Quote 1
She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five o'clock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired. (3)
Mathilde spends her time living in a dream world, in which she imagines all the fabulous things she'd have if she were rich. The most detail we get in the otherwise sparse story comes in Maupassant's descriptions of the fancy stuff Mathilde wants. But being rich also means more than just nice stuff to her: it means having the glamour to attract men.
Quote 2
She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. (6)
Mathilde wants to be wealthy so badly that she's driven mad with jealousy by the one rich friend she has, Mme. Forestier. She can't bear to see Mme. Forestier, because it brings her within arm's reach of the world of wealth she wants so badly, but can't have.
Quote 3
She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. (24)
It looks like Mathilde is milking her husband for all he's worth here. Was her the crying fit put on so she could seize the opportunity to get a fancy dress from him?
Quote 4
"It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather not go to this party." (33)
OK, so after she's gotten an expensive dress out of her husband, Mathilde refuses to go to the party again. She's still not satisfied. This time, it's jewels. She needs jewels. Does this mean Mathilde actually expects her husband to get her a piece of jewelry?
Quote 5
All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself. (48)
Maybe diamonds are a girl's best friend. Just seeing and touching something expensive and beautiful drives Mathilde crazy. She's in "ecstasy" over a necklace. The necklace may be a symbol for wealth, or glamour in the story. Even if it isn't, it certainly seems to equate to those things for Mathilde.
Quote 6
Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms; they took an attic under the roof. (98)
After losing the necklace, Mathilde now finds herself actually poor. Though she felt herself "poor" before, she was fairly comfortable, and middle class. Now her life is much harder.
Quote 7
She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Education. (1)
Mathilde's future prospects are not in her own hands. She's a woman, which means the quality of her life will basically depend upon her family and her husband. And in both respects, she's out of luck, as far as she's concerned. With so much powerlessness, it's no wonder she's frustrated and dissatisfied.
Quote 8
She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5)
Mathilde wants to be desired by men. To some extent, even her desire for wealth is just derivative of that. Her highest wish is to be approved of and wanted by someone else.
Quote 9
But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks... (20)
Mathilde comes across as overly sensitive and emotional. She has to work very hard to control her emotions. There's a feminine stereotype for you on which Maupassant is playing.
Quote 10
"No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women." (37)
Wealth and womanhood are intimately bound up in Mathilde's mind. She wants to look wealthy so she can compete with the rich women.
Quote 11
The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53)
Mathilde's a huge hit. She gets all the men to pay attention her, including the most important one of all (the minister). This is the best moment of her life.
Quote 12
She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman's heart. (54)
The narrator seems to be suggesting here that Mathilde's desires – to look glamorous and beautiful and be desired by men – are more generally "woman's" desires. That's what makes women happy and pleases their "womanly hearts." Again, it seems to be entirely stereotyped.
Quote 13
Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elysées, as a recreation after the labors of the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still seductive. (107)
Unlike Mathilde, who's lost her looks and "womanly charms" to poverty, Mme. Forestier still looks good. All of that even after becoming a mother (another sign of womanhood). This makes us wonder why Mathilde doesn't have a child?
Quote 14
She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. (3)
Mathilde feels herself to be better than her circumstances. She deserves more than she has, and is angry at the universe because she isn't getting it. Her dissatisfaction seems intimately connected to pride.
Quote 15
"Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I." (21)
Instead of being happy with the invitation her husband has worked so hard to get, Mathilde's first reaction is to be angry about it. If she's going to go, she just has to look the best, and she doesn't have any clothes that are nice enough Is she ever happy? Then again, would you want to go to the one nice party you've been invited to looking shabby? It's hard to tell whether Mathilde's vanity, or greed, is making her overreact, or whether she does have nothing nice to wear.
Quote 16
She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking: –
"You haven't anything else?" (45-46)
OK, so the jewel situation looks better: Mathilde's found a treasure trove of the things. But she's still not satisfied. None of them makes her look as good as she wants to look. Her vanity once again seems to be making her greedy.
Quote 17
He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life, the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. (56)
After a successful evening at the ball, Mathilde's too proud to let herself be seen wearing her shabby wrap. She needs to keep up the illusion. It could be that her rushing off like this is what causes her to lose the necklace.
Quote 18
Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. (98)
When Mathilde becomes poor, she is forced to work. Getting down to work and paying off the debts seems to make her proud in a new way. She can be proud of her hard work, and of her endurance. Meanwhile, her looks – which used to be her pride and joy – start to disappear.
Quote 19
"I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad." (122)
Mathilde is proud of all the work and suffering she and her husband have put into repaying for the necklace. It was an honorable and difficult thing to do. But they've succeeded.
Quote 20
"Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike?"
And she smiled with proud and naïve joy. (126-127)
Mathilde is even more proud to learn that Mme. Forestier didn't notice the difference between her original necklace and the substitute. It adds extra validation to her work: she did fully make up for losing the necklace.