Status in society has been an important concept for centuries. During the 19th century, status was significantly based upon wealth and gender. This can be seen in Guy de Maupassant's short story, The Necklace. The main character of the story, Mathilde Loisel, agonizes over the fact that she isn't someone in the world and only has meager things in life, simply due to her status as a middle class woman in 19th century France. Her status serves as a burden, and through a series of events her status plays a significant role in her life. By analyzing the literary elements of imagery, repetition, and irony within The Necklace, it becomes apparent that status is dependent on what one owns, gender, and wealth. 

Imagery is a key literary element that adds to any work of literature. The Necklace often goes into extreme detail when describing wealth through the eyes of a poor person. Mathilde desired a lavish life filled with expensive items and wealth yet "she had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that" (De Maupassant 22) Throughout the story, Mathilde is envious of her wealthier peers. When she agreed to borrow some jewels from her friend, Mme. Forestier, the author describes the jewels in a very descriptive manner. De Maupassant writes that Mathilde saw " a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with an immoderate desire" (De Maupassant 24). Through this imagery, it can be seen here that Mathilde saw the necklace as a token of wealth and admired it greatly. To Mme. Forestier, it was just another piece of jewelry, yet to Mathilde it represented all that she had wanted in life. Another example of imagery is the description of Mathilde's experience at the ball. For someone who had wanted a wealthy lifestyle, Mathilde soaked in every moment of the night. Mathilde "dance[d] with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure...and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to a woman's heart" (De Maupassant 24). Overall, imagery serves as a means of visualizing the value Mathilde placed with materialism, and how she resented her status as a poor person. Similar to how we see all that we desire in a positive light, Mathilde saw the lavish items as something full of beauty and grace.

Repetition of female dependence in The Necklace emphasizes how status was dependent on gender in 19th century France. First and foremost, Mathilde's husband was the sole breadwinner of the story. After all, "since with women there is neither caste nor rank" (de Maupassant 22). Though Mathilde desperately wanted expensive items, she did not work to make money to pay for them because unlike men, women didn't have job opportunities. Mathilde's husband had to give her money to pay for a proper dress to wear to the ball. Even when it came time for Mathilde to work to pay off the debt for a replacement necklace, her female status prohibited her from a profession of physical trade or labor. She took over their servant's job and pursued housework as an occupation, while her husband continued his job as a clerk and took on other jobs as well. Another instance of male dominance is Mathilde's husband's role in the lost necklace fiasco. Despite Mathilde losing the necklace, her husband ultimately took responsibility. While she just "wait[ed] on a chair in her ball dress", Mathilde's husband searched everywhere for the necklace (de Maupassant). When it came time to gather funds for a new necklace, Mathilde's husband had to take from his savings. The repetition of Mathilde's dependency on her husband emphasizes how her status as a woman prohibited her from acting without the assistance of her male counterpart. 

The most prevalent literary element within The Necklace is irony. Mathilde spent her life eyeing a wealthy life, and resenting her own. Ironically, when she finally experienced the life she always wanted, the experience made her poorer than she was to begin with. Irony is also seen when Mathilde revealed to Mme. Forestier that she had lost the necklace and was poor because of having to pay off the thirty six thousand francs for the past ten years. Mathilde felt so proud that Mme. Forestier hadn't noticed that it wasn't the real necklace, yet her assumption greatly backfired. Mme. Forestier explained, "[her] necklace was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs" (de Maupassant 28). Ironically, after working off the debt for ten years, they would have been considered of a wealthy status and could afford the lifestyle Mathilde desperately wanted her entire life. The irony within The Necklace shows that Mathilde never took her life for granted and if she hadn't resented her life so much, she could have eventually attained a wealthy status too. 

The literary elements of imagery, repetition, and irony within The Necklace show how Mathilde's status was dependent on what she owned, her gender, and her wealth. Imagery within the story shows how much Matilda valued materialistic items as she put them in such a positive light. Repetition of female dependency emphasizes how much Mathilde relied on her husband and his money. Finally, the irony in The Necklace shows how experiencing a wealthy life for just one night made Mathilde poorer. Overall, these literary devices highlight Mathilde's status as a poor 19th century woman. In the end, status is relative, cannot be defined by what we own and who we are. In the case of The Necklace, had Mathilde not taken her poor status so close to heart, she may have been able to accomplish more and perhaps own a beautiful necklace of her own.
