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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant is structured around Mathilde Loisel's debilitating materialism. At every turn, she allows her obsession with material items to dictate her life, distorting her self-image and equating her sense of self-worth with her possessions, or lack thereof. The reader can follow Mathilde's obsession with wealth throughout the story and track how this fixation shapes the decisions that trigger the key events of the text, ultimately launching her into financial ruin. Mathilde's materialism gets in the way of her chance at happiness as she opts to overlook her doting husband and the things he does to make her happy, including preparing dinner for her, securing her an invitation to a ball at the Ministry, and buying her a new dress. If the lost diamond necklace is the major conflict around which the story is structured, Mathilde's self-destructive shallowness is the broader conflict that guides the characters' lives and choices as the story progresses.
The story’s rising action is shaped by the text's early period of characterization, establishing the traits that define both Mathilde and Monsieur Loisel. In portraying Mathilde as a shallow, materialistic woman obsessed with luxury and disdainful of her modest lifestyle, and Loisel as a supportive, loving husband who strives to make his wife happy, de Maupassant sets the tone for the story and establishes the personalities and character dynamics that drive the narrative forward. The inciting incident occurs when Loisel secures an invite to a ball at the Ministry for Mathilde and himself. Terrified of being perceived as poor even after Loisel buys her a new dress, Mathilde visits her friend Madame Forestier to borrow an elegant diamond necklace, a decision that winds up forever altering the Loisels' lives.
Mathilde's magical evening at the ball is the last key event before the story's climax. She dazzles at the party, attracting the interest of other partygoers and dancing the whole night. She is overjoyed and triumphant in her perceived success as the most beautiful, desired woman there. The climax occurs at the end of the evening once Mathilde and Loisel have returned home. As Mathilde admires her reflection in the mirror once more, she realizes in horror that Madame Forestier's diamond necklace is missing. Despite Loisel's efforts, they are unable to locate it.
The falling action of the text occurs in the aftermath of the couple's decision to spend an inordinate amount of money to secretly replace the necklace. The necklace they purchase bankrupts them, forcing them to use all their savings and take out many loans and launching them into a decade of financial ruin. They move to cheaper lodgings and dismiss their servant, and Loisel picks up more hours at work while Mathilde sacrifices her beauty and youth to become a hardworking housewife.
After an arduous decade, Mathilde runs into her old friend, Madame Forestier, and finally tells her the truth about the lost diamond necklace from all those years ago. The story's resolution occurs when Madame Forestier, in a twist ending that could arguably serve as a second climax, reveals that the original diamond necklace was a fake, and that Mathilde and Loisel threw away their lives for nothing. While this revelation resolves the conflict of the missing necklace, it does not resolve the broader conflicts produced as a byproduct of the misplaced jewelry. The story ends before we are able to see either Mathilde's or Loisel's reaction to the surprising news, prompting readers to reflect on the larger themes of the text. Had Mathilde not felt the need for the necklace in the first place—had she recognized her ability to find happiness without material items—and had she and Loisel not infused the necklace with excessive value, causing them to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the jewels, their lives would have turned out vastly different. The reader can assume Mathilde’s reaction is along these lines without necessarily having to witness it. Therefore, de Maupassant uses the jarring reveal and lack of true resolution to drive home a warning about the dangers of materialism.
