"It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly." Mathilde Loisel is the protagonist in the short story, "The Necklace," written by Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant is a French writer that focuses his writings on the meanings of every day life. She is a round and dynamic character, which means the character changes and develops her personality as the story goes on. This story shows the realism and and irony of life, and what class and materialism does to a person. Mathilde Loisel is known as, "pretty and charming," but has no expectations for her life due to the poor family she was born into. Her dissatisfaction of the life she lives, because she is not wealthy, drives her to pretend something she is not. This leads to a hardship that ruins her and the little happiness she had in the life that she lived. .
Since Mathilde Loisel is pretty and charming, it leads her to believe that she deserves a better life. She thinks highly of herself, and she has a big ego. As the story says, "She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant." Even though she didn't expect anything, because she knew that the type of family she was born in wouldn't get her anywhere, she felt she deserved better and more. However, she settles for a man in the Department of Education. The area where she lived and her surroundings bothered her, whereas other people where fine with what they had in life, and appreciated the simpler things. Her husband enjoyed the simpler things. When making dinner and sitting at the table, the author points out that the cloth is three days old, and the husband is happy with the home cooked meal that Mathilde makes.