The Diamond Necklace

by Guy de Maupassant

When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, “Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that,” she thought 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.

She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.

She had a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go to see any more because she felt so sad when she came home.

But one evening her husband reached home with a triumphant air and holding a large envelope in his hand.

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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

What do the provided details reveal about Mathilde?

(1 point)
Responses

They show that she is down-to-earth and likes the simple pleasures in life.
They show that she is down-to-earth and likes the simple pleasures in life.

They show that she cares deeply about social status and is unhappy about her standing as the wife of a clerk.
They show that she cares deeply about social status and is unhappy about her standing as the wife of a clerk.

They show that she is appreciative of her husband’s efforts to give her the opportunity to attend a social engagement.
They show that she is appreciative of her husband’s efforts to give her the opportunity to attend a social engagement.

They show that she has many possessions but is still not happy with them.
They show that she has many possessions but is still not happy with them.

1 answer

The details provided in the passage reveal that

they show that she cares deeply about social status and is unhappy about her standing as the wife of a clerk.

Mathilde yearns for a life of luxury, fine dining, and social prestige, indicating her dissatisfaction with her current situation and desire for a more glamorous life.

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