Sometimes a single moment can define an entire period of one's life for better or worse. In Guy de Maupassant's, "The Necklace", the later of the two options occur. The main character Mathilde is very convinced she is nothing short of royalty and dreams and fantasizes about a sort of life she could be living. This leads to her being a little unappreciative of her husband, who is actually a really good fellow and does a lot for her. When she attends a high class ball, Mathilde is in need of some swanky bling to impress the high end ladies. She borrows from a friend and then loses it, this is when things go awry. Elements that help develop this story are imagery and tone, these aid in the further development for themes in the story as well.

The tone in this story really shows the intricacy of Mathilde's wishes and wants, and they are high up there. These wants create an interesting relationship between Mathilde and her husband, who can't seem to impress his wife. This also creates a sort of unmentioned tension between the two. It comes to the point where the story describes her as "suffering'. In fact the exact quote is, "She suffered ceaselessly feeling herself born for all delicacies and all the luxuries." (de Maupassant 33). It's interesting to think that someone who isn't well off isn't that appreciative of when, for example, her husband comes in with tickets to a prestigious ball and she kind of blows them off. She insists she needs a suitable dress for this event and her husband gives her 400 dollars so she can look classy. However, after her purchase her immediate impulse is the search for some fine rocks to wear on the night of the event and Mathlde borrows a swanky necklace from a friend.

Imagery is a very important element in this story because of the way it shows the things Marhilde wants in great detail. The imagery also helps to develop the theme of materialism in the story which is a pretty big part of the whole. The use of imagery also conveys how much time is spent thinking about these things because of the detail of the day dreams Mathilde has. "She thought of the silent antechambers hung with oriental tapestry, lit by a tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of the hot air stove" (33). Mathilde has every right to day dream, but the materialism becomes more of a problem for her because she develops an attitude that seems unappreciative of her husband's efforts. 

The theme of love is also on full display in this work, in an almost lopsided way. The husband does everything for Mathilde to make sure she is as happy, but to no avail because ultimately he cannot provide her with the extravagant wishes she fantasizes about. Mathilde also has an air of being too good for him and even thinks about, "men famous and sought after, whom all women envy" (33). The husband buys Mathilde a dress for the ball and nowhere after that is some sort of appreciation mentioned. Further on in the story the want for jewels show up and Mathilde says, "It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on. I shall look like distress. I should almost rather not go at all" (35). The husband however, is quick witted and suggests she borrow from a friend and Mathilde is temporarily at ease. This relationship shifts however at the loss of the necklace because of how much debt they accumulate from buying a replacement and she has to work hard everyday for the next ten years and she ultimately becomes the person she never thought she was meant to be. 

Pride is a big part of this story and you can see it through the way Mathilde thinks about herself. In fact, she is so proud of her beauty that it can be seen as vain and it seems as if her life goal is to simply be better than everyone. The quote of her at the ball does a nice job of explaining, by saying, "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 composed of all this homage, of all this admiration, of all these awakened desires, and of that sense of complete victory which is so sweet to woman's heart" (36). This puts her vanity on full display but it also invokes a sense of happiness for Mathilde because she was so proud and happy at the event, and only to have all this fall apart from the loss of a necklace is saddening.

The end of the story also points to pride in a big way because the two are able to pay off this tremendous amount of debt and do not have to slave away day in and day out anymore. However, at the end of the story Mathilde runs into the friend she borrowed the necklace from. At first she is not recognized by her friend and only after saying who she is, the friend knows who she is. The years were rough on Mathilde and she looks as if she has aged twice more than she actually has. After talking for awhile Mathilde brings up the necklace. She explains to her friend how expensive it was, and how much effort was put into paying for it. The friend exclaims that the original was in fact, not even diamond and worth only a fraction of what was paid for the replacement. Mathilde being too proud to look inferior, did not ask her friend ten years ago about the necklace. This in turn caused a hellish period of time for her and her husband. The story does a good job developing through literary elements and can really bring out the many themes that can be found in, "The Necklace".

