What are Monsieur Loisel's character traits in "The Necklace"?

Monsieur Loisel is not described as vividly as his wife Mathilde.  In fact, he is not even given a name!  Most of the characterization of him is indirect.  You can describe him as loving, frustrated, satisfied, clueless, and honest.

Monsieur Loisel is a loving, if not subservient, husband.  He wants to do what his wife wants, or anything to make her happy.  He sacrifices his comfort for hers.

He grew a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterre…. (p. 3)

When she asks for money for a dress to go to the ball, he acquiesces and gives her the money he has set aside for himself.

Mathilde’s husband is also frustrated though.  He knows he cannot give her everything she wants.  This bothers him.  Yet he also gets irritated when she is constantly asking for more.

"How stupid you are!" her husband cried. "Go look up your friend, Madame Forestier, and ask her to lend you some jewels. You're intimate enough with her to do that." (p. 3)

Although this seems mean, it must not have been mean in the way he said it.  She does not get upset.  Instead, she is thrilled.  She “uttered a cry of joy” and took the suggestion.

Monsieur  Loisel is satisfied.  Although he is only a clerk, he does not seem to mind his life.  He suggests that Mathilde put flowers in her hair instead of wearing jewels, because it is fashionable.  He does not understand why she does not want to go to the ball. He is satisfied with his life, and is not sure why she is not.

Mathilde’s husband does not seem to understand how unhappy she is.  He is fine with his life.

"Why, my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a fine opportunity. I had great trouble to get it….” (p. 2)

He did not understand that she would be upset when he got her the invitation because she did not have the right clothes.  He is clueless, and could have avoided a lot of trouble by not opening that can of worms.

Finally, Loisel is relatively honest.  When the jewel goes missing, he has it replaced.  He does lie at first. 

"You must write to your friend," said he, "that you have broken the clasp of her necklace and that you are having it mended. That will give us time to turn round." (p. 5)

However, he is just biding his time.  He does work very hard to replace the jewel.

What are Monsieur Loisel's character traits in "The Necklace"?

The character of Madame Loisel is that of a young woman of lesser social status, who comes from a similarly simple family. As a result, she is rendered unable to marry "beyond her station" and find a husband worthy of a large dowry. Therefore, she marries a man of her same status; a clerk who, despite of not having much, is quite content with his life.  

The fatal flaw of Madame Loisel is her excessive sense of entitlement. One thing is to want good things for ourselves, and to wish for a better life. Another thing is to hope for the best. However, to detest your life and wish to have another touches on ungratefulness. Madame wanted so much for herself that she despised the little that kept her at least at minimal comfort. 

When she has the chance to attend a ball, she begrudges her lack of luxurious clothes and jewels, and her husband proposes that she goes to a rich friend to borrow her jewels. Madame Loisel obviously chooses the most extravagant looking necklace, which shows her state of mind: She wants to dazzle, be showy, extravagant, and call the attention of others.

Sadly, Madame loses the necklace and her pride is so big that she refuses to admit it to her friend. Instead, she and her husband work hard to replace the piece, losing everything they had. When she comes to find out that the necklace was fake, and that she essentially wasted her life over nothing goes to show the irony of her own life. She whined and complained over nothing. She wanted things for her that would have been tantamount to nothing but flash and looks. All of this basically shows that this woman was empty, shallow, and too egotistical for her own good. 

What are the similarities and differences between Madame Loisel and Monsieur Loisel in "The Necklace"?

The two main characters in "The Necklace" are Monsieur and Madame Loisel. These characters maintain some very poignant similarities and differences, the differences far outweighing the similarities.

Essentially, the only two similarities that the couple share is the fact that they are both to live within the constraints of being a family of clerks and they both strive for Mathilde's happiness.

Outside of that, the couple have many differences.

Mathilde is not happy with her circumstances. She believes that she should be living in a higher station (attending parties, spending lavishly, and admired by all). She is truly unhappy where she is.

M. Loisel, on the other hand, is happy with his circumstances. One can infer this based upon his comment made about dinner.

"Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that."

As simple as soup is, M. Loisel is completely content (unlike his wife). She instead, seemed to detest the soup given she could only think of

dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry that peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvellous plates and of the whispered gallantries to which you listen with a sphinxlike smile while you are eating the pink meat of a trout or the wings of a quail.

M. Loisel is happy with getting his wife an invitation to an exclusive, and much sought after, party. Mathilde, on the other hand, is not happy with the invitation. Instead, she is upset by it. Her lack of proper clothes and jewelry force her to be saddened instead.

What are three character traits of Madame Loisel from "The Necklace"?

