The main Character Mathilde's situation is that she is not wealthy nor a part of the social class that she thinks she belongs.  Mathilde. She lives in a world where her real life is not the life that she believes she belongs or deserves.  She believes that her beauty and charm make her worthy of belonging in a higher class of citizens. The party that she attends in the story makes her feel for the first time that she belongs. She is prettier than the other women. She feels that she is finally where she belongs. 

The deceptiveness of appearances is shown by Forestier's "diamond" necklace.  The neckless appears to be made of diamonds but is actually just a fake diamond necklace. Both women are ultimately fooled by appearance Madame Forestier did not tell Mathilde that the diamonds were fake. Mathilde also does not tell Madame Forestier that she has replaced the necklace that she lost. The fact that the necklace goes from worthless to extremely valuable means that true value is ultimately dependent on how you see it and that appearances can easily deceive. 

Mathilde's perception of herself leads her to take self serving actions. The Loisels live within the middle class.  However, Mathilde feels she is stuck in a world that is beneath her. She is unable to appreciate any part of her life including her husband whom loves her very much. She is blinded by the idea that her beauty is being wasted. When Mathilde loses the necklace and wastes the next ten years of her life she feels even more strongly of her wasted talent.  She feels her beauty is once again being wasted. Mathilde continues to believe she has gotten less than she deserves, never thinking about the fact that she is responsible for her own downfall.  Mathilde sees herself as a martyr but is actually very far from it, Monsieur Loisel himself is actually martyr.  He constantly sacrifices his desires and his well being for Mathilde's desires.  He gives up his desire for a hunting gun so that Mathilde can buy a dress to wear to the ball.  He also pays for the necklace his wife lost without complaint. Forced to sacrifice years of his life to pay back the debt brought on by Mathilde's selfish desires.  Monsieur Loisel is the one who really is a martyr. 

Mathilde believes that material things have the power to change her.  When she finally gets two of the things she desires most, her happiness is not lasting. At the beginning of the story the author lists off the things that Mathilde does not have, but believes she should have them. This shows how she envies other women. She disregards the things she does have, such as her loving husband. When she finally gets the dress and necklace, she feels as if they changed her into a Cinderella transformation. She is finally the woman she has wanted to be all her life. However, when she loses the necklace the dream is ruined almost instantly, and her life becomes even worse than before. In all actuality the power to be who she wanted to be does not lie with the material things, but within herself. 

In comparison to Mathilde, Madame Forestier views objects with little. Her wealth has made her able to buy what she wants, as well seeing that object don't have any real power. At the end of the story when Madame Forestier is informed that the necklace is actually now extreamly valuable, she seems more concerned with the fact that Mathilde has waisted away a large part of her life.  When she shows less concern for the object and more concern for her friend, that is where you see that even through the wealth she places more value on non material things. The fact that Madame Forestier has fake jewels in the first place shows that she knows that objects are only as powerful as people perceive them to be. For her fake jewels can be just as beautiful as real diamonds if one sees them as such. 

