replacing the necklace, and so she does. Her pride dreadfully leads her into destitution lifestyle, .
something she is not most proud of. The reality of her life becomes more realistic than ever. She .
is plunged into poverty, and drudgery that will take away her prized youth and beauty, never to .
return, but yet she still has her pride. .
At the end after all the debts are all paid, she sees Mrs. Forrestier, who by the way does .
not recognize her, tells her about the incident and what she had to do to pay the money, and .
discovers that the necklace was nothing more than a fake. Mathlide is a character who has a pride .
so strong that she doesn't notice until her pride hits her with retribution, by leading her to .
poverty. She sees her responsibility for losing the necklace, and she had enough sense of self-.
sacrifice to pay for restoring it. She sacrifices "with pride" not only her position, but also her .
youth and beauty. Pride plays a crucial role in Mathlide life, role that stands strong and proud, .
but yet its so crucial that it drives Mathlides fate. .
Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is situational irony written in 1884. The story was .
written in a time when there were very distinct social classes primarily determined by one's birth. .
It is about a woman who can not come to terms with her position in the middle class. Although .
she knows she can not escape her class, she refuses to accept it gracefully. It is through Matilde .
that Maupassant develops the story's irony. This is reflected through Matilde's daydreaming, .
which only serves to torment her, the loss of the necklace borrowed for show, which only .
worsens their economic position, and finally, their unnecessary sacrifice. The irony begins with .
Matilde's frequent daydreaming. .
She is a beautiful and charming woman who feels "herself destined for all delicacies and .
luxuries" (4). Fate, however, placed her among the middle class where life was very simple.
