The Price of Vanity
In the story "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant, Mathilde Loisel suffered intense hardship for many years because of her vanity and misplaced sense of pride. The definition of the word "vain" according to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary is, "of no real value... proud of one's looks or abilities" ("Vain"). Her thoughts of being born in the wrong social class and her desire to appear above her station in life and to be envied by other's, would ultimately prove to be the downfall of the comfortable existence she and her husband had previously shared. Mathilde was resentful as she listened to her husband praise the small things in life, such as a bowl of simple stew (while she longed for caviar and rich, tasty confections only the wealthy could afford). She felt as though she were trapped in life with no prospects of the grandeur that she believed she deserved. Her world may not have been as comfortable as she wished it to be, but she was far from poverty level. She believes, "She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries... All those things of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious tortured her and made her angry" (Maupassant 1
She longed to be noticed by the right people, to make others of her class envious of her beauty and possessions: "She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that. She would have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after" (Maupassant 161). She mistakenly thought that material things would please her more than her own meager existence ever would. In her mind, the only things that were wonderful in life had high price tags or glittered and sparkled. Trying to convince someone so vainglorious to go out to a glamorous event without the proper attire, was the only mistake Mathilde's husband, Loisel, seemed to make. Apparently, he thought that she would shine in her best dress and that she would be happy to get out and mingle with the higher society crowd. Seeing that Mathilde had no intentions of going to the ball without jewels, even though he purchased an expensive gown for her to wear, he suggested that she borrow some jewelry from her wealthy friend if she needed them to make her feel better about herself. At his prompting, her behavior improved immensely and she rushed to borrow something beautiful, expensive which would get her noticed by everyone there. When Mathilde noticed her friend on the street one-day after the new necklace was paid for, she finally confessed all since she had nothing to lose. Her friend, after hearing the story, made
Some common words found in the essay are:
Mathilde Loisel, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, Seeing Mathilde, Loisel Apparently, Price Vanity, Necklace Guy, maupassant 166, maupassant 161, husband loisel, misplaced sense, mathilde loisel,
Approximate Word count = 964
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
