"The Necklace" is about a women named Mathilde who lives in the lower class with her loving husband. Mathilde is not grateful for what she already has and longs after a lifestyle that is completely out of reach. All she has ever wanted in her life is to be wealthy and be accepted in the high society. She is very envious of the upper class and unfortunately, her jealousy gets the best of her. Guy de Maupassant illustrates how jealousy can lead to corruption in one's life through the use of strong imagery and tone. 

Through the use of imagery, Guy de Maupassant is able to showcase Mathilde's jealousy of finer things. Mathidle has a wonderful husband and an average life style, and even though she should be happy, she isn't. She dreams of having nicer things and living an extravagant life where she has  "dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvelous plates" (33).  This describes a life of someone who is more superior, rich, and elegant than herself. Everything in the room is grander than needed to be and that is the life that she wishes to have. Guy de Maupassant expands on this idea when he writes, "She thought of the silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, lit by tall bronze candelabra, and of the two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big arm chairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of the hot-air stove" (33). Mathilde has these abstract visions of a nicer life even though her husband treats her beautifully, loves her, and provides a fair amount of money for her. All of the things Guy de Maupassant illustrates in this text are things that everyone can live without, but Mathilde believes they are necessities because her jealousy is so immense. Even though Mathilde does not need any of these things to be satisfied, she wants "delicate furniture carrying priceless curiosities, and of the coquettish perfumed boudoirs made for talks at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire" (33). Guy de Maupassant does an amazing job here describing what wealthy people are like on a daily basis. This also brings up her desire to be liked and accepted by upscale people. She wants to be the individual that "men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire". She is so jealous of that certain life that it becomes a need to obtain it, even if she has to fake it. She finally gets a taste of a nicer life when she gets invited to the ball and goes to her friend's house to borrow jewels. Mathilde picks up a stunning necklace and "her hands trembled as she took it. She fastened it around her throat, outside her high-necked dress, and remained lost in ecstasy at the sight of herself" (35). She has fantasized about living a high-class lifestyle for so long, she is in ecstatic when she finally gets the opportunity to live a more desirable life for the night. She is "lost in ecstasy" (35) over a necklace that has no worth. Mathilde let her jealousy of the upper class make her stargazed by items with no value. 

The tone of this story is unique and is used to help shape the idea of jealousy leads to corruption. Starting with the first line of the story, "She was one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks" (33), the tone is set as low-spirited. Guy de Maupassant gives the reader the understanding that Mathilde should have a better life but it was a "mistake of destiny" (33) of why she is not wealthy. Being born into wealth or poverty is something that is out of our control and since she wishes she wasn't born into lower class, she will forever be jealous of what she does not have. Guy de Maupassant writes, "She suffered from the poverty of her own dwelling, from the wretched look of the walls, from the worn-out chairs, from the ugliness of the curtains. All those things, of which another women of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry" (33). This line introduces the tone of jealousy to the story. All the other women in her social ranking don't mind how they live and their appearances but since she develops this sense of jealousy and insecurity, she lets it over take her life. In the line, "intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire" (33), the author really solidifies Mathilde's jealousy and longing desire to be liked because of money. It sets the tone of desperation because she wants to be wealthy and admired so deeply. Mathilde "had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that. She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after" (34), since she doesn't have any of the things she truly wants, she lets the jealousy take over. Mathilde is so hung up on this lifestyle that she cannot obtain, that is her true downfall. The tone here is more melancholy because she has a sense of self-pity and an extreme amount of jealousy. The tone changes when Mathilde attends the ball, "she danced with intoxication, with passion, made drunk by pleasure, forgetting all, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness" (36). The tone is very light, calming and joyful. This line makes the reader feel how blissful and ecstatic Mathilde is in this moment. The author uses words like "intoxication," "passion, made drunk by pleasure," "triumph of her beauty," which all together makes the reader feel how she was glowing with gracefulness and she was at peace with herself. Although she does feel beautiful and powerful at the moment, the jealousy will grow worse once she falls even more in love with that life style that will no longer be able to access. 

Mathilde has a longing desire to live a wealthy life and be admired by other rich people. Since she cannot have this life, she allows the jealousy to get the best of her. Instead of being content and satisfied with what she already has, she wants want she can't have and becomes envious of a lifestyle that is out of reach. Through the use of compelling imagery and select tone, Guy de Maupassant portrays the idea that jealousy leads to corruption in one's life. 

