Necklace

The necklace is a thought provoking story. It is basically the story of human vanity. It is a good commentary of human nature, especially the mentality of women. The writer wants to show that physical beauty is the most important merit of a woman. It makes a woman superior to all other the woman of rank and wealth. 

The pretty women try to impress others and win their admiration for this reason. They are excessively fond of fashionable clothes and precious ornaments which enhance their beauty and make them more charming. All these ideas have been illustrated through the story of Matilda and her husband. 

Matilda was a beautiful woman who considered herself superior to other women in beauty but she was born in a low class family and was married to a mere clerk. One day Mr. Loisel brought an invitation card for her. Mr. Loisel thought that his wife would be delighted to get a chance to enjoy the gathering of important personalities. She borrowed a necklace from her wealthy fried madam Forestier. 

The necklace was lost in the ball. The wife and husband had to struggle hard to pray loan/necklace. It took them ten years to repay price of 
necklace. 

One day Mr. Loisel was informed that necklace was an imitation. Matilda wondered how her life had been if she had not lost necklace

What statement does the story as a whole make about pride and materialism? Or discuss necklace as a story of human vanity.

          The sum and substance of whole story is that human life is very complicated and few people can understand is fully. 

Common people give great importance to material prosperity and pride as a sign of success. The writer has commented on human nature especially the mentality of women. He says that materialism is a cure of almost all the human hardship and miseries. 

Maupassant has artistically put all these concepts in the necklace. Matilda is a poor victim of pride and she is obsesses with the idea of materialism. Her physical beauty is mischief and she goes on thinking to make her beauty perfect through artificial decorations. 

She attends a ball and she is praised by everyone. She losses the borrowed necklace in the ball and has to pay thirty-six thousand frames for its replacement. 

The husband and the wife have to work hard for ten years to repay the debt and Matilda comes to know that the borrowed necklace was an imitation. Actually the story shows that pride is an imitation and materialism is an illusion.