"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."
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