And as before, rather than expressing openness about her true feelings, in the face of wealth she becomes embarrassed and ashamed, and this also proves her undoing, as if she had only been open about what had transpired with the necklace, then she would not have had to labor her entire life to pay back the debt.
Mathilde bankrupts her husband, by losing the paste necklace, but this selfishness is echoed early on when she insists upon a fine gown, rather than something she can really afford to attend the ball that proves her undoing. Unlike her husband, Mathilde is incapable of perceiving the needs of others, or the real value of money: "she thought for several seconds, reckoning up prices and also wondering for how large a sum she could ask without bringing upon herself an immediate refusal and an exclamation of horror from the careful-minded clerk," and he gives her the money he was saving for a gun, without telling her how much this meant to him, and the real worth of the sum in his life.
However, Mathilde only thanks her friend Madame Forestier effusively, even though Madame can well afford to give her the loan of the necklace. The true gift of her husband is unremarked upon, while Mathilde is overcome with enthusiasm and love for the sight of her own face in the mirror, and throws her arm around the rich woman. "She [Mathilde] fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of herself," admiring herself, certain of her ability to spot 'quality' even though the reader will learn the necklace is paste.
Mathilde loses the necklace, and learns that the life she had before was not so bad -- now she must do her own hard housework, and she must sacrifice her beauty, count every penny, and lose the love and companionship of her husband as he toils for ten long years to pay off the debt for the...
Tom Shulich ("ColtishHum") A comparative study on the theme of fascination with and repulsion from Otherness in Song of Kali by Dan Simmons and in the City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre ABSRACT In this chapter, I examine similarities and differences between The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre (1985) and Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (1985) with regard to the themes of the Western journalistic observer of the Oriental Other, and
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