Disappointment in her social position is experienced by Madame Mathilde Loisel as she longs for a life of finesse, luxurious possessions, and adulation. But, after attending an evening reception at the Ministerial Mansion, where she has had a deliciously enjoyable evening, Madame Loisel imagines herself as a lady to be admired. However, she soon experiences great disillusionment in what she has thought was a triumphal evening.
At the ball, Madame Loisel thinks of nothing but...
Disappointment in her social position is experienced by Madame Mathilde Loisel as she longs for a life of finesse, luxurious possessions, and adulation. But, after attending an evening reception at the Ministerial Mansion, where she has had a deliciously enjoyable evening, Madame Loisel imagines herself as a lady to be admired. However, she soon experiences great disillusionment in what she has thought was a triumphal evening.
At the ball, Madame Loisel thinks of nothing but her admiring audience as she finds herself "the prettiest one there, fashionable, gracious, smiling, and wild with joy." The men all turn to admire her, and desire to be introduced to her. Even the Cabinet officials wish to waltz with her. Moreover, the minister takes notice of her. So, Mme. Loisel spends a triumphal evening, ignoring her husband, and giving no serious thought to anything in the "triumph of her beauty." She delights in her feelings of success and sense of victory over the other women at this ball.
However, once she discovers that she has lost the necklace borrowed from her old school friend, disillusionment sets in. For, Madame Loisel realizes that this single loss has plummeted her into a life of deprivation. For, she and her husband must henceforth work constantly to pay for the diamond necklace that they have purchased as a replacement so that her friend would not learn of her carelessness.
Madame Loisel experienced the horrible life the needy live....
She learned to do the heavy housework, to perform the hateful duties of cooking. She washed dishes, wearing down her shell-pink nails scouring the grease from pots and pans...she took the garbage down to the street....And clad like a peasant woman,...she bargained with the fruit dealers, the grocer, the butcher, and was insulted by them.
The necklace itself is symbolic of Madame Loisel's disillusionment. For, it is the object of her suffering, as it wreaks retribution upon Mathilde for her vanity as well as the pettiness and hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie that Maupassant often attacked in his stories.
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