The Necklace Irony Essay

In “The Necklace,” Mathilde is portrayed as a very unthankful person by the use of characterization, verbal irony, and person vs society conflict. The story commences with Mathilde, a non-wealthy woman, receiving an invitation to a party, but hastily complaining about her lack of jewelry, so she borrows a necklace from Madame Forestier. At the conclusion of the party, she loses the necklace and spends years paying for the replacement, only to discover the original was made of paste. Throughout the entire story, the author makes Mathilde appear to be ungrateful. Mathilde isn’t satisfied with her living situations, instead believing that she should live a luxurious life, with all of the little niceties. The story reveals, “All these things, …show more content…
When she is handed the invitation, she cavils at the fact of not owning a nice enough dress, so her husband gives her money for one, but she only further grumbles about needing jewelry. Mathilde even goes as far as to whine about her food. She declares ironically, “Ah! A good stew! There’s nothing I like better…” (Maupassant 1). Mathilde has to express her thoughts using irony to unnecessarily announce the revealing of the stew. These sarcastic commentaries validate that she wishes to be wealthier, and that she is unmindful that the things her husband does for her, even though it might be the most he can do. The conflict of this story really proves the potential reasoning as to why Mathilde may be how she is. People around her are rich, and she is not, so of course she may be envious of what the others possess. She declares“No...There’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among alot of rich women” (Maupassant 3). She succumbs to the pressures of society, so despite her husband’s efforts she is constantly wanting more. He didn’t have to help her out at all, but she doesn’t realize this and continues to conform to what she thinks society wants her to be