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Read the excerpt from "The Necklace."

"She was one of those pretty and charming young girls who sometimes are born, as if by a mistake of destiny, into a family of clerks."

What does the phrase "a mistake of destiny" imply about Mathilde?

Answer :

Final answer:

The phrase "a mistake of destiny" implies that Mathilde Loisel feels she was born into the wrong circumstances and is unfulfilled by her modest life as a clerk's wife. It emphasizes her internal conflict between her beauty and her desire for luxury, which ultimately leads to her downfall. This encapsulates the tragedy of her character and the irony of her situation in the story.


Explanation:

Analysis of the Phrase "a Mistake of Destiny" in The Necklace

The phrase "a mistake of destiny" suggests that Mathilde Loisel, the protagonist of Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace," feels a profound sense of misalignment between her physical beauty and her social standing. This implies that she believes she was born into the wrong circumstances, as she possesses an intense desire for luxury and admiration that her modest background as a clerk's wife does not afford her.

Mathilde is depicted as a young woman who embodies the qualities of charm and beauty, yet her situation confines her to a life of poverty and disappointment. The idea that her beauty was a "mistake" indicates she feels trapped in a life that does not reflect her true self or her aspirations. This internal conflict drives the narrative and causes her great anguish, as she yearns for a life filled with the luxuries and social status she believes she was meant to enjoy.

Additionally, the phrase highlights how her dreams of wealth and glamor contribute to her eventual downfall when she borrows the necklace to fit into the world she longs to be part of, only to later face the tragic consequences of her desire.


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