The Diamond Necklace - Mathilde - Essay Example

The beautiful Mathilde Loisel has a comfortable home and a loving husband, traits that, according to any rational person trying to evaluate the quality of someone’s life, would deem her station in life a desirable one. And yet, she is so dissatisfied that she lives her life oblivious to everything but the wealth that she desperately aches to possess. The Loisels may not own expensive clothing, a big bank account, but they do have enough to live on and apparently live in a middle income part of town.

After the tragic loss of the necklace, they move to a less favorable part of town. Mathilde lives in the conviction that her marriage was less than favorable, that the likes of her deserve far nicer things than her husband, who seems quite at ease with his position on the social ladder, can provide for her. Mathilde is truly happy only once in her entire life: at the ball. But, it becomes clear as the story progresses, that her happiness had a price all too high. On the night of the party her new dress and borrowed jewels give her the appearance of belonging to the wealthy world she aspires to.

Because she believes herself rich for one night, she becomes rich in others’ eyes as well. Fully at ease among the wealthy people at the party, Mathilde feels that this is exactly where she was meant to be—if it hadn’t been for the mistake of destiny. Her moment of happiness, of course, is fleeting, and she must spend the next ten years paying for the pleasure of this night. The saddest thing is that, despite all the hardship she is forced to endure during the next ten years, the memory of the night still lingers in her mind as the one perfect moment in her gray life.

The necklace, beautiful but worthless, represents the power of perception and the split between appearances and reality. Mathilde borrows the necklace because she wants to give the appearance of being wealthy; Madame Forestier does not tell her up front that the necklace is fake, perhaps because she, too, wants to give the illusion of being wealthier than she actually is. It is obvious that everyone is obsessed with the image they project to the public, and especially in the case of the deluded Mathilde, it is more than clear that this is the only way for her life to unravel.

She is too vain to ever admit having lost the necklace. The truth would have set her free, it would be clear that the necklace was not made of real diamonds, but these people would rather lie, cheat and deceive, than admit that they are less rich, less beautiful, less worthy of attention than they really are. All she needed to do was admit, but it was something that she found below her station. And this wrong choice changed her life forever. This was the only alternative Mathilde would allow herself.

Losing the necklace seems to be Mathilde’s fatal mistake, but it is actually Mathilde’s failure to be truthful with Madame Forestier that seals her fate. This shocking realization sheds new light on the previous events and suggests that Mathilde’s future—even though her debts are now repaid—will be none too rosy. This brings one to the conclusion that honesty is always the best policy, no matter what the price of it is. Because, in the end, one might be forced to pay an ever greater price, as it was the case of the vain Mathilde Loisel who ends up paying double the price, losing her money as well as her beauty as a result of her labor for the lost necklace.