The illustrative scenes that were drawn in my head while I was reading Guy De Maupassant's short story ""The Necklace"" were almost identical to those scenes of the fairy tale Cinderella. Mme. Loisel, a clerk's wife, lived devoid of the luxuries of the rich, as did Cinderella. Even though both would never have imagined it, with the help of Cinderella's fairy godmother and Mathilde's husband, each participated in the ""ball"" of their time: Cinderella at the prince's ball and Mathilde at the palace of the Ministry. Both women received all the attention a woman could only dream of. Each looked magnificent and glorious in accessories that didn't belong to her, and by the end of the night each woman lost a valuable possession, which had changed her life forever. .
Ironically however much the scenes may have resembled one another, the main characters differed from each other. Both may have been beautiful on the outside, but inside they had two different hearts and ambitions. Cinderella was abused and treated like a maid by her step mother and step sisters. Always cleaning and dressed in rags, yet Cinderella never complained or rebelled. On the other hand, Mathilde, who lived in a decent home, owned a servant, and had a wonderful husband, was never happy with what she had. Her whole life she was envious of the rich, believing that it was her destiny to be one of them. .
In contrast, her husband, Mr. Loisel was happy with his portion in life. He had a wife that he loved, with all the necessities needed to live, and he was satisfied with it. He was the type of husband who would give up anything for his wife, which in fact he did give up practically everything. When he ate stew with his wife for dinner, he exclaimed, ""Ah, the good pot-au-fue! I don't know anything better than that.""(104) To him the stew was absolutely delectable even though he might not have ever been able to afford anything other than stew, yet he believed that nothing could possibly be better than it.
