Argumentative Essay On “Here Is Something For You”.

Classic English literatureDoes Mathlide deserve all that has happened?

Everyone has desires in life and there is nothing wrong in that. Majority of those desires are related to the materialistic possessions in the world and most of us keep thinking and working towards meeting those desires. It is when we cross the lines to meet those desires that we invite troubles in our lives. Mathilde wants to lead a different and exciting life that she cannot afford to. She is a beautiful girl who could have got a rich husband but is destined to live the life as the wife of a clerk. She wears plain clothes and has no jewels, as she cannot afford to.
Mathilde has nothing exciting to look forward to in her life. Still, she cannot stop herself from dreaming of how the rich live and enjoy the money they have. Her husband loves her and is eager to please her, and wants her to enjoy life. It is evident when he brings an envelope for her that he is excited when he hands it over to her.

However, both husband and wife think differently. Mathilde wants to lead a life of glamour that seems a far reach for her. She seems obsessed with the good things in life. She is annoyed with her husband for bringing that invitation to the Palace of the Ministry for dinner. Her frustration is evident when she says to her husband -

“And what do you want me to put on my back?”

Clearly, Mathilde hates her life, married to a clerk and remains cooped up in the house. One does feel sorry for her. However, it is nobody’s fault that she got married to a clerk or was born into a poor family Life brings unfulfilled desires for all and it is not just Mathilde who has the desire for those countless worldly things. We all want things that are out of our reach at times. Thus, there is nothing wrong in Mathilde wanting to be admired or enjoying the good things in life.
However, does Mathilde deserve all that has happened? Mathilde's story shows how our desires can drive us blind. Sometimes, those desires can make us desperate and force us to do things to fulfil them. Mathilde is human, and there is nothing wrong in looking for happiness or having desires. However, the irony is that she is looking in the wrong direction for happiness. If she looked at her life, she has much reasons to be happy about. She is beautiful and would certainly be the envy of most women. She could have cherished the gift of beauty given to her by God. Even if her husband does not earn much, he still cares for her deeply and wants to please her. He is aware of the drab life she leads and wants her to enjoy her life.
If Mathilde had been a more sensible, she should have gone to the dinner wearing a nice dress and some natural flowers as suggested by her husband. She would have still looked very pretty and been the center of attraction. However, her strong desire for wearing jewels and using those to add to her pride, also led to her downfall. That one moment of pride cost her and her husband ten years of hard work and life of misery spent in paying off their loans. The irony is that all that all that hard work was done to replace a necklace that was fake and not a genuine diamond necklace, as they thought. The sad part is that Mathilde also lost her beauty, her natural possession because of the long years of hard work that were filled with anxiety of paying off the loans. She has changed so much within ten years that even her close friends are not able to recognize her as is evident form her words-

Oh, my poor Mathilde! How you are changed!

Thus, Mathilde, who is the hero of the story in the beginning, leads to her own downfall. It is not clear whether she learned a lesson from her life or not, the story is a lesson for the readers that one should never let their desires overrule their senses. Mathilde had some very good reasons to be happy about her life. She had a husband who loved her deeply, stood by her and even slogged away for ten years to pay for the necklace. As she was beautiful, she could have valued her looks and should have been thankful that her basic needs were all met. Still, one does feel sorry for Mathilde in the end. After all, she was human and had not made a grave mistake by borrowing a piece of jewelry from her close friend.
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