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The Necklace
The necklace, beautiful but worthless, represents the power of perception and the split between appearances and reality. Mathilde borrows the necklace because she wants to give the appearance of being wealthy; Madame Forestier does not tell her up front that the necklace is fake, perhaps because she, too, wants to give the illusion of being wealthier than she actually is. Because Mathilde is so envious of Madame Forestier and believes her to be wealthy, she never doubts the necklace’s authenticity—she expects diamonds, so diamonds are what she perceives. She enters willingly and unknowingly into this deception, and her complete belief in her borrowed wealth allows her to convey an appearance of wealth to others. Because she believes herself rich for one night, she becomes rich in others’ eyes. The fact that the necklace is at the center of the deception that leads to Mathilde’s downfall suggests that only trouble can come from denying the reality of one’s situation.
The Wraps
The wrap that Monsieur Loisel attempts to drape around Mathilde's shoulders as they leave the ball at the Ministry symbolizes Mathilde's shame over her economic status and her obsession with her appearance. The "modest wraps of common life" that Loisel brings for Mathilde embody a "poverty [that] contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress." Mathilde, sensing this dissonance, feels the need to "escape" from the material. As she observes her fellow party-goers, she is embarrassed that the other women at the ball all seem to be donning their expensive fur coats. Mathilde does not want to stand out nor draw attention to her modest lifestyle and refuses the shawl. Despite the cold, she ventures outside without an outer layer in a blatant attempt to maintain her illusion of affluence. When she and Loisel return home, she removes "the wraps which covered her shoulders before the glass, so as once more to see herself in all her glory." Evidently, Mathilde can take pride only in an imagined life that is completely disconnected from her current reality, revealing her crippling shame and obsession with how she is perceived by herself and others. The reality of her life taints the image she has of herself in her head. The shame surrounding her poverty and her obsession with how she appears to others prevent her from accepting her true circumstances. This mindset distorts her self-image and drives the decisions that ultimately lead to her downfall.
