d herself.
Her husband seems to be the best-natured man in the world. He seems to love Mathilde and at every turn in the story is willing to give her whatever she wants. It is hard to believe that she has not manipulated him into buying things for her earlier in their marriage. They sit down to dinner before a pot of stew and her husband acts as if it were the finest meal from the most expensive restaurant. But she takes off on another daydream about "eating the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail" (1132).
Maupassant makes sure that we know that this woman is obsessed with material things: "She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that." She feels worthless without those things, and if she had them, she believes she would feel very valuable: "She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after" (1132). She cannot see that she is loved by her husband, that she pleases him, that she is charming to him.
Maupassant tells us that Mathilde has a rich friend, but she doesn't like to visit the woman because she feels worse than ever about her life when she comes back home.
One night her husband comes home with an invitation for the two of them to go to a high-class party to be given at the palace of the Ministry of Public Instruction. Her husband had thought that she would be thrilled that he was able to get the invitation. He thought that she would be grateful that he was able to do something so thoughtful and loving for her. Instead, she is unhappy and even angry, because she has nothing to wear to the occasion. This is something her husband has not thought about. He thought she would simply wear the good dress she had. But she breaks down in tears: "I have no dress and therefore I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I" (1133). Mathilde is not just talking about herself. She is also sa...