Maupassant shares of the details by writing, “ Mme.

Further explaining the connection Mathilde placed between the necklace and self-worth, the story continues with irony as the necklace Mathilde sought after to prove her self-worth and appearance ended up destroying her beauty over the course of 10 hard years while repaying the necklace’s debt.

Mathilde’s thoughts about attending the party are later revealed, as Maupassant writes, “No there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women” (37). In addition, appearance and perception often complement one another, since both are subject through personal opinion and thus deceptive. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after.” (5). And she loved nothing else she felt herself made for that only. Maupassant shows this desire by writing, “She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. She believes the appearance of expensive belongings is symbiotic with happiness and fulfillment in her life, only to find out that this plastic sense of reality consumes her constant thoughts and desires. Wishing to portray an alter image other than her middle class status, Mathilde uses the necklace to portray a deceptive reality to the other partygoers and herself by believing that she too deserves this status automatically due to her beauty. Mathilde’s sole coveted object, the necklace, constitutes the pinnacle of deceptive appearance through its fake diamonds and an accompanying unrealistic persona.

The necklace by guy de maupassant irony