“She was one of those pretty, charming young women who are born, as if by an error of Fate, into a petty official’s family.”

From the beginning of the story, de Maupassant describes Mathilde in terms of her vanity and preoccupation with material objects and superficialities. Mathilde’s appearance enhances these preoccupations because she could fit into high society if only she had been born to a wealthier family. She feels she has been robbed of her rightful place at the top of society.

“She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers.”

While Mathilde is portrayed as being vain and even shallow, de Maupassant illustrates that she suffers from her desire to be and have more. Her suffering is intensified by her belief that wealth and status are owed to her rather than something she must earn.

“She had no proper wardrobe, no jewels, nothing. And those were the only things that she loved—she felt she was made for them.”

Mathilde’s downfall is caused by her desire for beautiful clothes and jewelry, and de Maupassant goes so far as to say that these material things are her only love. She is driven by these symbols of wealth and greed, yet this desire for luxury leads her into poverty, a central irony of the story.