"The Necklace" is a story about a woman named Mme. Loisel who loves extravagant items, but is too poor to actually have these items. This love for luxuries items causes Mme. Loisel and her husband to fall into debt for ten years. They story does show very heavily that Mme. Loisel is to blame for her and her husband's misfortune, but Mme. Loisel is not the only factor. It is through both the difference between classes and Mme. Loisel's pride and thoughts that causes the downfall of Mme. Loisel and her husband. The downfall only happened because of upper classes standards drove Mme. Loisel to think only about looking nice and expensive. The pride of Mme. Loisel and her thoughts would only allow her to live the life of a person that had class and was not a commoner. 

The standards and the environment of the upper class caused Mme. Loisel to think that the necklace that she borrowed from Mme. Forestier was more expensive that it really was. Mme. Loisel's thoughts show the reader that women in the upper class must have "... beauty, grace, and charm...instinct for what is elegant..." (22) These trait caused Mme. Loisel to want to buy a new dress and get a necklace so that she did not have to look poor. Mme. Forestier also shows that the upper class has a lot of beautiful jewels as M. Loisel tells Mme. Loisel to ask Mme. Forestier to "... lend you some jewels." (24) Mme. Forestier is part of the upper class as Mme. Loisel tells the reader that Mme. Forestier is rich and thus has a lot of beautiful things. This is not speculation as Mme. Loisel talks about all of the jewels that she saw and how they have admirable workmanship. Then as Mme. Loisel chooses the diamond necklace it is reasonable to say that because of the look and Mme. Forestier's status Mme. Loisel could have thought that the necklace was very expensive. 

Mme. Loisel's thoughts is another factor in causing her downfall because her thoughts made her want only the best. When Mme. Loisel first saw the invitation that her husband got for them Mme. Loisel did not like the idea of going to the ball. Mme. Loisel "... looked at him with an irritated eye..." (pg. 23) showing she did not appreciate her husband's effort. The only reason why that Mme. Loisel did not want to go to the ball is because she did not have a dress that she wanted to wear in public. Mme Loisel also decided to cancel going to the ball because she did not have any jewelry because she did not want "... to look poor among other women who are rich." (24) Mme. Loisel again displays the need to only want the best when she did not wear her shawl and "... wanted to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women..." (25) These action show that Mme. Loisel wants to be part of the upper class and not of the lower class. 

Lastly Mme. Loisel's pride caused her downfall because a lot of the things that she needed could have been replaced with something else. An example of this is was her need for jewelry. Mme. Loisel could have listened to her husband and could have worn natural flowers, but Mme. Loisel refused because she believed that she would look poor. Another example of Mme. Loisel's pride hurting her was when she did not tell Mme. Forestier about what happened. It can be argued that it is not the pride of Mme. Loisel that caused her not tell Mme. Forestier but the husband but Mme. Loisel could have told her husband that she will tell Mme. Forestier like an adult. If Mme. Loisel did do that she would have learned sooner that the diamond necklace was actually worth five hundred francs and not thirty-six thousand francs.

In conclusion the downfall of M. and Mme. Loisel's life was not only because of the pride of Mme. Loisel, but because of the thoughts of Mme. Loisel and the standards that the rich have to fulfill. The rich all have to follow the standards of their way of life and Mme. Loisel wanted to be part of that. Then Mme. Loisel thoughts about how she needs the best and not anything else so that she can fit the role she thought that she deserved. Then lastly the pride of the Mme. Loisel made her not want to tell the truth thus impending her from learning the truth about the necklace. All of these factors contributed to M. and Mme. Loisel losing their original livelihood. The destruction of their livelihood could have been prevented if the truth was told and if a person finds happiness in the things that they do have.
