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Mathilde Loisel
M. Loisel is married to Mathilde and works as a clerk in the Ministry of Education. He cares very much for his wife, and it is to make her happy that he procures an invitation to the party hosted by the Minister of Education. M. Loisel’s generosity contrasts sharply with his wife’s vanity and selfishness. For instance, he sacrifices his dream of buying a rifle to go hunting with his friends on the plains of Nanterre in order to buy a new dress for Mathilde. He searches tirelessly for the necklace when it is lost, and he sacrifices his inheritance, his honor, and takes on an enormous amount of debt to replace it.
M. Loisel Quotes in The Necklace
The The Necklace quotes below are all either spoken by M. Loisel or refer to M. Loisel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Necklace Quotes
Whenever she sat down for supper at the circular table covered with the same tablecloth for three days, she faced her husband, who, removing the lid from the tureen, ecstatically declared: “Ah! A good stew! I don’t know of anything better!”
But she fantasized about elegant dinners, about shiny silverware, about tapestries filling the walls with ancient figures and exotic birds in the midst of a magic forest; she fantasized about exquisite courses served in wondrous vessels, about gallantries whispered and listened to with sphinxlike smiles, while the diners consumed the rosy flesh of a trout or the wings of a grouse.
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Mathilde is driven to despair by how ordinary her life is, and this quote shows how she fantasizes in order to escape from the mundanity of her daily existence. The simple stew served on a table whose cloth is three days old symbolizes the humble middle-class life that Mathilde despises. Through her daydreams she lives in a world of fashionable dinner parties where rich tapestries hang on the walls and delicious dishes are served in “wondrous vessels.” As expensive delicacies, trout and grouse are symbols of the wealth Mathilde desires, in sharp contrast with the stew mentioned above. Of course, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Ape
The night of the ball was approaching, and Madame Loisel appeared sad, worried, anxious. Still, her gown was ready.
One evening, her husband said to her: “Listen, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting funny for three days now.”
And she replied: “I’m annoyed that I don’t have any jewelry—not a single gem, nothing to put on. I’ll look downright poverty-stricken. I’d almost rather not go to the ball.”
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Though Mathilde at first insisted that her unhappiness about the ball was due to her lack of a suitable outfit, her husband has given her an expensive dress and she is still not content. This unhappiness stems from the fact that Mathilde’s appetite for material possessions is insatiable. Instead of focusing on the dress—which she already has—Mathilde is obsessed with the fact that she has nothing to wear over it. There is also a gradual escalation in the extravagance of Mathilde’s desires: the dress, costing 400 francs, was already a significant expense for the Loisel family, and now Mathilde wants Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae
Monsieur Loisel, bringing the wraps for their exit, tossed them over her shoulders: they were the modest garments of ordinary life, their poverty clashing with the elegance of the ball gown. She sensed the discord and wanted to flee, to avoid being noticed by the other women, who were bundling up in expensive furs.
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As they are leaving the party, M. Loisel covers Mathilde’s shoulders with the clothes he had brought for going home. However, this seemingly kind and innocuous action has an enormous effect on Mathilde, who associates the wraps with the modesty and the “shabbiness” of the “everyday life” that she despises. This quote demonstrates the power that Mathilde invests in objects, since something as simple as a wrap has the power to turn her entire night upside-down. The fact that Mathilde “wanted to flee” also recalls the beginning of the story when Mathilde turned to daydreams and fantasy to escape her Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae
[The carriage] brought them to their front door on Rue des Martyrs, and they sadly trudged up to their apartment. It was all over for her. And as for him, he knew he had to be at the Ministry by ten a.m.
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On their way home from the party, Mathilde and her husband catch a carriage that drops them off in front of their apartment on the Rue des Martyrs. Their address introduces an important theme: the theme of martyrdom. Although Mathilde and her husband’s martyrdom is not fully realized until later in the story, the name of the street foreshadows the loss of necklace and the suffering the Loisels will experience in consequence. Mathilde and her husband’s thoughts as they walk back into their apartment are also telling. With the observation that “it was all over,” Mathilde seems to realize that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut oc
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M. Loisel Character Timeline in The Necklace
The timeline below shows where the character M. Loisel appears in The Necklace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Necklace
...or a point of entry into high society, she is unable to find a wealthy husband, and so she marries M. Loisel, a clerk who works for the Ministry of Education.
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Her husband, on the other hand, seems much more content, declaring over dinner, “Ah! A good stew!...
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One day, M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to an elegant party hosted by the Minister of Education....
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Seeing how unhappy Mathilde is, her husband asks what it would cost to buy her an outfit. Mathilde contemplates for a moment,...
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Turning briefly pale, M. Loisel agrees to give Mathilde the money, even though he had been saving 400 francs to...
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...of the party, Mathilde’s new dress is ready but she is still unhappy. When her husband asks her why, she says that she is embarrassed not to have a jewel to...
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At her husband’s suggestion, Mathilde decides to pay her wealthy friend Mme. Forestier a visit in order to...
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As they are leaving the party, M. Loisel covers Mathilde with the wraps that he had brought from home, “modest garments of ordinary...
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Unable to find a carriage, Mathilde and her husband walk towards the Seine, “desperate and shivering.” They eventually find a carriage but it is...
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...time in the mirror, Mathilde suddenly realizes that the necklace is gone. She and her husband search everywhere for the necklace, but without any luck. Eventually, M. Loisel decides that they...
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M. Loisel has 18,000 francs that he inherited from his father but he is forced to borrow...
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The following years are difficult for both Mathilde and her husband as they are forced to “experience the horrible life of necessity.” After dismissing their maid...
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