that the most trivial of things such as the curtains of her house or the furniture bother her deeply
because they do not fulfill or satisfy the imaginary life she fantasies about. The things that bother are things that, most other women in her situation would not even have noticed (250).
Mathilde Loisel is completely enveloped in her thoughts of a life she does not have and completely ignores the life that she is living in. We can see this at the dinner scene when Mr. Loisel says, Ah, good old beef stew! I dont know anything better, (251). We can see by Mr. Loisel innocent comment that he is perfectly content with his life but while this is going on Mrs. Loisel is busy daydreaming of exquisite banquets served by many servants and the wall lined up with expensive paintings. Mrs. Loisel is unappreciative that she has food to be able to enjoy with her husband.
Mr. Loisel is not unaware of Mrs. Loisel dreams and he tries to help her live out her dream. One evening he returns from work and gives Mathilde an envelope with an invitation to a fancy dinner and ball. Mr. Loisel intentions are that he only wants to satisfy his wife and help her experience the fancy life. Upon receiving the letter she throws away because she has nothing to wear. Mr. Loisel informed Mrs. Loisel that this was a special occasion because not that many clerks like himself get invited and many important people will be there. Mr. Loisel even offers to buy her a new dress and Mrs. Loisel contemplates about the offer. For a brief moment we can see what Mrs. Loisel is thinking, She thought for a few moments, adding things up and thinking also of an amount that she could ask without getting a immediate refusal and a frightened outcry form the frugal clerk, by her thoughts we can see that she is manipulative and might not care that much for her husband as we can see describes him as the frugal clerk(251). Mathilde extracts four hundred francs from her husband and uses it to be her dress. Mr. Loisel wanted to use that money for a hunting trip but it is unknown to the reader if she knew what her husband wanted to do with that money that he had saved up but it shows us how caring he is to her desires and how unselfish he is.
As the day approaches for the dinner Mrs. Loisel realizes she has nothing to wear with her dress. Mr. Loisel noticed her odd behavior and asks her what is the matter to which Mrs. Loisel responds, Its awful, but I dont have any jewels to wear, not a single gem, nothing to dress up my outfit. Ill look like a beggar. Id almost rather not go to the party (252). We can see how ungrateful she is and how she does not appreciate all the trouble Mr. Loisel has gone through to receive the invitation and the money he has used for her. Mrs. Loisel borrowed a superb diamond necklace in a black satin box from Mrs. Forestier and simply hurried away with her treasure (252). This is important because she does not thank Mrs. Forestier for helping her nor has she thanked her husband for such a wonderful oppturnity. It reveals how truly ungrateful she is.
Mrs. Loisel end up losing the vaulable necklace that Mrs. Forestier had been so kind to let her borrow and instead of coming forward and admitting to her mistake she lies to Mrs. Forestier. Mrs. Loisel tries to cover up her mistake with a fake but in order to do this she need money to replace and dragged down her husband and herself to an almost unbearable debt. They were forced to, dismiss the maid; change their address; and rented an attic flat (254). Mrs. Loisel learned how to do housework, kitchen jobs, go to the market and do just about anything to scrape up money. Mrs. Loisel discovered , the horrible life of the needy (254). Despite all the troubles she and her husband had to go through she did not change much because she still fantasize about that one magically night she had when she was the envy of everyone at the party.
Mrs. Loisel encountered Mrs. Forestier one day after ten years of hardships and told her about her troubles. Mrs. Forestier was confused because she thought Mrs. Loisel had returned her necklace and did not notice the replacement. Mrs. Loisel said, Yes, You didnt notice it, eh? It was exactly like yours. And she smiled with proud and childish joy (255). This childish joy shows how immature Mrs. Loisel still is after all these years. She is more joyful that she got away with her lie. Mrs. Forestier than tells Mrs. Loisel that the jewelry she had borrowed that night was only a costume prop and not worth very much. At this point Mrs. Loisel realized she had spent ten years of her life for nothing.
The short story ends when Mrs. Loisel finds out the real price of the jewelry so the reader does not know what kind of inner turmoil she might have gone through. In the end Mrs. Loisel learned, How little a thing it takes to destroy you(254). She could have come forward to her friend but instead she lied. She came to realize what she had lost but it was too late.
Works Cited
Howe, Elisabeth A. Close Reading: an Introduction to Literature. Boston: Longman, 2010. Print.
Already have an account? Log In Now
5214