In the story of the necklace, the main character was named Mathilde. Mathilde was born at a time when women were not encouraged to have a career, and was respected based upon their station in life. This caused great distress among women who dreamt of more than their destiny allowed. They dreamt of the power that wealth and beauty would allow.
Mathilde was ashamed of her station in life. Most people have something in their lives that they are not proud of. I, for instance, am here in school because I am not proud of the fact that I do not have a college education. Like Mathilde's need for wealth, I think that my status in life can be improved if I earn a college degree. I worked just as hard as my colleagues and might even earn just as much or more than they do, but I still do not feel deserving. .
Mathilde's pride led to the downfall of her family. For one glorious night she traded her current life's position for one that was even poorer than she had. I wonder if that is what happens to people who have extramarital affairs? Trade a respectable life for a moment of forbidden bliss. .
To repay a debt, Mathilde and her husband worked and lived like slaves. It is commendable that they were honorable enough to want to replace the missing necklace, but it would not have been necessary for three reasons. One reason being that Mathilde could have been satisfied with the new dress and wore fresh flowers as corsage. Reason numbertwo: she would not have lost the necklace if she was not ashamed of her shawl; and reason number three, she should have told her friend that she had lost the necklace. Then it would not have taken then both working so very hard and sacrificing to repay a .
the unnecessary debt.
The moral that I see in this story is: if you are not satisfied with what life has given you then work toward changing it as long as it is an improvement in your life. In ten years Mathilde and her husband paid off a loan of over thirty-six thousand francs, including interests and extra charges.
