How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
He gave promissory notes, made ruinous agreements, dealt with usurers, with all kinds of lenders. He compromised the end of his life, risked his signature without even knowing whether it could be honored; and, frightened by all the anguish of the future, by the black misery which was about to settle down on him, by the perspective of all sorts of physical deprivations and of all sorts of moral tortures, he went to buy the new diamond necklace, laying down on the jeweler's counter thirty-six thousand francs. (94)
Mathilde's not the only one suffering now. By losing the necklace, she's ruined her husband's life too. He's gone from living a comfortable life to a life plagued by fear and uncertainty. M. Loisel knows at this point that life is about to get unpleasant, and he's afraid.
Quote #8
She learned the rough work of the household, the odious labors of the kitchen. She washed the dishes, wearing out her pink nails on the greasy pots and the bottoms of the pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts and the towels, which she dried on a rope; she carried down the garbage to the street every morning, and she carried up the water, pausing for breath on every floor. And, dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher, a basket on her arm, bargaining, insulted, fighting for her wretched money, sou by sou. (99)
Now Mathilde has to live the life of a poor woman, and it's a hard life: dirty, busy, and exhausting. Where before she had a maid to do her work (and could spend the day dreaming or crying), now Mathilde has to do all the house chores herself, and they're never ending. She can no longer even afford to be graceful or charming; she has to be rough and aggressive, because she's so poor that she has to pick fights over pennies. Her "dissatisfied" life before has been replaced by real suffering.
Quote #9
What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How singular life is, how changeable! What a little thing it takes to save you or to lose you. (106)
You could say that last sentence sums up the whole story. All it took was one little thing – losing one piece of jewelry after a party one night – to completely change the course of the Loisels' life forever. If only Mathilde had paid more attention for an hour or so that night, she wouldn't have lost the necklace, and everything would be different. People's lives are so terribly vulnerable to chance; it's almost too easy to ruin them.