In Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," Monsieur Loisel is the exact opposite of his wife, Mathilde. Mathilde is materialistic and dissatisfied with her simple life and mediocre house. She longs to be rich and wants to possess the finer things in life.

Contrariwise, Monsieur Loisel is a simple man who enjoys simple things. He is content with his station in life and does not dream of becoming rich. Although he does not share his wife's ambitions, he does not like seeing her sad and upset, and he does his best to appease her. When she cries because she does not have a nice dress to wear to the upcoming party, Monsieur Loisel gives her the money he had been saving for a new gun so that she will be able to buy a new dress. When she loses her friend's necklace, he spends all night looking for it and does all in his power to borrow and earn the money to replace it, even though he is unsure whether or not he will be able to pay back his creditors.

Mathilde resents having to work to pay off the necklace and it takes a toll on her mentally and physically. Although Monsieur Loisel also has to work hard for ten years to pay off the replacement necklace, he, unlike his wife, is not the type of person to complain or indulge in self-pity. He does not share her sense of entitlement or her distaste for work. If the story were told from his point of view, he would likely accept the consequences of losing the necklace with more dignity and tolerance than his wife shows.