Guy De Maupassant writes about Mathilde in “The Necklace” who is dissatisfied with her lack of social status in society.  Her greed and envy of high society ladies and life of luxury ultimately ruins her good looks and any chance to accomplish what she wants most, which is to be accepted by an elite group of ladies. “I don’t have an evening dress and therefore I can’t go to the affair.” She asks her husband to provide an expensive dress they cannot afford and borrows a necklace from a friend to attend a party and attempt to fit in and be portrayed as rich and belonging in a different social circle.  Everyone gave her a lot of attention while she wore the dress and necklace.  She ends up losing the necklace and instead of telling her friend, she and her husband spend the next ten years giving up all their possessions and working harder to replace what they had borrowed and lost. 

As a result, Mathilde loses her good looks and ages rapidly so that her friend no longer recognized her. Instead of moving up in the world like Mathilde dreamed about, she did quite the opposite. Mathilde’s looks were not as breathtaking any more, her attitude changed toward her dream life and she was no longer materialistic.

            All three short stories involve a main character who is consumed by an emotion of greed, acceptance or luxury.  The characters believe if they accomplish their all consuming goal and get what they want, their lives will be better and more fulfilling.  However, in each story, something happens to change their way of thinking and each character learns they were not better off getting what they wanted.  The lessons were not easy, but the characters each see the world in a different way than they originally saw it.  Ulrich did not want to hate his neighbor, but wanted to help him and become his friend.  Millicent realized she would be happier and more independent to decline the offer to join the sorority.  Mathilde lost her good looks and charm due to her greed and envy.  What she thought was important, wearing a dress she could not afford and borrowing a necklace and not being honest when losing and replacing it, made her life a lot harder.