Three character traits that Madame Loisel possesses that are easily apparent when reading the short story "The Necklace" is she is ungrateful, selfish, and greedy. No matter what her poor, loving husband does for her to satisfy her and make her happy, it just is never enough and she always wants more. He sees that she is dissatisfied with lot in life. Although, it should be noted that the Loisels are not poor. It's true they are not rich, but they are by no means living in poverty. They are middle-class. She has servants. However, this is not enough for her. To cheer her up, her husband brings home for her an invitation to an opulent party. This doesn't satisfy her because she has no fancy dress to wear to the party. Her husband, who was saving money to buy himself a gun, gives Mathilde the money instead so she can buy a dress for the party. This is still not enough. She has no fancy jewelry to match the fancy dress. Therefore, she borrows a necklace from her wealthy friend Madame Forestier. She's never grateful for what she has. She's always thinking about what she doesn't have.

Describe the characters Madame and Mister Loisel from The Necklace.

Madame Loisel feels that she was born for luxury.  She is a beautiful woman and believes that she should be living an aristocratic life, draped in fine clothes, jewels and furs.  She imagines herself to be living a life opposite of what her true destiny is, a life of meagerness.

It is because of Madame Loisel's deeply held belief that life has cheated her out of her due, that results in her reaction to the invitation to the fancy party.  The party, Madame Loisel feels is where she should be, therefore, she must look the part.  Madame Loisel is a Cinderella in reverse.  She gets to go to the ball, and instead of losing a glass slipper, she loses her friend's necklace.

Her life is then turned into an existence of hardship and hard labor. She ends up in rags.

Monsieur Loisel is a hard-working man who loves his wife, but does not understand her.  He wants to please her, and makes sacrifices to give her the luxury, if only temporarily, that she so craves.  He is a simple man who is satisfied with his social standing in life.  He has no aspirations to be among the aristocrats like his wife.  He is content with his simple life.

Both these characters share some reponsibility for the hard work they endure to buy a new necklace.  Individually, and together, they do not trust the rich, Madame Loisel, out of envy and jealousy, and Monsieur out of a sense of fear.  He is afraid of the power of the rich 

Describe the characters Madame and Mister Loisel from The Necklace.

A character sketch is a brief synopsis of a character...a little bit about what a character is like and his/her background.

Madame Loisel is a young, beautiful woman who has married a clerk (she feels she has married "beneath" her) and who longs for the finer things in life.  However, she and her husband cannot afford the extravagant possessions that Madame Loisel wants.  They do, however, live a comfortable life; they even have a maid!  Mathilde (Madame Loisel) does not appreciate this, however, and takes her comfortable life for granted.  She wallows in self-pity and whines about her "meek" existence.  She is motivated by greed and wanting more, which is her major flaw.

Mister Loisel is a down-to-earth, practical, loving husband who adores his wife and who tries his best to please her and make her happy.  He goes above and beyond the call of duty to make her feel happy and loved, even sacrificing money he has saved up for himself to allow her to buy an expensive dress for the ball they attend.  He suggests that his wife to to Madame Forrestier to borrow a nice piece of jewelry for the ball; he has no idea that when he mentioned his wife needing to do so that the both of them would have to work 10 long years to replace a borrowed necklace that was fake!

What is the relationship between Monsieur and Madame Loisel in "The Necklace"?

Mathilde Loisel, the protagonist, in "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant does not like her circumstances.  Mathilde is a young, attractive woman who daydreams about living a stylish life. She dreams of serving tea on beautiful china and wearing fashionable clothing. Unfortunately, that is not Mathilde's life.

The Loisels were not poor but middle class. They did have one servant which obviously Mathilde did not appreciate. While Mathilde might have been enjoying her life, instead she choose to be miserable and whine away her time wishing for more and better things.

Mathilde describes her husband as a "little" clerk in the Ministry of Education.  His personality is bright and pleasant.  He loves his wife and knows that she is unhappy with her circumstances.  Probably, thinking himself lucky to have married such an attractive girl, he tries to please her.

When he arranges for the invitation to the ball, Loisel thinks that his wife will be delighted.  Mathilde is so immature and self-centered that all she can do is fuss about nothing to wear and no jewelry. 

In an effort to please Mathilde, her husband gives her the money that he had been saving for her to buy a new dress.  Mathilde still worries that she has no jewelry.  She borrows a beautiful necklace from a friend.

The necklace is lost after the party.  Poor Monsieur Loisel goes out alone and searches all night and day for the jewels but has no luck. Loisel comes up with a plan to buy another necklace and return it to Mathilde's friend.

This is quite a man.  He takes his inheritance from his father; then, he borrows the rest of the money.  They return the necklace. But that is just the beginning.  For the next ten years, the Loisels work together to pay for the replacement necklace. Monsieur Loisel works a second job at night.  They even give up their apartment.

Both of them age tremendously over the years.  Mathilde is no longer beautiful.  She has hardened:

 She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts and dish-cloths, and hung them out to dry on a string; every morning she carried up the water.

The author never lets the reader know if Mathilde appreciated her husband for taking care of her.  They did accomplish something together, and she did rise to the occasion and do the hard work of the home.  In reality, the hero of the story is Monsieur Loisel who worked alongside his wife to pay back the money for her foolish whim.

What's the relationship between Monsieur and Madame Loisel in "The Necklace"?

Monsieur and Madame Loisel are entirely different.  Their relationship, as many marriages of their time, was meant to be cordial, with the man serving as the primary provider of the household and the woman as the nurturing force of the home. In their case it is not like that. This is primarily because of Madame Loisel.

Monsieur Loisel is a man who is content with his life. He enjoys his broth at nights, and seems to live quite comfortably at the side of his wife. He is a good husband. When the disgrace of the necklace happens, instead of going against his foolish wife, he gives up nearly all that he possesses to be able to purchase a replacement necklace.

Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs left to him by his father. He intended to borrow the rest.....He did borrow it, getting a thousand from one man, five hundred from another, five louis here, three louis there. He gave notes of hand, entered into ruinous agreements, did business with usurers and the whole tribe of money-lenders. 

He tries his best to please his wife, and is "heartbroken" when he sees her upset, which is presumably a lot. He is a simple but loyal, good man.

Madame Loisel is a woman born with a sense of entitlement. She believes that she was made for bigger and better things. This frame of mind is what led her to pick an extravagant looking piece of jewelry from her friend so that she could impress everyone at the ball that her husband wanted so much to take her to. She did impress everyone, as she was a pretty woman. However, her sense of entitlement is such that she really believes that it extends to everything surrounding her, including his servant and her husband, none of whom were appreciated at all by her. 

 She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her. The sight of the little Breton girl who came to do the work in her little house aroused heart-broken regrets and hopeless dreams in her mind. 

Therefore, theirs is a relationship where there is no passion on either part, where one is content and the other is miserable, and where the personalities are so entirely disparate that there is no way to know how they have managed to even stay together. 

Compare and contrast Mr. Loisel and Mrs. Loisel in "The Necklace."

Mr. Loisel is far more thoughtful and levelheaded than Mrs. Loisel. He is content with his government job and his life.

He shows his thoughtfulness to his wife when he works to obtain an invitation to his Ministry's ball. He knows of her love and longing for the high life and is trying to please her. When she throws the invitation down disdainfully, he says, "I had awful trouble to get it." He notes that the event is "very select" and not many clerks like him could obtain invitations.

Mr. Loisel shows his goodness of heart, too, when he gives up the money he had been saving for a gun so that his wife can have a new dress for the ball. We know this is a sacrifice for him because he grows "a little pale" when he realizes the amount for a dress is exactly what he has saved.

Mr. Loisel shows his levelheadedness when he suggests that his wife borrow a necklace from her rich friend for the ball.

In contrast, Mrs. Loisel shows herself to be self-absorbed and selfish. She has unrealistic ideas of what her life should be. She is dissatisfied with a comfortable home and longs for a fantasy existence of "shining silverware, of tapestry" in a palatial setting. Rather than appreciate that her husband has gone to an effort to please her with the invitation to the ball, she reacts in a self-centered way, upset that she has nothing decent to wear. Rather than thanking him, she asks, "what do you want be to put on my back" while "two great tears" roll down her face. It never occurs to her that her husband is giving up his own pleasure when he offers her the money for a new dress.

Mrs. Loisel's vanity costs the couple dearly, but Mr. Loisel always behaves honorably, understanding that losing the necklace was a mistake. Both husband and wife are alike in honoring the debt they owe and doing everything they can, at great sacrifice to themselves, to repay it.

How is Monsieur Loisel characterized in "The Necklace"?

Although the character of Monsieur Loisel is not as developed as his wife, we actually do learn quite a bit about him through indirect characterization.  He is basically under his wife’s thumb, but he is resourceful.  He responds to her every whim, regardless of what he wants.  He pays the price for her vanity, but he gets things done.

Monsieur Loisel does seem to be a loving husband.  He procures a ticked for a fancy ball for his wife because he thinks she would want to go.  He does seem genuinely surprised by his wife’s reaction.

"Why, my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a fine opportunity. I had great trouble to get it. Every one wants to go; it is very select …” (p. 2)

When his wife cries because she does not have enough money to buy a dress, he gives in.  He gives her the money he had saved for his gun.

He grew a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterre … (p. 3)

Yet he gives her the money.  When she complains further that she has no jewels, he gets frustrated, but he has a suggestion for that too.

"Go look up your friend, Madame Forestier, and ask her to lend you some jewels. You're intimate enough with her to do that." (p. 3)

When they go to the ball, it is even clearer that he went for her.  He falls asleep while she is still dancing (he is clearly not the jealous type).  He swoops in again to save the day when the jewel is lost.  He gives her an excuse to write the friend to bide them time, and then borrows the money.

That dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed their servant; they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret under the roof.  (p. 6)

Although she only sees her own suffering, he suffers right there with her.  Everything she gives up, he gives up too.  He moves when she moves.  He takes on extra work.  For ten years he labors with her until the debt is paid.

Although the story does seem to focus more on Mathilde, we do learn quite a lot about her husband.  He is intelligent, humble, and hard-working.  He puts up with quite a lot from his vain wife, and he sticks by her.  He will do whatever she wants.

What is the characterization of Monsieur Loisel in "The Necklace"?

"The Necklace" is not Monsieur Loisel's story, so most of what we know about him is conveyed through his connection to his wife Mathilde.  

M. Loisel is a man who is content with what he has and appreciates the simple things in life.  In contrast to his wife who is literally never content (until the end), Loisel is happy with their simple meals.  The first time we meet him, he

uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that."

He loves the idea of his wife adorning herself with simple flowers because she is already beautiful, and we know whatever she is or does is fine with him.

We also know that M. Loisel wants to please his wife.  Knowing her desire to be part of the social whirlwind of society, he manages to obtain an invitation to a formal ball--something that doesnot interest him in the least.  He foregoes his own desire and savings for a rifle and gives Mathilde the money instead, so she can buy a dress for the ball.  When she is still discontent, he suggests she borrow some jewelry from a friend, which of course she does.  At the party, he'd much rather go home early; instead, he manages to stay awake after allowing her to be as frivolous and flirtatious as she wishes.  Once the necklace has been lost, there are no complaints or recriminations from him; he simply does what he has to (with whatever unsavory characters he has to deal with) in order to recover from the loss.

Finally, it's clear that Monsieur Loisel is willing to sacrifice for someone he loves.  The money he had saved for the gun, as mentioned before, is one example; however, what he does to pay back the money for the necklace is the definition of "labor of love."

Are we more like Madame Loisel or Monsieur Loisel from "The Necklace"?

Madame Loisel is beautiful but unhappy. Born in the family of a clerk, she had wished to get married to a “rich and distinguished” man. This doesn’t happen, however, and she becomes the wife of a simple clerk.

Her physical charm and beauty have always made her feel as though she has been deprived of the status and the society she deserves. She is highly dissatisfied with her simple lifestyle bereft of color and glamour. Her discontentment is well expressed in the following lines:

“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.”

She can also be called selfish, insensitive and careless.

On the other hand, Monsieur Loisel is happy and contented with whatever he’s got. He is a loving and supporting husband. To bring a smile to his wife’s face, he manages to get an initiation to a big party where only a few clerks have been invited. He is excited to disclose this piece of news to her. Madame Loisel’s response that follows shows her insensitivity and her selfishness.

Monsieur is a kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to compromise with their own happiness to make their loved ones happy. Through several months he’s has saved four hundred pounds in order to buy a gun and go shooting with his friends. His selfless affection for his wife is seen when he doesn’t take long to give the same money to his wife to buy herself a “pretty dress.”

Moreover, when he learns about the missing necklace he doesn’t lose his temper or start screaming at his wife. Instead he consoles her and spends the rest of the night searching for the necklace in the streets. Not only this, when they fail to find the necklace, he undergoes a lot of trouble and suffering for several years in order to buy a real diamond necklace.

Thus, we find that Monsieur has got some of the most admirable qualities that we generally expect from others. His wife, on the other hand, is full of human weaknesses. Nevertheless, nobody can call her a bad or negative character. She nurtures a dream to live a luxurious and carefree life--one of the most common hopes of a man. Her longing and hopes and her inability to fulfill them and the resulting frustration make her a more real character.

Because of her weaknesses and frailties, I believe, we associate ourselves more closely with Madame Loisel than Monsieur Loisel. However, Monsieur Loisel is not altogether an unreal character. Men with qualities of Monsieur do exist around us.